Celebrate the Small Things - June 7th

Happy Friday! Once again I'm going to list off the things I had to celebrate this week per the fabulous VikLit's Celebrate the Small Things blog hop. If you'd like to remind yourself of all the things life has to offer, sign up for the hop below.

Today I'm celebrating a very BIG thing, and that is my son's 11th birthday! Hard to believe that much time has passed already. Before I know it he's going to be taller than me with a deep voice and a gaggle of girls knocking on our door.

Career-wise, I'm celebrating the fact that I'm halfway done with the edits of the re-write on my first novel What I've Done! I have an amazing editor with the best ideas, and together we're making this story even better than before. Stay tuned for an updated release date.

I'm also celebrating the fact that I added nearly 10,000 words to my zombie sequel this week after signing up for JuNoWriMo. I knew it would be the motivation I needed to get past a major case of writer's block as the very first time I signed up for NaNoWriMo, I finished the first draft of What I've Done.

Hopefully by this time next week I'll be celebrating the fact that summer has finally arrived, my friends and family are all healthy, and we're done planting crops for the season. Keep your fingers crossed.

Celebrate the Small Things

Happy Friday and long weekend to everyone! As part of VikLit's Celebrate the Small Things blog hop, I'm going to give a quick rundown of the reasons why I'm partying like it's 1999 (okay bad reference because I was extremely pregnant with my firstborn that New Year's Eve and didn't party at all).

1. The re-write of my first novel What I've Done is going so well it has me doing several fist pumps in the air per hour. My original editor was able to help me and I think we make an awesome team. It couldn't be going any better. I'm also working on an updated trailer, so stay tuned!

2. Today I get to go to our lake home for the first time this year! I miss my friends out there so badly and cannot wait to sit by the fire and drink a beer...or two (who am I kidding, I'm bringing a whole case). Plus my favorite band is going to be playing at the local bar there, which means I will get to dust off my dance moves after a long winter...

3. My cold is going away and I've been able to continue running. I feel amazing after a good run and have to restrain myself from doing it every single day. I probably owe all my running friends an apology for telling them they're psycho in the past...

4. School is almost over for the kids and I'm slowly regaining my own life back. Hopefully this will equate to more writing time so I can kick out the sequel to my zombie novel!

5. Some of my best writing friends and I got to hang out in another Google chat session. I got to beta read an awesome story for a friend. I am writing one of my editor's books and love it. Life in the writing world is awesome. This week, anyway.

Wishing you all a fantastic (and safe) holiday weekend!

Celebrate the Small Things Blog Hop

This is going to be short and sweet as I'm on my way to an all-day rock festival in Iowa with my daughter and son-in-law. Today I'm celebrating all my amazing friends and family who helped me through a tough week and celebrating the fact that I get to see two of my favorite bands live (Bush and Alice in Chains) as well as some other awesome bands (Halestorm, Papa Roach, Volbeat, Device). I'm also celebrating the fact that I'm running regularly and the weather is finally beautiful.

Hope all of you have lots to celebrate and have a great weekend!

Celebrate the Small Things

Happy Friday! This blog hop set up by the fabulous Vikki over at VikLit has been a great way to remind myself how precious the little moments in life are and to reflect on what I should be thankful for rather than what I wish I had.

This has really been a humdinger of a week. We welcomed one member into the family and had to say goodbye to another. When we buried my spirited step sister-in-law who lost her battle with cancer well before her time (at the age of 48), I was reminded of how precious life is and just how many things there are to celebrate by just being alive. She was one of those who lived every second of her life to the fullest with bright smiles, kindness and laughter. I've always tried to stay positive about things, but she has inspired me to bump it up a notch. What the result of that will actually end up being, I have yet to find out, but I can feel that there are some things that will change over time.

In that spirit, there really were a lot of small things to celebrate this week, but I'm just going to list off  the top 10 highlights:

1. My step-grandson was born and he's healthy and beautiful!

2. I broke through a major case of writer's block on my second zombie book!

3. I started running and lived (also got to buy first running shoes and running gear)!

4. After rescheduling my son's school concert three times because of weather, they finally had it and sang Phillip Phillips's song Home (one of my favs)!

5. My daughter had three track meets (thankfully before the snow hit) and did awesome!

6. With a six hour car ride we were able to spend time with all of our children on Saturday!

7. We celebrated my hubby's birthday!

8. I'm officially wearing one shirt size smaller than before!

9. My hubby won a decent amount of cash playing lotto and I won $100 playing pull-tabs!

10. I was reminded of how I'm surrounded by hordes of amazing people—family, friends and fans!

Of course there were the usual things to celebrate, like I don't have to report to a 9-5 job in an office somewhere, everyone in my family is pretty healthy, we have a nice home and food on the table, and I have the world's best friends. Although I don't plan to list them each Friday, I think from now on I will be noticing the really little things. Because in the end, it's all about the little things that make your life complete.

Celebrate the Small Things

I just had a total Pretty in Pink moment. Remember when Iona tells Andie about her friend who missed the prom?

"I have this girlfriend who didn't go to hers, and every once in a while, she gets this really terrible feeling—you know, like something is missing. She checks her purse, and then she checks her keys. She counts her kids, she goes crazy, and then she realizes that nothing is missing. She decided it was side effects from skipping the prom."

I knew I was forgetting something and realized it must be side effects from skipping Celebrate the Small Things blog hop! Since I'm already a day late, I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Things that had me jumping up and joy for this week:

1. I received the proof for the revised version of What I've Done with it's fabulous new cover!

2. I started writing a totally new story that flowed out of me like lava. Last time that happened was when I wrote The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life so I'm expecting big things!

3. I finally got to "meet" three of my good writer friends that I've communicated non-stop with on Twitter for the last year.

4. The first reviews for my newest release Cheating Death came out and they were great! It's always nerve-racking to get feedback when you release a story into the wild.

AND FINALLY, in personal news:

My step-daughter gave birth yesterday to a healthy baby boy! It's the first grandson in the family, so everyone is over-the-moon excited. We're in the car heading up to see him as I type this!

Hope everyone is enjoying beautiful weather and having a great weekend!

The Small Things Blog Hop

You're certainly not going to find me as perky this Friday as I was last week for VikLit's blog hop (sign up for the hop below). Last week was simply excellent and I'm still celebrating all the things that went down.

But this week has been a bit slower, so I'm going to have to dig for things to shout about. I haven't really had much time for reading, writing or a video blog this week, which was a bummer. Okay, positive things. Let's see....yesterday I sent off for a printed copy of 'Cheating Death' and Monday I officially launched the blog hop tour for it. And earlier in the week I made a customer happy with her brand new book cover design.

Sadly, I can't brag about losing weight this time as I barely lost any. In a moment of pure weakness last weekend, I was swept up by all the fun and cheated on my diet. As a result, I got majorly ill. I chalk it up to lesson learned.

Even JT is disappointed in me

But I'm basically down to my high school weight and found out that in exactly 2.5 weeks I'll be able to finally enjoy the things I've been craving for the past month (bread, cheese, pasta, M&Ms, alcohol...I'm probably gaining weight just thinking about it).

Other mentionables:

1. I almost finished the first season of Supernatural. Can't believe how much I love the show.
2. My youngest daughter's volleyball team took home the championship in a tournament. 
3. We got to spend time with our oldest daughter and her family. 
4. I was able to drive the Mustang out of the snow-covered yard.
5. I finally got to see Zero Dark Thirty.

Okay, now that I look at all these things together, I guess it was a pretty decent week. Minus the royal "mess" up on my diet.

Hope all of you had a great week and enjoy an even better weekend!

Celebrate The Small Things Blog Hop

Happy Friday, everyone! WARNING: my post this week for VikLit's "celebrate the small things" blog hop is filled with so much awesomeness, your screen may explode.

1. My editor wasn't so fond of the ending for Cheating Death and I've gotten a lot of crap for some of my harsh endings, so I rewrote it into something tear-inducing. I was a total mess when I wrote it, but I think everyone will love it. Or at least I hope.

2. I made the book trailer for Cheating Death. And I'm so proud of my creation. It was a lot of work, but it definitely projects the feeling I was aiming for.

3. I organized and hopefully successfully launched the blog hop tour for Cheating Death. Thank you to all of those who are participating! Find more info on the blog hop here.

4. I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of being a published author, and I will have released four books in that time. Seriously, can I just maybe take a nap now?

5. I was hired by a fellow author to create her book cover. Together we chose the most stunning image and I can't wait to share it at some point! I swear to you I'm a high every time I work on it.

6. I lost another five pounds this week, which means I am up to ten pounds in just two weeks. Plus I'm that much closer to being able to eat pizza and drink beer again. On a limited basis, of course...there's no way I'm going to screw up my weight and have to do this all over again.

7. I was given the okay to start exercising again, and that means I'm back to watching Supernatural episodes! I can't believe I didn't get into this show sooner. The paranormal stories are just awesome. And I'm so in love with Dean, Sam and their crazy-hot dad. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's smile can melt my soul into a mere puddle.

8. I got my first pair of Uggs. I was tired of my feet getting cold in cheap boots from all this snow and my daughter was tired of me borrowing her Uggs all the time, so I used birthday money from my in-laws and bought my own. They are heavenly.

8. I finished John Green's Looking for Alaska. That man can write. But why does he feel the need to reduce his readers to a blubbering mess each time? Review to come on next week's video blog.

9. My husband and I painted the outdated den that's filled with a million nooks and crannies. We also put new flooring in it, therefore finishing one of the last rooms in the house that needs remodeling. We were so relieved and exhausted that we celebrated with a small glass of alcohol. And boy, did it taste delicious.

So that's about it for my awesome week. If you're a blogger and want to take the time to celebrate the small things in your life, be sure to sign up below!

The Small Things Blog Hop

Happy Friday! Once again I'm posting as part of VikLit's blog hop. You can sign up to participate on the link at the bottom. It's a great way to remember accomplishments don't have to be anything major in order to celebrate them and to pick your spirits up if you're feeling a bit down.

There are all kinds of awesome things to celebrate this week. Not only did I post a more successful, calmer, less eye-rolling video blog, but I finished the first draft of my fifth book! Oh yeah, I'm doing "virtual" cartwheels (because I'm too old and out of shape to do real ones). The book deals with mind control and is something I started back in November, but hit a major writer's block on for months. One of the best parts is that the first draft sits at 80k words, which is much heftier than my other books usually start out being. And as if it was meant to be, I got the edits back on my fourth book the very next day!

To celebrate, I went with a friend to see the Beautiful Creatures movie. FINALLY. I'll share my thoughts on the movie in next week's video blog.

Yesterday we bought my son-in-law's old Mustang as my commuter car (the Tahoe is a gas guzzler but a necessity for living on a road that doesn't always get plowed in the winter). The car may be an older model, but it's my very first Mustang and I've wanted one for as long as I can remember!

I finished reading two books this week (it's an amazing feeling to find time for this once again). On my second vlog I reviewed Beautiful Darkness (the sequel to Beautiful Creatures). I plan to review Lauren Oliver's Requiem (that I devoured in a little over 24 hours) also on next week's vlog.

We also finished my son's science fair project, which means we are DONE WITH SCIENCE FAIR FOREVER!

Oh man, that is such an amazing feeling. And not to beat a dead, overweight horse, but there were those five pounds I lost on the first week of my diet that has me doing a happy dance. It won't be long before I'm allowed to have an ice cold beer...I can taste it already!

Celebrate the Small Things Blog Hop

Once again, I'm flabbergasted that it's Friday. How does time slip by so quickly? Is losing track of time a sign that you're going insane? Anyway, I'm here again as part of the awesome Vikki's blog hop (see info below on how to sign up). Another great week went by with many things to be thankful for. 

Career wise, I did sign up for my first writer's convention in Madison, Wisconsin this April and discovered I will meet a few Twitter friends while there. Yay! Although I'm a bit freaked about having to drive five hours by myself and then navigate through a big city (I'm a country girl after all), I think all the information, classes and networking will make the trip well worth it. I also revived a story on mind control that was nearly completed and made it into something I'm really excited about and can't wait to get out there. I know it's time to work on the sequels to Shymers and The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life, but I feel a lot of pressure to complete them and writer's block has kicked in. I hope to tackle them this summer when at our lake home where my mind is bit more relaxed.

And finally, I created my first video blog. It was almost as painful as dental surgery. Almost. But I have heard so many people say that they love it when they get to "meet" their favorite authors and see them in person, so I thought I should give it a try. I was super nervous when doing it and seemed to roll my eyes an excessive amount of times. I promise to work on that with my next installment.

If you watched that video then you already know I started an intense diet this week. The weight loss won't be anything too dramatic, just a chance to lose those last extra pounds that exercising and watching what I eat don't seem to touch. But my favorite foods/drinks are Red Bull, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol and pizza/pasta, none of which I can consume for probably an entire month. This diet has taken more will power than I thought I was capable of. It's day four, and I haven't cheated. Not even once. But I nearly went postal last night when my son found the Snickers ice cream bar I hid from myself in the freezer and seconds later I found a Red Bull my husband put in the soda drawer. Really? I hope my family can work with me a little better in the weeks to come. And I hope after I adjust to these smaller portions of food, I will no longer feel like this all the time...

Celebrating the Small Things

Wow, these Fridays really creep up on me; it reminds me just how out of touch I am with reality at times. Anyway, I'm here again as part of a blog hop created by one of my fabulous blog partners, Vikki. This time I included a link below so that you may sign up from my page if you're interested. It's a great way to cheer on your fellow bloggers for their accomplishments, no matter the size!

I obviously missed last Friday's because I was in Mexico, but believe me, there were a lot of small things I had to celebrate. Sun. Friends. Daiquiris. Good Food. Cantinas. Music. You get the picture. Cabo is gorgeous and was a ton of fun. I just wish I could've brought the warmth back with me.

This week I really don't have a lot of things to celebrate career-wise, except for that fact that I did get my fourth book off to the editor before we left on vacation and I know it's in good hands as we speak. Otherwise, I've been taking it easy, beta reading for a friend and trying to catch up on things that were neglected during my last major rewrite process. I signed up to take an online refresher course in grammar since I have come to rely so heavily on my editors. And I may have found my first writer's conference to attend in Madison, Wisconsin, where hopefully *fingers crossed* I will get to meet one of my blog partners for the first time!

In my personal life, I'm celebrating the fact that my daughter, who had a high fever for nearly six days, tested negative for mono, the flu and strep, and was miraculously better after a dose of antibiotics. For a while there I was worried she would be spending time in the ER. Whatever it was, she seems to have kicked it as she's obnoxiously running around and yelling as I write this (keep in mind she's thirteen).

Also, I picked up Beautiful Creatures to give it another try. I first started it last year and couldn't get into the story for some reason. After seeing the amazing movie trailers, I know it's something right up my alley, so I should love it, right? I'm happy to report that round two (or is it three?) is going much better and the story has really grabbed my attention this time.

So there you have it, my things to celebrate aren't so big this time, but they're still mine. Hope this Friday finds all of you having something to celebrate!

Celebrate the Small Things

Happy Friday, everyone! As part of the blog hop created by my fabulous blogging partner Vikki of VikLit, I am faithfully posting the things that I have to celebrate this week. This is such an awesome way to reflect on the little things in your life, especially when some weeks are more difficult than others and you need your spirit lifted. If you have a blog, I highly recommend that you sign up for this hop - just click on the link above and add your name to the list!

I've been working like a dog getting my fourth book 'Cheating Death' all polished up for my editor and I'm happy to say it will be ready to go before we leave on vacation next week, just as I planned. I say I'm happy because I'm not going to lie, the book is giving me serious nightmares. It's not that scary, but just talking about ghosts so often has messed with my mind. I released the cover this week and got overall great feedback. It's time to start getting the trailer together, which is one of my favorite steps in the process of publishing. It's like I'm the creator of my own little movie and I love having complete control!

On a little more personal accomplishment, we got our whole family of eleven together this weekend for an overnight visit, which doesn't happen very often. I can never spend enough time with the step-grandbabies or our children! And we even got to stop at Ikea to buy my daughter a new desk that the two of us put together ourselves (with a little bit of help from my husband).

Another huge accomplishment - I'm off to get my hair colored this morning. If you had any idea how much hair I have or how long it takes to color something that resembles a small animal (3+ hours) you'd understand why this is so big. Replace the word "secrets" with "crazy" in the gif below, and it would be dead on.

While these accomplishments weren't anything earth-shattering, they were mine. And the whole point of this blog is to celebrate the small things. What did you accomplish this week?

Celebrate the Small Things

Once again, as part of the blog hop tour set up by the fabulous Vikki at VikLit, I'm spending this Friday celebrating the small things that happened this week.

The first thing on my list is the fact that I successfully created a synopsis to go along with my book cover release for this coming Monday! Yay! Those little buggars can really be a pain in the rear to come up with. How do you summarize 75,000 words into a little paragraph without giving too much away? I promise you, it's a lot harder than it would seem. With the help of my fabulous blogging partners, I was able to whip up one that I think will grab your attention and have you drooling for more.

Another great writing accomplishment this week was that my major re-write of Cheating Death fell together in a major way. Sometimes there are pieces of a story that need to somehow be connected. When those pieces fall together it's enough to make a person want to dance around in their underwear.

And since this blog is celebrating "small things" in general and not necessarily writing-related things, I would like to add that I scored tickets to see Alice in Chains this May. They're one of my favorite bands and I haven't seen them in 20 years! I may have had a total freak out when I told my step-daughter and son-in-law that we were going and I may have frightened them a little.

Also, my daughter once again made the 'A' honor roll! If we didn't look and act identical 99.99% of the time, I would swear in a court of law that she was switched at birth. I hated school and was lucky to get passing grades (then I went on to college, actually cared about school and made the dean's list). Regardless, I'm extremely proud of her!

February is off to a great start!

Celebrate the Small Things Hop

One of my new blogging friends, the fabulous Vikki of VikLit (I totally love that I have more friends overseas now), came up with this blog hop idea to celebrate small accomplishments and share them with others! Since I just posted an update the fourth novel I'm working on and how well all of that is falling together, I will post about a different accomplishment - a real presence in social networking!

As of today, I have nearly 1,800 followers on Twitter. On Facebook I've almost hit 600 likes, on Goodreads I have almost 600 friends, 600 followers on Tumblr and 300 followers on Pinterest. YIKES! (Don't think I missed the fact that I just posted 600 three times in a row - my freaky mind is going to town on that one, wondering what it could possibly mean!) That's a lot of people. And a lot of work.

As most indie authors know, getting our name out there to promote our books can feel like a full time job in itself. Sometimes it hardly leaves any time for actual writing. I remember when I first started out on Twitter and wondered how on earth all these people gained thousands of followers. I remember being thrilled when I hit 100. Yes it has made me a bit of a social flake (I can't ever go very long without checking notifications on these sites) and yes I hardly get a fraction of the sleep I once used to get, but I really feel like I'm starting to get noticed and my book sales are steadily increasing.

So this Friday, I celebrate all my hard work and lost hours to the Internet. What small thing do YOU have to celebrate?