Working on My Website

 

 I have  been getting together everything to update my website.  Since KNOT A GAME comes out next month and SENTENCED TO DEATH comes out in February, I want to update it for both books.  I have almost everything assembled to send to my web guy.  It's always a challenge to explain the changes to him.  I think something is clear, but then realize it isn't particularly in how to change the landing page.

I still have to figure that anyway and write whatever copy goes on the page.  This time I'm probably going to keep whatever I write brief.  I was thinking just a blurb about each of the two books. I got a nice review from Publishers Weekly for SENTENCED TO  DEATH, so will put in a quote from it.  

I always add a picture of the project I include in the books.  It was a challenge to figure out how to do the hand warmers that are featured in KNOT A GAME.  They look pretty plain when they are just laying on a table, just like knitted tubes.  I wanted to show one in action and thought of putting one on my hand, but I'm not good at taking pictures with one hand.  And then I remembered a wooden hand I had that I got to use for drawing.  It had been absconded by Jakey to use in his creepy Halloween decorations and I had to find it.  But I think it worked.  I wanted to show both samples I'd made of the hand warmers.

I'd used self-striping yarn for one of the pairs and discovered as I was making the samples that they wouldn't be identical because they were each made from a different spot in the color variations.  It ended up working okay in the book as Casey's yarn helper is known for her love of wearing unmatched earrings and socks.  She would love the idea of hand warmers that blended but weren't identical.  I also made a sample of a single color yarn since that was what I discussed in the book.

I'm actually looking forward to using them, but had to laugh at myself for not taking them with when I went to the Enchanted Forest as Descanso Gardens  where  I really could have used them.  

Thanksgiving Week

       

Not much new to report this week. I’ve mostly been home writing, although I did attend a lunch with alumni from Union Oil Company, where I used to be a real estate attorney. It was enjoyable to see some of the old gang.

Now, I’m planning for Thanksgiving. As I mentioned before, we’re hosting for a couple of family members. That’s a day I won’t get much writing in! But I’ll be back to it on Friday.

So Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Have a wonderful holiday.

Thanksgiving 2022

 It'

It'ss wind weather here in Southern California.  It shouldn't be a surprise, it goes with the season.  The Santa Ana winds come through every year around now.  The air feels cold and parched and the wind slips inside through any available crevices.  The wrong kind of ions get stirred up and there is a certain tension that goes with them.  Will trees fall over, will power line smack together and spark.  There are thwacks on the roof as dried out palm fronds crash down.  I feel like I should wear a hard hat to go in  the yard.

Thanksgiving is suddenly on the horizon.  We are invited to a friends and we're bringing corn bread and dessert.  I have been a vegetarian for almost 40 years.  The rest of my family is not.  So we went to a restaurant with a buffet that had turkey for them and a lot of vegetarian options for me.  

KNOT A GAME, the 9th Yarn Retreat Mystery, is all set for the December 6, release.  It's available for pre-order, though not for the print edition on Amazon yet,.  I still have to update my website and do some promotion.  

I also received notice that SENTENCED TO DEATH is up on NetGalley for reviewers.  It doesn't come out until early next year.  

It happened. I just got an  alert on my phone that a power line is down nearby.  I hope that's the only bad thing that happens.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!                                                                    

Home and Writing

 I’ve been home this week rather than traveling, and although I have a few travel plans in the works for the future, nothing too soon or time consuming.

So yes, I’ve been writing. Maybe not as much as I’d like to, or should, while still catching up on things from my trips—and also being told by puppy Roxie as I sit at my computer that it’s time to play a game of fetch as I write and attempt to concentrate. But still, I’m making progress on the first draft of the manuscript I’m writing now for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

I’m also planning what to do for the upcoming holidays. We’ll be having Thanksgiving at our house as we usually do, with some family members joining us.

Otherwise, not much new and exciting happening at the moment. So… yes, I’d better get back to my writing. I want to finish that first draft as soon as possible so I can then delve into editing it.