Summertime writing inspiration!

Does this picture inspire you? It inspires me. I could go in so many directions with this one picture. Since it’s alread hot and balmy here in Georgia and it’s only 10:30 in the morning, this mostly inspires me to run across and jump off the end into the cool, blue water.

For some reason when the seasons start to change I get inspired. The changes always give me a little food for thought. I love the way God just makes things happen and the beauty that abounds around us. It’s breathtaking. Even in the hottest summer days it is breathtaking.

Does a good summer storm exhilerate you? Maybe it’s just a me thing, but I feel exhilerated as I watch the thunderheads loom in the distance and the lightning flashing through them like tiny explosions. I sit on my porch or back deck and watch from a safe distance. Hey I do have some sense enough to get out of the storm. The air always feel electric and exciting. As the storm nears you feel the deep vibrations of the thunder rumbling. Then the first pitter patter of tiny rain drops that turn into big drops. Oh, the fun of a summer evening storm. They come and go quickly, but the power is evident.

Maybe it’s the excitement that inspires me to write. What inspires you? Do the seasons give you reason to write?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday Morning Coffee…

Good morning! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. My weekend was great and I got a lot done. I cleaned my house Saturday morning and then grabbed my laptop and headed for the back deck. I recently purchased a large dark green market umbrella for my table, so I opened it and sat down to work. I was able to get in a couple of thousand words which is great.

Writing outside is so awesome. I enjoyed the slight breeze that was blowing and the sunshine all around me. The birds were singing happily in the trees and I was playing one of my writing playlists on the computer. Of course I had my new puppy outside with me. She was running everywhere and biting my toes, but I still managed to get in a lot of work.

As most of you know I have several books in the works. This weekend I worked on Emma Rose which is the 2nd book in the Women of Magnolia Hill Saga. It’s crazy how you get into a piece of writing and then you’re taken away on the adventure. I enjoy this series so much because I love history. It’s fun to write about the history of the great state of Georgia.

As for today, I’ll be back to the office. I do need to work on my other job some. My accounting clients don’t like it when I don’t keep up their work. Some days it’s hard not to pull up a manuscript and write. Since all of it is on the same laptop the books are always there taunting me. Most days I can be strong, but Mondays make it hard. Maybe I need another cup of coffee before heading out to the office. Yeah, I think that’s what I’ll do. I hope everyone is having a great Monday so far. So I’m off to refill my mug and then back to the real world.

As always, good writing and may God Bless You…

Friday morning Inspiration

Good Friday morning. Here in Georgia the clouds are rolling in and we’re expecting storms this afternoon. But this morning I’m feeling inspired. It’s funny how just reading your social media posts can inspire you. As a writer inspiration is a big thing. It’s really hard to write if the inspiration is not there.

I love to see other authors posts and their success. It inspires me. I talked with a couple of authors one day and they said it makes them depressed to see how well other authors are doing, but for me it inspires me. I’m proud for my fellow authors. It’s great to see the authors do well. It gives me some hope in my own career.

What really inspires me is the posts from once traditionally published authors that have gone Self published and succeeded. It makes me give a fist pump in the air, knowing I made the right decision. Self publishing is getting more recognition. With self publishing you are the publishing crew, the editor in most cases, the cover designer in most cases and the cheering committee. But it’s your business and you can run it the way you want to. It just seems to work if you’re inspired to take the big steps. So watching other authors succeed makes that step a little easier.

How are you inspired in your writing?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Here comes Spring in the South…

Well, when Spring comes to the southern US, guess what? Yep, so do those nasty storms and tornado threats. I love this time of year for the temperatures and flowers, but not the storms. Now we’re looking at tornado watches and warnings for the evening and overnight. Our friends to the west of us went through a horrible storm system yesterday and it’s headed toward Georgia.

So, as I have to get to the office before the storms for the afternoon roll in, this will be a short post. I do hope everyone stays safe and keep an eye to the skies. Make sure you have your weather emergency plan in place and that your family, especially your kids know where the safe room is. It’s very important to have a plan and practice it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

May God be with those from the devastating storms overnight…

It’s Finally Friday!

If you haven’t looked at your calendar, yes it’s Friday. This has been the longest week in many ways and then again it’s been really short. I was blessed this week to have my assistant home from UGA for a couple of days to help me in the office and with some covers. We finally finished the paperback cover for Finding the Right Time. It’s awesome and I’m so excited for it’s release March 31st.

Along with good, usually a little bad comes. One of my clients and good friends found out she had cancer this week. It was such a blow when she called. It made me think about a lot of things. This was such a shock to her and her daughter. But she’s handling it with such strength and positive thinking. I would hope I could do the same thing in such a situation. My prayers are lifted up to her today.

As for my writing, I received some wonderful advice this week about writing. It helped me to think about some of my previous releases. Did you know that even the most famous writers go back to their first releases and revise them? It’s funny when we first start out writing it’s a learning process. The more we publish the more we learn. I’ve learned so many things over the last couple of years through writer friends and lots of research. So, when I get a little time between manuscripts, I might revise some of my earlier works. We’ll see how that goes, especially the time between manuscripts 😉

It’s Friday and I hope you are planning a fun weekend. It’s supposed to be a rainy last half of the weekend here in Georgia. I’ll be working on tax returns, but I do have some time scheduled in to work on the book that’s currently taking over my brain. I’ll give you a snippet later on, but for now, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

As always, good writing and May God Bless YOU…

Faith Through The Tears in final stages!

As you know I’ve had several works in progress. One in particular is “Faith Through The Tears” which is the 2nd book in the Lean On Him Christian Romance Series. I’m in the final stages of it and getting really excited. If things go well, I look to have it up and run this weekend. It still has a couple of nudges and tweaks, but it’s going smoothly.

It’s amazing when you get in the groove and everything just falls into place. Since the cover has been completed for months that makes the process much smoother. Now it’s down to those pesky little edits that plague every writer. But this one has been close to my heart so I look forward to the final read through before we hit publish.

Let me give you a little hint of what this book is all about. It’s a continuation of come of the characters from “With All My Heart”. It starts with Randy and Rachel’s love story and her battle with cancer. But it takes a sad turn and yes, it’s a box of tissues kind of book. I cried the whole time I wrote the first half of this book. It just tore at my heart.

A couple of months ago I posted the first chapter on Avon Romance’s blog site and I received responses ranging from ‘you made me cry’ to ‘I’ve got to know how this comes out’. It’s so exciting when you can grab the reader with just an excerpt.

This book has some surprises from the first book regarding Luke and Amanda. So many readers fell in love with their story of faith and love through the challenges. I’ve brought out some of their lives too. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this one. It’s filled with tremendous faith and the challenges that life brings when you lose your soul mate.

So, I hope everyone is staying warm and safe from the world’s crazy weather patterns. But for now it’s time to pick up the ledgers and get back to accounting. At least I’m in a beautiful environment with the snow covered back ground behind me. But bring on Spring!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

As the fire crackles and the pines crack!

Here we go again, but this time it’s ice. I live in the south. For pity’s sake where did the southern weather go? As I sit at my dining room where I’ve set up my laptop so that I can work, I hear the crackling of the fire in the den. But behind me is a set of french doors that lead onto our back patio, from there you hear the snap, crackle, and pop of the pine trees that can’t hold the weight of the building ice.

I did venture out earlier to grab some paperwork from my office and I could actually smell fresh pine. It’s like I was walking into a room with a pine air freshener. I love snow, but not ice. Ice is dangerous and usually cause massive power outages. Luckily at the moment we have power, but it’s flickered a couple of times. Even northerners have to say ice is different than snow to deal with.

When we had snow a couple of weeks ago, people were still on the roads a little bit, but when you have ice it’s eerily quiet. Of course the cold has brought out the beautiful red birds. I love to watch them as they poke around for a bit of food. I’ve got to admit the ice on the trees is beautiful, but the danger still looms. I’m staying inside for now and hoping for the best.

As for my writing, I made some large headway last night on finishing up “Faith Through The Tears”. I actually powered through almost 5000 words as the story unfolded in my head. I’m so excited about this installment to the “Lean On Him” Christian Series. Of course I’m working steadily on my other works in progress. It’s fun to be a writer and get to live in so many different worlds with my characters. One moment I’m in a small town and the next I’m on a horse ranch or maybe I’m on a beach in Savannah. I get to experience so much diversity through my characters and they become a part of me. It’s an awe inspiring experience.

I do hope that all of you are warm and safe. Also a shout out to my friends across the pond as you’re experiencing really scary winds. I send my prayers for everyone to stay safe. Bundle up with a good book and ride out the storm in another world. As for me, as long as I have power I’ll be working on accounting, but if the power goes out I have several books and plenty of paper. The work will go on by candle light which could bring on a whole new inspiration.

As always, good writing and may God Bless You and keep you safe…

Unlikely Heros during a bad situation in Georgia

I know, you’re saying ‘not a big deal’, but Georgia doesn’t see this often and especially the ice and 8 degree temps. At least we haven’t lost power. I’m just glad I don’t work in Atlanta. If you’ve seen the news, then you know what happened with the traffic. It was horrible and I heard so many horror stories of the 16 to 22 hours sitting on the interstate. I’m having a panic attack just thinking about it.

Well that puts me to my topic for today. I couldn’t believe it as I watched the horror unfold Tuesday night on TV. People were stuck on the interstates all around and children were stranded at school. The worst was those that did manage to get on buses and the bus getting stranded.

It’s amazing the hero’s that show up during these situations. Our wonderful law officers always step up to the plate and those that are in the emergency management positions, but I’m talking about just everyday people. I’m going to hit on some of the ones that moved me as I watched the stories.

The teachers that were stranded with the children. To me that’s heroism. You may not think so, but those parents that were at home had a little bit of relief that those teachers were there. They stayed with those children and fixed meals, entertained them and were their parents for several hours. It’s hard to imagine what had to be going through their minds. I can’t even comprehend it. They were true heros and stepped up to the plate.

Then I heard of so many going out on foot to those stranded on the interstates. They showed several passing out hot chocolate and others handing out snack bars and water. Even a couple were handing out toilet paper. Things that we take for granted, these people had none of this. I’m sure they were thankful for whatever they could get. One guy even handed out fruit snacks for the children that were stranded in the cars with their families. You know it had to be hard on all of them. A lot of the stranded drivers were truck drivers. They even stepped up letting people get in their warm cabs to get warmth.

Then you have those that stepped up and risked their lives by helping people get their cars out of ditches or unstuck. Even Chipper Jones, a former Atlanta Braves player helped out. It’s amazing the amount of compassion that was shown during this.

Also a big shout out to the many stores that opened up their doors to those stranded motorists. People were sleeping in the aisles of grocery stores, card stores and others.

It just goes to show that in a bad situation, people step up to the plate. They may not consider themselves heros, but to those that they helped they’re Superman or Wonderwoman. It touched me. I counted myself lucky that my family was safely tucked in at home by the fire.

We still have no school and my hubby is here on standby. As for me, I’m working at my kitchen table where it’s warm. That’s the nice thing about having my office beside my house. I can telecommute.

So if you know of someone who has been helpful in this crazy winter, give them a shout out.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Snowy night in Georgia!

Well the meterologists got it right. Here in Georgia we’re getting lots of snow. It’s pretty and really cold. I know those of you from the north are laughing at us southerners, but we don’t get this often. We’re definitely not prepared for it. Atlanta highways are almost closed down and the roads are iced over. As for me, I’m sitting in my cozy den with a roaring fire.

It’s a great night to write a beach scene that I’ve been working on. I’m thinking warm thoughts…..Yeah that helped thaw out my toes. I plan on sitting here and finishing the beach scene tonight. Then hopefully if my power doesn’t go out, I’ll finish the whole book tomorrow. But unfortunately I live in the country and if the ice builds on the power lines, well you know what happens, they snap. Then I’ll be down for the count. But I have plenty of pens and paper 🙂 I’ll go back to the old way of writing.

The snow is falling heavily now as the darkness takes over. It looks like diamonds falling from the sky. The ice crystals gleam in our outside spot lights. It’s simply gorgeous. But since my driveway is uphill, we’ll have to get out the 4×4 if we go anywhere out of four wheeler range.

Hope everyone is staying safe in the cold weather that’s descended from Canada.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday Morning Writing

It’s Monday morning and the kids should be going back to school today, but due to the extremely cold weather and threat of snow they will not be going back until Wednesday. I’ve moved my office into my dining room since it’s so cold. My office is hard to heat sometimes so it’s just easier to work where it’s warm.

I do hope all my US friends are staying warm and safe in this cold and snow snap. We didn’t get any snow here south of Atlanta, but North Georgia got a little bit. It’s just cold and windy.

As for my writing I’m first working on balancing some year end accounts and then back to the writing. I hope to have Finding the Right Time completed with the second edit tonight. The 2nd installment in three of my series are well on their way, but the holidays got in the way. Now that it’s somewhat back to normal I hope to get in some quality writing time. I sat last night with my hands poised over the keys but nothing came through my fingers. Writer’s block is not a fun thing when you have some time to write and nothing comes through.

Of course this morning my mind is on overload with stories, but alas my accounting work needs to be done first. It does help pay the bills and as many writers know, the writing doesn’t do that in most cases. I’m playing with the idea of sending Finding The Right Time to a publisher, but still not sure. I’ve always self published and noticed many big writers are going back to self publishing. It just makes me wonder if that’s the right course. I’ll have to do a list of pros and cons.

Oh well, this isn’t getting this account balanced. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have power and can post an update on Finding The Right Time.

If you get a chance go over to Amazon and check out my writer friend from Georgia, V. Steele. She’d just released the 2nd book in her My Prodigy Trilogy. I usually don’t read this kind of romance, well I do read vampire books, but hers are a little racey but well written. She just laughs at me. I guess I love her work because she uses my publishing company for editing and covers. My brilliant and talented cover designer has outdone herself lately with V’s covers and the one for Finding The Right Time.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…