Okay, we’re out of the house, living temporarily in a one-bedroom apartment while the new place is under construction. It’s a good problem, the house is sold and the apartment is quite nice if small. Thank goodness Hubby and I like each other.  

But where is my stuff? We have some here in the apartment (unorganized but here) some in our storage facility and some in the movers storage facility. Now I was smart enough to lay aside what I needed for the wedding next week – yep while all this is going on my son and his lovely fiancée are getting married next Saturday in Cancun. Think cooling breeze for me!

But I want to get back to writing. I’m beginning to think I’ve forgotten how! Not really, but I have done more editing than writing the last few weeks (and reading, tons of reading because I need to escape).

Possibly tomorrow I’ll have some “me time” while Hubby gets the car serviced, but Tuesday is closing day on the house and getting my hair cut for the wedding and mani-pedi day. I can use the coddling but my routine is calling out for me and I miss it so.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll read what I already have out there and know that I’ll be back soon. Another Time  is scheduled to release in October and I have some others in the works. Stop by and say hi – encouragement encouraged! And thanks for hanging in there with me!

Check it out!

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Momma (would have been 97 today) and La Daughter, (who’ll be 27 tomorrow!!)

We’ve done it. We’re downsizing – we’ve retired, no kids live here, and we don’t need to climb on the roof to clean the gutters or spend three days in the heat mowing our acre of land, so we’ve bought a condo and we’re moving. Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of space for visitors (and definitely the Grandson!) but we’ll only be responsible for the inside. 

Also there’s that part where the kids said if they had to clean out the house after us they’d use a match. I know the feeling (Homecoming came from that experience for me.) Living in town again will be different, but I hope better. I won’t have to travel a minimum of twenty minutes in any direction to get to a grocery store! We’ll have close neighbors but we’ve done that before and these will be closer to our age. The kids in the cul-de-sac are great kids (all boys) and always speak and get our mail when we’re out of town, etc. but I live in fear of backing out of the driveway when they’re on the golf cart, or when they’re sliding down the hill in the ice on their sleds.

Hubby and I will be in each other’s pockets until we get settled. In fact we’re going to be in a one bedroom apartment until the condo is finished. That’ll be fun. We’ve adjusted to him being here full time since he retired but he would go upstairs and I’d be down here. No longer an option. But there will be no steps at the new place (an excellent thing!), so I might have to get used to the TV in the background. I write in silence now and love it. Ah well . . .

The house we’re leaving wasn’t this big but you get the idea . . . Only fourteen years of accumulation in this one. Leave a comment about your moving experiences for a chance to win a copy of my ebook – Homecoming.

Buy links – Amazon,  AllRomance,  Barnes & Noble

A release day is always such fun! This one is special to me because I’ve merged two of my genres – small town romance with paranormal.  

When Jocelyn Warton takes an impromptu exit off the highway while on vacation in rural North Carolina she thinks she’s just visiting a picturesque village in the mountains while her car is being repaired.

Noah Edwards, forensics professor and part time tow truck driver is more than a little intrigued by the beautiful visitor from New York. He doesn’t know what’s going on any more than she does, but he’s part of it.

Together they discover that this existence may not be all there is . . .

While writing this story, I created a Pinterest page of images that inspired the story – I hope you enjoy visiting it. Pinterest

Excerpt –

Jocelyn woke disoriented for a moment, before memory returned. Vacation, the mountains, the rental car . . . Noah. Then it hit her, no nightmare! She’d slept peacefully through the night. The vacation was working already. She smiled at the cheery yellow room.

She dressed quickly in jeans and followed her nose to the scent of coffee brewing. Damn that smelled good. Much better than the one-cups she’d grown accustomed to.

“Morning,” Noah was leaning against the counter, a mug already in his hand. “How do you take your coffee?”

“Black, please. I go for the jolt,” Jocelyn grinned at him.

“My kind of woman.” He winked at her and handed her a full mug. “Did you sleep okay? You’re up early.”

“Slept like a baby. It’s a lovely and welcoming room. Isn’t anyone else up?”

“Those girls? Not likely. Moe’s probably in his shop. Your car has him baffled, and he can’t stand that. I’m glad you decided to hang around.”

Jocelyn could feel the heat in her cheeks and lowered her face to the coffee mug. “That’s the kind of vacation I like, no plans just going with the flow.”

“I need to remember that. See if I can get you back up here again.”

“The other cousins wouldn’t mind?”

“We’re a good group. The spouses that have had the courage to join us seem to be managing.”

Spouses? She ducked her head to her mug again. No need to pay any attention to the pull of this man. She’d known him less than twenty-four hours even if she had slept in his home last night. She had slept alone and that was fine with her. Anything else would have been weird, right?

“What’s on your agenda today?” she asked, turning her thoughts in another direction forcefully.

“The first part will be spreading manure. I know, it’s glamorous, but I like to beat the paparazzi so I do that kind of thing early. Then a long hot shower, so that I’m presentable by lunchtime. My afternoon could be free if you are.”

“You don’t have much faith in Moe. I might be gone by then.”

“I hope not.” His face had gone serious at that.

Jocelyn decided to ignore the tug in her gut that comment made. “Could you use some help with the manure?”

He stopped and blinked at her. “You can’t be serious.”

“I like to try new things.”

“You’re on but you don’t have to stay at it for long. I’d love the company. We’ll need some protein first.”

“Who’s on breakfast duty?”

“Usually me, being the only one up this time of day.”

“Then how about an omelet?”

“You offering to cook?”

“I’m willing to try.”

The smile on his face caused an answering one on her own, and she stepped to the refrigerator. “Confess, dinner was all you last night, wasn’t it?”

“I told you guys, I gave Carol a few tips. She did all the work. You know she doesn’t like to cook.”

“Duh!”

“We made it a little fun and less stressful for her. Move.” He had joined her at the refrigerator, and she used her hip to shove him aside. Damn that had felt good. He had a great body. None of her professors had looked like him in college. Her grades probably wouldn’t have been as good if they had, because she would not have been paying attention to the lecture.

She gathered eggs, mushrooms, onions and some ham she spotted.

“You really do cook.”

“On occasion. I enjoy it but don’t take the time usually. It’s up and out most mornings.”

“Not nine to five?”

“In advertising? More like midnight to midnight when there’s a promotion coming out and the company always wants a promotion coming out.”

“So the vacation really is to relax. Are you sure you want to shovel manure?”

“Doing it physically instead of metaphorically might be nice.” She warmed at his chuckle.

What an incredible week! Didn’t get much physical writing done, but what a great relaxing week.  

Went to Ocean Isle for the first part – sat on the beach the first couple of days just to absorb it.

Ate at the pool bar the first night loving the breeze and the atmosphere. The resort served a full hot breakfast every morning as well and we took full advantage.

The wind came up the second day and after getting sand blasted for a while, came inside and worked on the jigsaw puzzle. Had great fresh seafood at Calabash, even enough to bring home for lunch the next day. Slept late, walked on the beach before it got hot and just vegged out.

Left on Thursday to visit relatives. Cousins Betsy and Peetie are in New Bern so headed up that way. Had a wonderful visit, caught up on their families – another great-grandchild coming in a couple of weeks for Peetie.

Then on Friday headed down to Charleston to visit with friends Kaye and Todd. They have remodeled their home and I adored it. She really needs to come decorate my place because I fall so far short of her skills. She is also the consummate hostess and we were pampered beyond belief.

Friday night we went on a catamaran cruise around Charleston Harbor. Talk about zen (until the thunderstorm came up at the last few minutes but we docked safely). Just the most peaceful time ever.

But Saturday night they took us to Theater 99 in Charleston – it’s improv and I was chosen to go up on stage to answer questions about myself for them to perform around for the show. Admitting that I wrote Romance Novels set them off – and they asked so many questions they had to cut the skits short! It was one of the biggest hoots I’ve ever had. They even introduced my Studmuffin hubby and told him how lucky he was! Have parts of it recorded, maybe Youtube?? LOL!  Thanks Brandy!