A great review can make my day

Just got a great review for Homicide, Hostages, and Hot Rod Restoration, my latest book. The review isn't posted yet, I just got the advance notice. The thing that tickled me about this one was that the reviewer really GOT what I'm doing:

More and more I find I need a little believable romance between very realistic seeming characters that are middle aged! JL Wilson is a master at bringing realistic middle class and middle aged characters to life on the page and producing a marvelous story.

No matter how long I'm in this business, I'll always be happy for a good review. And this was a great one.

And now, for a brief update

I've been insanely busy at work lately -- big deadlines and some technical glitches meant I was working a bunch of overtime. Now we're out of town, helping my Mom settle into her new assisted living apartment. I drove a HUGE cargo van yesterday 250 miles in order for us to fill it and take furniture home with me.

My sisters were here for the move on Friday so I got to see them before they scattered back to their homes. We all agreed: weed out now. Rethink what you purchase. Downsize early and often. Mom was really good about getting rid of Stuff, but there are still things to deal with during a downsizing move.

My new mantra: "if I buy that I have to throw it away eventually: do I really want it?"

It's going to make purchases a LOT easier to decide on....

Where do they get the energy?

Our two kittens, Pandora (a.k.a., The Paw of Destruction) and Opie (a.k.a., Destructo Boy) will turn 1 year old on March 25. That means they're teenagers, and like teenagers, they have more energy than should be contained in one body. It's just amazing how they can tear around the house, bounce off walls, terrorize the other (adult) cats, and generally act like Super Cats.

There are days when I wish I could just bottle all that energy & have it for when I need it -- when deadlines & work & my To Do list loom large. Then I see them sleeping as hard as they play and I know where they get it -- they're in Recharge Mode. Maybe I just need to sleep as hard!

Travel R Us

I was out of town last weekend -- nothing as glamorous as New Orleans this time, just a quick visit to Iowa to help my Mom with her moving.

She's going to an assisted living apartment and we had to assess what would fit, what wouldn't, what we would do with what wouldn't fit, where to put things, who to give things to...She had already weeded out a lot when she moved from our house to her townhouse, 7 years ago, but this was yet more weeding out.

She's being a very good sport about it all. I'm sure she's less than anxious to give up her independence, but she'll retain a great deal of autonomy where she's going and it is a nice place. Heck, I've had apartments that size back in my college days and ones that weren't nearly as nice. I admire how she's keeping cheerful about it all and trying to do as much as she can, given her physical limitations. It's teaching me a lot about 'grace under pressure' and I hope I can retain those lessons when my own times comes, several decades (I hope!) in the future. We don't like to think about the limitations placed on us by aging, but it's inevitable, I'm afraid. All we can hope for is to have a good attitude, like her.

The move is in a week. I won't be there for the actual move, my siblings are taking over for that. My husband and I will come on the following day to help unpack, hang things, put away, and get her settled. It's another phase of life for us all. Let's hope it all goes as planned!

Happy happy me me

I was in New Orleans this past weekend, enjoying the weather and the Epic conference. That's a conference for digital books and I'm pleased to say that I won my category -- Science Fiction Romance -- with Endurance, my time travel book.

This is the second Epic award I've won for excellent in digital publishing and I'm pleased as punch that I was there to get the award in person. It was a great vacation -- sunny skies, warm temperatures, balmy breezes, and an award at the end of it all!

We all need those breaks from the routine now & again. And since this is "Read an Ebook Week", feel free to take a vacation with an ebook.

Like mine ::wink::

Off to the first conference of the year

I'm heading out tomorrow for the first conference of the year -- going to New Orleans. So no time to blog (right now). I'll try to blog from the hotel if I can. If not -- have a great week!