It’s Christmas!

December 25, 2011

Wow!  It seems just yesterday it was the beginning of the year 2011 and now it’s almost 2012.  I have such a hard time at the beginning of the year getting the right date on the checks I write.  Yes, I still write my own checks.  I don’t do those automatic things from the bank.  I just don’t like anyone else’s hands messing around in my money.  As long as I’m of sound mind and body, I’ll do it myself.  Sometimes I wonder about the sound mind thing though.

I have to share Mouse’s Christmas with you.  We always open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve so Santa has plenty of space underneath the Christmas tree to leave his stash.  So Mouse gets this little tiny Mouse-sized package.  Now, she’s got a really good sniffer on her and she knows there’s treats inside that paper package.  She begins to claw at it first and then she’d stick her nose back on the package just to be sure she was right in what was in that package.  She’d claw some more and then she began to get those sharp little teeth involved.  Problem was she was trying to chew through the side with the tape on it.  So, mom turns it over just to help out a bit.  That helped.  She’d claw at it and get it between both paws and then she’d chew at it and she finally got a piece of paper torn out of it.  Well, from that point on it didn’t take her long.  She got her nose down into it and pulled out one little mint bone and promptly ate it.  Next she went back to clawing and chewing on the paper until she could get to the rest – one more mint bone and three little doggie treats shaped like a pork chop bone.  Ah, Christmas.  She was happy.  But don’t take that paper just yet mommy, it still smells so-o-o good.

Still More Thinking

This “what am I going to do before my next big birthday” sure is getting to me.  Can’t come up with any place to go, anything to do – nada, nothing, zippo.  My brain has turned into mush.

I thought about taking a cross-country trip.  You know, just go from one side of the United States to the other.  I could visit bookstores all along the way.  Now that would be fun but I’d have to have a moving van to hold all the books I’d be bringing back – never could pass up buying a book!  So, that won’t work.

What’s a girl to do?

Still Thinking

Still trying to come up with something to do before my next milestone birthday.  Ride a horse – I can do that.  Learn a new song on the piano/dulcimer or other instrument,  I do that all the time.  So what is there?  Maybe I need to take a trip somewhere I haven’t been and just see something I’ve never seen in person.  What about Niagara Falls, the President’s faces in the mountain in South Dakota, maybe the Grand Canyon.  Okay, let’s pick something.  Where should I go and what should I see?

June 5, 2011 – Things to Do Before I Die

I was just sitting here thinking about things I wanted to do and the things I did do before my last milestone birthday and was wondering what I could do for the next milestone one.  Thinking of something to do could prove to be difficult.

When I was very young I always wanted to write books – I do.  I wanted to play the piano – I do.  I also play hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, bass dulcimer and organ.  I wanted to learn photography – I did; and ventriloquism – I did.  Then I decided that before I reached a certain age, I’d learn to fly a plane – I did, learn to fly one I mean.

So what’s next for me to do before that next big birthday.  Skydive?  Don’t think so.  I’m not good with heights.  Can’t dive off the high dive at the local pool, for heavens’ sake.  So don’t think you’re going to get me to jump out of plane a few thousand feet up in the air.  Nope, not gonna happen.

Could climb up one of those mountains but I’m not fond of cold weather, snow and ice so I don’t think I want to do that either.

So, help me out here.  What could I do, that I haven’t done before, to celebrate my next milestone birthday?

Book Launched on November 30, 2010

I successfully launched my new book entitled “Who Took My Husband:  Or How I Survived Living With a Drug Addict” on November 30 with a book launch party.  It was fantastic.  Loads of friends and fans stopped by for the event.  The title I used for the book’s original working title (meaning the title I used while I was creating it) was “The Other Side of Hell” but the powers that be thought it’s new title told more of what the book was about.  I agreed.

After the book’s launch party, I’ve been doing talks around Iowa and autographing books.  Now that’s fun.  You get to talk about the creative art of writing, how the book was written and then talk with the people who’ve attended.  I made lots of new friends and can’t wait for the other autograph sessions I have booked for this year.

I’ve heard from a lot of people how the book has helped them as someone dealing with the same type situation that’s talked about in the book.  People from places as far away as Texas, California, Washington and numbers of people from right here in Iowa.  It’s so great to hear that by putting my thoughts on paper someone else has been helped and given hope for their own future.

Some day I’ll have to have a huge party and invite all the people who’ve contacted me because of my book.  That’ll be fun!

Goodbye 2010

The year is almost over and it seems every year goes by faster than the one before it.  Maybe I’m trying to cram too much into a year’s time or maybe it’s just that I’m getting old.

2010 has been an exciting year for me.  I have a new book out:  “Who Took My Husband? Or how I survived living with a drug addict!” If you haven’t gotten a copy yet, you can order it by clicking here or from Amazon.com.  I was thrilled to be given a wonderful book launch party for its debut!  There were lots of people in attendance, great food and loads of fun.  I had a wonderful time and, of course, autographed a lot of books!  If you’d like an autographed copy of the book, contact me.

I’ve now started a new book and I’m hoping this one doesn’t take me as long to finish.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 2010 and I hope your 2011 is even better.  May you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What’s on you Agenda for today?

One of my favorite quotes is from George Horace Lorimer.  He said:  “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you are going to go to bed with satisfaction.”  So, what’s on your determination list for today?  What are you going to accomplish today that will move you one step closer to your goals?

For me, I’m determined each morning to complete at least my three morning pages followed by my hour of an appointment with myself.  After I’ve completed those two things each and every morning, then I sit down and begin my writing day.  I’m committed to completing five pages of writing each day.  Somedays, the writing comes easy and other days it’s like trying to get ten pounds of hair off a Mexican hairless.  It’s not easy!

But there are the rewards for all that hard work.  One is being interviewed!  Be sure to catch my interview with Marcia James.  She interviewed me for her “James Gang” section.   Be sure to check it out.  Then there’s also speaking engagements around the country where I get to meet you, my fans.  There’s also autographing sessions.  All of those things are the things that I think about while I’m trying to pull more words out of my head.  You keep me going.  I appreciate each and every one of my wonderful fans.  So thank you.  It’s a delight to meet you through the pages of my books, at autograph sessions and at speaking engagements.  Hopefully, I’ll be close enough to where you are so we can spend a few moments together while I autograph a book for you!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone. What will you being doing today? I’ve been up writing since 4 a.m. At least it wasn’t 2:00 a.m. as usual.

Why is it that some people sleep all night long and never wake up at odd hours and other people, like me, can go to bed at 11 p.m. and wake at 2 a.m. I usually fall asleep again around 6 a.m. and wake up again at 8 a.m. That gives me about 5 hours of sleep total. What gives?

I used to be able to sleep all night long and then have to drag myself out of bed when the alarm clock went off. And if I didn’t have to get up, I could sleep another three or four hours.

Now, it’s about 5 hours max. I want my sleep!

But then, if I were sleeping, I wouldn’t be writing. Writing is good. I get more written between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. than I probably do the rest of the day. For one thing, there’s no little doggie begging for attention.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, Mouse is right here underneath my desk as I write. It’s just that she’s asleep. She’s quite comical, too. She has this pink fur house with a heating pad inside to sleep on. There’s a pink blanket that hangs over her doorway to make it darker inside and she feels secure.

But right now, she’s laying with her body inside the house and her head hanging out the doorway, snoring just as loud as any human. She can sleep – why can’t I?

Writing Ideas

How do writers come up with all their ideas for stories?  Do they just have other people living inside their heads who, at just the right moment, pop out and say “Write a story about me!”  What makes them ask that inevitable question all writers seem to ask? What if?  When they see a dog running alongside a highway, they ask “What if?” and off they go on a tangent of “what if’s”.  What if this happened or what if that happened.  Before you know it that dog has led an adventurous life and probably was the cause of two people falling in love and saving the world as we know it.

What keeps the everyday person from asking that same question?  What makes writers ask that question?  Any ideas?

Help me win a Pepsi Grant for kids!

Hello everyone, please help me win a Pepsi Grant!  I’m trying to start a music program for low-income kids here in Des Moines, Iowa. I want to teach kids how to play the Mountain Dulcimer (which I play). Statistics show that kids who learn to play music do better in school, have higher self-esteem as well as other benefits.  All you have to do is vote for me.  It can’t wait.  Do it today.  All I’m asking Pepsi for is $5,000 to start the program.  That gives me enough money to buy 30 children’s dulcimers, and other necessary supplies.  So please, don’t do this for me, but do it for the kids!  Just go to:  http://refresheverything.com/DulcimersforKids and vote.  Now.  Please.  Pass this on to everyone on your e-mail list!  I need to win!  Voting closes 2/28/10.  But please don’t wait to vote, you’ll forget and the kids won’t get their chance.  They will play in concert at their school by the end of May.  Now go vote!  And thanks bunches.