The Saturday Broadsheet (September 5, 2020)

Summer has come to an end for us at Brown Cottage because my husband has gone back to work and school will be starting. (In addition to having his own cleaning company, he works for the school board as a custodian.)

Last Friday, we took a day trip to Victoria Park in Truro, NS. On the way, we stopped at Mastodon Ridge to play a round of mini-golf. I came close to beating my husband but, as always, he won. 🙂

They have a Flinstone’s style car in front of a Flinstone style house. We’re sitting in that car for the selfie picture. My husband is holding my hair since it was WINDY on the hill and my hair kept blowing into my face and his. 

We’ve had a very dry summer, so the falls at Victoria Park were no more than a trickle. However, the walk to get to them was lovely. It was a sunny and warm but not hot day — perfect weather actually. 

And now, we are settling into the school year work hour routine. This means I will be starting to do a few more posts on my blog than I was over the summer. However, I learned to love the less intense schedule, and plan to do my best to keep from becoming overly intense again. I’ll tell you more about that below. 

Let’s get on to all the writing and publishing news. 

Continue reading The Saturday Broadsheet (September 5, 2020)

The Saturday Broadsheet (August 2020)

We are still enjoying some hot temperatures here. It has been a very warm summer for us, but those temps make our Saturday evening beach walks quite enjoyable. This picture is from this past Saturday’s walk. We checked out Conrad’s Beach. This vantage point if looking back to where our car is parked — waaaaaaay over there near the white house. Because this area with it’s sand dunes is a breeding ground for the Piping Plover (a small shorebird), everyone crosses from where they parked on the road across the boardwalk and to the sandy beach beyond. The beach is worth the trek.

My husband starts vacation from one of his jobs next week, so maybe we’ll be able to venture further afield to walk on some beaches that aren’t so close to where we live. That could be fun. 

But enough of that. Let’s get on with all the writing, publishing, and book news you have opened this post to find. 🙂 

Writing News

The only writing project I have worked on to any extent since my July update has been Her Convenient Forever. I thought it was going to end at chapter fifteen which I hit last week. However, it hasn’t ended yet. 🙂 Therefore, I have not started any serious work on any other writing project. 

In editing news, I have gotten my manuscript back for Protecting Miss Darcy and will be starting the final read-through while making corrections this week. I’m still working towards having it ready to publish by September 3. 

That reminds me! There was one other thing that I got written since I last posted. I wrote an epilogue for Protecting Miss Darcy / the Marrying Elizabeth series. I’ll schedule that to post this coming Thursday. 

Continue reading The Saturday Broadsheet (August 2020)

The Saturday Broadsheet (July 2020)

Hello. I hope your summer (or winter, depending on location) is going well and that you are all staying safe and well. My husband and I have started taking some Saturday drives to various places as we like to do during the summer. The photo is of him walking down one of the boardwalks at Lawrencetown beach last weekend. You’ll notice he’s not wearing very summery clothing. 🙂

We had some nice cool days, and it was actually almost cold at the beach that evening. Today, however, has been a very different sort of day. It was HOT. A trip to the beach would have been refreshing, but sadly it was a workday for us. 

But enough of that. Let’s get on with all the writing, publishing, and book news you have opened this blog post to find. 🙂 

Writing News

Since I the last time I updated you on my writing, I have written a couple more chapters of Her Convenient Forever, and I have done a bit of planning and plotting on a new Sweet Possibilities story while contemplating how the short story sequel to Matching Mr. Darcy is going to go. Both of these stories will be set at Christmas time.

Here’s how the prologue Sweet Possibilities 2, which sets up why Elizabeth and Mary are at the Gardiners for this story, begins: 

Continue reading The Saturday Broadsheet (July 2020)

TSB: Three Books – One Free; One New Release, One Soon-to-be-Unpublished

Settle into a comfy reading spot. This is a long one. 🙂


Summer is here in Nova Scotia, and there is no denying its arrival as the weather has let us know, without question, that a new season is upon us. (We’ve had several hot days which is a little earlier than normal for us.) I have had my first osteopath appointment since the clinic was shut down because of the pandemic, and while it was helpful, I still have a long way to go to get all the kinks worked out. However, I now have a treatment plan in place, and that feels good. 

As I mentioned in the last Saturday Broadsheet, I am cutting back and taking it a bit easy this summer for health reasons. This will include some changes to what is being posted each week on my blog and the frequency of this newsletter. Starting in July, the Saturday Broadsheet will be delivered once per month. 

I have added a new change to my summer business plans.

Continue reading TSB: Three Books – One Free; One New Release, One Soon-to-be-Unpublished

TSB: Changes are Coming for the Summer

I’m trying some changes. Here’s what they are and why. 

Have you ever been so tired that you put the jar of protein powder in the fridge instead of in the cupboard next to the fridge? I have been. Several times lately.

The lockdown is taking its toll. Later this month, I will get to return for an appointment with my osteopath. I have not seen her or any of the health care team at her clinic for more than 6 months now. This, coupled with just the stresses we all face during our current world situation, has not done my health any favours. Much of the progress we had been making on correcting some sleep issues while still keeping me relatively free from pain (I have some disc issues) has been lost.

I know that getting in to see my healthcare team will be even trickier now as appointments per day for the clinic are being restricted due to health measures that are in place. This means it will be a while before a regular pattern of treatments will resume for me. 

With this in mind, I am looking at ways to adjust, rearrange, and/or lessen my workload, thereby easing some of the stress on my body at least for the summer months and possibly longer if I find the changes work well. Rest assured that creating stories for you to read will remain my priority. 

Trust me. Cutting back is not something I find easy to do (I am a bit of a workaholic), but I know it is necessary. Here are the changes I have planned at this time: 

Continue reading TSB: Changes are Coming for the Summer