Find Your Joy.

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Can I be honest?

2018 has been a bit of a trash fire of a year, hasn’t it?

Stepping away from the chaotic whirlwind of bad news has been a struggle. Being creating in 2018 has been even more difficult. It’s important to write, even in the middle of the muck.

I think, more than any other time, it’s also important to find happy moments and pursue them.

For me?

This weekend, that meant baking, reading, and video games.

Baking? That went brilliantly. I made Mary Berry’s recipe for profiteroles, photo evidence above. They tasted AMAZING. They also didn’t last the weekend lol. Yum.

Reading? I finally got around to reading Alison Weir’s Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen, which I enjoyed immensely. I love a good historical fiction. And this one was definitely half fact and half fiction. Brilliantly done though.

Video games? I’ve gotten completely obsessed with the latest Assassin’s Creed game, Odyssey. Epic, brilliant, amazing. Love it so much.

Now, I’m back to writing on my new work in progress–an urban fantasy. Should be great fun.

How about you? What moments of joy are you finding for yourself this year?

What Are You Watching on the Television?

I have a confession. I watch loads of TV, more than I should. My favourites tend to vary. I quickly fall into and out of obsession with some. So here’s my top ten shows or genres I’ve been watching lately.

Bake Off. The version with Mary, Sue, and Mel. It’s just not the same without them.
Most of the shows on ID Discovery. I love crime shows. I’m particularly fond of Joe Kenda’s Homicide Hunter.
Doctor Who (Though, I’ll admit I prefer Doctor’s nine and ten.)
Deadliest Catch
Forged in Fire
Project Runway
Hunted
Food Shows. All the food shows. So many food shows.
Hoarders
Queer Eye (The old & the new versions)

What’s currently fueling your TV obsessions? Do you watch at all?

Things I Learned at the RT Convention

Stuart Reardon is the sweet and most attractive man ever. (Also, he hugged me).
I can stretch out of my autistic comfort zone.
People REALLY like free shit.
The authors and staff at my publisher (Hot Tree) are all adorably sweet people who went out of their way to ensure I felt as comfortable as I could be. I heart them.
Steak and ale pie is brilliant.
Authors fangirl as much as readers do, because at our core–we can’t be great authors if we don’t also love to read.
Five days is enough to exhaust me completely and utterly.
Volunteers work incredibly hard and rarely get noticed.
The tribe of book lovers is an awesome one. I’m proud to be part of it.
Play time is over. Time to get to writing.

Did you attend the RT Convention in Atlanta last week? If so, what was your favourite part?

Emotional Masochism.

I have a confession. I am an emotional masochist. I search out videos on Youtube that I know will have me sobbing at my desk.

Seriously.

This is a true story.

Videos of soldiers coming home to their kids…or dogs…or mailman? I’ve seen them.

People hearing or seeing for the first time? Sign me up.

Anything guaranteed to make me weepy and I’m in. Yesterday, I was watching a real estate ad on TV, and I got teary eyed. So sad. So true.

How about you? Do emotional videos, stories, and ads make you weepy?

The Gif Giver.

The world seems really serious lately. I thought I’d tell a story about my weekend in gifs. Silly, pointless, and just to make myself (and hopefully you laugh.)

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My weekend:

I was supposed to do this:

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Mostly, I did this:

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And this:

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I did manage to plot a few story things:

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And finally, I mostly did this:

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How was your weekend?

Losing Tastes Like Taco Bell.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll likely have noticed one of my new obsessions is a show on CBS called Hunted. It’s basically hide & seek for adults with a massive prize if you don’t get found. The fugitives are regular people and the hunters are a mixture of mostly law enforcement and military experts. As the finale is on Wednesday, today seemed a good day to blog about ten random things I’ve seen or learned from the show.

In no particular order:

– Always be wary of Black SUVs with tinted windows. Sneaky people use them to spy on you.

– The internet never forgets anything ever. Deleting your history doesn’t mean it’s actually erased.

– Taco Bell nachos taste like money floating away on the wind.

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– People frequently miss what’s right in front of their noses–like 6-foot tall men hiding in their back yards.

– If you’re ever one the run, leave all your mobile devices behind. Also, never drive a new vehicle. Telematics. Google it.

– Butt dials can be either dangerous mistakes or subversive mind games.

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– When ‘cute boys’ ask to sleep on your porch, the correct answer is NO. #strangerdanger

– Rises in blood pressure can lead to being punked.

– Lying can be good or bad–depending on which side of the fugitive/hunter fence you’re on. Also, if you’re going to lie about your name, practice saying the name a few times. #robles

If you’re not watching the show, you should definitely check it out for sheer entertainment value–and also because you learn a hell of a lot about how easy it can be to track someone in the digital age.

Also, you’ll find the entire cast is incredibly active (and hilarious) on twitter.

What are the shows you obsess over? Have you learned anything from watching them?

Five Things about Laundry.

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Five things about laundry I’ve noticed in my 30s (that I didn’t know or care about in my early 20s:

1. The older I get, the more I hate doing it.

2. Ironing becomes less and less important the older I get.

3. I couldn’t give a rip about whether or not it smells ‘mountain fresh’–does it get stains out.

4. Washing/drying becomes more important than actually folding.

5. Clean sheets on a bed might be the best thing ever.