So many possibilities…

We are all aware of the term when it rains, it pours. I have even used it for a blog heading at some point over all these years!

But do you ever find yourself in a position where you are feeling good about things and all you want is for that to continue? I was blessed two weeks ago to have someone from Conestoga College reach out to me on LinkedIn and directed me to a single semester lab that would help me further my freelance writing. I sat in on an information session which excited me and my family has been supportive of my doing it.

So, I’m going to apply to that but I’m going to look at doing in in January because with me starting a new job (oh my, that’s only 3 sleeps away!), out of the house for the first time in two year, I think starting in September might be pushing it a bit too much!

As for my writing, well, in theory I’m working 35 1/2 hours a week. So technically I’m gaining an extra two hours a week! Now, whether I can actually take that two hours and use it solely for writing is yet to be determined!

However, in the now… my first book of my Flower Shop Love Story Trilogy is complete. I’ve edited it once and will proceed with round two edits as soon as I’m done here! I have even managed to take a couple of photos as a potential cover for this and I do need to start working on both a synopsis for the back cover and proper titles… not only for the trilogy but for each individual book as well.

So, in a month or so, time permitting, I should have this book available to you! Each will be a novella rather than a full novel but I think they’ll be quick reads. Going against my own typical formula these are just sweet love stories that I hope everyone will just enjoy.

So, until then my lovely readers! I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!

It’s been a ride!

I have had this page open to write a new post all week. I’ve been busy not only with life stuff going on but also trying to figure out what to say!

I guess I’ll just spill it then! I had this absolutely awesome Canada Day long weekend, sold three books and was at the trailer until the Monday as I had taken the day off. On Tuesday morning I got up, logged onto work and had an email for a meeting with HR for 9:10. My stomach plummeted to my feet and I just knew it wasn’t for the better! It turns out there were five or six of us who were no longer wanted. They stated ‘economic downturn’ so we’ll leave it at that.

Being me, instead of taking a step back, sitting down and starting to process it, I moved from the now useless work computer to my own and started looking at job postings, applying for EI and applying for anything I thought I was remotely qualified for… the bulk being medical writing jobs that I have heard absolutely nothing about.

In all honestly all I wanted to do was pack up my stuff and go hide at the trailer… which I couldn’t do because I had a chiropractor appointment Friday morning and I DID have other things to take care. Seeing as I was receiving four weeks of salary and part of my benefits (caught them in that lie) I needed to make sure I got into the eye doctor, whom I was to see this year and this month anyway, and move my dentist appointment so that I can get those covered. I had also spent part of a week deaf in my right ear so I had to take care of that too which didn’t happen until the Thursday afternoon. So lots happened that week including my mom inviting me to have supper with them on Wednesday and I got away from home ten minutes later because a job post popped up and I took the time to write the cover letter and apply before I left.

The better news out of all this is that I will actually being going to work for the three doctors who are willing to pay for my experience! Despite my time at the trailer being reduced to weekends after I start, I am quite excited all at the same time!

So I’m hoping to spend as much time as possible up there over these last couple of weeks and be able to jump in there fresh and rested!

I think it might open up some opportunities to write, but we’ll see what happens!

There! I finally managed to spill it! It took me some time to tell anyone outside of my very small bubble but there it is.

Onward and upward!

Canada Day Greetings (a day late)

Sorry about that! Yesterday was a pretty awesome day around here but busy!

Despite knowing the cost for her, I was thrilled when my daughter texted me on Thursday night and asked me if I thought gram and pop would be okay with her bringing their golden retriever up here and staying the night in their trailer as they wouldn’t be able to come up until noon on Friday. I said there’s no way gram would say no since my mom has been wondering when Sam might be able to get up here!

So she managed to arrive by 10:30 and we got her settled in and she joined us at our fire for a short time before I walked back with her and she settled in for the night.

Unfortunately, as seems to be the case these days, the weather forecast changed and it was a rainy and wet night that made for a very damp and much cooler morning than anticipated and we had to wait for the sun to shine and the temperature to go up.

By the time that happened my mom and dad were here and it was fun, fun, fun right up until the fireworks ended at 10:18 and Sam headed for home with much concern from everyone. She did make it safely which is the main thing!

So I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Canada Day and, for those south of the border, I hope you have a great day with your own celebrations on Monday!

Tidal Wave

The last few days I have had to luxury of spending the weekend at the trailer, by myself. Now that’s never perfect because there are always times when something pulls me away but I have been able to spend some time writing and catching up with my thoughts.

I’m not sure which of those is more important but I was starting to carry a notebook with me and jotting things down because my thoughts have been racing!

I found the alternative to my florist story so I’m in the process of writing a Part I for that right now but with my mind racing on so many other things I’m finding it difficult to focus on that… this blog post being one of those things.

As so many of you know, I came a little too close to cancer five years ago and that has had a profound impact on my thinking, my desires and my faith. I spent almost a year basically living on a cloud titled anxiety and wondering what the next test would show.

The pandemic only added to that anxiety in so many ways and I have been very verbal about that in my posts and why it, too, has impacted my anxiety.

It was time for a recheck as it was three years in November. Unfortunately there were some cells there that weren’t bad but also not good. It took until January to find this out and I was to have a recheck after six months. That was May 31 and this time it was normal again. Am I relieved, yes, but I go for a recheck in a year.

With all this comes the ideas that the writer in me is finally, after all this time, asking the rest of me why I didn’t start a blog five years ago. The rest of me is now asking myself the same thing. Why didn’t I write a memoir? Well, the answer to that question lies in the recent results… because my story isn’t entirely over yet so how do you write a memoir when the book can’t end, yet.

So, I’m going to start a blog on my brush with the “C” word and I’m not sure how I’m going to start it yet but I think I’m going to use it to tell my story.

Perhaps at the end I can pull those posts and put them into my memoir! Or, at the very least, use what I have written there as a base to my memoir. Writers always have to be careful what they post because online because publishers can say it was previously published if it appeared online.

So that’s where I have been and what I’ve been doing. I have a couple of long weekends coming up and then a couple of weeks off. I’m hoping to get what I can written in between but spend that free time writing up a storm.

As soon as I create the blog I will post to give you the address!

Time is flying! It’s June!

Just how and when did that happen?

The last couple of weeks haven’t been the most fun for me. I have accomplished little and I’m feeling the agitation from it.

On one hand one of my neighbours at the trailer found out I’m a writer and is buying a copy of every one of my thirteen books from me! She wants the entire set! YAY! That makes me feel good!

I did print off my manuscript for my latest project and intend on sitting with it shortly however I made a misled decision to do some quiz question writing for nursing courses only to find out that instead of having seven days in which to insert these 8-10 hours they are giving assignments late on Thursday or Friday only to want them by Monday or Tuesday!

Ummm… what’s wrong with that picture?

Yeah, I ultimately have to do this on the weekend! That is totally unacceptable… that’s my recharge and write time! So I am putting a stop to that and returning to my writing on my time. I thought this little gig would look good on the resume but I’m kicking it before getting out of the starting gate.

So I will finish their little, and final (they don’t know that yet) request and I will send a very nice and eloquent letter. The recruiter was absolutely delightful. It was like talking to an old friend (her words but I agree fully) and perhaps our paths will cross again and maybe, just maybe, we will become friends.

If not, it was a learning curve for me! The odd thing is I had this intense feeling to do it! I didn’t understand why at the time. And I still don’t understand that. I probably never will.

But I’m reverting back to writing. I have a little plan in my head that I’m going to give my website a good look and I’m going to look at my blog and my Facebook page and it’s time for an overhaul. It might be time to remove the photography aspect of my Facebook author page… doesn’t mean I can’t make another page for my photography! It’s something that I’m still enjoying but I’m no longer looking at selling it or offering my services for it so it might be time to just put that to rest as far as an online presence goes. I might also open an Instagram professional page so that I can do more with my writing on there.

It’s all in my mind right now but that’s the starting point.

Gotta start somewhere right?

Writing and tweaking my brand are my key areas of focus right now.

Then we’ll go from there!

My Reality TV Show

I just had a very pleasant conversation with a friendly recruiter from South Carolina. It’s for a very part-time position writing quizzes and assessments for various nursing programs in Canada. I have to think about that because it would mean adding 10 hours to a work week… going into summer… is that wise?

As we were talking I apologized for not getting back to the recruiter that tried to reach out to me in February and that life just seems to keep happening.

Over the course of the last twelve days I have had my beautiful red Rogue damaged for the second time in less than three years! I was parked on the street outside of LJ’s and someone backed out of the driveway right across from me doing significant damage to my driver side rear door… for the second time. It’s the same door that was replaced last time. Unfortunately the person never owned up to it by leaving a note so I’m stuck paying my deductible. Sigh.

Just prior to that my daughter’s truck blew its water pump which got fixed the day before the above incident. This morning I was woken by my phone ringing… my daughter calling at 6:55 a.m. because she’d run out of gas on the highway. Now, as a mom, I told her she can call me anytime. And I mean that! It was just startling and compounded the headache that was already starting. LJ had half a can in the shed so instead of called CAA I sped off to take it to her. It went smoothly but it’s a reminder that life gets away from us too often!

After explaining this to the recruiter she told me that I need my own TV show! And I agree!

The part that makes it funny is that I CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP! I can write an entire novel and never add anything like this! It makes me sit her and want to cry! Or maybe even jump off something really high because I feel like I can’t get my feet under me! I feel like I can’t breathe and people wonder why I don’t sleep at night!

So I’m going to try to keep my head down and hope that anything else being thrown misses me!

A Writer’s Vent

When I chose the topic of this blog, Writer’s Path, I was teaching Writing courses under the same name… so it was also my business’s nickname. I named my blog the same because writing certainly isn’t a short path. You don’t just sit down, write and BOOM it happens! The Path is long, winding and there are times you are climbing the mountain without gear and other times you’re at the top of the roller coaster with no control of the speed at which you’re going down!

When I’m climbing the mountain I’m struggling with every word, every sentence and every idea. When I’m on the downhill, I have more projects than I know what to do with but it’s not all fun and games because that’s often when I have an overwhelming number of projects but I’m struggling with all of them. How do I start this? What do I want to say? HOW do I want to say it? And the words don’t always flow easily.

The curves can be tight and daunting like due dates can be. Last month I had this awesome chance at writing a story for an anthology that had anything to do with coming out of the storm. Was I given the time I needed to produce this? Was I able to come up with the words? Because this had to be a short story. It couldn’t be reality. So I got word this week that I wasn’t accepted. I will tell you, it was not my best work. In fact, it was far from my best work.

One of the things that most people would tell me should have me down at the bottom of that mountain and saying no more is the continual lack of circulation. My books don’t even have a Sales Rank on Amazon! I love that my readers love my books. I love that my readers finish reading a book and pass it on but after that I never know whether those readers have enjoyed the read or if they burned it!

I have a neighbour who is always interested in what I’m writing and she has read my books and commented and shared on Facebook! Now that is support!

But then there are those less supportive who think it’s totally cool that they know a writer but don’t even ask what I have on the go! Any deadlines? What are you working on? Are you stuck? What about…? There is also telling people that I am part of a fundraising anthology for Ukraine and they automatically ask if I get paid to do this. No, this is called charity! I’m giving of myself to benefit others.

And if you need another example of how communities don’t support their artists… Thursday I wrote to my local regional newspaper basically saying “Hey! Local author here! Have joined forces with fifteen other writers to create a romance anthology where all the proceeds will go to World Vision in support of Ukraine Refugees.” The response (which, it is miraculous that I did get one) was “Thanks. If there’s a story here, a reporter will contact you.” I also (and, of course,) sent a similar email to my newspaper family at Waterloo Region Rural Post and was invited to write my own story about it as an interest story! That’s the difference!

That’s the type of long, winding, hilly path that most writers are on. If we’re not writing, we’re probably thinking about writing. Where can we find ideas? How can we run with the ideas we’ve found. How and where can we find that necessary income stream so we can write all day every day? How can we get known in some way? We all want to change the world one story at a time but it’s getting that story out into the world that is worse than childbirth!

I thank you, if you’ve made it this far, for reading my rant today. No, it’s not all negative but I’m trying to write something for Chicken Soup for the Soul with a deadline of April 15 and I have a newspaper story to write. Which one am I more excited about? The newspaper story! It would be truly awesome to get into Chicken Soup but it would be more awesome to boost the sales of the World Vision Ukraine Fundraiser.

I posted the links for Love Wins in my last post so I won’t repeat it here but if you’re interested just bring up Amazon and type in Love Wins. It’ll come up! In USD it’s $1.99 on pre-order and you will receive the Kindle version on April 21st. On that same day the price will go up to $4.99 but there should be a paperback coming out as well around that date. As of now, it’s only out for a limited time until July 21!

Love Wins: A Ukraine Charity Anthology

Here it is! The Love Wins Romance Anthology. Available for pre-order!

All proceeds go to Ukraine refugees.

For the duration of the pre-order period you can buy this Kindle book for $2.50 CND or $2 US. Top link is CND link, bottom is US.

Opposite Ends…

I feel like most of these posts talk about me struggling… it’s an internal struggle and it’s a matter of trying to answer the question WHY?

The last couple of weeks I felt like I was on the upswing! I barely managed to submit a story to an anthology by March 7th and I know it wasn’t my best work. I haven’t heard anything yet so maybe I wasn’t chosen.

In the meantime I’m trying to write the beautiful story of Keewee’s miraculous eye and I can’t find the words I want in order to give people that chill factor.

I also started typing out my new novel pages but that was interrupted by another incredible project! Last Thursday (I think!) a romance author posted in one of my romance writer’s Facebook groups that she’s putting together an anthology of short stories, etc. to raise money for Ukraine. She was looking for contributors. I had to decide what I had to submit and I decided to submit the beginning of Haven of Secrets. (I will post more about this in another post very soon!)

I would love to use the new book but it is, after all, the third in a series so it’s not going to work.

I have had to whittle down my word count from over 12,000 words to approximately 10,000 and I’m close but still need to figure out a few hundred more.

So as I sit tethered to my desk every day watching hours go by there’s that internal struggle. And it’s getting more painful! I am more than grateful to have my job BUT it’s overwhelming at times when I have all these things to do. How do I call myself a writer if I’m never writing? Or I’m intermittently writing.

I know that this job is the first time I’ve worked full-time (40 hours a week) since the late 90’s. You would think that after eighteen months I would have accepted it but because I’m a writer (and in my mind I’m a writer first) I haven’t been able to fully adapt.

And so on goes the struggle.

Writers… writing is always an ongoing struggle. We will never feel the glassy water beneath us. We will always experience some waves and other times they will be those big ones that will completely upset our sail. The idea is to write about it. The idea is to get it out there.

In my space…

I had a college online Zoom meeting to attend this evening and I took the call in my room at my writing desk. Four years ago I had bought a new laptop and while I left my old on on my writing desk I set up the new one on the dining room table for constant access… especially after I had my surgery as climbing a full flight of stairs was enough to go to the bathroom let alone just to spend time on the computer.

So that’s where it has stayed. But I used to get so much writing accomplished on the old laptop at my writing desk.

So I thought before I go and move it back downstairs that I’d write a post reminiscing about the comfort of sitting here and in comfort I mean how natural it was to sit here and tackle my writing projects. I’m certainly not talking about the chair as it has become extremely uncomfortable since the time I used to spend in it!

With working full-time from home now I can’t imagine my laptop being in my room all the time because there are times I need it readily available, even if it’s to access my benefits provider for one thing or another.

My meeting is over so I’m going to go back downstairs now and see about spending a bit of time writing.

I didn’t think I was going to get a short story submitted to an anthology by the deadline this past Monday but I did manage. It may not have been my best work (which I’m not proud of) but I got it written, I got it edited and I got it submitted. So here’s hoping!

I also managed to get my book published and I am waiting on the proof copy. Once the proof copy is here I will make any changes I need to, republish and I will be opening up the order to anyone interested who lives near me!

I can’t wait to get the copy actually and see it. It’s one of the first I’ve done that doesn’t have black on the cover in some capacity.

So happy writing to you all!