Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 74

Weekend Roundup

The weekend was okay. Wizard has a friend who is very sick and in the hospital with Covid, and we have a family member struggling with a non-Covid serious illness. But we are staying positive and hopeful.

Otherwise, I worked on getting some stuff ready for a boxed set I plan to release in Feb. To do this, I had to rewrite and tighten blurbs, revise a bunch of reader letters and get things ready for my formatter after Christmas. I originally planned to do that a little at a time, but I found it easier to just tackle the big items all at once. It’s a relief to get the bulk of that work done, so it’s ready to go when I need it. Because, you know, I’m juggling things, LOL.

This weekend, my brother called to chat, and teased me about being driven. I’m not particularly ambitious, I just have stories to tell, and a very stubborn nature I was surprised that he sees me that way. On the other hand, I have written about seven opening scenes for Eli in Primal Magic, searching for the one works…and some might view that as a tad obsessive or driven.

I also cleaned, clued Wizard into my plan to create a small secondary office in an upstairs bedroom in 2021 (Wizard is mentally adjusting to the idea) and I finished reading BURN FOR ME by Ilona Andrews. I’m hooked on that series now!

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Let’s jump right into sharing 5 random things about our week.

I’m reading Ilona Andrews book titled Burn For Me and enjoying it.
I’m listening to another book that’s not a romance and annoyed. The story is constant telling rather than telling and worse, the author is repeating scenes from different character point of views. And to top it off, the author occasionally moves onto a new scene, then backtracks to retell an old scene from another point of view. I’m only sticking it out from stubbornness now. But I often switch to listening to podcasts, so I may end up DNFing this book.
This was Maggie’s face when I told her I didn’t have time to take her for a second walk yesterday.
I love my new coffeemaker. It makes me happy every morning
I’m not really doing Christmas baking this year and I miss it.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear 5 random things about your week. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wizard Made Me Smile

Wizard made me smile yesterday. He went to Costco and bought four things.  The first three are boring items: Restocking water in case of earthquake, some low calorie ice creams bars we like to keep in the house, and vitamins for me. See boring and routine.

But the fourth item is what got to me. Wizard bought Maggie’s special treat bones, and he was really happy that he found them so we have a backup in case there are more shortages. In spite of my county having 10,949 new cases of Covid-19, the state sending out a text alert to stay at home if at all possible, this was something that made me smile. Wizard didn’t want a dog, and protested getting one for decades.

But he clearly loves our Maggie and takes care of her even during a pandemic

What do you have to smile about today? I’d really love to hear it.

The post Wizard Made Me Smile first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

It was a weekend. Things happened, stuff got done, other stuff didn’t. Here in California, things are bad Covid 19-wise, and chunks of the state are on lockdown. It’s hard not to be depressed. I’m very worried about people getting through this nightmare health wise, financially and emotionally.

But I also believe in choosing positive actions over becoming angry and reactive. So to that end, I’ve done two things:

For myself personally, I spent Sunday hanging out with my grandson. Wizard didn’t feel 100%, probably from allergies, but he stayed home as a precaution. Here’s a picture of Turbo playing in the dirt while weaving pretty amazing stories for a two year old about building a house (the dump truck and tractors knock on the door…not sure how that happens if the house isn’t built yet, but it’s Turbo’s world )  Spending time with Turbo (and his parents!) really helped improve my outlook on life.

And in an effort to spread some love to the romance community, I’m having an eBook sale of The Savaged Illusions Trilogy. The first book, Savaged Dreams is only 99¢ on the eBook version for a limited time. The eBook versions of books two and three,  Savaged Vows and Savaged Devotion, prices have been slashed to $2.99.

Now my goal is to write PRIMAL MAGIC and FALLEN MAGIC in 2021 to spread more love and magic. That’s a huge challenge for me, but I’m going for it!

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Time to share 5 random things about our week.

I’ve hit a wall, and had a couple days of getting nothing done no matter how hard I tried.
One of the biggest lies I tell myself–writing the next book will be easy. It’s never easy. It’s a messy, dirty, frustrating job of digging and digging, searching for the one nugget of story gold. Right now, I just have a pile of coal. I hate the struggle, and yet I love writing with a passion that drives me.
Many of you have probably seen this, but I put together a PDF of some of my favorite holiday baking recipes to give to my newsletter subscribers. I plan to send that newsletter out next Tuesday with the link to download the PDF, and hopefully there won’t be any glitches with that. I’m using Bookfunnel to do it. If anyone is interested in signing up before the newsletter goes out, click here for the link  I had fun doing this project and hope to do more things as time allows.
I bought myself a fancy new coffeemaker. This is a milestone for me. I always buy cheap ones, but realized if I’m going to work this hard, try this hard at my goals, the least I can do is buy myself a decent coffeemaker with the flexibility to make a full pot or a single serving. Seriously, why is it so hard to be nice to ourselves? 
Yesterday I made a few dark chocolate covered almonds with sea salt. I might just eat them all before this blog posts due to frustration (That’s Wizard in the background screaming, NO! You have to save me some!)

That’s my five now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a safe, fun weekend and stays healthy!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Hunk

I may change the theme of Wednesday posts next year…. I mean I have ideas and plans, but it’s the execution that seems to be a problem. As CPA Boy put it, “Mom you’re only one person.” Umm…thanks? Did you have to go to all those years of college and take the CPA exam to figure that out?

By the way, I repeated what CPA Boy said to Wizard, who laughed and said “CPA Boy is trying to do it all in his world just like you are in yours.”

Wait, was that a complement? Or something else? Hmm. Anyhow, this year my Wednesday posts haven’t actually had a theme…so where was I going with this? Oh well, let’s just look at this hunk trying hard to follow my train of thought:

 

 

What do you think, did I confuse him too?

The post Wednesday Hunk first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

It was a good weekend. Well Saturday was a technologically frustrating day with computer updates and printer snafus, but those are solvable problems so no biggie.

Sunday, I worked on a small project for my newsletter. Naturally it’s turning out to be a little bigger than I originally intended, but I’m hoping I can pull it off. While I don’t technically have time, I enjoy doing little things for my subscribers and figuring out new-to-me challenges.

Eli and I are in some discussions about getting real and owning up to who he really is. He’s muttered something about checking his contract to see if he could hire a ghost writer to replace me. The jokes on him, the contract is air tight

Yesterday afternoon Turbo came over to brighten up our lives. These days, he gets out of the car and runs right into the house. It’s the best thing ever!

The only downside is I’ve been doing too much overall, and working too long, which is causing some pain. But I’m trying to rest my neck, shoulder and arm more consistently so that should resolve. The worst case, I’ll take two days off completely and that will do it.

And finally, Maggie had a good weekend filled with walks, treats, playing with Turbo and a some sunbathing.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

So…it’s Friday right? Okay, then it’s time to share five random things about our weeks. Here’s my randomly weird five:

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with two of our sons, their wives and Turbo. One son had a possible second-hand exposure to Covid, and on Wednesday he called me to discuss it. He flat out told me that he worried about exposing me or his dad. My first reaction was all mom, and I said, “I’ll risk it.” My son grew frustrated and said he wouldn’t risk me or his dad if he could help it. All I could think then was, Well this is how I raised him, so I’d better damn well appreciate and respect the man he’s grown into. We missed them, but we video-called them, and will see them as soon as they get the all clear, probably in a day or two.
Will anyone be out in the stores shopping on Black Friday? I’ve rarely ever gone out on Black Friday, but I feel for all the businesses this year and hope they can find a way to survive. Wizard and I support them where we can.
I heard a phrase on a podcast a week ago that has stuck with me. It’s “perfectionism leads to procrastination,” and for me, it’s so true. Being a perfectionist is demanding the impossible from ourselves, and that leads us to freeze up and procrastinate.
I’ve been making notes in a notebook on writing, business, marketing and motivation. I began typing and organizing those into some files and Whoa, I was surprised how much I had. I still have a lot more to information to get into my files.
As I’m writing this blog on Thursday night, it’s very windy and my Internet connection is spotty. Hopefully I’ll get this posted.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a healthy and fun weekend.

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Happy Thanksgiving & My Free Books

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U. S. For me, Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I love that it’s about being together with those you love, and remembering to be grateful. But this year is really tough for a lot of people. Many won’t be able to see their family, friends or loved ones for various reasons; the pandemic, financial pressures, and the stress of life right now. I can’t change that reality, but I can offer you this one small thing: If you’re looking for a romantic escape and haven’t read them, I have three books that are currently free in digital (e-book) format. Please note that the paperbacks are NOT free and the free digital books are free for a limited time. Here are the covers and links to their page on my website:

 

If you like paranormal romance, click here

If you like sexy contemporary, click here (Note: this is book one of three).

If you like very sexy contemporary novellas, click here

For all who are able to celebrate, I wish you a safe and joyous Thanksgiving. And to all my friends here, thank you so much for being a part of my life.

The post Happy Thanksgiving & My Free Books first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

The weekend came and went. Wizard’s on the injured and cranky list. It’s probably just a back strain that will heal, but because he’s had two back surgeries, I’ve put him on restriction, hence the crankiness. Bored and Wizard do not mix well. That whole situation has kept me busy trying to stay one step ahead of Wizard so he doesn’t do anything he shouldn’t

Otherwise, I worked a little, took a class on Zoom, cleaned a bunch, and planned out what I’m taking for Thanksgiving to CPA Boy and Special K’s house. I also made Youngest Son’s cookies into bars, and they turned out better than I expected. They are such a dense dough, I wasn’t sure they’d cook well as bars. Ironically, and totally unplanned, Youngest Son just happened to come by when the cookie-bars were in the oven. He was able to taste test and approve. I froze the bars right away, and will take them on Thanksgiving (to make sure Youngest has a dessert he can eat there), then I’m going to make an apple pie and some other homemade brownies on Wednesday or Thanksgiving morning. I’m also taking green beans, so I’ll need to cook those up too.

Maggie and I took several walks, and I fretted about not writing on Primal Magic. However, I’m getting pretty caught up on stuff so hopefully I can do some writing this week.

How was your weekend?

 

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.