2011 Is Ending

I went over my goals for 2011. Boy, was that a bust. I finished two and started on a couple of others. I changed books near the end of the year since the Alternate Universe romance was going no where fast. I am making progress on A Chance For Love, which is a time-travel, historical western romance. I hope to have it finished by March and up at Kindle and Nook.

My books have all been posted at Nook and are ready for sale. I have to wait and see how long it takes them to actually sell. It took longer than it was supposed to to publish. I also have to e-mail Barnes and Noble again to get them to take down the publisher's copies of the ones I have the rights to. There are still three of them up. I have been trying for months to get them down.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday so far. I am on vacation from both universities, so I am happy. I am ignoring my students until January 2.

Bella had a very busy holiday. This was her first Hanukkah and she is opening one of her presents. That was Friday night. Then Saturday night she had Christmas Eve with Grandpa and Grandma.

Christmas Day she came with mom, dad, and grammy. She wasn't much in the mood to open presents any more. Her arm was bothering her until after her dinner nap in mom's arms.

Chewbaca had a wonderful Christmas. He got his present first, a new squeaky ball. He ripped it right open and took it straight to Bella's grammy to play ball. He took it to everyone before the day was over. By the time everyone left, he was exhausted. He could hardly get his back end up from the floor because of all of his running around. He did manage to sit up for his nightly pill and peppermint candy, then flopped back down. His birthday is the day after Christmas, but I didn't give him his present until the following day. He was so tired I kept telling him to go lay down. He wasn't getting to play any more.

He had more trouble getting the squeaky bone open. I had to pull of the last of the paper for him. Now I am trying to find a time when he isn't looking to toss the old one that is in tatters.

Count Rugen wore himself out trying to hide from people. He leapt over presents to get behind the tree. He also hid under the dining room table, but his big paws snuck up to steal the silverware. He finally went into the bedroom and crashed on the blankets. He was pretty tired the next day. All the stress of company was too much for him.

I was tired and didn't move for two days. There is so much to getting everything ready, then cooking dinner. It wasn't as stressful this year because Rob helped me. It would have been even less stressful if I hadn't had to take a class the week before vacation for work.

I am going to be making goals for the next year this week. I will be making less goals since I don't seem to be accomplishing as much with all the teaching I have been doing. I hope to do a better job of actually doing them this time.

The first one is to finish my new book. I would like to have two new books next year.

The Irish Countess is on Kindle

BUY NOW from Kindle

I have posted the Irish Countess at Kindle with a sexy new cover.

After her husband’s death, Countess Fitzsimmons returns to Ireland with her son. There she meets Mick O’Hurlihey, the estate overseer, and falls in love. However, being the countess keeps her from him. Mick, smitten with Ciara, realizes that he can never her. Then danger stalks Ciara and her son and Mick risks his own life to keep theirs safe.

Rugen loves to help me while I am at the computer. His newest thing is to grab my hand while I am typing or using the mouse. Then he bites. He also likes to clear off the top of my desk.

He is a little terror most days. I was boiling left over roast to make shredded beef enchiladas and I spent the whole afternoon chasing him away from the stove. He has no idea of what hot is or fire. I cannot leave the stove for a second or he will be setting himself and the house on fire.

He has gotten big enough that he can now hug Chewbaca. He grabs him around the neck so that they are face-to-face. His paws almost meet at the back of Chewbaca's neck. It is a hit and run action. I would love to get a picture of him doing it, but he doesn't stay long. I think he figures Chewbaca is going to grab him.

I made a Christmas stocking for Bell's first Christmas. I made one for each of the boys for their first Christmases, which I still hang on the fireplace. Those are knitted since felt stockings were not around when Tom was born and I wanted them all similar. But a girl deserves something bright and fancy. I made her mommy one for her first Christmas also. Michael nagged me something terrible on that one. He didn't think I would have it done on time. This time he wasn't around to nag me.

Then I had to go out and buy something to put in the stocking for Bella. I bought little items that I can take out of the packages and put loose in the stocking. I probably bought more than will fit.

I figure the Christmas stockings may be one of the few things that goes up this Christmas because Rugen likes to redecorate everything. The Christmas tree will probably end up a shambles.

Bella is growing so much. She will be six months old this week on Saturday. Her parents can start to use the Baby Bullet I bought them to make her food.

She has such a beautiful smile and such big blue eyes. She is my darling. She can turn over from her stomach to her back, if so inclined. She isn't thrilled with being on her stomach and voices that at other times.

I am working on a new book called a Chance of Love. It is a western time-travel and is moving along nicely. I am trying to find more time to write, but teaching classes interferes with that.

Check out my books on Kindle when you get a chance.

Read More

The Lucky Lady Up At Kindle

BUY NOW from Kindle The Lucky Lady has a new look and is now available on Kindle.

Lila Kane s trying to bury her past as a saloon singer and reestablish herself as a respectable dressmaker in a town where no one knows her. Then she meets Carter Hawkins, a saloon owner, gambler and drinker, the epitome of everything she detests, but he touches her heart.

Carter wants nothing more than to sell his saloon and resume his wandering lifestyle until Lila arrives in town. He is drawn to the prim and proper seamstress, but realizes he must stay away from her or he’ll ruin her reputation.

Then a blackmailer threatens her life and her dream. Carter will do whatever is necessary to keep her safe. Can he protect her without sabotaging her dream and her reputation? Can she keep him from stealing her heart as her tries to protect her?

Check it out. Carter is hot.

Count Rugen, the Terror

Rugen has a new cat condo. It is such a wonderful decorating item for my family room. The hope was it would keep him off of the fireplace mantle which he has already redecorated. All of the breakables had to go into the bookcase in the corner. There is nothing there where he can jump into it. The only thing left on the mantle are pictures of Bella which Rugen regularly knocks over.

Today he decided to jump from the recliner onto the bookcase next to the sliding glass door. I keep his fishing pole there so I can entertain him while Chewbaca, the dog, goes out. I had to hunt all over the house to find the fishing pole. He had hidden it in the other room.
Rugen loves to play at night. About one in the morning the other night, he was racing through the house and raced right over the top of Chewbaca. Poor Chewbaca came straight up out of a deep sleep, was looking around to see what had happened, and grumbled a great deal.

Rugen sees nothing wrong with jumping on Chewbaca. The size difference seems to mean nothing. He likes to run up and launch himself onto Chewbaca's face, then dash off. We keep warning Rugen that Chewbaca is going to eat him one of these days.









I have added Chronicles of Augeas to my books on Kindle.

Buy Now from Kindle

They are fun fantasy short stories with the illustrations that are posted in the Augeas section of this website.

I have decided to work on a historical time-travel that I started a few years back and go sidetracked on. It is a story about a man and his young son who find themselves back in time on a horse ranch. The son has issues to deal with. The father falls in love.

A Tea Party on Kindle

I have put A Tea Party, which is my children's book, up on Kindle with the rest of my things. It is a historical story about the Boston Tea Party. Theodora, the magic cat, takes Robby and Chelsea on an adventure to see the Boston Tea Party for themselves.

Isabella is getting so big. She is happy most of the time, but has gotten where she only wants mommy and daddy to hold her. She is at daycare all day, so when she is not, she only wants them. She will let me hold her for about 30 seconds before she realizes that one of her parents is across the room.

She caught her first cold. She was cranky. So were Mom and Dad. It didn't last too long, which is good for everyone.

Count Rugen is growing by leaps and bounds. He thinks Chewbaca is a large cat and tries to cat wrestle with him. Scares me, but the cat has no fear. He is now large enough to get up on the antique sewing machine which is against the window with the air conditioner. Rugen then climbs into the window, knocks the curtain down on the air conditioner, jumps up onto the bookcase and onto the fireplace mantle. When I try to get him down, Chewbaca thinks he needs to help. It is a wonder I don't have scratches all down my arms.

The mantle has now been redecorated. The candles and breakables have been moved. I am down to three sets of framed pictures of Isabella. Rugen knocked off the one of my goddaughter earlier and it has found a new home. I have not decided where the rest of the pictures are going to go. I guess as they fall, they will be relocated. The mantle is looking very bare. The large bookcase is getting really crowded. It is the only place I think he can't get into.

Rugen finally managed to pull the fuzzy monster off of the fishing pole line and he is now carrying it everywhere. It is his new best toy.

I have been putting up my short stories on Kindle for 99 cents. They are the ones that go with each of my novels. I only have two sets up so far, but plan to have more up soon.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day.