Hot Reads and Weather

I love the heat and hate winter. I don't enjoy the rain like some people do. But even I think we need some this week. So let it rain, a bit.

I've read some good books in between working on my outline for my next book and finishing up some line edits for the one coming out shortly. Lesser Evils by Joe Flanagan was a great read. The

main character is so human and interesting. The story is suspenseful and very dark, but the ending allows the light to shine through. I will read more by this author.

I have a stack of library books to read but that won't stop me from going to the bookstore today. In other good news, my local library has extended their hours for the summer. I guess that means that donations are up or the county powers-that-be found money in the budget to actually put toward a worthwhile thing.

When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry. William Shakespeare

Father's Day was great at our house. Two of our boys took their father golfing which they all enjoyed despite the heat. I prepared some of my husband's favorite dishes, corn on the cob, pasta salad, meatball sandwiches, and the other children make time to spend at least part of the day here. My husband is an excellent father and deserves all the love that came his way.

The imprint of the father, remains forever on the life of the child. - Roy Lessin 

I'm polishing up the first page of First Dragon for a workshop we're doing at my next local writer's meeting. We're having three outside professionals come in and they'll evaluate first pages with the writers being anonymous. I also made a short list of fantasy publishers I intend to query that book too. My favorite is closed to submissions until the end of July so I'll probably wait until then.

Wonder Woman was great. Really glad I went to see it. We also rented The Batman Lego movie last week. It wasn't as good as the first Lego movie, but it was okay. My husband wants to rent the second John Wick movie next. I guess I can stand some endless violence and a main character I could care less about for an evening.

I won't be posting next week as my husband and I are going away for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. Finally. My next post will be for IWSG July version. The optional question for that post is: What is one valuable lesson you've learned since you started writing?

Did you see both Lego movies? One better than the other? Summer getaway plans on your agenda? Ever attend a workshop where pages were critiqued in a group situation? Did you learn anything?

A Week of Celebration

This week in June is one of my favorite weeks all year. Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 35th anniversary. All the children joined us as usual, reminding us how full our lives are. We're going away for a few days later this month to celebrate alone.

"Grow old with me, the best is yet to be." —Robert Browning

 This Wednesday, Flag Day, my one son turns 32. Now that he has his own child, I'm constantly reminded what a good baby he was and altogether a terrific child. Then next Sunday is Father's Day. That means another day with all the kids are at our house and goading my husband to play all day. Card, bean bag toss, and bocce ball. It will be fun.

Lots of my friends commented on the picture I posted on Instagram yesterday of the flowers my husband bought me. I so appreciated it, but it also reminded me of my determination to learn how to use and enjoy the app. I moved it up the list.

Another big thing on my list is finding a publisher for my second fantasy series. First Dragon, the book that led off that series, was published by a small press for about a year with almost no sales before the publisher closed its doors. The edits on the second book had been completed except for the final line edit. I need to find a publisher willing to take on a book that was out there already. The fact that the defunct publisher did so little with promotion and made no effort to help me leaves me with the hope that it wasn't because the book was bad that it didn't really sell.

Still have a lot of edits to do on that book. My publisher is used to me getting them back a little quicker than I did this time. I hope to get them done later today. After my daughter and I go see Wonder Woman.

I love reading hints and speculations about shows I'm looking forward to. Game of Thrones and Stranger Things are top on my list right now. GoT only has 7 episodes this season but I heard the last two are really long. I'm doing a re-watch from season one to the present. Currently moving closer to The Red Wedding lest I forget how terrible things have gone for the Starks in the past. Our family has a lot of fun speculating who will still be alive when the show ends. I'm also interested in the CBS show Salvation that is coming in July. A little like Armageddon.

Lots of chores to done around the homestead. I still have a few flowerbeds that need a lot of attention. My husband did some cleaning in the garage last week so I'm going to tackle the rest of it. I need to do my annual tree trimming to make mowing easier. Right now, I have two pine trees that try to know me off the mower. Inside the how, I have a stack of books for the second hand store and a box of things for Goodwill.
I always thought a yard was three feet, then I started mowing the lawn. ~C.E. Cowman

I read a good book last week. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. This book is very different but don't be put off when you look inside. It's written as a report complied from various sources. It looks confusing but isn't at all and is a very fast read. There's very little narrative and is almost all dialogue. It's the first in a series. The characters are interesting and the setting is really cool if you love space opera. I can see this book being a movie someday.

Have you read anything interesting? Have any chores you're dreading? Do you like to read speculations about TV shows?

IWSG: I Love June

Welcome to the June edition of the Insecure Writer's Support Group monthly blog hop. This supportive group was the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. There is so much going on with this terrific group. Make sure you visit IWSG Home and see what project is coming next for members. It's exciting. It's great to see Pat Hatt and Nick Wilford moving into the administration part of the group.

The question for this month: Did you ever say "I quit?" If so, what happened to draw you back to writing?

I doubt many writers can honestly say they never thought about quitting. A little over a month ago, I considered it. And right after I signed a new contract for a book. Lots of things going on in my personal life. Things I had no control over. All the other responsibilities I had taken on nagged at me and drained my energy. So I trimmed my work load, set some priorities and kept with my writing. No magical epiphany. Sometimes writing is just forcing yourself to sit down at the keyboard and keep going.

So still here, working on some edits for that book I received the contract for. Admiring a little cover art for the first book in a dystopian romance series, Hunter's Exiled Lady. More about it later.

In other book news, in case you haven't already heard. Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaStar is now available in audio book. Check it out on Amazon.

I hope you're still thinking about the #IWSGPit coming up in July. Today, if you write romance, you can practice by visiting #CarinaPitch.  Tomorrow, you can jump into Pitmad. Good luck. You have nothing to lose by jumping in.

I don't usually enjoy medical shows, but I'm looking for to The Night Shift coming back on for the summer season. Of course, Game of Thrones will be back in July. The new season of Sherlock is on Netflix already. It's really good if you haven't watched it yet.

A little science that sounds like fiction but isn't. If you haven't heard about the wasp that turns cockroaches into zombies, you can get all the facts here.

So what do you think about IWSG newest endeavor? Ready to do some Twitter pitches? Ever say 'I quit?'