Yes, I’m Still Alive

So, yeah. I took a bit of a break from being online. Is it really November already? What happened???

I had oral surgery at the end of August, and the height of allergy season. It wasn’t fun, cost a lot of money and took a while to bounce back from. I didn’t feel like doing much for a long time, since I still work full time and have two small children plus a teenager at home. I couldn’t eat, didn’t feel like reading or looking at budgets or much else.

So instead, I picked up a romantic comedy that I’d been working on years ago and finished it! Writing is always great therapy, but writing comedy is a hundred times better. Especially when your mouth hurts and people are still asking you the infernal questions of “What’s for dinner? and “Do we have money?” It was so much fun to write.

The hero is a Job figure who has basically lost everything. He’s stranded in a small Midwestern town that’s crazier than he is. He’s dead broke through most of the story. I’m sure most of us can relate to that.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I don’t need much to be happy,” Brett said softly and brushed an errant tendril of hair from her face with the back of his hand.
His eyes sparkled at her and drew her into their depths, holding her spellbound.
“You know, most people spend their entire lives trying to learn that.” Erica blinked back tears and squeezed his hand. “Some of them never do.” Her voice wavered. She was overcome with the emotions this man stirred in her.
“Maybe it’s easier when you don’t have much.” He dropped his eyes to the ground for a moment. When he raised them back to her face, they glowed softly. “Then it’s easy to see what really matters, and what doesn’t.”

The book is called “Crazy in the Heart” and full of quirky characters, tornadoes, farmhouses, dollar stores, home cooking, and other fun stuff. Think “Highway to Heaven” meets “Gone with the Wind”, but crazier. It’ll be published in January. I’ll let you know more as I have more info.

In other news:

• I’m slowly getting back to normal around here, whatever that is!
• I’ll get the rest of the Your Money or Your Life Book Club series up as I can, and try to keep them briefer. We’ll have to push back the others till next year.
• My garden was doing great until the moles got in and plowed everything. It looks so bad right now. I have no idea what I’m going to do about it. Something to ponder over the winter, I guess!
• My husband starts a new job next week. He’s been laid off twice in the last year. Fun, fun.
• My teenager is driving me crazy. I guess that’s what they do best. He’s 18 and think he knows everything. Need I say more?
• We lost another chicken. One of our beautiful Brama hens died. Not sure from what. Everyone else seems okay. I think we’re down to 18 now. They’re not producing too many eggs lately, as they’re getting older. We still love them, though.

Hope all is well for you and yours and we get ready to plunge into another holiday season! I can’t believe it’s almost here!