I have been unwell and we thought it was an abscessed tooth, then other things. After about a gazillion tests and doctor visits, we narrowed the problem down to one tiny (heinous bitch) organ. So, I’m meeting with a surgeon next week to get it out and from what I understand, my life will be mine once again after this. I may end up writing a post on the different pain, the severe headaches, etc. I think most people equate a bad gallbladder with nausea, etc. Oh no, it can do so much more! Maybe a post would lead Internet searchers here and not to some of the SCARY websites I ended up on when googling certain pains.

But I will be back with bells on. I have books to finish and hopefully, books to promote.

So, in the meantime, check out my guests at The Deadline Dames today. Moira Rogers has a new and exciting post-apocalyptic romance series out with truckers. How cool, eh?

http://www.deadlinedames.com/dame-for-a-day-moira-rogers/

Hope you all had way more fun over the holidays.

I was so excited a few years ago to sign with my agent. I had a couple of agents interested and a couple more had made full requests off partials and it felt like this career I’ve chased my entire life was finally going to move.

But it didn’t.

It is truly tough. The waiting. I’m told 2008 was the worst year for publishing and that’s when I went out with my UF series. I’ve taken more pieces out and there are still places considering my work, but the wait finally got to me this year. Thing is, my family went through and is still struggling through a financial storm we didn’t create. So, I moved on to write in a genre I hoped would work to help my family and discovered I truly enjoyed writing the sexier stuff. So, I’ll be sticking with that genre. If you happened to miss the announcements on Twitter and at The Deadline Dames, I have a pen name and am writing erotic romances and um, having a blast with them. I wrote a few shorter pieces to get things going and am now working on a series of longer books. I have a great agent who loves my writing and continues to support me and now I have great editor who also really seems to love my writing. Let me just say, that after all this time waiting, this is so, so nice.

So, I’ve been pulling out of my funk. I still hope to sell my urban fantasy and young adult work. No matter what I do, those threads of hope remain strong.

http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=8266

Now, I did my usual thing and researched, found this happened to a LOT of these models, found the usual culprits and ordered the parts. We didn’t call out a repairman because my husband can usually repair things and I’d researched the schematics. We changed out two thankfully inexpensive parts and though the oven came back on, it powered itself off when it reached a certain temp. We had priced main boards and knew we couldn’t yet afford to repair this oven, so we decided to do without for a time. I learned more about grilling than ever before and I’ve made countless skillet and crock pot dishes.

But I missed the oven. Never realized how much I used it. I make a lot of baked dishes. Then Fall arrived and the whole family got a little down about the missing oven. Fall for them has always arrived with the scents of baking. So Monday, we called out a repairman and it turned out the expense would be even worse than we thought. Even he thought it would be a bad investment and that the ovens would break down again. Bummed, the hubs and I drove to different stores to price new 30 inch double ovens and OMG, it’s been some time since we’d bought ovens. Disheartened, we were in the last store and considering cutting up the kitchen to make room for a stove/big oven combo (Gotta have big for that turkey, ya know?) when my sister sent me a Craigslist ad that had been placed the very day before. For 30 inch double ovens in excellent shape–the owners had to replace with stainless steel in order to sell their home.

I called, the owners were in my town, the ovens were still there and the price was unbelievable. They slid right into place and worked like a charm.

Nothing like a little serendipity to give you a wonderful boost, eh?

So, after hours and hours on this computer working on rewrites, I’ve spent the last two evenings making up for lost time. Cakes, cookies, casseroles… It feels like Fall in my house again and I’ve got my soothing hobby back to help me when the frustrations of the writing world get me down.

I love the cover! You can click on it to buy a Kindle copy, too!

But tomorrow is root canal day and then no more abscessed tooth and maybe I can get this blog going a bit more.

I will be blogging tomorrow at The Deadline Dames–provided I get it written today. Doubt I’ll want to do anything after my dentist trip. <g>