Coffee Makes the World Go ‘Round

When you have a baby, everyone gets busy telling you to take care of yourself. Drink plenty of water. Get lots of rest. Take it easy. Try to eat healthy. Get started exercising as soon as the doctor says you can. 

Good advice. Sound advice. Hard to follow advice. 

I drink water like it’s going out of style, and still had to go to the doctor to get an IV. 

Rest?? What’s rest? You can’t get any rest between a two year old and a newborn. They don’t nap in sync. 

Take it easy ... I don’t understand. I just spent nine months uncomfortable with less and less mobility. I have things to do now, people! 

I do try to eat healthy. I do. But have you ever had a craving? Mine is suddenly dark chocolate—something I don’t even like usually. But not just any dark chocolate. Frozen dark chocolate. I want it so crunchy I risk breaking a tooth. 

And ah, exercise. The mom bod. No one wants that. I don’t want that. But how, pray tell, do you have the energy to work out if you’re doing all the things and not getting any rest and constantly distracted by an undying need for frozen dark chocolate? 

Where do you turn? Who do you go to? What is there that can alleviate these stresses? 

Coffee is the answer to all the things. 

Coffee in your morning smoothie. Coffee in your coffee. 

Espresso in your (dark) chocolate chip cookies. 

All of the coffee. 

It’s really starting to make sense to me why my childhood buddy drank his coffee so black we couldn’t go shooting afterward because he was shaking so badly. We got problems. 

This has been a public service announcement. Or maybe a health warning. 

Gifs from Google

Spring Is In My Hair

It isn’t in the air yet. 

The frost still has a bite. 

And the wind is never gentle. 

No way to fly a kite. 

No, it isn’t in the air yet

No matter how I wish

But spring is in my hair

I can feel it. 

It’s pulling on the strands, 

Wishing them away

To build and play and run

On every single day

To scatter life and growing

And splatter colors so 

But It has to go on hold 

Because springs only in my hair

And the air is still just cold

Oh what a sadness

What dismal gray cast skies

I want to see the greening

But the sparkles only in my eyes 

My nose can smell the sawdust

My hands can feel the fluff

But my brain looks out the window

And tells me just give up

Because the season is fickle

It likes to tempt and tease

When spring finally casts out winter

It will not be with ease

It might just cause a tempest 

It might force winds to blow

But soon enough the signs will come 

and then I’ll really know

But for now I’ll go on dreaming

With the tendrils in my hair

And wait for blessed spring time 

to finally reach the air 

The Queens Three Snippets

Hi guys!

 

I finished my second draft of The Queens Three a couple days ago.

I'm super happy with how the story is turning out. The extra POVs really seem to enhance the story, and I boosted the word count by ten thousand.

It's not done yet. I've got a few little details to weave in that I figured out as I was writing, so I need to go to the beginning and make sure everything fits together smoothly.

And I'm told I need a kiss scene.

*sigh*

I'll see what I can do.

 

Today I thought it would be fun to share some snippets with you. I know I've shared some scenes from Molly in the past, so I'm hoping these aren't duplicates. The scenes from Avian and Bunny are completely new.

 

(On a side note, Molly is the main character, a human disaster who runs a small town diner. Avian is a the conniving usurper queen of the fae realm, and the story's main villain, and Bunny is the displaced heir to the throne.)

 

Pinterest

Molly

The little bell on the door announces an incoming customer. I turn to look and nearly drop the stack of dishes. What the heck is he wearing? The man who walks in is a stranger. Blakely Nebraska only boasts a population of two hundred and I know them all. None of them dress like that.

He wears a ratty grayish jacket covered in more buttons and zippers than it merits, and perched on his shaggy brown hair is an honest to goodness top hat that could have belonged to Abe Lincoln.

**

 

“Here you go. Can I get you anything else?”

Not right now.” He pulls the first burger to him, the other hand holding his book open.

I glance at it again. It looks like it’s about to disintegrate all over the table. Doesn’t he know they print new ones? “I’m actually related to him,” I say. “The author. Carroll isn’t his real name though.”

“Dodgson,” he says around a mouthful of food. “Charles Dodgson.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “My mom figured out our family tree a couple years ago and we’re related. Well, sort of. She traced the line back to one of his brothers. So I’m like his great great niece or something.”

The guy’s eyes flit to mine over the pages and he smirks. “Something like dat.”

**

 

I round the corner and nearly collide with a tree. Well, a person dressed as a tree, walking down the sidewalk. I stagger back and stare. The makeup work is crazy. Like some of the face paint videos I’ve seen online. The woman’s skin actually looks like brown tree bark. Bits of twigs and leaves cling to her green hair and dress. “Sorry,” I stammer. “Nice costume.”

The woman just stares with unblinking eyes.

My throat constricts and I look down. “Sorry,” I mumble again, feeling totally awkward, and hurry past.

What is someone doing in full costume first thing in the morning on a Wednesday in September? People are getting weirder and weirder. Even out in the Nebraska sticks.

**

The man before me smiles. “They only hear and see what I want them to. They’re not going to think you’re crazy. There’s no need to worry your head off. Messy business that, worrying one’s head off. Don’t try it at home, that’s for sure.”

“Just stop.” I shake my head. “I’m going to call the police for public intoxication. This is insane.”

“I am insane,” he says gravely. “It comes with the territory I suppose, but I’ll admit, I’m quite fond of it. But I dare say you thinking you can sick your authorities on me is even more insane. What are they going to do? Catch me?” He vanishes before my eyes.

 

Pinterest

 

Bunny

“C’mon, Bunny. Aren’t you even a little glad to see me?” Malechi pushes his hands into his pockets, but his casual stance and ridiculous new appearance can’t hide the sorrow in his deep eyes.

I did not think I would ever see him again. A knot swells in my throat but I wrestle my voice past it. “Everything is a disaster."

**

“Did you miss the part where Avian is trying to steal all your magic and kill you?” Malechi jumps to his feet, slamming his obnoxiously tall hat to the dirty floor. “Believe me when I say dying isn’t at all pleasant, and you don’t want to do it.”

**

 

If Malechi waits a moment longer to transfigure me back, I will execute him myself, and this time I’ll get the job done.

 

Pinterest

 

Avian

“She can’t have gone far!” I rake a hand through my hair, caressing the sleek black feathers of a raven with the other. “Bunny is weak. Her power is taxed. She has to be close.”

The looking bowl is dim, the smooth water inside showing faint glimpses of trees and pixie glens. Where could she have run? All of Bunny’s friends are dead.

An image of gallows flashes in my mind’s eye, but I push it down, keeping my attention fixed solely on the looking bowl. He deserved it. They all did.

**

 

“There must be someone in this realm who understands the workings of humans.” I straighten from the table and pace the space in front of my throne.

“The magician, Malechi—”

“Yes, he knew,” I shoot a glare at the buffoon. “Considering I had him executed I didn’t think he would be of much help.”

___________

Pinterest

Malec. The real star of the story.

 

 

There you have it! This story has been full of surprises and first for me, but it is rapidly becoming one of my favorites.

If anyone is wanting to read it, its now available for beta readers.

It is approximately 65k, and I would rate it PG. No language or sexual content, but there is magic and some talk about drug abuse.

You can leave a comment or shoot me an email if you like.
For some extra fun, here is the Pinterest inspiration board and the Spotify playlist for the project.

 

What is your favorite fairytale retelling or spinoff?

 

 

Alien Sick Days

Hi guys!

I’m convinced I need to change blogging to a day other than Wednesday. Every time Wednesday rolls around something rolls in with it that annihilates my ability to put together a proper blog post. 

Overdramatic, you say? There are far more dramatic people in the world than me. I assure you. 

I’ve been fighting a migraine since Lorie was born. I thought it was from the spinal, but the doctor says it shouldn’t last that long, and figures it’s my hormones. Her solution was to “force the migraine out of my body.” Like I’ve got some kind of alien parasite or something. 

We tried a couple rounds of prescription meds with no success, so yesterday they had me come in for IV fluids and more meds to perform the exorcism—I mean migraine purge. 

Wonderfully, it seems to have worked and I’m currently headache free. Which is really saying something because since I got home last night my body has been conspiring to cause me as much stress as possible. 

Such as the fact that my left eye swelled up like a balloon. Not even joking. It was nearly shut, my eyelashes disappeared, I couldn’t close the eye without it putting massive pressure on my eyeball. I spent the whole night looking like a cyclops. Or maybe more like a banished fire nation prince. Because the rest of me was still pretty. 

Went to sleep only to wake up two hours later with massive stomach flu problems. Pretty much camped out in the bathroom from midnight to five, and then snagged about an hour of sleep before everyone woke up and needed attention. 

To top that off, my eye is still swollen. If it sticks around much longer I’ll have to develop an interesting backstory for it. Because “it randomly blew up and I have no idea why” isn’t all that epic. 

One thing is certain. I am thankful for the Nick Jr channel, the fact that newborns sleep all the time, and that the alien migraine seems to have found a different host. 

All gifs from Google

A Little Miss

Hi guys!

Sorry about the impromptu hiatus last week. But I’ve got a good reason. 

I would like to introduce Loraina Fable, born right on her due date. 

We had planned to try a VBAC this time around, but things didn’t turn out that way and we ended up doing another C-section. This time was considerably better than with Henry though, as I was able to be awake during the procedure and interact with her right after she was born. Recovery has been much better also. 

We’re all home and happy now, and big brother is absolutely thrilled (though he’s a little put off that mommy can’t rough house or drive him to the store because a doctor cut a hole in her tummy).

Little miss Lorie is a doll, and we’re so blessed to have her. 

Needless to say, I haven’t done much besides change diapers, feed kids, and try to sleep. I’ve got several new books screaming at me, and I can’t wait to dive into them (feeding a baby gives a perfect opportunity to read) but I’ve been fighting migraines caused by the spinal anesthesia and focusing on a page is a no-go. I’m hoping those wear off soon though and I can soak in some good reading and maybe get some more work done on The Queens Three. 

For anyone wondering, Jarod chose Loraina based on Lori from the Lonesome Dove movie, and I picked Fable because it loosely means story. 

Obviously I would love a daughter named story. It was as close as I could get to a literary name without picking an actual book character. (Although Lonesome Dove was a book first, and I hear the protagonist in Adrienne Young’s next book is named Fable. So that’s a win.) 

The plan now is to get back to blogging weekly like I’m supposed to. I shall try. 

What have you been up to? Would you name a child after a book character? 

The State of the Realms

Hello everyone! 

Still no baby, just in case you’re one of the people who keeps asking me. I promise, I will announce when she is born. I will not be waiting weeks to mention it. 

In a random burst of inspiration (nesting hormones?) I’ve been madly revising The Mad Hatter. 

I’m actually pretty much certain it’s the nesting hormones driving this effort. Which is a double edged sword. On the one hand, its spurred me to add multiple new chapters and beef up the word count, working my way to the halfway point in about five days. 

On the flip side of that though, there have been multiple times where I was just about to dive into a new scene when suddenly I was struck by an inescapable need to wash all of the baby clothes and fold and put them all away. Now. 

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. 

Things are progressing nicely though. In the most exciting news, it received a new title. The Mad Hatter is now The Queens Three. 

Which brings me to the next notable change: Bunny and the Queen of Ravens now each have their own points of view in the story. 

It’s been super fun and super difficult to dive into each of their personalities and give them distinct voices and reveal more of what makes them tick. It’s not perfect, but I’ve gotten some good feedback and can’t wait to flesh them out even more. 

It’s really fun getting to spend more time in the fae realm (which needs a real name) through them. 

Molly’s boyfriend, Matt, got a new name. He’s currently Brett. There were too many M names running around the place. I’m not sure Brett is the winner though, so it might change again before I’m through. 

The word count is creeping up. Not quite where I want it, but it’s definitely improving. 

One thing that’s been a relief (and worrisome) is I haven’t found any major plot holes or useless threads. A few clarifications and tweaks yes. But gigantic glaring issues? No. It’s rather strange. 

But then again, it comes with the territory. 

One Baby To Rule Them All

Hey guys! 

Do you ever get into one of those ruts where you want to accomplish SO MUCH that you actually don’t accomplish much at all?

That’s kind of my life right now. I just have this weird feeling of urgency. Like I need to get everything done right this instant. But in the last week or so my body has also decided it’s actually pregnant. I’m kind of at baby girl’s mercy, and I just have zero energy. 

Basically, all I want to accomplish is edit Mad Hatter perfectly in one fell swoop, slap out the entire draft of Viking, read like eighteen books, clean the house, make all the decor,  listen to my music, get some sleep, and eat all the snacks. 

What I’ve actually done is not read a single book in months (except a smidge of beta reading, which was very fun), not touched the Viking document at all, ate a few snacks and then puked them back up, listened to Barney sing the same stinking song over and over, and have a Hobbit and Lord of the Rings marathon, thereby ruining any chance of sleep. 

Can we talk for a second about the awesomeness of Viggo Mortensen? The man is a phenomenal actor, that’s all there is to it. 

One thing I did manage to accomplish though is reaching the halfway point—maybe a smidge over—of my Mad Hatter edits, in three days. Which is kind of terrifying me, because it feels way too easy, and I’m liking how it’s turning out, so I’m absolutely convinced that I missed something horrifically obvious. Probably due to lack of sleep. 

Really kinda sorta ready for baby girl to arrive. Not that it will help much in the sleep department. But I should be able to move a bit better.

Sorry for the ramble. One does not simply blog while pregnant and sleep deprived.