Wednesday, November 20, 2013

It's been WAY more than 3 weeks! + Indie book review

Okay, I’ve been gone for longer than three weeks. It’s been closer to six weeks, but oh how the time flies! It wasn’t all just fun and games, and, I’m sorry to say, not as much writing as there could have been. But it’s picking up now, and I still plan to be done with my first draft of Anticipating Dawn by the end of the year.

Over these six weeks, I had two surgeries, one oral – had a tooth pulled, which started to become infected, and you know the people didn’t give me antibiotics. So had to get that later on, and this was more painful than the inpatient surgery I had (nothing serious, and that went well). 

What I did do a lot of is read. :) I’ve read seven indie books – which I plan to review and highlight along the way. And I watched a million movies, both at the movies and on TV. (I've signed up for Amazon Prime... and I've fallen in love with the Jesse Stone movies... Okay, I've fallen for Tom Selleck... again. :))

There are some things I’ve come to realize during this extended break. One, is that I was blogging too much! With work, no matter how much I love blogging, it’s impossible to keep up with it as much as I was and do other things going on in life, and writing was going by the wayside. So, I’ve decided to blog one to two times a week.

As I’m not one to stick to patterns, I’m not sure just yet whether they’ll be the same day of the week or not. My Tuesday Journal Past Blast will be once a month – the third Tuesday of the month. I also do not plan to be involved with as many blog hops as I was. Although I truly love them, it’s just too much. :(  The ones I will try and definitely be involved with are ISWG, and Celebrate the Small Things, though likely only twice a month.

 Indie Fever 2013 Reading Challenge

So, for now, here’s the first of my indie book reviews:

Life Begins The Day You Start A Garden
 by Anthony Johnson



Life Begins is an endearing story of a man who wishes he were resigned to just survive instead of really living life. When given an unlikely opportunity to change his unsatisfying existence, he grudgingly grabs at it, and his life changes much more and much less than he ever dreamed.

This is a well-written story that takes you into the main character's mindset, which is ripe for the manipulations and twists of his fate. It's a story that gets you thinking of what things in our lives we are unsatisfyingly letting fallow instead of cultivating them to let blossom.

This one was written by my brother, Anthony Johnson, an avid gardener and herbalist, who is fluent in Japanese and speaks Mandarin (he refuses to say he's fluent in Mandarin). His blog, Herbadelic, speaks of dishes he cooks and tinctures he makes from herbs he gathers from his garden.

Life Begins is a short story based on a Chinese proverb, and is available only in print, but for just $5.36, which you can get here.

He and I will both be at this amazing Indie Authors Book Fair:


I appreciate all you folks for visiting me again after so long! :)

29 comments:

  1. Glad you're feeling better, Nancy. The oral surgery stuff is definitely no fun at all, but now that's all behind you. Glad you're back to blogging, even though you can't do it as often as you'd like. Wishing you the best with your new book. My sister and I should have one early next year, as well.

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    1. Thanks for coming by Deanie! It's good to be back, and it seems you're into quite a lot!

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  2. Welcome back!!! I'm sorry your prolonged break wasn't super restful (surgery - UGH), but I love how much you've been able to read in the process!! And yes, it's totally OK to cut back on blogging. I post once a week, and that's about all I can manage. We do what we can - we still need to WRITE, too!

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    1. Actually, it's quite restful. I'm still off work, which is great. Yes, I need to make sure I don't get caught up in trying to blog more!

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  3. Congrats to your brother and Welcome back Nancy. Surgery is tough but you're here and whether you blog twice a week or five I'm glad you're back.

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    1. Thanks Sheena-kay! You know how to make a person feel good. :)

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  4. Welcome back Nancy.
    My plan is to do lots of writing and reading over the December holidays...
    Lots of bloggers seem to be cutting back on blogging...
    Good luck with your new book!
    Writer In Transit

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    1. Thanks Michelle. I think I'll be looking forward to the next ISWG. You know how those doubts about writing skills come back every now and then? I think it's time to reread all I've written so far to get back into the groove of it. I hope your writing goes smoothly over the holidays.

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  5. Glad you got the health issues worked out. I love the Jesse Stone movies too and of course, Tom Selleck.

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    1. Yes, they're coming along.

      :) I saw one movie in particular with him quite a few years ago that I loved. Need to find it again - don't remember the name of it. Maybe Ruby Jean and Joe - could be that one.

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  6. Welcome back! You've had quite a busy time of it. I'm glad the health issues worked out okay, and I'm happy you've returned to blogging! :-)

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    1. Thanks Lexa! I'm glad too. Just gotta work out a schedule that keeps me happy and provides me some spare time - that balance, you know?

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  7. I'm so glad to see you back, sorry about the infection, glad for the revelation, and I perceive that you have come back strong, rested and together. (I hope your mother is well, by the way.)

    Stay smiling!

    Diana at About Myself By Myself

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    1. My mom is doing well. Still more energy and "get up" than me! :) Yes, I'm enjoying my healing time... even the times of boredom. Too bad the rain has started. :(

      I'll keep what you said in mind... that I've come back strong, rested and together. Not so sure about the strong and together part. :)

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  8. It seems as though many of us are reaching that same conclusion, Nancy...to scale down the blogging and do much more writing. I'm doing that myself. I love to blog, and would do more, but I'm a writer first, blogger in my spare time, and I really don't have any time to spare. So kudos to you for setting boundaries and re-prioritizing.

    M.L. Swift, Writer

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    1. Thanks Michael. It is a hard decision, especially when I'm not the most disciplined writer as is! But it's good to know I'm not the only one going through these dilemmas.

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  9. Glad you're back. Sounds like you needed to take a break. The thing about blogging is it's neverending! Sometimes that good while other times...not so much!

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    1. Yes... and there are too many things in life that are never-ending!

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  10. Hey Nancy,

    Oh, you've been away. I didn't notice! :) Of course I'm kidding. All this time I have been staring at my computer screen waiting for another posting from your good self.

    Sorry about your dental experience. Aint that the tooth. However, I'm hoping all will be well for you now.

    Anthony's book sounds most interesting. Wishing you both a lot of fun at the book fair.

    Trying to find the right balance between blogging and writing can be quite the dilemma. Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar has told me to stick to making paper airplanes.

    Many a person has told me that Tom Selleck looks a lot like me. Okay, we have a similar moustache or mustache.

    Lovely to see your return, Nancy.

    Gary :)

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    1. So funny you are G! Tooth seems to be doing better - just finished the antibiotics today.

      Paper airplanes? What do dogs know?? Even modest internet superstar dogs?

      You're gonna have to show me your Tom Selleck lookalike pic! :)

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  11. Sorry you've been feeling bad, Nancy! But sometimes those times let us catch up on our books and movies!!! I love that part! And Tom Selleck FTW! (I'm a Magnum groupie....lol)
    Glad you're back, and I totally know what you mean. My blogging has gone way down, and will go down even more over the next month.

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    1. What's FTW?? Since I'm all caught up on the Tom Selleck movies available - at least for free, I may have to start looking at Magnum PI! I think I've become addicted. lol!

      Blogging is great, and it's too bad that so many of us do need to cut back, but that's just the way it is sometimes. :(

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  12. So sorry about the surgeries and pain... :( You're such a strong person though--you really are doing so much. I hope you continue to get better. And I love reading your update!

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    1. Thanks Morgan. :) Doing much better, just a little discomfort from the other surgery, but not much. Hope you're doing well!

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  13. I hope you have a great time at the fair.

    I'm sorry about the surgeries and ensuing pain. Welcome back. Sometimes cutting back on the blog is necessary.

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  14. Nancy-- owie mouth! I hope you are feeling better. Oral surgery is the pits. :(

    Like Mike said, I've been reading a lot of posts geared at scaling down, both on writing and reading other blogs. We love our writing friends, but blogging can be perhaps more of a time-investment than we're able to give with writing demands. :)

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  15. Sorry the oral surgery didn't go as planned. Or rather led to things you didn't want to go through.
    I've scaled back in my blogging because I want to write again, and there's no way I could do that at my usual pace.

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  16. Hey, Sis. Glad you made it through the oral surgery and the other one was a success too. You're doing well, it seems, and looking good! Thanks for the great writeup. It's always interesting to read others' takes on our creations.

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  17. Welcome back, Nancy. I knew you'd be gone longer than expected because blog breaks go by crazy fast. I'm happy you took care of health issues while gone and glad it all went well. Nice book review, BTW.

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