Linda Lael Miller's Blog, page 11
October 7, 2011
And Here It Is Again--Friday!
No, really. Isn't every day a Friday? It seems that way to me sometimes. :)
The salmon, spinach and single glass of wine I had for dinner last night were delicious. Okay--the wine, not so much--that tasted a little on the vinegary side. Maybe I'm losing my taste for the stuff--but I'll always love coffee. :) And tea.
Plans for today include a telephone interview promoting "A Lawman's Christmas" and assembling a week's worth of notes into a working outline of "Big Sky Mountain." We are being blessed with more rain--I'm sure we need it--so I may be called upon to light the fireplace. Talk about cozy. :)
I'm attending an art class tomorrow, and I'm very excited because the process (encaustics, painting with wax) is all new to me, and you know how I am about processes. I will surely arrive home at the end of the day tired, covered in wax splotches, and grinning from ear to ear.
We haven't seen the moose--we named him Harold, as suggested by Wendy and Jeremy--though I guess an elder brother of his was spotted down by Mary Ann and Larry's place. Once, they had one staring at them through their living room window! You can bet I'll be paying closer attention to our surroundings when Bernice and I take our weekend walks. :)
Have a good weekend, and I'll be back on Monday.
The salmon, spinach and single glass of wine I had for dinner last night were delicious. Okay--the wine, not so much--that tasted a little on the vinegary side. Maybe I'm losing my taste for the stuff--but I'll always love coffee. :) And tea.
Plans for today include a telephone interview promoting "A Lawman's Christmas" and assembling a week's worth of notes into a working outline of "Big Sky Mountain." We are being blessed with more rain--I'm sure we need it--so I may be called upon to light the fireplace. Talk about cozy. :)
I'm attending an art class tomorrow, and I'm very excited because the process (encaustics, painting with wax) is all new to me, and you know how I am about processes. I will surely arrive home at the end of the day tired, covered in wax splotches, and grinning from ear to ear.
We haven't seen the moose--we named him Harold, as suggested by Wendy and Jeremy--though I guess an elder brother of his was spotted down by Mary Ann and Larry's place. Once, they had one staring at them through their living room window! You can bet I'll be paying closer attention to our surroundings when Bernice and I take our weekend walks. :)
Have a good weekend, and I'll be back on Monday.
October 6, 2011
D.I.E.T. Report
17.2 pounds off so far and loving it! Tonight is "My Night", which means I get to choose my own food, and I'm having salmon, veggies and the one glass of red wine I allow myself per week. :)
We have more rain today, but the house is warm and brightly lit and the critters are all around, so I feel blessed. I'll be doing more brainstorming today and kicking up my heels a little because "The Lawman's Christmas" is #19 on the NYT bestseller list--great spot for a Christmas hardcover. Thanks to all of you who helped make that happen.
I'm having a blast making gel transfers, too. After this coming Saturday's art class, you'll probably be hearing about encaustics--painting in hot wax. I do tend to get carried away by my enthusiasms. :)
Other news: my good friend Debbie Macomber will be on QVC on October 26! I don't know the time yet, but when I do, I'll post it here. Is that exciting, or what???
That's the news for today, pardners. Time to saddle up and ride.
We have more rain today, but the house is warm and brightly lit and the critters are all around, so I feel blessed. I'll be doing more brainstorming today and kicking up my heels a little because "The Lawman's Christmas" is #19 on the NYT bestseller list--great spot for a Christmas hardcover. Thanks to all of you who helped make that happen.
I'm having a blast making gel transfers, too. After this coming Saturday's art class, you'll probably be hearing about encaustics--painting in hot wax. I do tend to get carried away by my enthusiasms. :)
Other news: my good friend Debbie Macomber will be on QVC on October 26! I don't know the time yet, but when I do, I'll post it here. Is that exciting, or what???
That's the news for today, pardners. Time to saddle up and ride.
October 5, 2011
Enough "Coziness" Already!
It's raining.
Again.
Not that I'm complaining.
Much.
I'm still brainstorming, and I watched the second DVD (the two parter I mentioned yesterday) last night. I'm reading "The Night Circus" on my Nook--truly an original story, well told.
I have a radio interview today, with Maggie Linton, of Sirus XM--she's one of my all-time favorites. Got to meet her at BEA last spring, and she's as warm and wonderful as her voice. :)
I'm still making gel transfers on metal and getting results I really love. I use copper, mostly, for the background, because I love the rich glow.
Looking forward to Saturday, when I'll be taking an art class in encaustic painting. Me, using hot materials? Don't worry; I will be well-supervised!
That's the Wednesday news.
Again.
Not that I'm complaining.
Much.
I'm still brainstorming, and I watched the second DVD (the two parter I mentioned yesterday) last night. I'm reading "The Night Circus" on my Nook--truly an original story, well told.
I have a radio interview today, with Maggie Linton, of Sirus XM--she's one of my all-time favorites. Got to meet her at BEA last spring, and she's as warm and wonderful as her voice. :)
I'm still making gel transfers on metal and getting results I really love. I use copper, mostly, for the background, because I love the rich glow.
Looking forward to Saturday, when I'll be taking an art class in encaustic painting. Me, using hot materials? Don't worry; I will be well-supervised!
That's the Wednesday news.
October 4, 2011
It's WHAT time?
I slept in this morning--WAY in. It's a cozy, rainy day, so not a bad thing. :)
D.I.E.T. update: I'm losing between 1 and 2 pounds per week--not very fast--but the truth is, this food program (BistroMD) is so ridiculously easy, and the food is so good, that I think I could do it for the rest of my life--provided I could have a glass of wine with dinner. I do miss that.
Workwise: I'm brainstorming for Hutch and Kendra's book, "Big Sky Mountain", so I'll have lots of material to work with. Hutch says, no way he's waiting as long as Slade did for his story to get told. :) (It's a waste of time to argue with these guys--but it's fun, too. Just ask the heroines.)
Part of the reason I slept late: I was watching Susan Pickering Rothamel's new 2 DVD set, called "Art! Craft! Create!" I've loved her collages since I first saw them, and she runs a company called USartquest that sells the materials she uses. So after I watched the first DVD--I'm saving the second for tonight--I went right online and bought some of the stuff she used, because I just HAVE to try it. :) What an age we live in. I'd just watched the DVD on my laptop, in bed no less, and with a few clicks of the keyboard, I was at her website. Pretty clever commercial, don't you think? Maybe I should make a 'how to write' video and sell paper. It would be boring as heck to watch me, though. :)
I continue my experiments with gel transfers on metal--mostly copper, which is my absolute favorite.
I have a radio interview this afternoon, and more brainstorming to do, so I'd better run.
More tomorrow.
D.I.E.T. update: I'm losing between 1 and 2 pounds per week--not very fast--but the truth is, this food program (BistroMD) is so ridiculously easy, and the food is so good, that I think I could do it for the rest of my life--provided I could have a glass of wine with dinner. I do miss that.
Workwise: I'm brainstorming for Hutch and Kendra's book, "Big Sky Mountain", so I'll have lots of material to work with. Hutch says, no way he's waiting as long as Slade did for his story to get told. :) (It's a waste of time to argue with these guys--but it's fun, too. Just ask the heroines.)
Part of the reason I slept late: I was watching Susan Pickering Rothamel's new 2 DVD set, called "Art! Craft! Create!" I've loved her collages since I first saw them, and she runs a company called USartquest that sells the materials she uses. So after I watched the first DVD--I'm saving the second for tonight--I went right online and bought some of the stuff she used, because I just HAVE to try it. :) What an age we live in. I'd just watched the DVD on my laptop, in bed no less, and with a few clicks of the keyboard, I was at her website. Pretty clever commercial, don't you think? Maybe I should make a 'how to write' video and sell paper. It would be boring as heck to watch me, though. :)
I continue my experiments with gel transfers on metal--mostly copper, which is my absolute favorite.
I have a radio interview this afternoon, and more brainstorming to do, so I'd better run.
More tomorrow.
October 3, 2011
Linda and Bernice's Great Adventure!
It was a quiet weekend, all told. The most ambitious things I did were to make a run to the grocery store for diet soda and pet stuff and drop in at the big Art Extravaganza at Spokane Art Supply.
Yesterday, Bernice and I were out for an afternoon walk--she insists--and pretty much minding our own business. She was patrolling all the culverts and I was thinking about--you guessed it--the new book, "Big Sky Mountain".
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of bay on the driveway, maybe a couple of dozen feet out, and think to myself, "Oh, ---, one of the horses is out!"
Not so. A young bull moose had approached, while Bernice and I were preoccupied with our separate interests, and he was Too Close. Thank heaven, Bernice the Fierce had not seen him--he was, thankfully, in a placid mood--at the moment. I grabbed the dog and headed for the front door, via a flowerbed, grateful that I'd remembered to unlock it, and in we went. (Okay, I admit it, I did take a few pictures with my iPhone during the escape process. Not easy while holding a Yorkie who still hasn't noticed that we are in mortal peril.)
We see moose on the Triple L from time to time, and we're always fascinated, but this was different. He stayed. Just laid himself down in the front yard, head up, and rested. For, like, an hour and a half! That's when I took the video--through my office window.
I texted Jen, who lives above the barn, and alerted her to the presence of wild life, and the adventure continued. She took oodles of pictures--some quite close up--until her phone battery died. Finally, after much vegging (maybe he just finished a book, too), Mr. Moose got to his feet. Now, he was feeling fiesty. He tore my outdoor lamp-post thingy to pieces, at one point sporting some of the bullbs and wires in his antlers, and proceeded to tear up a few shrubs in the bargain. How thankful am I that he wasn't in this mood when Bernice and I were out there in the open, and a worrisome distance from the house? REALLY thankful.
For all I know, he's still around here somewhere.
That's the news from the Wild West.
Yesterday, Bernice and I were out for an afternoon walk--she insists--and pretty much minding our own business. She was patrolling all the culverts and I was thinking about--you guessed it--the new book, "Big Sky Mountain".
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of bay on the driveway, maybe a couple of dozen feet out, and think to myself, "Oh, ---, one of the horses is out!"
Not so. A young bull moose had approached, while Bernice and I were preoccupied with our separate interests, and he was Too Close. Thank heaven, Bernice the Fierce had not seen him--he was, thankfully, in a placid mood--at the moment. I grabbed the dog and headed for the front door, via a flowerbed, grateful that I'd remembered to unlock it, and in we went. (Okay, I admit it, I did take a few pictures with my iPhone during the escape process. Not easy while holding a Yorkie who still hasn't noticed that we are in mortal peril.)
We see moose on the Triple L from time to time, and we're always fascinated, but this was different. He stayed. Just laid himself down in the front yard, head up, and rested. For, like, an hour and a half! That's when I took the video--through my office window.
I texted Jen, who lives above the barn, and alerted her to the presence of wild life, and the adventure continued. She took oodles of pictures--some quite close up--until her phone battery died. Finally, after much vegging (maybe he just finished a book, too), Mr. Moose got to his feet. Now, he was feeling fiesty. He tore my outdoor lamp-post thingy to pieces, at one point sporting some of the bullbs and wires in his antlers, and proceeded to tear up a few shrubs in the bargain. How thankful am I that he wasn't in this mood when Bernice and I were out there in the open, and a worrisome distance from the house? REALLY thankful.
For all I know, he's still around here somewhere.
That's the news from the Wild West.
September 30, 2011
Friday!!!
What a week this has been.
I am exhausted.
I am exhilarated.
I am officially finished with "Big Sky Country" and now I can start a new book.
But first, a little art. A little reading. A lot of sleep.
See you Monday!
I am exhausted.
I am exhilarated.
I am officially finished with "Big Sky Country" and now I can start a new book.
But first, a little art. A little reading. A lot of sleep.
See you Monday!
September 29, 2011
Overslept!
I must have been tired, because I rarely oversleep, but I did this morning. :) It was almost nine a.m., which, as my dad would have said, is "the middle of the damn day!"
I spent yesterday goofing off and it sure felt good. That new story is already bubbling up in my busy noggin, though, so I'm making notes, etc.
As for right this moment, I've got one of my gel transfers soaking in a bowl of water downstairs. It's like Christmas when I roll that paper off and see the image. For those of you who are curious, I'll post a link to a demonstration of the process.
Bernice has had not one walk this morning, but TWO--evidently, there is an illegal gathering of field mice in one of the culverts she patrols. Yesterday, there was a whole flock of turkeys out by the back fence, and she didn't even know they were there. That's my vicious guard dog for you. :)
I'm off to putter and perhaps even do something constructive.
Be kind, be brave, be YOU. (Everybody else is taken.)
I spent yesterday goofing off and it sure felt good. That new story is already bubbling up in my busy noggin, though, so I'm making notes, etc.
As for right this moment, I've got one of my gel transfers soaking in a bowl of water downstairs. It's like Christmas when I roll that paper off and see the image. For those of you who are curious, I'll post a link to a demonstration of the process.
Bernice has had not one walk this morning, but TWO--evidently, there is an illegal gathering of field mice in one of the culverts she patrols. Yesterday, there was a whole flock of turkeys out by the back fence, and she didn't even know they were there. That's my vicious guard dog for you. :)
I'm off to putter and perhaps even do something constructive.
Be kind, be brave, be YOU. (Everybody else is taken.)
September 28, 2011
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