Facade Free 8/18 - 8/22

The Facade ebook is free at Amazon starting today! Grab a copy now because this is a limited time offer. This is only good through 8/22.

It is always available to read for free through Kindle Unlimited.

I'd appreciate an honest review after you've read it.

Rain, Rain, Blighty Tomatoes and Shaggy Lawns

It feels like it has been raining every day since I got back from my trip. And looking at the garden I think it may have started right after I left.

The ground is saturated. A neighbor's tree came down in a stiff wind. The garden flooded for the first time in years. The river is high and we keep getting flash flood warnings.

The veggies aren't happy. The cucumbers gave up the fight against gray mold and look nasty. I sprayed the tomatoes for blight before I left and as soon as I got home, but it keeps raining. In fact, it rained the afternoon after I sprayed.

The lawn keeps getting longer. On the few days that I have managed to score a dry period and taken my walk, I can see that my neighbors are having the same problem. Every time I plan to mow, it rains. They say you shouldn't cut the grass when it's wet, but I really don't have a choice.

On the plus side, I haven't had to water anything. And the green beans are pretty happy with the heat and wet. My basil is mostly happy. The lemon basil got squashed by a massive sunflower that pitched over in a storm. One of the other basils has an odd discoloration to the leaves. I need to research that before I make pesto.

The winter squash in one bed was totally devastated by squash beetles. But the patty pan squash that I had put in the red mustard bed is going great guns. A volunteer winter squash that came up in the middle of some volunteer catnip is also doing well. And the edamame is out of control.

Two of my tomato plants are still fighting. My Purple Cherokee is on its last legs. A shame because those tomatoes were yummy. At least I got to taste them.

Regardless of my plans, Mother Nature does what she will.

A Brief Respite

Next week I will be off on a 2 week vacation. I'm headed back to Europe. While I'm gone, I won't be blogging.

I plan to play the tourist to the hilt. I will be relaxing with friends and floating down the Danube river. Once we get to Hungary, I will be doing some family tree work in addition to relaxing and soaking in the biggest hot lake in Europe.

This vacation was built into my timeline, so there won't be any delays in the publication of my next book.

Happy summer to you all!

The Busy Life of Housecats

The day often starts with a nap in the sunroom.

A little music later on.

Supervising the work (and of course any lunch that might involve fish)

Maybe a little filing.

A workout on the trampoline.

Followed by a rest.

Some time for the neighborhood watch.

Before it's time for another nap

Updates

A Changed World 

Book 3 - the first draft is done and off to the first reader. I am still thinking about the title.

I already know that there needs to be some changes. Apparently if you write a story when you have allergy brain fog it tends to be plodding and dull. I was worried about that but pushed through because the first draft will get changed around anyway.

So I need more conflict and tension, all things I just can't bare to think about when I'm not feeling well. Funny how that works.

Transmutation

Book 2 is being outlined. Since I already wrote a major portion of this series - albeit badly - it's a little easier to get going. I know the through line and what needs to be accomplished in this book. But I have a feeling it's going to be a lot longer than the first one. We'll see.

The characters and setting are a bit different from the first incarnation. I need to take that into consideration while I'm sketching out the broad strokes for this one.

Working and working and working

I've managed to keep to my usual schedule of writing every weekday. I think, with practice, I've gotten a little faster. And I think my prose is a little cleaner. That's all a good thing.

I hope to keep the distractions to a minimum and keep up the word count!

First Draft Done!

The first draft of book 3 of A Changed World has just gone off to my first reader. Yay!

I am still on schedule for a fall release.

I have a working title of Speculations, but now that the draft is complete, that isn't working for me. I'll be toying with different titles while it is being read.

While it is off with the reader, it's time for me to start working on book 2 for the Transmutation series.

A writer's work is never done!

Garden Victories

I have a steep incline in my backyard. I think I mowed it once before I decided it needed to be all flowers.

First I put in hundreds of tulips that disappeared over the winter due to well-fed voles.

Then I haphazardly bought a few perennials whenever they caught my eye and planted them willy-nilly.

Then we had 3 years of drought. I felt guilty enough watering the vegetable garden, the flowers didn't get any.

Then we had the summer of rain. It felt like it rained every day and all my plants were wilted piles of moldy bits.

The next time I looked, the hill was a disaster of vine-tangled briars taller than me. Ugh. It was overwhelming. So I ignored it for another year...

Finally I got up the energy, courage and initiative to finally tackle it all. I ripped out the briars, weeds and small trees, weed-whacked down to dirt and mulch the heck out of it. While I was working on that - a couple feet at a time - I started digging up volunteers and starting seeds. By the time the bed was ready, I had a good collection of plants to put in.

And this summer, I get to enjoy the blooms!