Penultimate Week of the Year

  

There's one more week of 2015 after this one, which makes this the penultimate week of the year.  Wow, has it gone fast! 

I've been busy, as usual.  I finished the manuscript that I'm under deadline for next--COVERT ALLIANCE, my next Harlequin Romantic Suspense--and will be able to send it off a month before it's due.  I was asked to do that since it is now scheduled as an August release, but I'll get a chance to read it one more time before submitting it since my editor is taking a holiday vacation right now. 

I've already started plotting the next book I'm under deadline for, the third Barkery & Biscuits Mystery.  I'm working on some ideas for new stuff as well.

Plus, my time travel romance THE BALLAD OF JACK O'DAIR is nearly ready for release as an e-book, which will happen on January 25--but it is available for preorder now on Amazon. 

Family starts arriving later this week, and with visiting, entertaining, cooking, and going out to shows and touristy sites, my writing time will be cut short--probably for weeks, but I'll work some in when I can.

It has been raining in L.A., but nothing like what they keep predicting for El Nino.  I admit to wearing a sweatshirt as I write this, although usually I'm pretty warm-blooded and resist dressing up, at least indoors, for chilly weather.  My dogs don't understand the rain, though.  Fortunately, my resourceful husband has installed a tarp over our dog run, so although the pups don't always get to run in our large backyard, they do get their paws but not much else wet when they have to go outside. 

Anyway, it's hard to believe this year is nearly over, but I'm looking forward to 2016.  Hope you are, too!

Happy Thanksgiving

Yep, it's that time again.  Tomorrow is the big day. 

I mentioned last year that my Thanksgiving then would be a small event.  This year it's even smaller.  The neighbor who'd joined us last year has moved away, so this year it will just be my husband, younger son and I together on Thanksgiving.  Well, the dogs, too, but they don't sit at the table with us.  They stay on the floor and beg.  No human food for them, though, since both have health issues that mostly relegate them to doggy food and treats. 

But this Thanksgiving is a harbinger of things to come.  Lots of relatives will be with us soon, starting right around Christmas and continuing into January.  They include in-laws and our older son and his family--our d-i-l and two grandkids.  Plus, our d-i-l's delightful parents will be visiting for a short while, too!  It helps that we live in California while they all live in the Midwest.  No big El Nino presence here yet, but even if it arrives it's hopefully easier to live with than lots of cold and snow. 

So, there are lots of things to be thankful for tomorrow and beyond.  Meantime, I'm also thankful for a fun and fruitful writing year--three books published plus one e-published so far in 2015:  BITE THE BISCUIT, my first Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, CANADIAN WOLF, my seventh Alpha Force paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne, and KNOCK ON WOOD, my second Superstition Mystery, plus the Kindle version of ONCE A CAVALIER, a time travel romance. 

I'm working on my next book under deadline, a Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and will then head into the next Barkery book.  Next year is likely to be busy, too--another year to be thankful for. 

And you?  What are you up to this Thanksgiving?