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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Grape Ape-ril

Well jelly my beans and color my eggs! Wasn't it just January? And here's April and Easter already!

Welcome to this month's installment of the Insecure Writers Support Group. I hope you're reaching your goals and keeping up with your daily duties. I always try to project positivity, but I have plenty of my own annoying distractions to deal with. It helps me to encourage others. So get to loving and cherishing! (name that movie)

I am happy to report, I've actually been writing! I had some extra time with Spring Break last month, so I finished my book club book and was inspired to work on my crime thriller. I also came up with three more juicy story ideas to make it into a series. Hot dang!

April is going to be a busy month, so I won't get to work on it again until school is out, most likely. Hopefully, I'll finish it and have it ready to recruit a few beta readers for it this summer. If you might be up for it, let me know.

Here's to fond memories of Saturday morning cartoons -- or maybe just a silly grin!

Happy Grape Apr-ril!

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Marching On

How you doin?

Keeping in step? Drumming your own beat? Reaching your goals?

Time to check in with the monthly Insecure Writers Support Group. Hard to call myself a writer these days. I'm marching in a squiggle pattern between work, chores, doggies, and travel to watch my son play ball, leaving little to no room for my WIPs. 

Go Coop!

But my stories are not forgotten! I often jot notes about how to enhance a scene or get ideas and inspiration from the book club I recently joined (which also warns me about things not to do!) And my students always inspire funny or dramatic scenes and character traits--they're hilarious and can't stay out of trouble, the little scoundrels!

With so much going on, I have to remind myself to slow down. Funny to be saying that after I was so bored when I first moved. I like a busy, productive lifestyle, but I can easily stress myself out. I have to remind myself, there are some things I have no control over and just have to deal with, like traffic, weather, time, and confounded technology glitches (grrr!) No point pulling my hair out. Just take a deep breath and do what I can. It all gives me opportunities to work on my patience.

Hope you all are finding time to write and finding patience to deal with your hair-pulling ordeals!

Remember: March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. IE: we can make it through the tough times and good times won't be far behind!

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Woah, it's Feb!

Sorry for the late post, February snuck up on me. Like the cold snaps that keep sneaking further south than they should. Hope everyone is staying warm!

Going to share some fun pics from Xmas break for IWSG this month. I meant to put out a newsletter with pics, but time has been running away from me. So here are some highlights from our quick trip to Disney. Long story, short--my sister and her friend planned a trip so my son, his gf, and I joined them for a couple of days. So great to see my sis when I can!

Spotted the Mandalorian & Grogu!

Here we are at Guardians of the Galaxy ride
It is a rollercoaster, contrary to what people told me

I loved walking through Star Wars - so cool!

Now that things are back to normal, I joined a book club. I'm not big on those, but my friends are more about the excuse to get together and have a good time. Not sure how much we will discuss the book, which is fine with me because it was not great... We authors tend to be harsher on other writers, especially not so great ones who are published when I know so many better writers out there who should be! I will report back next time after I here the consensus before I tell you which book.

I also have a pretty packed Feb. Visitors just left, I'm going to see my son's opening weekend of baseball games (hope it warms up!), I was summoned for jury duty, and I hope to attend my first school tech competition with some of my kiddos. Moving right along! Needless to say, writing is buckled firmly in the backseat... but not forgotten!

I will leave you with this hilarious moment of a blue heron (?) at a drive-thru... 

It's not a great pic, but I had to capture the moment before it went away -- apparently, he hangs out there all day!

May your February be filled with lovely moments!

Humans are so petty

A quote from Thor.

I agree. We are. So many of us don't consider the big picture. We don't realize how small we are in the grand scheme of things. We are miniscule specks in the universe. Grains of sand on a beach.

That's why I love writing (and reading). I love researching and exploring new perspectives to share with others. My little life bubble is quite boring. Sure, I've had some funny and scary and heartwarming stories. But when I look beyond my corner of the world, I realize there is so much more out there! So many other ways to do things! Even my kids teach me new stuff in the kitchen (and they still learn from me too)

As I've gotten older and now that the kids are grown, I've become more adventurous. My attitude has shifted to "What have I got to lose?" Some of my accomplishments this past year... I took a helicopter ride, moved across the country (with a lot of whining), accepted a new job with crazy middle-schoolers and no lesson plans--making it up as I go! And I flew by myself to visit my sister (I am not a fan of flying.) As old as I am, I'm still having firsts and trying to overcome fears. I hope to do more in 2026.

As we share in this first Insecure Writers Support Group of the year, have you set any goals? Are they specific or general? I still have to sit and think about my specific goals. "Do more" is very broad! But my writing goals are on-going: Finish my two WIPs!

Sending positive vibes your way. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to!