This week I’m reading The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook.
Why? Because it’s full of useful information God can share with Maggie.
Important things like How to Jump Into A Dumpster from a Building and How To Treat a Bullet or Knife Wound.
Or most importantly How to Escape from Quicksand!!!!!!
(When I was a kid I was TERRIFIED of quicksand….not that I’ve ever encountered it, but still…..”the more you know”)
I was in the mood for comfort reads this week, so almost everything was a re-read.
I listened to Stephen King’s ON WRITING for inspiration. I read or listen to it every year.
SUM by David Eagleman. My favorite book of last year.
CHARACTERS AND VIEWPOINT by Orson Scott Card.
A friend gave me a copy of SIMPLE ABUNDANCE so I’m reading a short essay every day. Today’s passage is about keeping a gratitude journal.
What are YOU reading?
I’m not one for making New Year resolutions, but I do believe in setting goals and one of my goals for 2019 is to post here regularly.
I have A LOT of goals, but I’ll stick to the writing ones here…at least for today, lol.
My goals for 2019 include more CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN books, my new (still semi-secret) series and a couple of passion projects. I’ll be talking about those more on Fridays.
But on Wednesdays I want to talk about WHAT I LOVE … or at least really like.
It’s only fitting that I start with my planner. This year I went with a Happy Planner since the business planner (which shall remain unnamed since it’s just not cool to wait until the last week of the year to release it) wasn’t available. At first I wasn’t happy that I was being forced to make a change, but now I think it’s all worked out for the best.
I LOVE how customizable the Happy Planner is. I got the “big” version because it works best for my needs. Isn’t it cheerful?
I removed the pre-printed calendar pages of April thru December to cut down on bulk and added a bunch of personalized pages that work best for my work and lifestyle.
(Of course to do that I had to invest in Happy Planner’s paper puncher…which is pricey for a paper punch, weighs a ton and can only punch three sheets of paper at a time….that’s got to tell you how much I’m loving this planner.)
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR 2019?
Do you use a planner?
I’m a terrible blogger. Sorry!
Just a quick note to say that THE HITWOMAN AND THE GOLD DIGGER, book 19 in the Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series is now available.
When I lived in New Jersey, Autumn was my favorite season. Cooler temps and changing leaves were my groove. Now I live in Southwest Florida and despite the Pumpkin Spice everything in the stores, there’s really no such thing as Fall.
I miss the changing of the seasons if only because they forced me to look at the world differently. Feeling like I need that little jolt of inspiration, I, one of the least artistic people ever to roam the planet, has signed up for Creative Sprint. So I’ll be “making” something every day for the next thirty days. I’ll be sharing my creations on Instagram so follow if you think you’d enjoy laughing at my creative endeavors.
October will be a busy month as I publish THE HITWOMAN AND THE GOLD DIGGER, finish writing book 20 in the Hitwoman series (so far, it’s soooo much fun!) and work on my secret PCM project that will be published next year.
Also, on the days the heat index is less than 100, I’ll be trying to find fallen leaves with my mutt.
Book 19 in the CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN series will be out in October of 2018.
I can’t wait for everyone to read Maggie’s latest adventure.
Meanwhile I’m working on Hitwoman 20 (out December 2018) and the first book in my new PCM series which will be out in 2019.
Almost as exciting as that first cup of coffee in the morning.
Almost….. 😉
I spent the first half of yesterday finishing up the story edits for THE HITWOMAN AND THE GOLD DIGGER.
Then I went and talked to a bellydancer, a man on stilts and a man in a kilt as research for the PCM series which I’ll be launching next year. (Intriguing, right?)
Then I reread all of Gold Digger yet again.
I could have sent it to my copy editor, but I was suffering from, “What if I want to change something else?” syndrome.
Now it’s 10 on a Sunday morning and I’ve deleted my story editor’s last two comments and sent the manuscript to my copy editor.
I waited to delete the last two comments because they made me happy.
After that, I emailed my story editor to arrange time for her to work on Hitwoman 20 and the first PCM book.
And I sent material to my assistant so that she can work up some promo stuff.
And I made some notes for PCM and I wrote a page of Hitwoman 20.
Have I mentioned it’s 10 a.m. on a Sunday? lol!
But it’s not all work and no play, I’m off to see a matinee of a play a friend is in this afternoon. Like a normal person would do on a weekend. 😉
watch the Criminal Justice Academy perform “vehicle operations driving range exercises”. (See the video proof I did this on Instagram.)
Basically it’s watching cop cars drive around cones, but I couldn’t resist the chance to stop and watch for a while.
Just an FYI —
Earlier this week I revealed on Facebook that Hitwoman 19 — THE HITWOMAN AND THE GOLD DIGGER will be out next month.
Haven’t nailed down the exact release date yet. If you want to find out when it will be available for preorder, please subscribe to my newsletter. (Don’t worry, I ONLY send out the newsletter when I’ve got actual news.)
I’ve finished the story edits and I have to say that I’m feeling good about the book. This is an unusual feeling…usually at this point I’m in the process I’m convinced that there isn’t a single person on the planet that will like it.
Now I kind of feel like a ticking bomb…just waiting for the crippling anxiety to explode.
I ordered the cover art for Hitwoman 19 today.
My cover artist’s response was to laugh and say she’d try to find a new color combo.
The covers HAVE come in a lot of colors, lol!
So grateful that Maggie has gotten the chance to have so many adventures!
I sent Hitwoman 19 to my editor on Monday and now I’m working on Hitwoman 20, which is both awesome and anxiety-inducing.
I really love how 19 turned out, but I’m worried that she’ll see something horrible in it (or not in it) that I missed. I was excited to start working on 20, but since it’s the next in the series, the events of 19 (there’s a BIG event in 19) have a significant impact on what happens in 20.
So it may end up that I’ll have to scrap my work on 20 if she finds a major problem in 19.
In addition to straddling the space between two hitwoman books, I am working slowly and steadily on PCM….which, by itself is also both awesome and anxiety-inducing, lol.
