Deborah J. Martin's Blog, page 2

Mountain Living Part Three

 

Ellen here again, with reasons why I love living where I do…and reasons for you to visit.

This time, I’m covering things to do with your family. My kids have flown the nest but at some point, I hope they give me grandchildren. I want to be able to have fun with them apart from my house and garden!

Right down the road from me is Mercier Orchards. They’ve been around since 1943 and are into their fourth generation of management! Like fruit? They grow not only apples (and lots of varieties) but ...

Mountain Living Part 2

Bear Claw Vineyards, Blue Ridge, GA

 

Hi. El here again, talking about living in the mountains of north Georgia. Last time, I told you why I wanted to move here. Now, I’ll talk about what keeps me here. (Besides the peace and quiet, that is.)

If you read DJ’s book about me, you’ll know I spent nearly thirty years being a socialite wife. So yes, I became accustomed to some of the “finer things in life.” Honestly, I didn’t give that up when I moved!

The closest city to me is Blue Ridge. It began a...

Mountain Living Part 1

My name is Ellen Mackay and I’m hijacking DJ’s blog for the next few weeks. She wrote a story about me but didn’t truly give you any background. I want to rectify that. However, a warning. I’m going to talk about the wonders of the mountains of north Georgia. Specifically, Fannin County and the city of Blue Ridge. If you’re a big city person through-and-through, you might want to skip my ramblings.

You’ll see in her book that I lived in a huge house in a fancy Atlanta subdivision with my kids (...

Mountain Living

My name is Ellen Mackay and I’m hijacking DJ’s blog for the next few weeks. She wrote a story about me but didn’t truly give you any background. I want to rectify that. However, a warning. I’m going to talk about the wonders of the mountains of north Georgia. Specifically, Fannin County and the city of Blue Ridge. If you’re a big city person through-and-through, you might want to skip my ramblings.

You’ll see in her book that I lived in a huge house in a fancy Atlanta subdivision with my kids (...

Writing U-Turn

 

Yesterday, I read this lovely post about where a writer gets her ideas. Although my process isn’t the same as hers, it triggered something in me.

You see, I’ve been struggling with what I thought would be the second book in my new paranormal women’s fiction series. (I just sent the first one, Reinventing Herself, to the editor. Go me!) My original thought was to introduce one friend in book one; her story would be book two where I’d introduce a third friend; whose story would become book thre...

My Word 2021

If you’re not familiar with this practice, one chooses a single word to concentrate on for the coming year.

I haven’t done this in a while. Our lives are pretty good – the pandemic notwithstanding – so I let it go by the wayside. However, today I’m feeling the need to take it up once again.

I was forcibly reminded – several times – this week (actually, this year), that not everyone is an anal-retentive Virgo. I caught myself more than once nearly biting someone’s head off, either over the phone...

♫Happy Holidays♫ Giveaway!

I know, I know. This year has pretty much sucked for everyone. I’m going to do my part to try to cheer folks up. In that vein:

Every autographed book purchased from me (see links above for either herb books or fiction books) comes with free shipping to US addresses through Friday, 11 December 2020. I think that will be enough time for me to get them to the post office and thence on to you before Yule/Christmas. If you’re buying it/them as a gift, I’ll be happy to personalize…just let me know in ...

Anniversary Giveaway

Wow. Did you know? It’s been ten years to the day since I published my first book. I’m a little in shock.

I’m celebrating and you benefit. I’m giving away one copy of the book that started it all. Haven’t heard of it? You can read the description here.

The contest starts now and runs through midnight, Monday, 12th October, 2020. It’s open worldwide! Simply follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. I’ll announce the winner around noon, Monday, 12th October on both my Facebook and Twitter pages...

So Glad It’s October

Them’s coffee beans, folks

 

September was a sucky month for me. Even suckier than the previous five months during this horrible pandemic. Allow me to enumerate why:

I threw my back out the tail end of August. While I can normally twist myself this way and that to get something to pop back into place, I couldn’t get it to realign by myself. Whatever I did, the chiropractor said my spine was almost ‘S’ shaped. It took two or three visits a week for the entire month to get me able to move (more-o...

Thinking, Plotting, Writing

Mother Nature has not been kind this month. At least, not to me. It has rained, just enough to make everything wet, either overnight or in the morning, almost every day for the last several weeks. Since I refuse to work outside in the afternoon, after the sun has dried things out somewhat, when the heat index is over 85° F, I haven’t gotten a lot done outside. Like…nothing. Instead, I’ve been doing long-put-off chores on the inside.

I spent a good portion of Saturday climbing up and down and bal...