Newsletter ~ July 2020

The Lazy Days of Summer

Instead of designing a newsletter and begging people to sign up...first - I don't have the time to send out posts on my social media sites asking for sign-ups...and second - I don't want to be disappointed when only a handful of people sign-up... so, I decided to post my newsletters right here on my blog.

Each month I will try my best to post a summary of what I've been up to - personal and professional.

Without further delay...let's get right to my first newsletter...

Baby Tigger pencil drawing I drew for my daughter.

It's been forever since I blogged about anything. Maybe back in March, the pre-Covid-19 days. What a scary world we are living in right now! I can't say I have much to discuss about what I've been doing since March other than I've been home. I only go in public areas to get groceries and the occasional trek to the Dollar Store. That's it. As our premier stated in April "Stay The Blazes Home", that's what I've been doing.

Eeyore pencil drawing I drew for my daughter.

Home life during Covid-19 hasn't changed much for my family. My husband still went to work every morning because his job is considered essential. Thankfully, it was just him and his boss in the office. My daughter did have her hours cut back. She was only working two days a week, so we got to hang out a lot. It was nice to have her company while walking the dog and going for groceries. When most services reopened a few weeks back, she returned to full time at the bakery.

Dusted off my Ukulele and started playing again.

On the east coast, the four Atlantic Provinces opened its borders to an Atlantic Bubble, which means you could travel to and from one of the four provinces. While I would love to spend a few days at the cottage in the Valley, we have opted for a stay-cation this summer. We are not ready to take the chance of exposure. Everyone believes there will be a second round of Covid, and I prefer my family safe at home. Most are eager to have the borders opened more to boost the financial economy, but I'm content with a bubble right now. Let's leave it this way until other provinces have much lower numbers. And I am totally against having the Canadian border opened to the US. And please know I don't mean that in a bad way. I don't get political and I keep my opinions to myself, but that country is a mess right now with numbers increasing with each new day. They need someone in charge who actually believes this is a serious problem. People are dying, that's no joke.

 A cupcake puzzle my daughter and I enjoyed doing together.

An early spring enjoyments was watching a family of robins. I watched the mom and dad build the nest, which was right outside our front door in our spruce tree. I could see the comings and goings from my chair in the living room. When we opened the door, we had to go quietly so we wouldn't disturb mama robin while nesting. She laid four eggs and all four hatched. I even got to see the babies leave the nest. Three of the four babies headed toward our side yard which has lots of trees for them to hide under. Only one baby headed the wrong way - to the street. I rushed outside and prodded it back to the side yard. We saw mama and papa robin stay close by in the big tree behind our shed, as the kept a close eye on their babies. It was so much fun watching the circle of life from start to leaving the nest.

What else? Well, I've been reading a lot, which you can probably see from my list of recent posts. I'm deep into several series, which I was able to start from the beginning, so I'm enjoying visiting new places and meeting new people...all through the pages of books.

And in writing news...

After receiving the rights to three of my book from a publisher, I self-published the first two books in my Redford Falls series. I was preparing the third book, when I decided that it was a lot of work to self-publish. I loved having control of my books and I enjoyed designing the covers, but there's more to it. There's a lot to learn and I just didn't have the time to put into the research. I thought quite a lot about sending them to a publisher again, and my first choice was The Wild Rose Press who already holds three of my books.

Everyone strives to be with one of the big publishing houses, but my experience wasn't that great. I was published with Harlequin Australia's digital imprint and while I don't have anything bad to say against them, I just didn't feel like I was part of their team. I felt like just a number to them and when my numbers didn't produce big results, they opted to give me an out, which I immediately accepted.

The Wild Rose Press may not be one of
the big publishing houses, but they have a community of staff and authors that make you feel welcome. You're part of the family. So, I contacted TWRP to see if they'd be interested in my three books and they were!

My three previously-published books as well as a fourth in the series all received contracts! I quickly gave each book another review/edit and sent them off. All detail forms and cover art data have been completed. I am now just waiting to hear back regarding the final steps of cover art and release dates. Being back with a publisher means 'waiting' is longer than self-publishing, but that's okay. I have already started book five in the series...and I'm back with my beta group.

I almost made the decision to quit writing, but I'm glad I am giving it my 'all' again, because what else would I do with all these stories swimming in my head!

That's my wrap-up of the past few months. I hope to have some book release news in next month's newsletter.

I hope you are all staying safe and enjoying summer! Take care, Darlene