It's NaNoWriMo Season

Today is the beginning of NaNoWriMo 2023, and I've decided to work on a new YA romance this year. It has been almost two years since I published a new book! I can't believe how time has gotten away from me, but I've started about five new projects in this time period, so my goal for 2024 is to finish at least three of them, including the YA romance I'm about to start. 

I had been torn about finishing a book I started during Camp NaNoWriMo in April or starting a new story. The story I started in April may not have 50,000 words left, but if I finish it next month, I can get it out to readers before the end of the year. Yes, I realize that is an overly ambitious goal, and that's why I decided to work on a new story for NaNoWriMo and start editing the book I started in April. 

Yesterday was Halloween, and it was my partner's birthday. She turned 65 yesterday, and I adore her. This year has been a wild ride, and I'm learning to handle the ups and downs better. The fact that we've been together for almost 24 years just amazes me. I can't believe she continues to put up with me. 

The one goal I have accomplished is getting most of my books on I Heart Sapphfic's bookfinder page. Hopefully, more people will find my books, and I'll get some new fans. I want to get into I Heart Sapphfic's 2024 reading challenge, but I may be too late. 

I really appreciate all the fans and readers who are still hanging with me. The past two years have been very challenging. I had brain surgery in March 2022, and I've recovered pretty well. I retired from my job at the library in April 2022, only to return part-time in July 2023. My house has filled up with more people, including my granddaughter's boyfriend, Joe, and my new great-grandson, Angel.  Both of my daughters' lives imploded within the same week back in June, and they are still picking up the pieces. and I've been involved with a lot of that, including taking in my oldest daughter, Jessica's cat, Jinx, and three of her kittens.

While all of this craziness is a perfect excuse for not writing, the bottom line is that I've been depressed and unmotivated, but the spark is coming back. I'm going to blame a little of my issues on the planets. Pluto and Saturn aren't in retrograde anymore, which I didn't know was a thing that could affect your life so much, but something I've been learning about. I've always been into astrology, but I've become even more so this year since just these two planets, which were in retrograde for a good portion of the years seem to have had a huge effect on my life. 

I'm also getting back into cooking, which used to be one of my passions. My daughter, Michelle, and I share this passion. She is also working on becoming an excellent gardener. She grew some wonderful tomatoes this year and ended up with a ton of green tomatoes left over, so I found a recipe for green tomato soup that turned out really great. 

Even though I haven't been writing much, I have been reading. My friend and the director of our library, Court Stevens, has a new book coming out next week. I read it on Netgalley, and I'm going to get my signed copy on November 12th. The book Last Girl Breathing is an excellent YA thriller/mystery. I highly recommend this book. 

I also read Heart Finds by Jaime Berry. This is a wonderful juvenile fiction story about a young girl trying to help her grandfather. 

My queer fiction reads were Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher and Queen's Ransom: A Fog City Novel by Layne Reyne. I really enjoyed both of these books, and I have to warn you about Queen's Ransom. It's part of a queer series that will get you hooked. 

That sums up what I've been up to and what I hope to do. My other big goal is to update my website www.metudor.com. I've got a lot of work ahead of me, so I'm going to get to it. Until next time, I wish you peace and love.