Too Many Books

 Mother Mary, I'm exhausted. I have worked myself to the bone over the last couple of weeks. Between my day job (I'm on my lunch "hour" right now, boss lady!) and my newfound focus on my writing, I am spent. I'm still waking up before my alarm in the morning, excited for a chance to write/ research/ connect and pursue my dream before I sign on to my other, corporate laptop.  That said, yesterday was amazing. I never thought I would have felt so good - on the first night my husband has been out of town overnight for work. For the first time since COVID, the first time since we got married, the first time since we bought our home in April of 2020. Don't get me wrong, I missed him FIERCLY. But I had such a fun day of making connections. Listen.  *     I met up with a beautiful woman, a professional contact as as well as a friend. We talked about everything under the sun, like we always do. I compared the southern abortion laws to The Handmaid's Tale. She turn...

I'm clearly no expert on how to get a novel published because I've only just finishing writing one.But, during the past week I've accomplished quite a lot.   I've tightened up my hook/ blurb  Louisville’s Laurel Lancaster is quickly coming apart at the seams. In her early twenties, her first manic episode crescendos into a two week stay in a mental health facility. While battling to reintegrate back into everyday life, the universe delivers news that may send her further spiraling: her ex-boyfriend is dead in an apparent car accident. Laurel knows better. She must figure out how to cope with a death she believes she caused, and discovers that her only redemption – or perhaps her only punishment – is to keep on living.   Cleaned up my manuscript. It's a little short at 66,000 words, so I'm adding in a chapter  Wrote a synopsis  Added a couple of agents to my dream agent list Found another beta reader and sent my work off to him Wrote a list of questions to b...

Dividing the hours in the day between my demanding full time job, finishing my manuscript, and trying to build a writer's platform has been a challenge that I have embraced. I wake up before my alarm, excited to roll out of bed and start the day.  I hope the novelty (pun intended!) doesn't wear off. I've gone from 45,000 words to 60,000 words since Sunday - 4 days of writing. Granted, some of these scenes were already written and some of the increase was a mere matter of me fumbling through stained manila folders, the notes app on my phone, some old unpublished blog posts and pulling it together from the cluttered notes I've kept over about 12-13 years of working toward this goal. My brain tends to struggle with organization. The above referenced job has really helped me from a "save this in a folder" standpoint, but in my personal life I find that sometimes I start to get bogged down in a mess of thoughts, ideas, tasks.... and then the brain scramble takes ho...

(It's not, actually anymore. Ha! Tricked ya, but I didn't jinx myself. That's how confident I am. I'll be stepping on ALL the sidewalk cracks.) * I'm sitting here with my laptop out, hiding at a corner table on the patio, at this chain bar/restaurant called "World of Beer." I used to come here after work to avoid seeing my boyfriend at the time. I'd sit at the bar, play on my phone, have a few beers - all while he did Crossfit or sat at home, probably as annoyed with me as I was with him. Now, I'm actually racing through this post to hurry and GET home - to my new husband, my soul mate. Per my usual dumb wiring, I considered telling him that my meeting ran long or that I'd had a drink with my colleague, who he's met - and who really was in town from Lexington for the meeting. But she's pregnant. And here's the other thing - I don't have to lie to him. I could also write this post sitting in bed next to him. I've only recentl...

My grandmother's funeral was beautiful, personal and heart-wrenching. Writing  the obit  was an honor, and I was happy to have my mom, dad and sister all add some details and thoughts I wouldn't have come up with on my own. My grandma looked wonderful and at peace- she looked twenty or more years younger, like the Mamaw we remembered. Pretty skin, eyes that weren't red and swollen, those same loving little hands folded at rest. My family and I did a splendid job selecting and setting up a slew of memorabilia. And during the service, my sister and I each had one of our mom's cousins read some memories we'd each written about our Mamaw and our favorite times with her and what she meant to us. At the graveside, my Mom planned to stay as the casket was lowered into the ground, but there was some mechanical issue and they were having a hard time getting it to steadily and easily descend. We were all #facepalm about it. But then we laughed a little - after wat...

I went to see Hamilton in Louisville earlier this year. Tonight, I can't get that song out of my head. You know -- "The Room Where It Happened." Have you ever been in The Room When It Happened? I hadn't. My grandmother died Monday, 9/9/19 at 5:01 pm in front of my Mom, Dad, my sister, and me. Just the five of us, in the room where it happened. Until after that split second when only four of us remained. A little backstory. Mamaw moved out of her Bloomington, Indiana duplex of her own accord, and sold her Chevy Lumina to opt for Assisted Living back in 2007 or 2008. Maybe she just knew she'd live a good long life and need the extra care. The dementia started up at some point after that. By September 2018 she'd been through hernia surgery, hip replacements, and I don't even remember what else. But on the 15th of that month last year, she had a UTI and a 103 degree fever. She fell out of her own bed, was septic or nearly septic. Bloomington Hosp...

My grandmother will probably die today. I've been saying that all day. I've been saying that since Friday. (She's worse off than my dog, who I was so worried about Thursday night.) Mammaw lived in Assisted Living in Bloomington, Indiana for over a decade until last September. A high fever (103) and a UTI caused her to go almost septic and fall out of bed. She spent some time in a hospital and a rehab facility in Bloomington until I helped my mom decide it was time to move her to a nursing home in Louisville, Kentucky, so that mom and I  mom could go see her daily instead of monthly. I usually went to see her on Sundays to give my mom a day a home. Though Mom still made me Facetime her. Mammaw couldn't walk or get herself in and out of bed anymore by October of last year. And, her dementia was as bad as ever, and getting worse. She may have not known what year it was or remembered what state she'd moved to, but she knew who we were. She could laugh. She could...