Satisfying Cravings

So far, I've managed to avoid the COVID Ten, those extra pounds that some folks put on during their enforced isolation. I've worked very hard to remove excess baggage on my person during the first half of the year, and don't want to slide the other way. But then, I discovered Peanut Butter Sundae ice cream. Thankfully, it's only a seasonal flavor, so it will be gone from the store shelves soon. But for a peanut butter fan like myself, it's the only ice cream flavor that makes sense.

I get cravings in my writing life, too. always wanted to write a story about mail order brides, but never quite got it going until I discovered ghost writing. I'm now in the process of putting together my fifth novella about a mail order bride. It's satisfying my craving to write in this genre without all the money and hassle that comes with producing it under my own name. My satisfaction comes in the form of payment up front for my work. 

I just put the finishing touches on the final book in the Revolutionary War trilogy, so I am wondering where to go next with my work. Shall I dip my toe again into Contemporary, which is still so popular? Is there a way to combine my love of history with a Contemporary story line? How about a female history professor who unearths something startling when she decides to explore her ancestry? It could be fun. I'll have to give it some more thought. 

I get cravings in my reading, too. You would think, with this enforced isolation, I'd be ahead of my goal of reading 50 books this year, but I can't seem to lose myself in a book. I pick them up, read a couple chapters, and put them back down. I'm craving a series where I can totally immerse myself and not have to worry about the state of our union. So far, though, no luck. 

What are you reading these days? Recommendations, please.

Time For New Beginnings

We're only a couple days away from New Year's Eve, and 2020 will be every bit as wild as 2019 turned out to be. While I don't normally make resolutions, since the couple of times I made them, I broke them almost before I wrote them down, this year will be a year of new beginnings, not resolutions. Here's my list:

My most important new beginning is personal. My brother-in-law had major health issues starting in August, and only came home from the hospital two days before Christmas. It's been a long, hard ride for him and he still has a ways to go. But he's out of the hospital, so we are counting our blessings.

Second, this coming year will see a new book from me for the first time in two years. It's the start of my Revolutionary War series and I'm loving this time period. It's made what's going on in our government today very personal since I have immersed myself in the streets of Boston and Philadelphia in the 1700s, and write about ordinary people rising to the challenge of creating a new country. I can't wait for you to meet my characters. There's Pippa and Daniel, Libby and Hawk, and an as yet unnamed woman from England who will become the new love of Patterson. Any help with a name will be most appreciated.

And last, after a health scare last year, I am going to get really serious about developing a more structured exercise program. I've been a member of a health club for over a year now, but it's so easy to let my three-times-a-week regimen slip in favor of meeting up with friends, or writing that next chapter.

In my area, we don't drop a Swaroski crystal ball from the roof of a skyscraper. No, here we drop an oversized pine cone from the ladder of a fire truck. And we don't wait until midnight. The cone drops at 8 pm. Much more laid back and sensible. I can barely stay awake until midnight on most nights.

So these are my new beginnings. What are you planning for the upcoming year? Whatever you have planned, and however you plan to celebrate, Happy New Year!