One Little Secret by Allison Bottke

Every once in awhile I get an opportunity to be part of a different type of book tour. This one, for example, is a one month tour where the book is featured at a different blog every day. When Allison Bottke's publicist sent the info for the tour of One Little Secret to me, I thought I might enjoy the novel targeted for what Allison calls Boomer Babes.

I've gotten to be a picky reader, I guess. And I'm (surprise surprise) atypical in my tastes. So I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I'd hoped to.

This book is dedicated to Every woman who has ever had a dream. With God, all things are possible.

Certainly I have dreams. However, they're not much related to those of the main character, Ursula Rhoades. Perhaps some women dream of wealth and fame. Honestly and truly, I don't think those are all that important. Sure I wouldn't mind having more money, wouldn't mind selling enough novels one day that my name is recognized by more than my immediate family and neighbors, but the whole opulent life isn't for me. So descriptions like this drive me crazy (page 26):

Ursula got out of bed and reviewed the schedule for the day as she dressed in a pair of beige Marc Jacobs wide-legged pants, a white Liz Claiborne blouse, and Colin Robertson jute wedge platform wedge sandals. Feeling very Katherine Hepburnesque, she added red lipstick, tied her hair back in a narrow white headband scarf and lavishly sprayed herself with Love in White, a new fragrance she was trying. She wanted everything to be perfect.

So I asked Allison about it:

VRC:I've been following your blog tour this month for the release of your second novel, One Little Secret. I'm interested to see that I'm in the minority (really shouldn't surprise me!) in that I don't place a lot of value in the hottest and latest brand names in fashion. Do you see your novel as promoting a materialistic value system?

Allison: Good question! Valerie, I was 35-years old when I made the choice to fill the empty place in my heart and soul with an intimate relationship with Jesus. It was a choice that changed my life—and the story that unfolded as a result of that new direction u-turn is far more grand and glorious than I could ever have imagined on my own. Yet although I have a new life in Christ, complete with a new value system I take very seriously, I am acutely aware that the “world” is on a different track altogether. After all, I lived on that track for 35 years! I’m also acutely aware that if I want to reach people with my message of faith and forgiveness I need to meet them where they live.

I write Christian inspirational fiction—and yet I don’t specifically write only for Christians. Yes, I am a Christian, but I have friends who are not. I frequently meet people who do not share my belief or my politics or my serious addiction to stiletto heels, but that doesn’t mean we can’t communicate. I think too many Christians live in a Christian bubble—how can we shed light on the dark places in the world if we don’t mingle with people who live in the world? I first wanted to write a fun fairy-tale…a dream-come-true adventure about a boomer babe who happened to be a Christian—but many of the people in her drama-rama were not. Yet she saw this as an opportunity to share her faith—not make judgment calls.

Like a ga-zillion other women, I first fell in love with the genre of “chick-lit” reading the 1996 release of Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding. I read a great deal of secular chick-lit. The fun elements of this genre are the lifestyles of the “rich and famous,” the name dropping of designers we read about in People Magazine. However, I’ve found that more and more this genre in the secular market crosses the boundaries of acceptability with regards to morals and values. In my work, I wanted to portray to the fun elements of shopping and fashion yet maintain a strict moral structure regarding marriage, parenthood, truth, friendship and love.

I want to write books that appeal to readers who want to escape into a good story. I love fairy-tales. I’m a 52-year old boomer babe who isn’t afraid to admit that my favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally—that I’d prefer to watch a sappy love story than some literary epic. I’m a hope-filled romantic! The fact that I am a Christian is intrinsically part of who I am—it’s not something I add-on as a label, any more than I can add it on to my books. Some of the characters in my books are Christians, some are not. Welcome to the real world. I don’t mean this to sound harsh—but I love to read fiction because I want to be transported into a story-world—not because I want a pulpit sermon preached to me. If someone reads my book who is still searching for spiritual direction—and if the Holy Spirit uses something I’ve written to move the reader to take a step toward making a U-Turn in their life—then praise God! However, I’m not sure I can define my main audience as either Christian or not.

One Little Secret is a small part of my journey. Yes, it’s a dream come true—being published as a novelist. But I know in my heart that I owe it all to a Sovereign God whose plan for my life requires me to adhere to living a life of spiritual integrity—and that takes conscious choices each and every day I’m alive. Being a Christian who walks the talk isn’t easy—not by a long shot. Scripture tells us, “Choose this day whom you will serve,” and that means more than going to church on Sunday. With every book I am blessed to have published comes a deep feeling of responsibility. God has greatly blessed me, and it is my desire to write work that will glorify Him. Long story short, life is a series of choices each and every moment we are alive—“choose this day whom you will serve.”

Home again

I'm ba-ack! If you follow my daughter's blog you'll notice that they are all moved into their new home with some help from Mom and Dad. *Moved in* might be a bit of a stretch, but at least their belongings are all there in their new premises. I'm sure it will take a week or so for everything to be set up the way they want it. Moving into a smaller place is always a challenge!

I attended a Women of Faith conference in Calgary and then headed to their house to help pack and clean. Hubby picked up a U-Haul trailer when he got off night shift Tuesday morning and drove out. We were mostly loaded by Tuesday evening, ready for the last minute stuff in the morning, including the last of the carpet cleaning. It took the better part of the day to drive to the new place what with an hour or so stop off at the home place so hubby could haul hay for the cows and the kids could visit their grandparents for a bit. Then we took the long way around, via the ferry instead of over the mountain pass, as the truck was over-heating some. We unloaded just enough Wednesday night that we all had a place to sleep, then completed the unload Thursday morning.

We all had lunch with my mom and sis and b-i-l in honor of my mom's birthday (the kids' new home is about 40 minutes from my mom's town). In April/ May we didn't think Mom would make it to her 85th birthday. She's in a temporary bed at a nursing home facility, waiting for permanent placement, and is doing quite well all things considered. She can walk; she should use her walker but sometimes forgets where she left t it. Most of what she says makes sense. Sadly her favorite brother (who had a debilitating stroke about a year ago) died this week.

Hubby and I arrived home late Thursday afternoon. We knew we'd left behind a plumbing problem I'd discovered the night before I left for the conference. Much of his non-sleeping time at home has been spent tracing the issue through and --I believe--solving it. I hope...being as hubby has headed back east to drop off the U-haul trailer and prepare for returning to work bright and early Saturday morning.

It's been a crazy and tiring week. My neck and shoulder haven't been too happy with my actions though that pain is now down to a dull roar and I'm hoping the accompanying headache is on its way out as well. Sleeping in my own bed last night was heavenly! I'm in the midst of catching up on laundry and cleaning. The floors all really need washing yet so I guess the place will be pretty sparkly by the time I get to bed tonight, so long as my energy holds out!

Back to work and writing on Monday.

The Legend of the Firefish -- Day 2

In an interview a few months ago with Rebecca Miller, George Bryan Polivka said this about the premise of The Legend of the Firefish:

I started on the Trophy Chase trilogy with a simple idea: What if there were sea monsters? What if all those maps back in the 16th and 17th and 18th centuries, where they drew monsters at the edge of the world, were accurate? So that’s the premise. I created a world much like our own in most respects, but with that one big exception. No magic wands or wizards, but the Firefish are quite unique creatures.

As far as audience, I think readers as young as twelve could enjoy it, younger if they’ve got a very good vocabulary. I don’t think there’s an upper limit. The ideal audience? People who care about other people and the things of God, and have ever had to deal with monsters.

VRC: How or why did you choose to write in omniscient? I'll be honest, it didn't really work for me, but I've read Rebecca Miller's interview with your editor, Nick Harrison, as well as her interview with you and I understand that I may not be in the majority. I'm curious what goes into the decision to write in this point of view that is currently considered *out of style*.

GBP: The whole style of the trilogy is a bit of a throwback, coming from a decision I made to write something that would not be quickly dated. I had written a couple of books with pop culture references, only to find that within five years they were very stale. So I just determined to write something that I could keep trying to publish for a while. I studied medieval and renaissance literature in college, am a huge fan of Tolkien, and never felt too constrained to write anything but what I liked... hoping others would like it as well.

As for the omniscient point of view, I find that other writers and publishers are very interested in that whole discussion, but I've never yet had a pure reader (who is not also a writer) even ask me about it. It seems odd to me that this should be out of style, or out of favor, particularly in a world where movies and television are having great success with omniscience. Lost, Friends, Rent, Oceans Eleven, even Survivor and Real World--I would argue that any ensemble-cast product gets its appeal from going deep into multiple points of view. Fiction writers are, I think, well behind the times in that regard if they hew to a single viewpoint thinking it is somehow better for the audience. I may not have done it well, but I hope that doesn't put anyone off the approach itself.

And the Christian viewpoint factors in here also. Historically, I believe the omniscient viewpoint went out of favor as secular existentialism took over the mainstream, based on a philosophy that we really can't know anything outside our own single point of reference. And I think that's just incorrect. The reason we have imagination, I believe, is for the apprehension of the infinite. God gave His creation this gift that we might know Him. And if we can know God, surely we can know others.

VRC: Do you think the writers made up this taboo themselves? *Everybody* blames this on editors--editors don't want omniscient pov. And yet, obviously this isn't true across the board. Is this something that even came up in your initial discussions with your editor, Nick Harrison? Do you think we'll be seeing more of it in the future? (Besides with the rest of your trilogy, of course!)

GBP: Not sure. I've been writing novels for 25 years without an editor (or a publisher), so I have to claim ignorance as to the source of the taboo. It came up quite early in discussions with Nick, but I didn't get the sense that it was as big an issue as it has turned out to be. His comment was that the omniscient viewpoint was unusual to see, and that it is hard to do well. So, I think he got caught up as a reader and was willing to go to bat for it.

The whole thing has surprised me, frankly, the intensity of debate within the industry around something that is, when you look at it, quite traditional. In just about every other artistic endeavor, by the time we got to the 21st Century it was okay to borrow from every style in history. But the fiction world moves slowly, I guess. Retro isn't cool yet.

But I can't imagine that you can keep a lid on a style forever. What good writers want to write is going to get out there, especially with the changes in publishing technologies... it keeps getting cheaper and quicker to get good materials to the end users. Like music and video, eventually the audience will take over and the old rules will change.

VRC: I believe one of the reasons for tight single points of view is that the reader gets to know the character on a deeper level, and that there is more mystery/ suspense as to what all else might be going on. The MC may have some mighty good guesses based on body language and dialog, but no certain knowledge. Do you think we'd have gotten to a deeper level with Packer or Panna with a single pov?

GBP: Possibly, but probably not. One of the reasons the books are long is that scenes just take longer with multiple viewpoints... in order not to lose the depth. But not every character gets the same level of POV treatment. We occasionally ramble around inside Delaney's head, because it's generally a humorous place to be. But we always know what Talon thinks, and how she perceives her world. Same with Packer and Panna. Sometimes we see it from Scat's perspective, sometimes not. And I think this is where it gets hard to pull off... the viewpoint has to anticipate what the reader wants. Which means I have to know which of my characters are interesting, and to what degree. On the plus side, there's always a rabbit to pull out of a hat, by jumping to a unique perspective.

Frankly (and this cuts through to the bottom of why I did it) it's just really fun to write.

VRC: (That's hard to argue with, isn't it!)

The Legend of the Firefish is the first fantasy novel I've read which contains the Bible and all its teachings. (Not every word, of course! Just enough to believe they are intact!) As a writer, I've often pondered how best to portray God in a fantasy novel, what kinds of holy writings my imagined lands may have, and whether there is a past, present, or future Messiah figure to be found in it. One angle I'd never really considered is the one you used, just parking my belief package directly into a fantasy world. It works remarkably well actually, and it’s a method I'll definitely consider the next time I'm dreaming up a story from scratch.

I'm really interested to know how you made the decision to base the Nearing Vast religion firmly on the Bible and Christianity as we know it today. Did you consider any other options?

GBP: As to the overt Christianity, I always felt it somewhat unfair that the rules of fantasy were such that evil could be literal but good had to be metaphorical. And that's how I felt about Tolkien. The antagonists were like all bad guys everywhere, but many, many "good guys" in the real world have a deep foundation for their "good-guy-ness" in their faith. Yet the rules are such that you can't mention God, except very obliquely. So I broke the rules. And because I set this in a very 17th-18th-century sort of environment, it doesn't seem odd to me, and many others, that there is a church and that it's part of everyday life, and everyday faith.

VRC: Thanks so much, Bryan, for talking with me about this! I've appreciated your input into this tour very much.

And thanks to the rest of my tour mates for checking in. To see what else is being said, check the links on yesterday's post. Bryan has agreed to quite a few little interviews (and some longer ones) and it's fun to go around and catch other perspectives.

The Legend of the Firefish -- Day 1

In this opening novel of the Trophy Chase Trilogy, George Bryan Polivka introduces the readers to the lands of Nearing Vast and more importantly, to The Vast Sea where most of the action takes place. Packer Throme has come home to his little fishing village of Hangman's Cliffs a swordsman rather than the preacher he had set out to become. And instead of proceeding to marry Panna Seline, the fiancée he'd left behind, he kisses her goodbye one more time and stows aboard the pirate ship Trophy Chase, bound on a great adventure. He's heard rumor that the captain, Scat Wilkins, is in search of the legendary firefish, and Packer has deduced from his dead father's notes where in The Vast Sea the firefish can be found. He's hoping to make a difference to the economy of Hangman's Cliffs when his assumptions prove to be real and be hailed a hero instead of a coward.

First Packer has to convince the captain that he is worth more alive than dead, making some enemies in the process. And when they find the firefish, things do not go as planned.

Pros: I found The Legend of the Firefish to entertain and inform me a lot on large sailing vessels. Here's one fun sample from page 243. Packer has just been sent up to the crow's nest to see what he can see:

The one nod to caution, a short safety rope that ringed the masthead and was then hooked to the lookout's belt, secured Packer now. The deck a hundred feet below was pitched at thirty-five degrees, which meant the crow's nest was also pitched at thirty-five degrees--and hanging nearly sixty feet out over the water. The sensation was mind-skewing. With the moonlit, whitecapped waves actually closer to him than the lamp-lit deck, Packer felt cut off from the reality of the Chase and her crew. He clung to his perch under the ruffle and snap of the skull and bones as though outcast, as though his first duty were to the sea and the wind, and whatever demands they might make.

Pirate novels, movies--everything--are really in right now, so George Bryan Polivka's novel meets this hunger straight on.

Harvest House Publishers went beyond the call of ordinary to give The Legend of the Firefish a special look. Not only is the cover very fitting for a pirate novel, but the spine is very eye-catching. Each interior page is decorated with little helms and curlicues, and each chapter heading has a black and white rendition of the ship shown on the cover. It has a charming old world feel to it. And speaking of the publisher, they are sponsoring a Talk Like a Pirate Contest--Reach out to a Pirate and Win!

Cons: I had a hard time getting into the novel, to be honest. The biggest issue for me was point of view. We had everybody's point of view, right down to the firefish. Whoever happened to be in a scene, we knew what they were thinking. Back and forth like a ping-pong ball or maybe a soccer match, because there were more than two players in many of them.

I find omniscient point of view not only disorienting but distancing. I could tell that the story belonged to Packer, and that the main subplot belonged to Panna, the girl he'd left behind. But because the point of view ricocheted between them and random other people, I never felt like I really got under their skin and found what made them tick. Although the story moved along at a smart clip and had a solid plotline, I always felt a step removed from the action.

Not everyone feels as I do about it. Polivka's editor, Nick Harrison said this in an interview with Becky Miller:

Bryan’s ability to handle the point of view shifts necessary to pull off this feat is awesome—and unique. Not many authors handle point of view as well as Bryan does. I consider Bryan’s use of point of view a huge asset to the book—even though I know that all the writing books warn against such shifts. I think they do this because few authors can handle those shifts well. Bryan is a master at it, in my opinion.

Check in tomorrow to see what Bryan has to say about ominiscient!

Meanwhile, lots of other bloggers are talking up The Legend of the Firefish. Check them out!
Trish Anderson, Brandon Barr, Wayne Thomas Batson, Jim Black, Justin Boyer, Grace Bridges, Amy Browning, Jackie Castle, Karri Compton, Frank Creed, Lisa Cromwell, CSFF Blog Tour, Gene Curtis, D. G. D. Davidson, Merrie Destefano, Jeff Draper, April Erwin, Linda Gilmore, Beth Goddard, Marcus Goodyear, Russell Griffith, Jill Hart, Katie Hart, Sherrie Hibbs, Christopher Hopper, Jason Joyner, Kait, Karen, Dawn King, Tina Kulesa, Lost Genre Guild, Terri Main, Rachel Marks, Karen McSpadden, Rebecca LuElla Miller, Eve Nielsen, John W. Otte, John Ottinger, Robin Parrish, Lyn Perry, Deena Peterson, Rachelle, Cheryl Russel, Chawna Schroeder, Mirtika Schultz, James Somers, Steve Trower, Speculative Faith, Jason Waguespac, Daniel I. Weaver, Janey DeMeo

I am *such* an optimist!

I believe I said that this week the words would be flying by. Anyone see them? What plane did they catch? Cause only about 3K settled down here, which is a far cry from the 10-15 I was hoping for.

And really, I only procrastinated one day of the four away. There have been a lot of customers all week (all month--all summer--all year) and then today it's been busy as Boss Dude figured out (remembered) that I'll be away for a week and no one will be in the office at all. So I spent a lot of time today trying to find the right threads to tie off. As far as I now know, all the catastrophes are under control.

Potential customers at the flooring shop are not that impressed with my new favorite words. They are *November* and *ish*. (Okay, *ish* is always in my vocabulary, but still, when combined with *November*, it has a whole 'nother ring to it.) Yeah, I'm busy scaring away potential clients who cannot believe our wait list is that long. But hey, it's boom town time here. Some lady told me the other day that the guys should get their butts in gear. I told her that the guys are over 50 and that their butts are as in gear as they're going to be. **rolls eyes

So check back next week, I'll have a bit of a review about the book Legend of the Firefish plus a discussion about omniscient pov with its author, George Bryan Polivka. Posting that from my daughter's house as we get her and her hubby packed up and moved closer to home!

Marks now at 64820

Marks of Repentance has been stalled on a difficult scene (gotta love that border guard dude) for over a week now. Yesterday afternoon Maripat brainstormed with me on how to fix that scene as she critted the novel for me last year. My brain has just gone around and around in circles trying to get to the meat of this scene and the importance of the guard.

As we chatted some things became clear--besides that the guard is way too full of himself. I'd missed a huge clue that ought to have derailed the entire plot right then and there. For the record, none of my critters caught it at the time either. So I've had to go back to page 43, page 91, etc, and change bits of backstory so that this border guard doesn't know some of the stuff I thought he knew. And then his partner had to come into larger play. She'd been basically a cipher-with-a-name in previous versions, but now she has an actual part. I've finally pushed the story 1300 more words to the good (I bet I've deleted that number, rewritten them, deleted them, rewritten them three times this week) and actually have a plan for the next writing session.

We're losing a fairly major character here, but that's okay because his thread kinda dwindled in the previous versions and this is more clear cut. And he'll be out there waiting for Book Two, along with the border guards.

I'm a happy camper and looking forward to the words flying by again next week. Yay!

Another meme!

Becky tagged me with this meme over the weekend while I was camping and I just discovered it today. Anyone want to play along?

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
No, but my four older sisters saved me from being called Frances or Lynda Mae!
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
I'm not sure. It's been a month or more I think.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING
ROFL--next joke please.
Oh, you want more? Let's put it this way. If I don't type up handwritten notes within 24 hours, I often have no idea what I wrote. It's that bad.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Hmm...smoked turkey breast?
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
I do: two of them. Two have turned into four, but I hear it will be a few years before four turn into more.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
If the other me enjoyed a quirky sense of humor, definitely.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Er...who, me?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yep.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
You'd have to push me over. You'd have to push me up there first. And then bonk me over the head. So, um NO.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Fiber One is my new favorite--actually it's the only one I buy, and I eat it a couple times a week with fresh fruit and vanilla yogurt. Usually I have the fruit and yogurt with rolled oats though.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Only the ones with laces.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
I know some teenage boys I can beat wrestling.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Rarely eat it. Chocolate I guess. Isn't chocolate the favorite everything?
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Cleanliness and neatness.
15. RED OR PINK?
Cherry Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
This wouldn't rate as LEAST fave, but only one of: sometimes I'm lazier than I wish.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My kids.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO LINK THIS BACK TO YOU?
Everyone in the whole wide blogging world!
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS (Or Kilt) AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Khaki green shorts, bare feet. Hey, it's hot and late evening and I'm unwinding, okay?
20. WHAT WAS The LAST THING YOU ATE?
Oh man. Now you're guilting me. Two pieces of raisin bread toast that I didn't really need.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Silence. If one ignores the computer motor and the fridge motor and the fan motor and...
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Why not be the whole box? Why stop at one color?
23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Fresh baked bread, fresh mowed grass, sheets dried on the clothesline.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My hubby.
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO LINKED THIS TO YOU?
Most certainly!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
I don't really watch sports--except hockey when Canada is in the Olympics.
27. HAIR COLOR?
Light brown headed for gray oblivion
28. EYE COLOR?
I think the proper word is *hazel* (without the nut)
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope, but I've worn glasses since I was three.
30. FAVORITE FOOD(S)?
Chocolate and garlic. Not together. Usually.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings.
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I have no idea. It's been eons.
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Fuschia!!
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
I'd like to be difficult and vote for spring.
35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs and snuggles!
36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate anything...how about Raspberry Chocolate Chip Coffeecake?
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Huh?
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND
Double huh?
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Bryan Davis' The Candlestone
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Huh. You're right. It's boring. I should buy a new one.
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
Nothing.
42. FAVORITE SOUND?
Water and laughter. And did I mention I'm a fan of silence?
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
I prefer my stones non-rolling, actually. Covered with moss is fine. And I'm not fond of beetles in any form.
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Bolivia
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Entertaining my blog's readers
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Gimli, Manitoba
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
I'm not gonna tag anybody, but if you do this, please link back in comments here!

Back from camping

We spent four days camping along this lake in a group of nearly fifty of hubby's extended family. There was lots of fishing, swimming, canoeing and just goofing off in the water. The water temperature was about 73 degrees Fahreheit so pleasant on these hot days. The first night I was too hot to sleep so talked hubby into a quick swim at about 10:30. That helped a lot! The other nights it cooled off better; the last evening I was even glad I'd brought a sweatshirt along!

We'd taken our rubber raft along (as well as our canoe) and took it out for a spin just before sunset one evening. Apparently the light was just perfect on my face!

I had to laugh at hubby. He'd just gotten off night shifts and was a tad tired. And it's hard to find a comfortable position when you have to steer the electric motor. But he managed!

The weather was close to perfect. Plenty warm in the daytime, cool enough at night, and a beautiful sunset the last evening.

I didn't get much of the writing stuff done that I'd hoped to work on--the truck battery wouldn't charge the laptop and the car was commuting to work with hubby part of the time. I did make a bunch of notes for Connect the Dot and that was about it. Perhaps it was okay to be sociable!

Round'n'round we go

I was pretty optimistic last week when I said I'd be hitting the border guard scene in Marks of Repentance on Monday. Here it is Thursday and I've finally met it. And not conquered it. Huidsor is such a smooth talker that I'm still not quite finding the line of where to make him stop with his innuendos. I think I'll take him camping this weekend and see if I can stuff a boot in his mouth. It may be that I'll need some quiet time to focus on him.

It's been busy and hot this week at work. (Did I mention hot?) Honestly it's not quite as bad as a couple of weeks ago but it so looooong since I felt cold at all that a few degrees doesn't seem to make much difference. So we're trying camping again, this time beside a lake (which should be swimable for cooling purposes, unlike the creek a couple weeks ago) and with a slew of extended family. Hubby has to work nights Friday and Saturday so he's getting me and the camper set up Friday afternoon and heading off to work. He's a bit bummed but those are the downs of his great job!

I'm stealing the laptop and hoping to make progress on at least one of my projects. Outlining the rest of Connect the Dot might be a good idea, at least the parts I now know. This seat-of-the-pants writing is for the birds. I never know what is going to come out of my characters' mouths in that half hour every morning. It's interesting to say the least.