The twins turn two today. Here they are checking out Oscar or maybe Oscar is checking them out. I’d put a picture of them both looking at me but last time they were here I couldn’t get them to stand still beside one another. Standing still is not their favorite thing. But they do like the dogs – as long as there is a window in between.
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It doesn’t seem possible that they are already two years old, but then when I think about the books I’ve written since then, guess it has been all twenty-four months. The summer they were born I was rushing to get down the first draft of The Believer. And now the third Shaker book, The Seeker, is out there on store shelves with the fourth Shaker book, The Blessed, going through the necessary steps to get it ready for readers. Got to get a cover designed and do some editing to make sure the story reads the best it can. That story is a lot different from the other Shaker books, but I like to come up with different type characters and then figure out how associating with the Shakers is going to affect their lives. And how they are going to fall in love in a society that doesn’t believe in romantic love and who they are going to fall in love with in spite of those no romance rules.
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I just got a list of reviews from The Seeker’s blog tour. I won’t have time to check out all the reviews until I’m finished with editing Angel Sister. But when I looked at the list I thought it would be nice if the good reviews were listed in blue and the not so good reviews in orange or something so I’d know which ones to read if I needed an ego boost. You may not think so, but writers are pretty needy when it comes to needing ego boosts. We want everybody to love our stories. Everybody! And of course that rarely happens. Even if it happens for one book, say a bestseller that is universally critically acclaimed, then I’ve noticed that the next book out by that author sometimes has a rough review trip. But the majority of reviews that I’ve seen for The Seeker have been positive. That’s enough of an ego boost for me.
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Meanwhile, I’m editing Angel Sister. Not a Shaker novel, but a historical family drama set in the 1930s. I love this story and want to make it one that readers will love too, so I’m listening to my line editor’s comments. I’m working to smooth out the rough places she’s noted and make the whole book smooth sailing for the reader. So now back to work with my sandpaper smoothing red ink pen before I have to go back to stay with my mom. She’s getting stronger, but the memory problems persist. Not all the time, but too much of the time for her happiness.
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Hope you have a good week with plenty of cool air flowing past you. It’s hot here in Kentucky. Real hot. They say we may break the record set back in 1911 today. Some records shouldn’t be broken. I took a walk this morning and almost melted. I took the shady path walk so the dogs wouldn’t have heat stroke.
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Remember to send me an e-mail or leave a comment if you want to be in my book giveaway this month. You can check out the details on my website’s event page.