There is just enough snow on the ground to make me smile. Only a little bit of snow, but smile I will. You see, I love winter. It’s kind of a choice. I live in the Midwest. Winter comes whether I want it to or not, so my choice to like it is all about keeping my sanity at a level that I can maintain. Oh, I’ll complain mightily in March when it just will not go away, but right now, the fact that I live somewhere that gets to see all four seasons brings me joy.
Yeah … stop complaining about things you can’t change. Good heavens. The only thing that happens with complaining is that it makes you more miserable and then expects everyone around to join in your misery.
Have you ever seen the Bob Newhart bit – Stop It?
I want to say that a lot these days.
That’s my lecture for the week. I’m still smiling at the snow.
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Jamie McFarlane’s books
My brother, Jamie McFarlane, has a new book out this week. Privateers in Exile. If you haven’t started reading his Privateer Tales series, he has a great deal going right now. The first five books – $3.99. Check it out here.
And also, you have a day or so to grab the first book in his newest series – When Justice Calls – for only $0.99. Yeah, lots of reading ahead for you.
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Writing
The holiday short story is at the halfway point. There are always so many things going on in Polly’s world. She wears me out.
Book 24 – In All Things, Give Thanks – is in the hands of my editors and proofreaders right now. I have such an incredible team and am grateful for the work they do for me. There is a lot going on in this book. More new characters, time spent with some characters we don’t see too often (Henry’s sister, Lonnie), and of course, more insanity for Polly and her family. I’ve been wanting to write them out to Thanksgiving and the time was finally right. This was fun for me.
Book 24 will be published on December 25th. Book 24.5 – the holiday short story will be published on January 1, 2019.
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Ebook Giveaways
I gave away three ebook copies (to be delivered as soon as Book 24 is live on Amazon) yesterday. We will have a few more of these through the month of December. The next one will be posted on the Bellingwood Facebook page on Friday, December 7. Be sure to keep an eye out so you can enter.
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Silliness
Are you all crafting and preparing for Christmas? There are so many things I want to do, but the best time for me to get to them? January 5th. Haha. One year I was so good and started right away after the new year. I got so much completed by Christmas. It was wonderful. Yeah, that was one year I can identify. Sigh.
I’m part of a bunch of FB crafting groups. They make my head hurt. Especially when I see women talking about how they had nothing else to do so they sat down and did some crafts. Nothing else to do? Nothing else to do? (read that second query with a higher-pitched, more agitated voice). I haven’t had nothing else to do since I was in elementary school. I like it this way, but sometimes I feel like I should be able to get more done.
My friend, Fran, gave me a beautiful layer cake (42 pieces of fabric cut into 10″ squares) called ‘Catitude.’ When I saw it, I realized that this was going to be MY quilt. I’ve made quilts for nearly everyone in my life, but having nothing fun for myself. I don’t quilt, but I sew quilt tops and send them off like a master. Then I bring them back and sew on the binding. The quilt came back into my life last week and I managed to get one side of the binding on. Then came the handwork. Ridiculous. Why? Three cats. Well, one cat (Earl) that finds it his imperative to be involved in everything that I do. He bites at the binding clips, he chews on my thread, he plays with my scissors and jumps at my hand underneath a layer of quilted fabric. He lies on top of the quilt and tries to burrow in the folds of the quilt. I love him, love him.
The quilt was finally finished today and now he doesn’t know what to do with himself. I’ll need to get busy on some other project so he can help me.
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Christmas Card
In last week’s newsletter, I invited anyone and everyone to send me their mailing address to receive a Christmas postcard from me. I still have more. There is still time. I’ve set a cutoff date of December 15th, but as long as I have cards and stamps (I have more than you can ask for), I will send them out.
Please do NOT send me your mailing address through FB messenger or put it on FB in a comment. Nothing on Facebook.
If you’d like to receive a postcard, send an email with your mailing address to me at nammynools (@) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form here on the website. That comes directly into my email.
Do you live outside the US? I’d love to send you a card, too. I have plenty of those stamps in my hot little hands.
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Thank you for being part of the Bellingwood community. ~ Diane
