Posts

Struggling

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82966173   ©   creativecommonsstockphotos   |   Dreamstime.com Just a couple of weeks ago I was feeling hopeful and wanting to write, but my depression is back and I am struggling to make it through each day without alcohol. The alcohol withdrawal is part of my depression, but things going on in my home life are part of the problem too. I'm not going to into details about that because they are just too depressing to talk about.  I've been struggling with alcoholism for several years. It's a disease that runs in my family and I always feared that I would suffer from it. I fought it for a long time when I was younger, but as depression and dealing with teenagers doing bad things over took my life, I went to alcohol for relief.  I'm going to start seeing my therapist again next week and hopefully she can help me get out of the funk that I'm in. I used to see her earlier in the year and she was wonderful. She helped me get to a happy place and hopefully she can help me

Celebrating Patriot's Day

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  I have exciting news!  College Hill: Season One  is now available on Kindle Unlimited. So, for those of you who didn't want to fool with Kindle Vella, you can now read this season that follows Jamie Edwards and PJ Thomas from my book  Suddenly   through a portion of their first semester in college together.  Season Two , which is on Kindle Vella for now, starts shortly after Fall break and will go to just before Christmas break. Season One introduces two characters, Kayla Martin and Lori Weaver, who will have a bigger role in Season Two and become two important characters throughout the remainder of the story. At least, that's the way I see them in my mind right now.  I plan to make Christmas break its own season. When our characters go home for the holidays, there's going to be lots of drama.   I'm also starting to post episodes of  Ridgway Moon  on Kindle Vella. The story is still dragging, so I want to get it out there and get some feedback from readers. Ridgway Mo

The Storms of Life

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24487119  ©  Paul Schneider  |  Dreamstime.com This summer has been absolutely nuts. There has been so much drama with my family that has seriously interfered with my writing for the past few years, but I'm getting back on track. The good thing about all that is that it's given me another story idea that I'm putting down the first notes for.  I have been working on new episodes for College Hill: Season Two . I'm going to make College Hill: Season One available on Kindle unlimited soon. And I'm going to start posting episodes of Ridgway Moon. Life has been so crazy that I have not been able to complete a book, but I want to publish new content and that's where Kindle Vella is a good source for me to post new material.  I'm trying to decide which book I want to make permanently free as a draw for readers and something to give away for newsletter subscribers once I get my newsletter back up and running. I think it's going to be Sheltered by Love . It's

Finally Working On Writing

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This is the new cover that Ida at  https://www.amygdaladesign.net/ created for me. She does amazing work and has created several covers for me.  This year got off to a rocky start, but the waters seem to be settling down. I've finally been able to work on some writing projects, including a 10-minute play that I'm going to enter into Emerald Theatre Company's annual contest. This will be my third time entering. My first attempt was successful, and they picked my play "Is She or Isn't She" to be performed. That play is available for purchase on Amazon .  I'm editing Ridgway Moon, which is sort of a sequel to Learning to Love Again , and deciding if I'm going to put it on Kindle Vella. I've gone back and forth with it because I'm afraid it won't get a lot of reads there, but I want to put out something new. I'll be making my annual trip to Ridgway, Colorado, on May 26th, so hopefully, that will give me plenty of inspiration to finish the
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This picture sums up the way my life has started this year. It's been a shipwreck. I've managed to survive the wreck, but in many ways I feel like I'm in pieces, like this ship. Sometimes you have to make really hard choices and changes. I can only pray that I have made the right choices and the right changes.  I haven't been listening to much music lately, although I did get a copy of Dolly Parton's Rockstar CD from the library and I listened to it in my car. It's awesome. If you have gotten to listen to it yet, check it out! Rockstar! I've been listening to a couple of podcasts. The main one I've been listening to is the Lesbians Who Write podcast . I have been listening to this podcast for a few years now and I really love it. The two ladies who run it, TB Markinson and Clare Lydon are excellent lesbian writers and fun to listen to.  Another podcast I've been listening to for the past couple of years, and a lot here lately is the Be Positive Sta

Tracy Chapman

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I haven't gotten much done with my books this month. My life is still a chaotic mess, but I've been reading and listening to music more than I have in a while. I was so thrilled to see Tracy Chapman perform her classic song "Fast Car" with Luke Combs, who has made it a hit for himself. I had hoped they duet would happen after the song became so popular again and it was an amazing performance.  Tracy is another songstress who touches my heart a lot when I'm thinking about the changes going on in my life. In fact, during previous changes when I was first coming to terms with my lesbianism, I was listening to Tracy's CDs " Telling Stories " and " New Beginning ." I feel that my life is headed for a new beginning and hopefully that will mean more telling stories for me.  I'm still plugging along on my next YA lesbian romance, but it's been slow going. But, I have been reading and I would highly recommend this book by fellow lesbian fict

Change

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  114341264   ©   Andranik Hakobyan   |   Dreamstime.com Welcome to a new year, my friends. I am very happy to see 2023 in the rearview mirror. 2023 was a lot of things for me. I learned a lot about myself, and I'm not happy with who I have become. I have become a very unhappy and angry person. Part of that is because I feel that my life has been spiraling out of my control for a long time. Taking control meant making major changes that I have been afraid of making. But sometimes, you have to make painful changes for your mental health and happiness, and that's what I'm doing.  I dug out my Melissa Etheridge CD Your Little Secret  , and I've been listening to four of the songs from it on replay for the past few weeks. Those songs are: I Could Have Been You, Shriner's Park, Change, and  This War Is Over.  Change , in particular, speaks very strongly of where my life is right now. The lyrics that strike me the hardest are: "And so it goes, this, too, shall pass a