Jewel Eye

Been feeling punny with the monthly titles... Happy Jewel-Eye!

Happy IWSG!

Sorry I'm late, I was preparing for company.

Oh, and a giant tree fell on my parents' house.

So, I've been dealing with a few things... My folks were not hurt, but they are older and do not need all the stress and troubles of dealing with the huge hole in their living room... I'll be heading down, once they have a plan. I just hope and pray they can handle the overwhelming decisions they have to make.

Summer is going well. My son and his gf are visiting from Texas for the holiday. We're having a great time--watching my youngest play baseball, seeing wildlife, sunning, watching a little soccer, and playing games. But of course I'm eating too much!

I'm also chugging away at my WIP. I'm happy with my word count, added 2 new chapters and a few characters, and just about ready to send it to readers. I'm anxious to hear how my first murder mystery is received. 

Keeping it short. Gotta get back to the family.

Hope you are staying cool in this nationwide heatwave!

June Bugs!

Bugs, bugs, ewwwww, bugs!

Welcome to my June IWSG report. Summer is here! I love the writing time, and I'm getting a lot done already! But I hate the bugs...

WARNING - THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET GROSS!

One of the reasons I didn't want to move back to Florida was the exorbitant amount of bugs! 

For fun, I made a list of frequent flyers (haha) and crawlers:

Ants - oh so many varieties and big biters

Beetles just creepy

Bees & Wasps - I leave them alone, they leave me alone, right? 

Butterflies - the prettiest bugs =) 

Loud Cicadas lend to the tropical vibe. 

Love Bugs - tons this year, all over my car!

Leggy Bugs - centipedes, millipedes, eww!

Hoppers & Crickets - typical, no harm. 

Dragonflies - which are actually my favorite, they're pretty cool

Then there are the smaller and most annoying creepies: Mosquitos, Flies, Gnats, and No-See-Ums... I do like spiders and lizards who eat lots of buggies. Yay!

Back in Ohio, we could tell the month by the bugs:

May Flies, June Bugs, July Fireflies (some prefer Lightning Bugs) ooo pretty!, August Horseflies, September Ladybugs & Stinkbugs, October Spiders -- Then we were free from bugs for a good six months, as it should be.

All in all, it's not that bad down here, as long as we stay inside and keep up with the monthly pest control. We also have to be careful on our nightly walks. We find that sliver of time just before dusk when the sun is still in the sky, but the temp and humidity are going down. Too soon and we run into clouds of gnats, too late and beware the mosquitos!

Oh, but wasn't this supposed to be a WRITING post? Well, you know I'm going to tie it all together. I've been in a book club and so far, only one of the books has wow'ed me. I don't know about you, but as a writer, I tend to judge published writers more harshly. I've always been a picky reader, but I know good writing, and I have some really awesome writer friends. So when I read sub-par books from published authors, it's very annoying! 

So here are some things that BUG me about my recent reads and book club:

• predictability - I've always been good at this, but when I know who's going to die and who dun it in the first chapter, it's pretty sad
• too many tropes - sleepwalking, fake amnesia, hidden items in the floorboard, bratty kids
• characters I can't root for - hardly any of the characters have any redeeming qualities anymore. if I was in the book, I'd shoot all of them, but then I'd feel bad about it (redeeming quality, haha)
• everyone sleeps around - seriously, no one has any fidelity? at all?
• slow starts - where's the initial incident/hook?
• repetition - how many times are you going to say you don't remember what happened that night?

It's hard to pick a book for a group of friends to agree on, and I'm usually outbid... But if they pick another book about writers, I'm done! Egadz!

Well, I've gone over my time, so I'll wrap it up with the only book I enjoyed so far: It's Not Her by Mary Kubica - great twists and surprises - hard to predict! Did not disappoint. I recommend it.

Would love to hear any recos from you!!

On my own, I also read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. If you like sci-fi, this is a fantastic book - an amazing story, endearing characters, and brilliant imagination! (now a movie, of course. can't wait to see what they do with it)

Happy June! Happy Reading & Writing!

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May oh May

I'm looking forward to a calmer May because April was a stressful mess!

Happy May IWSG. Rather than bore you with the ugly details, I will just list some things I'm glad about that should reduce my teetering on the brink of a breakdown stress level!

• the snowbird traffic has flown home
• my hub will be around more to help with the crazy doggies
• school is almost out! they're extra crazy this time of year
• looking forward to seeing family and friends this summer -- and I love planning the trips!
• also looking forward to writing more!
• we have great new neighbors - will soon do some crafts & scrapping with my sweet new friend!
• I will finally have time to practice on my new keyboard (that I got for xmas!)
• and my new Florida door is open if anyone wants to hang out and commiserate over the writing blues, just drop me a line--love meeting up with writer friends!

That's a good list. It cheered me up to write it.

Here's hoping your May has bright horizons and stuff to look forward to!

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