"How are the book sales going?"

"So how are the book sales going?"  I get asked this often.  I usually answer the same way.  I shrug and say, "Good."  To be honest, I don't really know what this question means.  I'm certainly not on anyone's best seller list and my books aren't flying off the shelves, but I get sales every month.  No one is pounding on my door to publish my books for me, but I'm content with how things are going.  Some days there aren't any sales and other days there will be several.  I've only had the one time last May when the book sales really took off like crazy.  So if you ask me this and I seem vague, I guess it's because I'm not really sure what is meant by "going".  I'm content with how it's going and I just leave them in God's hands knowing that He is ultimately in control.

I got to work a little bit on book three this week and I was happy because I had left off in a place where I didn't know where to go from there, but things seemed to have resolved in a way that I'm pleased with.  I have a few ideas for a possible Christmas novella so that gives me a little more incentive for me to get it done a little early.  I'm excited about some of the possibilities that are presenting themselves right now.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.  I very much appreciate it!

Christmas Novellas

During the month of December, I was reading several Christmas novellas.  I love the Christmas season and getting to incorporate that into my reading is so enjoyable.  I also enjoy watching Christmas movies - although I watched most of them after Christmas this year.  One of my favorite authors puts out a new Christmas novel or novella every year along with her other books and I've always wondered how she is able to write so much in a year.

Loving reading, writing and Christmas got me thinking about my own books.  First of all, Brooke's story begins where Georgia's leaves off which means it's autumn.  I'm very excited to have the girls celebrate Christmas in Brooke's story!  I don't know yet whether the book will end at Christmas, I sort of doubt it, but it will definitely be a part of book three.

My other thought is that I would actually like to write a Christmas novella, but it takes me so long to just keep up with my current series.  I'm wondering if I could push through book three a little faster and get a Christmas novella written in time for Christmas.  It's a thought, but it will just depend on how things go with Brooke's story, because that's my priority in writing right now.  If I can get it done by summer instead of fall this year, there's a possibility that I may have time to write a novella before November.  I'll have to see how it goes.  In any case, I will be writing about Christmas soon!

Now, an update on my New Year's resolution.  I've been making out lists and following through with them.  I've been able to clean a lot of my kitchen and some of my dining room.  I'm sure my friends are tired of hearing about each item I've cleaned, but to me it's a big deal!  I've also been able to keep up on dishes (once I caught up on them) and laundry.  It may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but, believe me, this is huge for me!  This week, though, I have my work cut out for me, because, instead of focusing on small areas, I need to do a quick clean of the whole house.  My oldest daughter is turning ten and is having a party this coming weekend which means I need to get busy!

Because of all the cleaning, I really haven't done much writing lately.  I'm going to need to figure out how to keep my resolution and still allow time for writing.  Maybe I need to put writing on my list of things to do for the day!  If I want to push my (self-imposed) deadline and try to get it done sooner, I will definitely have to work it into my daily schedule a bit more than I normally do.

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season this year!  I certainly did!  I felt very blessed to be surrounded by so many precious family members.  After Christmas we were able to take a trip to relax after the busyness of the holidays.

As we enter 2014 though, I was thinking about resolutions.  Do you make resolutions?  Usually when I think of them I think of "Beauty and the Beast" when Cogsworth is giving the Beast ideas for what he can give Belle and he says that there are the "usual things; flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep."  I feel like most of the time when I make a resolution, I actually have no intention of keeping it.  Through the years, I've stopped making resolutions because of this.  I figure I'm not really resolved if I'm fairly certain I won't follow through.  Every once in a while though, I find something that I really feel needs to change and I make a resolution for that year.

This year is one of those years.  I always say that I'm a good stay-at-home mom, but a lousy housewife.  I take good care of my kids and they grow and thrive, but my house is always in disarray.  We have clean clothes, but they most likely are sitting in a hamper in the laundry room.  I fix them dinner, but we may have to wash a few dishes before we can eat.  I have at times actually considered throwing away all of my dishes and just buying new ones.  It's never a trait that I've been proud of and I've tried to change it before.  I would love to not be hesitant to have people over because my house is too messy.  What usually ends up happening though is I clean my house and then we have a birthday party and my house is back to what it was before I cleaned or I end up getting sick and no one helps while I'm sick so by the time I'm well, the house is a disaster again.

So here's my plan.  I don't expect perfection.  I have three kids and they're going to make messes.  I want to start making lists (I respond well to lists) every day of things that need to get done.  It will take a while to get the house clean from it's present state and it's not going to happen over night.  After it's clean, I want us as a family to take a few moments right before bed and pick up any dishes, toys, clothes, etc. that are left out.  I've already told my husband that when I get sick, I'd like for him to help so that I'm not needing to start back at square one and he's agreed to do that.  I'm hoping that sharing this with all of you will help me be more accountable as well.

Now, I know what you really want to know is how book three is coming along.  I did get some work done on it last night and I feel like it's going well.  I'm wondering how I'm going to resolve something right now.  I'm not really sure what's going to happen which is always interesting for me.  I have to remind myself sometimes to slow down.  I find myself wanting to push through to certain events, but if I go too quickly then things don't develop as thoroughly as they should.

I wish you all a very blessed New Year!  Feel free to share your own resolutions - especially if you feel that you could use a little accountability.