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January in the rearview mirror (Weekend Coffee Share #23)
Lately I’ve been by turns baffled and terrified at how fast time is passing. 2022? Shouldn’t that be the title of a sci-fi movie? But here we are, almost a month into that sci-fi year, and I find myself in a weird, reflective mood. The last week or so has been… odd. I feel like the fog in my life has lifted, and I’ve found my blue sky again. Cheesy? Yup. But true. I’ve come to realize I’ve spent the last quite a few years just slogging through life. They’ve been hard years–lost my mom, lost one of my best friends, watched my husband suffer through multiple painful surgeries, and…
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Books, Tunes, and Memes–What Else Could You Possibly Want? (Weekend Coffee Share #22, What’s on Your Bookshelf #2)
Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer and What’s on Your Bookshelf, hosted by Retirement Reflections. Let’s get these link parties started! First up:
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Gila Bend, Arizona travels, a few laughs, and a great tune (Weekend Coffee Share #21)
Happy Friday, friends! In last week’s edition of the Weekend Coffee Share, I shared pictures of our visit to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, part of our short winter break road trip. This week I’ll share pictures from Day 2, along with a few laughs that have crossed my screen this week, and, well… you’ll just have to read to the bottom to find out the rest. But first, welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. This week, she’s shared some incredible dinosaur murals. Don’t miss ’em!
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New story published, Organ Pipe Cactus trip, blog recap, recap, and New Years memes (Weekend Coffee Share #20)
Happy New Year, friends! I hope everyone had wonderful winter holidays. And a big thanks to Natalie the Explorer intrepid hostess of the Weekend Coffee Share! Thanks, Natalie, for helping me connect to so many awesome bloggers like yourself. Writing News–my latest short story is published! My big writing news: My Christmas horror story, “Woe is Me, Poor Child, for Thee,” has been published in the annual Deathlehem holiday horror anthology. See the linked post for deets. SQUEE!
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What I’m reading and some holiday laughs (Weekend Coffee Share #19, What’s On Your Bookshelf #1)
I’ve had an entirely uneventful week, so let’s talk about books for this week’s Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Since we’ll be talking about books, I’m also linking up with the What’s On Your Bookshelf link party, hosted by Retirement Reflections. Two parties, one post. Efficiency! So… books. Some of you may know I do the Goodreads Reading Challenge every year. This year my goal was to read 90 books, and, well… that’s not going to happen. I’ve read 64 books so far this year and might be able to finish a couple more before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. I’ve been reading less…
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Acceptance, rejection, Christmas lights, and funnies (Weekend Coffee Share #18)
Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! I can’t compete with her amazing holiday display pics, but I’ll share a few of my own anyway. But first: Writing news! There are two kinds of people in the world: those who want the bad news first, and those who want the good news first. I’m the former–get the yuck out of the way so we can end on a positive note. So in that spirit: I received a rejection for the writing retreat I applied for. Bummer. It would have been amazing, I’m sure, but on the bright side: that’s 2 weeks…
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I got a story accepted! Plus other news and a few local laughs (Weekend Coffee Share #17)
Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer (whose pics are always gorgeous, but this week’s are *incredible*). I’m going to kick off this week’s post with: Writing news A couple of weeks ago, I was grousing about my lack of writing news. I had several pieces on submission plus a pending application to a writing retreat, and I was getting just a tad impatient (if you consider refreshing GMail every 1.3 seconds, “a tad impatient”). Well, I still have a bunch of things pending, but: My Christmas horror story got accepted! It will be published in the 2021 Deathlehem anthology, which…
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Seeking new holiday traditions (Weekend Coffee Share #16)
Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! We had a quiet Thanksgiving week here in Satan’s Anus (where it’s currently 71F and sunny, so not so Satan’s Anus-y). It’s just the 3 of us now for the holidays–my husband, my adult son, and me. I really feel the shifting stages of my life around the holidays. When I was a kid, our celebrations were also small, just my parents and me, sometimes with brief visits from the few family or friends my father hadn’t driven away yet. Then after I became an adult, and my father died, it was just my mom, my then-boyfriend-then-fiancé-now-husband, and me.…
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Tucson Botanical Gardens and a few laughs (Weekend Coffee Share #15)
Good morning! Writing and work have kept me busy this week, so I’m a little late getting the Weekend Coffee Share (hosted by Natalie the Explorer) up for this week. Today I’ll share a few pics from my visit last weekend to the Tucson Botanical Gardens as well as the usual funnies at the end. But first: This Week’s Writing Update, Brought to You By Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers The writing update for this week is that there isn’t much of an update. I’ve heard exactly nothing about any of my pending submissions, including the story I submitted for the Christmas horror anthology that was supposed to be published…
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Delta Dawn won first place! (Weekend Coffee Share #14)
Good morning, and happy Friday! I have big writing news to share with y’all, but first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Have a seat, grab a treat, and let’s chat out in the garden on this gorgeous desert morning. Big writing news I’m excited to report that my second novel, a domestic suspense/thriller called Delta Dawn, won first place in the unpublished novel division of the Arizona Authors Association Annual Literary Contest! I still need to make substantial revisions before it will be ready to query, but I’m so excited that people actually liked it. I’m also grateful to the judges, who provided helpful…