I like the idea of gardening more than I like the task. Two years ago, my transformed back yard was a haven. Last year, I waited too long, and the person who was actually doing all the work vanished on me. It was still a nice place to be, but not as beautiful as it was that first year.
This year, I got out there early and did some spring maintenance. I also bought new decor.
A new wind chime
And a spinner.
Hopefully, I can find a happy medium for this year.
One thing I’ve noticed when reading (older) series/category romance is the cover models frequently resemble actors. Now, this may be true of new issues, but I don’t know newer actors.
Here are a few examples (from the late 1990s/early 2000s:
Probably the least well-known, this guy looks like John Shea. I know John Shea from the TV show: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in which he played villain Lex Luthor.
Alec Baldwin, anyone?
Richard Gere?
And the most recent (in my personal collection):
Will Ferrell.
What do you think? Have you spotted actors on the covers of anything you’ve read?
As I type this blog, New York State is still “paused,” although that is scheduled to begin easing in some parts of the state at any moment.
I shared my day job situation in an earlier blog post. One of the things I deal with every day at the day job is despair. Some of the accounts I handle are scared they won’t survive the Pause.
My husband comes home every night and turns on the news to hear the latest on the Pause and global reactions to the pandemic. More despair.
I am in despair overload. I cannot face the despair of my characters as they struggle to overcome adversity in the story, even though none of it is real.
I reached out to my editor and my publisher and explained the situation to them. They, being the wonderful people they are, completely understand.
I hope that you, my readers, will understand, too.
This doesn’t mean Besieged by the Moon has been abandoned. It means I want it to be the best book it can be, and right now, my brain isn’t in a place where I can make that happen.
Are polka dots a summer thing? I wondered this as I pulled on a fuchsia and white polka dog shirt the other day. I remembered with great fondness other polka dotted summer clothes: a red and white dress that flirted with my legs when I danced; a navy and white dress I always wore with pearls. Even one of my maternity outfits was polka dotted.
Could this be the reason why I associate polka dots with summer?
Sometimes, a person needs silence. That need, in today’s society, is treated as an aberration. I love music. I have eclectic taste. But sometimes the music has to stop.
My day job is working in an office. A cube farm. Phones ring and telephone conversations are constant. The climate control system roars most of the day. And yet if there is even a nook of silence in all that, someone will call out, “Hey! Turn on the music!”
I have often said there was no music in the 80’s. I was only slightly wrong, and I can prove it. The only radio station we can get (the office location is in a low spot) plays music of the 80’s, 90’s, and forward. It is owned by a huge, national company, and the playlist is set. The same songs play every day. Every. Single. Day. Apparently only 30 or so songs survived from the 80’s and 90’s. I rest my case.
Years ago, when I worked in retail, the store playlist would drive the employees crazy because of the repetition. This radio station playing in my current workplace does the same thing. At least to me. The only difference is the play list is mixed up. “Shallow” isn’t always followed by “Drops of Jupiter” or “Heaven is a Place on Earth.”
Heaven is really a place where a woman can hear herself think.