Lissa Matthews's Blog, page 5

Checking in with my creativity

One of the things I wanted to focus on this year was creativity. I think I mentioned that in one of my posts recently.

Creativity comes in different forms for different people and one of mine, the biggest one for me lately has been in the kitchen.

You’re shocked, right? I mean… Who wouldn’t be? I love a lot of things in this world, but playing in the kitchen with cooking or baking or coffee…that’s one of my biggest jams.

Y’all have heard me talk about how long I’ve been cooking, that my first jo...

Sad Day for FSU Fans

Bobby Bowden, former coach and head of the FSU Seminole football program, passed away yesterday from pancreatic cancer.

It wasn’t unexpected. It wasn’t a surprise. But I found myself incredibly saddened.

I never met him, but I admired and respected him as did many fans, sports writers, commentators, analysts, players, opponents, etc… The teams he coached were from all walks of life, were incredible on the field, and produced some amazing men off the field. I read a lot of the tributes from forme...

July Changes and Challenges

First of all, look at this picture! Isn’t it pretty?

I took this yesterday morning just before sunrise.

We also saw a deer for the first time coming out of the trees. To the other side of the yard, there’s a large field with a pond and there’s usually seven to nine cows multiple times a day. This is all very different than being in Charlotte where there was a really busy road on the other side of our backyard. Here, there’s a pond and trees and cows and well, now deer.

It’s August. In my mind, ...

My Favorite Channels

I watch a little bit of everything on YouTube. Movie reviews, technology reviews, interviews with actors or authors or musicians, day in the life, coffee making or coffee products, music videos, creative life, writing advice/motivation/inspiration, how-to’s, productivity, meditation, exercise, and some what-i-eat-in-a-day…

One of my favorite channels is called The Cottage Fairy. She lives in a rural area in the Pacific Northwest. She’s young and talented and lives a life I wish I had been brave ...

Coffee On The Porch…

If there’s anything I’ve missed posting on Instagram, it’s coffee. It should’ve been books, right? I’m a writer, after all. But I didn’t talk a lot about writing and when I was uber prolific when I started out more than 10 years ago, I didn’t talk a lot about it then…especially what I was working on. I kept all of it close to the vest, so to speak, but coffee? Yeah, I can talk about coffee all day every day and twice on Sundays.

Coffee is one of my love languages…

Pictures from my back porch or ...

Some Updates and Thoughts

Earlier this year I read a book called Deep Work by Cal Newport. I loved it so much that I decided to read another of his books, Digital Minimalism. I’m still in the process of that one, but so far, I’m loving it, too.

I know productivity gets a bad rap, but I love learning how to improve, how to be better at, more efficient at, and yes, more productive at because I haven’t been in such a fucking long time that everything and everyone has shot right on by me in this world of being a romance writ...

Ho-Ho-Ho

So, I’m sitting at my desk… A Balsam & Cedar candle burning, a little 100 year old ceramic Christmas tree lit, and a Hallmark Christmas movie (Two Turtle Doves) on in the background.

And I thought maybe now would be a good time to show y’all the cover for one of the stories I have been chipping away at the last few months.

I don’t know when it’ll be out and I don’t want to speculate. It could be November or December this year, or it could be January. I know I’m supposed to set dates and have goa...

Coffee On The Porch…

I started a little series on Instagram called Coffee on the porch… And it’s exactly as it sounds. I took pictures of coffee on my back porch over looking the pond, the trees, the mountains in the distance, and sometimes even cows from the neighboring farm were in the background.

I don’t exactly know why I started doing it, but it’s been an interesting way to see the changes to the land and it combines two of my favorite things…coffee and the view from my porch.

So, since I’m not on Instagram rig...

Hi! Again…

Have you missed me?

I’ve missed me.

However, I’ve sorta found me. Back in December we moved from Charlotte, North Carolina about 100 miles southwest to a small area between Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina called Greer. I have a view of mountains outside the back of the house and it takes me less than 30 minutes to get into the heart of the Blue Ridge. I love this area and it fits me more than Charlotte. Maybe that’s why I write small towns so much. I’m a small town girl at heart…

As m...

So, I had a new release…

That’s it to the left.

And here’s where you can buy it…

Amazon
Everywhere Else

And… I suck at marketing.

But I love the book. And the two people I’ve heard from who bought and read it said they loved it, too. Everywhere else there’s been crickets. That’s cool, though.

I watch a lot of Gary Vee and one of the things he said recently was… Okay, well, he said a lot of things recently that I’ve taken to heart. I need these little nuggets to remind me where my focus needs to be rather than where it ...