All I Can Say is Ramblings

Hi guys!

I don't know what happened last week. I just totally spaced off writing a post.

But I'm here now!

I have a confession to make. As I'm sitting here typing this, I don't have the foggiest clue what I'm supposed to be blogging about today.

So now you know.

Do you ever get in one of those ruts where it seems like you're constantly trying to play catch up? You know what you're supposed to do, but getting it done just seems so impossible, because you're trying to do everything else also?

That's me right now.

I don't know if its just because its summer, or if I'm just overcomplicating my life, or what it is.

My farm wife life is in full throttle during summertime. Lately I've been irrigating, working on equipment, giving rides back and forth, going and getting parts, and taking lunches out to the field.

Or, lets be honest, I've just been taking pictures while Henry does all of those things with his dad.

Off the farm, I've been shopping not once, but twice in the last week. Once with one of my best friends, and again with my mom and sisters (who are also my best friends, let it be known). Both times were very fun, very exhausting, very long days.

Henry is no longer content with sitting in shopping carts while we have all the fun, so we had to find something for him to do also.

He's such a good little helper.

The county fair is going on this week, so I've made three trips there so far to see bull riding, and my mom and sisters' exhibits. Today is the horse show, which is actually where I'm at as you're reading this. I've got this lovely ramble set up to post automatically for me.

It's been pretty hot here. I say pretty hot, and not straight up hot, because--it never fails--I start to think its too hot here, and my step mother-in-law texts me to tell me its 112 degrees there.

It's not that hot here, people.

I would not live in a place where 112 degrees is a normal and acceptable temperature.

But it has been in the 90's, and the humidity is running wild, so to fend off the heat in the house, me and Henry have been grilling outside instead of using the oven.

I think at this point I've grilled everything socially acceptable to grill.

And maybe a few things non socially acceptable.

I fed my husband and his friend deer meat steaks yesterday.

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On the writing front things are a lovely balance between "I'm losing my stinking mind" and "I love writing!" Which I think is a normal place to be, as a writer.

I'm staying on track with Camp Nano, and the 100 for 100 challenge, but basically by the skin of my teeth. I'm so looking forward to NaNo ending in August.

Red as Blood has officially been sent back to the editing team. Crossing my fingers that the second round isn't too bad.

I've also sent out my very first batch of query letters, hoping to find an agent to represent Blood and Dust. It was both a terrifying experience, and not nearly as hard as I thought. It took me some time to put together all the things I needed for a decent book proposal, but I'm happy with how it turned out I think, and excited to see if I hear back from anyone...though I'm totally prepared for rejections.

I can do this.

Oh, and guess what? I found vegetables in my garden yesterday!!

I'm not sure what it says about my gardening skills, that I get so excited about my plants growing vegetables, when that is literally their sole purpose on this planet. They're just doing their jobs.

I should also let you know that I created author accounts on Twitter and Instagram, in case you don't get enough ramblings and pictures on here.

I'm going to dial back the monologue now and shut this post down before it gets ridiculous. I haven't gone to bed before midnight in about a month now, and I shouldn't be allowed to blog when I'm in this sort of condition, but I was left unsupervised and can't be held responsible.

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The End is Near (for edits, that is)

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed your week.

Jarod and I celebrated our second anniversary on the 9th, so we went out for supper and some bowling. It was a great time.

I can't believe we're already two weeks into July. Time is just flying by. I kid you not, I've thought it was Monday for the last four days.

With the coming of July is the deadline to turn in my edits for Red as Blood.

You guys, I am so excited. I've been working on and off on these edits for weeks. Several lovely people read it for me after I made the first round of changes, and suggested a few more things to spruce it up, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

I'm in love with the change we made from medieval fantasy to Gaslamp, and I think the Victorian theme really adds to the overall story.

I might be a little biased, but I'm very happy with the changes in the characters. The story nearly doubled in size, going from 13,000 words to 25,000, and a large portion of that was added characterization.

I added a few new scenes that were very fun to write, and I think I managed to solve the romance issues that were swirling around at the beginning.

I'm doing one final read through before clicking send, but it is done for all intents and purposes.

I'm really excited and nervous to see what the editors think of the changes I made. I really hope they like them. I think they probably will, but there's still a little bit of terror that they'll send it back to me covered in red and say "again."

A River Runs Through It- Youtube

Once that's off to the Rooglewood team, I'm ready to start work on Code White. I got the edits back from the wonderful Abigayle Claire, and I am so happy with the suggestions she made. I think when I'm done it will be a great story for Kindle.

Since I got the main batch of edits done on Red as Blood and have been waiting on beta readers, and just making small tweaks, I've been able to play around with other writing.

Bad Boy is coming along nicely, though I'm getting a little stuck with a romance thread that is not exactly certain how it is going to play out. I've been working on that one for Go Teen Writers 100 for 100 challenge, and its been going good so far. I'm almost finished with week seven, and just under halfway done with the whole challenge.

Camp NaNo is going good too. I've been working on my 1868 Story, and I'm on track to reach my 25K goal. It's going a little slower than the last few stories I've written have, but its been years since I delved into a prairie/western genre, and I've never written with adults as my target audience instead of YA. It's going good though, and I'm happy with how the story is turning out. It's fun to experiment with different story aspects than the usual, and I was able to do some really fun research in the process.

Besides scribbling away (or I should say typing, I've all but given up handwriting) I've had a summer packed with reading, crafting, cookouts with friends and family, lots of fireworks, and battling a grass invasion in my garden.

What about you? I'd love to hear about your summer.

Let Freedom Ring

 

Happy Independence Day everyone!

I love July 4th, and I'm pretty sure it is Jarod's favorite holiday. Hence, his vehicle...

I mean, not to be cliché, (or offensive. It's all in good fun, my non American pals) but we kind of go all out and get crazy....

 

 

Images from Pinterest

 

Anyway, all joking aside, I love Independence Day. We typically go to my parents' house, and Jarod tells my sisters he's going to "take out a small loan" to go buy fireworks, which is an overstatement, but in the spirit of free speech I let it slide. We do get fireworks though, and I always try to haggle a deal to get the biggest fireworks for the cheapest price. It usually works pretty well.

There's lots of food and visiting, and aside from the general family holiday fun, it's thrilling to actually stop and think about what we are really celebrating.

 

Living in America, we are so privileged. Even with all the craziness that goes on in politics, and how you just want to wring their necks sometimes, we still have the freedom to worship God the way we choose, to raise and educate our children how we want, to speak our mind, and to work hard and enjoy the fruits of our labor. It's a beautiful thing.

And this year we're blessed to have a president who is actually trying to listen to us as "we the people", and bring this country back around to the vision it started with.

 

It's our duty to remember what the founding father's risked when they made that declaration all those years ago, and what so many men and women have fought and sacrificed to protect every year since then. May we never be the generation to take their endeavors for granted, and let the freedom they passed down to us slip away. Once gone, its a hard fight to get it back, if you ever do.

 

This past weekend my hometown of Ashton hosted their town celebration Ashton Days. Original, right? Trust me, its simpler this way. At least people know where they're supposed to go. I'll readily admit I have no idea where Popcorn days, Chokecherry Days, or any of those days take place.

 

They had turtle races, so me and Henry took EEM in. He did not win, but the little guy did run, and Henry got his picture in the paper for being the youngest little racer.

 

There was also a ranch rodeo, and both the hired hands on the ranch competed, as well as some old friends. Henry went with my mom, and me and my sisters watched it.

Wild cow milking

Jarod's aunt, Rosie, also brought her visitors from Sweden who spent the week here, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. They didn't stick around for the fourth, but some people from Australia came the next day, and they had to buy some fireworks for themselves.

It's kind of been international exchange week around here, it seems like. Seriously, so much fun. Rosie picked up a Swedish accent along the way, and I'm sorely tempted to start talking like an Australian.

 

Not today, obviously. Today is about America. But you get my point.

 

Fireworks were supposed to be on Saturday, but they got rained out (as did I. I took refuge in my grandpa's driveway because I couldn't see to drive home for quite awhile) so rescheduled to Sunday night.

They. Were. Awesome.

 

So, this morning I'm gonna do a few chores, and then its off to my parents house for some relaxation and liberty.

 

I hope you all enjoy your day!

 

 

Goodbye to June

 

Hello everyone!

 

I hope you enjoyed your June as much as I did, and are ready for July.

 

June was really busy over here, and had all kinds of crazy extremes going on. As enjoyable as most of it was, I'm crossing my fingers that July might be a little less hectic. (But I'll admit I'm not holding my breath.)

 

Here's a quick look at what was taking up my time this month.

 

What's Playing?

 

June was the 20th anniversary of our local Christian radio station, so they played a lot of music from twenty years ago. Some of it was pretty crazy, and some of it made me nostalgic, so I've got some oldies on the list.

 

In the Ghetto- Elvis Presley

Neon Steeple album by Crowder

Anything by Celtic Thunder

Summer Storm- Joel P. West

The Heat album by NeedtoBreathe

Awake album by Skillet

Taylor Swift, back when she was country...but not country enough...but not pop.

The End is Where We Begin album by Thousand Foot Krutch

Castle-Halsey

Old school Newsboys. Like, back when they looked like this...

 

What's on the Kindle?

 

I read so much this month. So much. Besides the books I've reviewed lately, I've also read:

 

The Beautiful Pretender, and the Regency Spies of London trilogy, all by Melanie Dickerson.

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill

I'm currently reading The Noble Servant, also by Melanie Dickerson.

All of which were absolutely fantastic and will be receiving reviews later on.

Besides those, I'm also reading fellow Apple Gang (also known as the five winners of the Five Poisoned Apples contest) members' stories Snowbird by Rachael Holt ,and Falling Snow by Skye Hoffert. You guys, they are so good. I cannot wait for this collection to come out in December so you can all read the in their beautiful finished glory.

 

What's on TV?

 

Veggie Tales.

 

No, but seriously, that's what's on.

When Henry isn't watching however, I've been watching Heartland, and When Calls the Heart.

Heartland is probably my favorite of the two, even though When Calls the Heart is good. I do feel like it is my duty as a reader to point out that it is nothing like the books, but I mean, when are they ever?

 

What I'm Writing:

 

Bad Boy is probably about 60% done with its first draft and sitting at about 70K words.

Red as Blood is 99.9% done. There is one more line I want to add to it, and then I will think its officially done.

1868  is now completely outlined and ready to go for Camp Nano.

Blood and Dust is currently in search of an editor. I've got two that I'm getting sample edits from so I can decide who to send it to. Another Apple Gang member, Jenelle Hovde introduced me to #Faithpitch on Twitter. You can pitch your stories to literary agents via twitter, on certain days (tomorrow, or later on in November) and if they heart it, you can send them your query. So, now I'm on Twitter. I'd like to have Blood and Dust  ready to pitch by the next date in November.

Code White is currently at the editor. EEEK!

 

 What's Been Happening?

 

It has ranged anywhere from the 60's to 100's temperature wise, with really high humidity.

Lots of thunderstorms, roughly eight inches of rain, and a really nasty swimsuit sunburn. Can anyone say "racer back"?

June involved a lot of road trips with Jarod, that were super fun, even though they were work related. There's also been a lot of swimming, as implied by the swimsuit tan.

And I've been doing a bunch of crafting. I'm currently working on building myself a patio table, and if it works I'll share pictures. I also just finished a barn quilt, which I do not have a picture of, and this little guy.

 

He's not quite done in this picture, but this is for Jarod. He designed it, and plans to put it out in his field where he's been experimenting with cover crops.

 

Quotes of the Month:

 

I have a little chicken shaped chalkboard in my kitchen, and I try to change the quote on it every week or so.

 

This month these were featured:

 

"I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, sound mind."

 

"Tell yourself a good story"

 

"Earn every smile and shared moment."

 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" 1 Cor. 2:9

 

I confess, I don't actually know where I picked them all up, so I can't properly reference them. I may have picked them up in a book, or online, or maybe on a piece of junk mail. I don't know.

 

What's on the Agenda?

 

The end of this month/beginning of next, my hometown Ashton, hosts Ashton days, so I plan to head there. There will be a ranch rodeo, and turtle races, so me and Henry plan to see of fast our little EEM can move.

 

City wide garage sales are also next month, and I can't decide if I should go shopping, or have one of my own. The struggle.

 

!!!FIREWORKS AND FREEDOM!!!

AKA, Independence Day.

 

Our 2 year wedding anniversary. (as well as my friend Victoria's birthday. She's a true friend. She sacrificed her birthday to be my bridesmaid)

 

Camp NaNo.

 

So that's what my month has looked like.

 

What about yours? What are you looking forward to next month?

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Day of Summer Post

Hello all! Pardon me for not posting yesterday. Me and my littlest sister took an impromptu shopping trip, then watched movies all evening, and I wasn’t feeling in the blogging groove.

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But here I am today, and what better day for a blog post than the first day of summer! Although I must say, with the triple digit temperatures and major thunderstorms we’ve been having here the last few weeks, it felt like summer already

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Today I’m just going to give you a bit of an update on where I’m at with life and writing, as I feel like lots of neat things have been going on, but I don’t know that any of them were of a large enough scale to merit their own blog post.

My middle sister, Emily, graduated on Saturday, so I spent a few days helping mom get everything ready, since Emily skipped all the work to volunteer at Bible camp. Freeloader. It turned out beautiful though, and it ended up being a really good day.

 

We went to my parent’s house for Father’s Day, and they ended up bringing a movie over to our house the next day. If you haven’t seen I Can Only Imagine yet, you definitely need to do so, post haste. I’ve seen Mercy Me before in concert, so I had heard the short version of the story behind the song, but it was incredible and inspiring to see the entire thing in detail.

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We’ve had about 5.7 inches of rain in the last three days, and I’m thrilled to report that my garden has withstood the storms like a champ. My basement on the other hand, is rather soaked….

On the writing home front, things are looking good. I’m all but finished with edits for Red as Blood. I’ll admit, I thought I was going to die at the beginning of this process, but it actually wasn’t nearly as hard as I anticipated, and I couldn’t be happier with how the story has turned out. As much as I loved it to start with, I love it even more now, and it has definitely made huge improvements from the original version. I am so excited for all of you to be able to read it in December.

Besides working on Red as Blood, I also sent off my second contest entry, Code White, to an editor. My plan is to work on revising it while the team at Rooglewood is working on the things that don’t involve me, so hopefully Code White can come out on Kindle sometime early next year. Stay tuned on that one.

The 100 for 100 challenge, hosted by Go Teen Writers just finished its fourth week, and I’ve been doing pretty good. I had to use my grace week, but overall I’ve been able to write at least one hundred words every single day. I’ve been continuing on with the Bad Boy story (which really needs a real title) and have added 5,796 words to it. Not a terrible lot, but I’m keeping at it at least.

I'm really enjoying how the story is unfolding, and to top it all off, Mirriam Neal commissioned a painting for me of the main character, Brass.

 

Isn't it just gorgeous??

I also got ambitious and signed up for Camp NaNo. It’s like NaNoWriMo, in that you work on a writing project for the whole month of July, but instead of trying to make 50,000 words, you can choose whatever word count you want, and you can work on a story that is already started, instead of starting from scratch. This year I want to work on my 1868 historical romance, and I set the word count goal for 25k. I think I can do it. If not, at least I’ll have got some work done on it.

So it looks like my summer is shaping up to be chuck full of writing, plus I plan to fit in other things like swimming, visiting friends, and hopefully riding some horses.

 

What about you? What do your summer plans look like?

Olivia Twist- Book Review

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good week. Mine was full of carnival rides, cotton candy, and many hours spent in the tractor.

Today on the blog I’m reviewing Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon.

From Goodreads

 

Here’s what Goodreads has to say about it:

Olivia Brownlow is no damsel in distress. Born in a workhouse and raised as a boy among thieving London street gangs, she is as tough and cunning as they come. When she is taken in by her uncle after a caper gone wrong, her life goes from fighting and stealing on the streets to lavish dinners and soirees as a debutante in high society. But she can’t seem to escape her past … or forget the teeming slums where children just like her still scrabble to survive.

Jack MacCarron rose from his place in London’s East End to become the adopted “nephew” of a society matron. Little does society know that MacCarron is a false name for a boy once known among London gangs as the Artful Dodger, and that he and his “aunt” are robbing them blind every chance they get. When Jack encounters Olivia Brownlow in places he least expects, his curiosity is piqued. Why is a society girl helping a bunch of homeless orphan thieves? Even more intriguing, why does she remind him so much of someone he once knew? Jack finds himself wondering if going legit and risking it all might be worth it for love.

Olivia Twist is an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale Oliver Twist, in which Olivia was forced to live as a boy for her own safety until she was rescued from the streets. Now eighteen, Olivia finds herself at a crossroads: revealed secrets threaten to destroy the “proper” life she has built for her herself, while newfound feelings for an arrogant young man she shouldn’t like could derail her carefully laid plans for the future.

 

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Review:

I love this book so much. It’s the first book I’ve read in several months now, and the first book I’ve read by this author, and I was not disappointed. It took me two days to read it, but it should have only taken one. My family thinks they need fed and interacted with. Entitled things that they are.

Everything from the characters, to the setting, to the spiritual theme was perfect.

I love the characters so much. Olivia is a firecracker leading female. She’s got spunk, and energy, and I love her motherly femininity, even as she masquerades as a boy.

Jack is my new fictional crush, and will probably remain on that list for many years. He is the perfect combination of danger, renegade, charming, and caring to create the perfect anti-hero, and I love his gradual character arc toward morality.

There is a whole slew of background characters that make this story that much better. Adorable little street boys, romantic rivalries, caring relatives, and a first rate vile villain.

The setting of this story really captivated me. Langdon perfectly captures the filthy, gritty side of Victorian London, while at the same time drawing out all the romanticized aspects that we tend to associate with it. All of the little details about furniture, clothing, and the city landmarks brought the time period to life.

I really enjoyed the spiritual/moral thread through this story. The author did a great job of weaving it into her story without coming off as preachy, and I loved how she really let her characters show her theme without spelling it out in black and white.

I’ve never read Oliver Twist (Its now on my To Be Read list), but the idea of Oliver being a girl in disguise, and this being the continuation of the story really fascinated me, and the plot has several exciting twists that I wasn’t expecting.

 

Content Caution: I really didn’t think there was much for content warnings in this book, but there were a few things I noticed that some people might want to know ahead of time.

There are a few mild cuss words in the story. I didn’t count them, but I’d guess no more than five. Please don’t kill me if you count them and I’m wrong. Most of the time they were just used in period slang like Hellhound, or gambling hell, so really not too vulgar.

There were also a couple mild innuendos, that imply Jack probably isn’t as pure as the wind driven snow, but nothing graphic at all, so probably wouldn’t pose a problem.

There are also a couple big kissing scenes, that don’t lead anywhere beyond that, but the author did describe them very well, so be warned if that’s something that you’d rather avoid.

 

Overall, I absolutely adored this book, and would definitely read again, and recommend to anyone.

 

What about you? Read any great books lately that I should know about? Have you read Olivia Twist yet? Do you have any plans for Father’s Day? Do tell!  

Summer Snapshots

I'm late getting this posted.

 Mostly because the blog topic I was going to do wasn't working out.

 I don't feel real good today, and I've got fifty things to do today, and no motivation.

 

 So in the name of getting the important things accomplished, I'm going to skimp on a proper blog post today, and just share some pictures of what's been going on in life lately.

 Hopefully I'll be back next week with a real post.