Typing With Wet Paws: Adoptiversary Edition

October 6, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This is a special edition, because it is my adoptiversary. Well, actually, it was yesterday, October fifth, but yesterday was also Mama Anna’s talking people vet session, and the first pictures of me with these guys were taken the day after, because everybody wanted to give me some time to get used to my new family

Possibly first crunchies with forever family

I have had three mamas, and that is the final number. My cat mom was my biological mom. I don’t remember a lot about her, but she was gorgeous (I assume she looks like me) and ran one heck of a milk bar. When I was big enough to set out on my first adventure, I went to my first human mom, Mama D, who took the best, best, best care of me until it was time for me to come to my forever family. I still love my first two mamas and I think about them a lot, always fondly.

As you might be able to see from the picture above, I wasn’t done growing yet when I met these guys, because I am bigger and longer and grownup now. These guys never got to see me as a tiny jelly bean or a li’l potato, as I came to them in my long teen stage. Now I am a big long, which is my final form.

Please note that Mama Anna was kind enough to match the cover of one of her journals to the color of half of my nose. Yes, she has another one like it in black, to match the other half of my nose. I will accept this tribute. My bond with Mama Anna and her writing has been there from the very start. One of the very first times I came out of my adventure cave, she had a journal out on the bed, and was working with an India ink pen. I wanted to play with the pen. She said I should not, because the ink might stain my white paws. Well. She had not noticed the black spot I have on one of my front paw toes before then and thought that she had stained my fur. She felt awful until she realized it was original equipment.

Ever since then, we have only grown closer. I have made new human friends/aunts and uncles both online and in purr-son. If Mama Anna wants to have a video chat with anybody, I must be part of it. That is not negotiable. I don’t make the rules. Oh wait, I am a cat. I totally do.

Mama Anna wanted to remind me that one of my main reasons I get to blog once a week is that I am to be her PR kitty. That means I have to talk about her writing. She’ll admit it hasn’t been great as of late, which is one of the reasons she is seeing the talking vet. The talking vet helped her give herself a couple of assignments. First, she needs to finish reading the novel she is currently reading, which is Lisbon, by Valerie Sherwood. She loves that book and has read it only once, so it is like a new book, but one she knows she will like.

Another goal is for Mama Anna to write one of her own blogs once a week for the rest of October. It doesn’t matter the topic, so be prepared for some babbling. Some of you like that, so you’ll be in for a treat. The rest of you, maybe ask her some questions so she can maybe use those to help figure out a topic. My Aunt Mary already asked Mama Anna to blog about Lisbon, so she will probably do that at some point.

The other other goal is related to NaNoWriMo and even Preptober. Mama Anna would like to participate in those, but she’s not sure exactly how, so the idea they came up with was this:

Pick a notebook
Fill it by the end of November
That’s it.

What she fills the notebook with doesn’t matter as much as just filling it. Probably extra points for making it be about historical romance. Mama Anna plans on getting together with Aunt Melva for an in person worldbuilding session soon, about the small town they are creating for their new contemporary series. This new notebook, which she will probably introduce you to later, will be saved for stuff about historical romance and maybe fantasy romance that reads like historical.

Will I try to steal her pens that she writes with in that? Yes. Will I sit on the open pages and the closed cover? Yes. Is she fully aware that if the notebook has a leather or faux leather cover, that I will do the pricky-pricky-pricky things with my murder mittens to the cover? Yes. Might she try to foil me by putting a cover over that cover? Almost certainly. Will that stop either one of us? Probably not, but there is only one way to find out.

How was your week?

Typing With WetPaws: Welcome Back, Super Powers Edition

September 16, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It has been a while, but that awful summertime is over, and Super Powers are returning. Happy New Year to all our Jewish and Messianic friends. The picture above these words was taken by Aunt Linda, as I was taking a much-needed nap in her window. Some of the fans are off now, and Mama Anna is even wearing a sweatshirt as she helps me write this. There are noises from the humans about a Big Wash, which means ALL of the bedding, including blankets. I know what this means. This means it is time to be cozy and cuddly and snuggly. I am all about all of that.

Another thing that lends itself to cozy and comfy is that Mama Anna is listening to something I find very interesting these days: creepypasta. I do not mean things like spaghetti with spiders in it, but a certain kind of story she listens to on You Tube. It’s usually first person, kind of scary, but she doesn’t find it scary; she finds it interesting, and even listens to it to help her sleep. Yes, she will be bringing this up with the special talking people vet. her favorite kinds of stories so far are those about things that happen in the deep woods, and also where the narrator works at a place with some strange rules to them. Maybe she will try to write one for one of her blogs.

Now that summer is basically over, and will be officially over next week, Mama Anna is feeling much more herself. That means much more like writing. She is still working on the reading thing, which she will also mention to the talking people vet but is pretty sure that will come in time. Probably also with a nice autumnal candle.

Photo by thevibrantmachine on Pexels.com

Some scents that she likes for this time of year are: cinnamon, clove, woodsmoke, tobacco, leather, wine, pumpkin, apple, coffee, fallen leaves, and that sort of thing. Aunt Linda wants to go to Yankee Candle, which Mama Anna is all for, even better if they can meet up with some friends who also like going to candle places. I mean the factory, but maybe Aunt Linda only means the small stores in the mall. That one is good, too. Mama Anna is also playing around with making her own candles with wax melts and wicks, but she is starting on that journey, so buying candles is still a good idea.

I, of course, am not allowed to investigate candles, no matter what fragrance they have. Something about fire. Blankets are much more fun, as they are fuzzy and soft, like me, and good for napping. I am extremely good at napping. When Mama Anna is at her keyboard, i am usually sleeping in her sock drawer right next to her desk. I let her know I want in my drawer by scratching the drawer below it. Mama Anna says that sets a precedent, but Papa says I’m cute, and this was a curb dresser, so it’s okay. It’s a good thing he’s cute.

Mama Anna’s schedule says it is now naptime, so I had better sign off now, as I am nap commissioner. I will let her update you all on writing and stuff in her own blogs. What are you currently reading?

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Post-Papa’s Birthday Edition

August 18, 2023annabowling 1 Comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. this was an interesting week over here, and of course one week closer to fall, when Mama Anna’s superpowers come back. Tuesday was Papa’s birthday. He wanted cannoli for his cake (or ake substitute) and well remembers last time, when Aunt Linda contended she did not get her fair share of cannolis. Should I tell her that the bakery sells them all the time? She could get more. I don’t get any because I am a cat. I get crunchies and gushy food. Much better. Mama Anna had to show Papa a picture of what his birthday present will be, because it did not arrive in time. Aunt Linda had somehow not noted that it was shipping from overseas, but that is okay because it will be worth the wait.

I don’t know how to share the picture, so I will tell you what the present is. It is a tropical shirt with lots of flowers and pineapples and leaves, and best of all…ME. Naturally, it was hard for Mama Anna to pick from the pictures she took of me, because they are all good. With material like this, how could she get any duds, am I right? You know it.

could this work as my Halloween costume?

Anyway, Aunt Linda had a clear favorite picture, so they went with that one, and Papa LOVES the idea. He says he’s going to wear that shirt everywhere, all year long, and he even wants to more of them with different pictures. Some of them will be of Big Sister Skye, but that’s okay. I think it would be cool to hang out with her in a shirt pattern. Everybody wants something with both of our pictures on it together. Maybe even pajama pants. My only concern with clothing that has my picture on it is, how are my sheds going to show?

Since human eyes are not as awesome as cat eyes in seeing detail, I should tell you that the print on the belly band in the picture above is from Mama Anna’s new “Neapolitan” Archer and Olive n notebook, but we properly refer to it by its right name, Calico. It has black pages, white pages, and kraft pages, which is close enough to orange. She says it is in honor of me. I appreciate the recognition. Mama Anna thinks she will probably use that as her first bullet journal of 2024.

Speaking of her planning, she found out that she does indeed already have the A5 calendar filler for next year’s catchall planner, so that fits right in with no-spend, which is pretty cool. This has been more of a well filling week than a writing week, but she is okay with that. Also, she smells like people vet again. She said it was something called a “physical” and the people vet wants to check on a couple of things to make sure everything is working as it should. I, of course, will be on hand to provide cuddles afterward. She might even be able to talk to a special talking kind of people vet to see if I can get a letter saying I am an essential worker in the industry of keeping Mama Anna operating at best capacity.

Right now, she is listening to one of her all-time favorite books, On the Jellicoe Road, on Audible. As usual, part of her is thinking about how elements of this would work in historical romance (there is romance, but it’s not the focus, and there are two timelines, one in the past, but only a generation ago from the present story.) It also gives her the taste for a historical romance set in Australia, because it’s a setting she likes a lot, but doesn’t see very often these days. Do you know of any? Leave titles, authors, and/or links in the comments.

Typing With Wet Paws: Mama Anna Smells Like People Vet Edition

July 21, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This week, it’s Mama Anna who smells like people vet, but she did not have to stay at the people vet and there is no cone of shame involved. She does still have a brace on her owie paw, but that was not why she went to the people vet. This visit was to check her medicine, and the people vet did want to make some changes. So far, they seem to be working okay. She will go back to the people vet ina few weeks to check on that. I have been keeping a close eye on Mama Anna, making sure I can tell her when she needs to chill or lay down or stuff like that. It usually ends with me getting belly rubs, so count that as a job benefit.

Mama Anna was feeling so much better today, in fact, that she went to the trash place three whole times, and rearranged a corner of the kitchen. She is hoping to turn it into a planning center/writing desk (handwriting, though we both know that she will still be doing a lot of her handwriting on the bed.) Sahe did try to put the kneeling chair back in place but it is too low for her desk, so she went back to using the folding stool, which is exactly the right height and give back support. Aunt Linda has been shopping online for pink office chairs. Aunt Linda loves shopping online. The kneeling chair will probably go into storage. Papa hates it, but then again he doesn’t have to sit in it, so there. This kneeling chair was the first piece of furniture Mama Anna ever bought with her own money and she got it because somebody she loved had one and let her try it and she loved it, so she got her own. So, sentimental value.

Here is a better picture of me than the one above. Mama Anna wants to start taking and sharing more picturs again, and what better subject than me? Granted, I am not aways cooperative, but then again, I am a cat. It comes with the territory. It’s all worth it, though, for results like this.

Now that we are over the Fourth of July hump, it is now time (I am told. For some reason, the hoomans decline to take me shopping with them) for stores to have allll the back-to-school supplies. Mama Anna is not in school, but she is a writer, so she really does need the pens and paper and all those sorts of things. Some of them, I might possibly make off with and put in one of my hoards. Mama Anna found a thing that belongs to Papa that is Not For Kitties in one of my stashes. She took it back and told Papa he has to put those things in a better place now because I am smart and nimble and stuff like that. He agreed that is a very good idea. I did not have any adverse effects, and it was a reminder to both parents to always check my special places if something goes missing. It’s not Borrowers. It’s me.

Mama Anna is working on her reading/media tracker. She read Circle of Friends, by Maeve Binchy, and then a YA thriller this past week. Now she is reading The Lilac Bus, also by Maeve Binchy, and is deciding between two YA books. She is probably going to toss a historical romance into that mix sometime this weekend. She very much likes staying inside when the weather is the way it is these days, and one hand holding the book means one hand is free to rub my belly. If she listens to an audiobook, she can use both hands.

What are ou reading this weekend?

Low-Hanging Fruit Day

July 18, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Today is a low hanging fruit sort of day. It’s the middle of July, for one thing. For another, I have a doctor appointment tomorrow (routine, no worries) and my anxiety did not sign up for that, so is kicking a fuss. Fortunately, that’s what the appointment is about, so that is for the good. Put together soupy air (seriously, folks, I have seen air fish, that’s how humid it is around here in NY state) anxiety and the regular stuff that comes with carrying out both writing and domestic warrior queen duties in such an environment, this is one of the days when it’s time to focus on the easy stuff, call that good enough and then flop back in front of the fan. This will include cuddles from feline companion, because Storm needs her cuddles regardless of weather.

the coolest of cats
(seriously, at the point where fans converge)

Reading wise, things are looking up.

Oh my mercy, I loved this one. Five stars on GR, review incoming, and definitely a book that I want to write about in a future post. I class this as historical fiction (Ireland in 1957\8) with romantic elements (there are relationships, some HEAs, some other outcomes, but the focus is on the, well, friends.) Up next is another Binchy, The Lilac Bus. My other current read is Don’t Let in the Cold, by Keely Parrack.

YA thrillers usually work very well for me, and this one has a blizzard setting, so no surprise that I am zooming through this one. I am always up for a blizzard, especially when I am dealing with air fish in the here and now. I’ll be back to this one when the adulting for the day is done.

For today, the writing low-hanging fruit is obviously this blog. Next up is a character interview because I absolutely can get back on the historical romance horse, which I prefer to actually do than whinge about it being haaaaaaaard. (Which is definitely worth mentioning at tomorrow’s appointment.) My favorite kind of research is talking to people, and that includes my own characters. This is, at its core, “dude, what’s going on?” mode and it’s kind of one of my favorite parts. Getting out of my characters’ way is also some tasty low-hanging fruit.

Dinner gets to be some mix of a) there are two other adults in the house, b) we have plenty of non-oven-needing food, and c) we live in a city with delivery options. There’s also d) there are food place right there in walking distance. In other words, some variation of I Am Not Cooking. That’s always one of my summer favorites.

What’s your low-hanging fruit for the day?

Typing With Wet Paws; Papa Smells Like People Vet Edition

June 7, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It’s been a while since anybody posted here, but Mama Anna and I have good reasons. Most of them are that Papa spent a lot of last week at the People Vet. No cone of shame, though, so good for him. What I understand is that he fell in the pharmacy and split his head open. Two arteries and a muscle were involved, but the people vets are super super good and he is okay now. He is back hunting (he calls it work) and Mama Anna is digging out of the domestic chaos that ensued from that week’s events.

One of the things Papa was in the pharmacy to get was a thumb brace for Mama Anna. Since I do not have thumbs, because I am a cat, I am not sure exactly what went on with that, but she moved her thumb in a direction thumbs do not generally go, and it hurt unless she taped it to something straight, which made her think that a brace would help, and she was right. She has been wearing the brace since the first day Papa was in the hospital, and it is working great. She can hold a pen and use a mouse (the computer kind, not the delicious kind) and give me belly rubs, so that’s all good. Huzzah.

Mama Anna and Aunt Melva are working on a brand new contemporary romance novel, probably a series. Mama Anna is back on writing Her Last First Kiss again. She is also entertaining some other ideas, both for historical romance novels and web content. She would like to do more vlogs. I one hundred percent intend to video bomb her as much as possible, so that might be an incentive to watch those vlogs. She also wants to show off her planners and journals and pens and stuff.

Mama Anna is working on getting back into the reading groove. She is currently reading Wool, by Hugh Howey, the book that inspired the TV show, Silo, which she super wants to watch, but is following by recaps instead, because she does not have Apple TV. Mama Anna is very, very allergic to wool in real life, but it should be okay to read an e-book with that title.

Another thing Mama Anna wants to do is to take more pictures. She really kikes doing that, but hasn’t done as much of it as she would like. This was taken in the park that we can see from our house. As in really easy to walk to whenever she wants. She says I have to stay at home, though, because apparently, I cannot be trusted around ducks. Not that I have ever encountered ducks. She just knows me.

What are you all up to this week?

Monthly Reset and The Delicate Question

May 29, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Hey there, hi there, ho there, Neighborinos. What does it say when my cat has her intro down pat while I’m still trying stuff out? Trick question; doesn’t matter. What does matter is the planning and the writing, not always in that order.

Ever since I stumbled upon the idea of a weekly and monthly reset (not yet up to the point of a yearly reset, but it will come) I slid straight into it like a custom-made shoe. Then again, maybe I have, since this is the first year in a long time that I have been in a wire bound planner. Well, one of my planners, I am also in a traveler’s notebook for my everyday carry (EDC) setup, and no worries about my disc bound stuff; that’s moved over to other duties. Plus ring binders, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

I like the fresh start of a new month or week, even day, as the thirst for a morning routine (initiated by abovementioned cat, so “feed cat” is the first thing on that list) rises fast and urgent. What are we doing right now? This concerns everybody’s schedules Our household is three adult humans and one calico cat. The humans all have their own household duties and areas of expertise. Meal planning, for instance, is shared between myself and Real-Life Romance Hero, because I am the planner, and he is the foodie. Housemate is in charge of getting the groceries, while I make the list. She’s happy to eat pretty much anything, and since we live in a city, “delivery” counts as a food group.

This weekend, Housemate and I will hie ourselves off to another region for the pursuit of art and craft supplies, hopefully with some in person face time with friends who live there. Sorry, burglars, RLRH will be home, and Storm has a sitter who will be stopping by as needed. Knowing that my daily journal/planner stuff is all in one tote, ready to go to a different room, outside, or on the road, knocks a lot of uncertainty out of the picture, and I like that,

That seems like a good place to pop over to “the delicate question.” If you are a gentle reader, do not Google it Seriously, seriously, do not Google it. Also do not click on the link above, because it will tell you. If, however, you are like the kind of historical romance writer who has a stuffed Plague Doctor, baby raven, and multiple plush bats, once won a Blackbeard’s flag t-shirt from The History Channel’s once upon a time pirate trivia contest, and counts among her prized possessions a transcript of the trial of Anne Bonney (and Mary Read and Calico Jack Rackham) then you may also want to watch the video that got my mind spinning. Again, gentle readers, this is not for you.

For me, though, it’s aha. Yes. Going to tuck this one right into the notebook for the pirate trilogy. Not only the bones (hah) of the um, thing, but avenues of research, some ideas on how this might fill a plot hole (eh, more of a divot, really) and noticing only halfway through a personal calzone that I am one hundred percent not bothered by this rabbit hole (I must note that I am listening to a video essay on Yellowjackets while writing this, so the rabbit mention makes me hmmmm.) This includes jotting down names of people I know on the interwebs and IRL who might have access to umm… :shifty eyes: special information, and a reminder to self that Beau Crusoe, by Carla Kelly, is extremely affordable on Kindle, and long overdue for a reread. Well, gentle readers might prefer a different Kelly book.

What are you up to this week?

Typing With Wet Paws: Yes, You May Edition

May 5, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. The humans were pretty sick (they said it was flu) for a while there, but they are better now, and I am free from the ardous labor of round the clock nursing to once again address my public.

In case you did not know this already, my Papa loves coins. He got some coin related stuff in the mail yesterday and wasted no time in getting it out of the box, which was clearly for me. Fits like a charm. He also got a special coin hat is not even money but is just for pretties. It says “Lucky” in English on one side, with writing that I think might be Japanese, too, and some koi fish on the back. It reminded Mama Anna of the Japanese money cat statues, which are always calico. I agree; having a calico cat makes humans feel very lucky indeed.

Mama Anna does not do the whole coin thing, but that’s okay. She loves stationery and has been doing a lot with it lately Right now, she is super excited about filing the last forty pages in her current catchall journal and then starting a new one. Would you be interested in her sharing her process for starting a new journal? Le me know in the comments, and I will tell her. She’s kind of thinking about making more videos, and I would like to encourage her. Especially because it means a chance for me to video bomb her. When she has been on the glowy box for too long, I crawl across the desk and up onto her shoulder and head bonk her head. So far, everybody I have videobombed her on have been one hundred percent paws-itive.

Mama Anna also loves pink. Pink is good, stationery is good, pink stationery is very good. Especially if I can lie on it. Some of my nose and paw pads are pink (some is also black, her other favorite color) so this works in my favor. Anyway, here is one of the planners Mama Anna has set up for the coming month. I will tell you a secret though – not all of the planners she sets up are for actual planning. She sometimes just brain dumps into them and then figures out where she is going when she gets there.

She is turning over a bunch of her stationery to flowery spring/summer themes. Her version of those seasons may be different from what other people use, but that’s okay because she likes being different. Same with me. Did you know that no two calico cats’ splootches (what we call my colored areas) are the same? Chaos, baby.

Okay, about the writing. Mama Anna and Aunt Melva are still looking forward to finding out the next steps for Queen of Hearts and Drama King, and Mama Anna is creating a notebook section for when she and Aunt Melva are ready to think about new writing projects together. Aunt Melva has given a thumbs up to Mama Anna’s back forty outline to Her Last First Kiss, so now it only remains to break things down into scenes, and then get a-writing.

As for the reading…it is not happening a the moment. Mama Anna is not pleased with this, but what does please her (and will help to fill the remaining pages of her current journal) is to write about why the reading is not happening. Well, actually it is happening, but very slowly Mama Anna likes her reading nook very much, and even though she likes the chair that is there now, she is going to measure the area to see if a comfier chair will fit there. Either way, it will really be my chair. Every chair is my chair. I love chairs. Also boxes. I will happily sit in either one. Or a box in a chair. That would be awesome. Ooh. Paper. In a box. On a chair. Yessss. with catnip in it. In a sunbeam. Mama Anna, make that happen, please?

What’s your favorite place to sit?

Self-Discovery Draft

April 13, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

Right now, I am sitting at my desk, in front of an open window. The temperatures are going to hit the high eighties today. Seems a little soon for summer temperatures to me, but what do I know? I am drinking peach iced tea. The nook is progressing quite well, so expect pictures of that soon. For now, the above is my everyday carry traveler’s notebook. Skull book is lined ivory paper, and pouch with the kitty on it holds small ephemera and a Pink Pearl eraser. Pen next to the book is a brush tip Mildliner in Vermillion. Still working out what pen I want for an everyday carry, so will keep you updated on that front. Dark flowery dashboard wraps around a lined insert I am using for a random collections journal. I can move those into a proper bound book later.

Melva and I have sent Queen of Hearts to our editor at The Wild Rose Press, so now we wait. We are putting a sticky note on Drama King, so stay tuned. Since I did indeed write my back forty outline for Her Last First Kiss, I get to watch The Lords of Flatbush, which I may turn into a Saturday matinee. In the meantime, I devoured FROM and Daisy Jones and the Six on streaming. I absolutely love both of them and am excited to see FROM return for a second season on the 23rd, so that’s only ten days away. You bet your sweet bippy I am planning on reading the book version of Daisy, and very likely gobbling the rest of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s work.

On the research front, I will be dipping my toes into Imperial Rusia, which is a new area for me, but it’s part of Ruby’s background in Her Last First Kiss, as she is herself half-Russian, so there will be interesting tidbits I can share along the way. My father was once engaged to a delightful Russian cosmetologist. Alas, they did not suit and went their separate ways in the end. Had they wed, we would have traveled to Russia to meet her side of the family, She told me that I would love Russia, and Russia would love me. A once upon a time writing group member returned from a trip to Russia with some amazing photos and the insistence that I had to write something set in Imperial Russia. This might be close. 1784 England, but half-Russian heroine, so yes? Maybe I better rewatch Dr. Zhivago just to be sure. Yes, I know, different period, but the ice palace.

Reading hit another snag. Eh. It happens. I have been doing a lot of journaling lately. I like the direction that’s been taking lately. I took a bunch of detailed notes while watching the last two episodes of Daisy, which resulted in a bunch of sticky notes of topics to expand upon later. The whole interviewing present day (of the story) characters about what happened years or decades ago is catnip for me. Add protagonists in the arts and I think you can hear my “yesssssssssssss” from wherever you are. Plus the music does not suck. Yet another reason I want to have one of my journals be a place to stuff idea soup ingredients. This thing goes with that thing, which fits with that thing, but with this change, so it’s best to have one place where they all live and some sort of index that allows me to access it all when I need it, rather than shuffling through bits and pieces scattered everywhere. I call it my organized magpie stage.

If I didn’t mention, I did not end up registering for Camp NaNo, and I am okay with that. I am actually getting stuff done, which is the whole point, so still calling that a win. I will put a sticky note on the July version of Camp, especially if I am ready to tiptoe into a new discovery draft by that time.

What are you discovering this week?

Book Nookery, Self-bribery and the Potential of Waterfowl

April 6, 2023annabowling Leave a comment

It may have taken me until now, but I finally have a reading nook in our bedroom. One very comfy patio chair, one suitably spooky elegant pillow, a comfy throw (not pictured) and I’m home. Of course, obviously, I am home, as in this is the place where I and my family live, but this nook is only for me. Okay, me and Storm. Beethoven glasses case is a gift from Real Life Romance Hero, and journal is an A5 Exceed lined journal. Right now if I could only have one journal, that’s the one I would pick (100 gsm; there is also 78 gsm, but I always want the higher count.) Embellishments (washi and floral sticker) from my stash cobbled from various sources. Current pen is a Zebra Sarasa.07, but I’m not picky about what black gel pen I’m using. I like Pilot G2 and Paper Mate Inkjoy as well.

Now that I have the chair in place, I now have plans to repurpose the rolling cart on one side of it to be specifically for reading and journaling supplies. I foresee myself doing a lot of longhand writing in this nook, which is a good thing because I am very much a longhand-first person.

Melva and I have indeed heard back about Drama King, and we are carefully considering the requested changes. In the meantime, we are submitting Queen of Hearts, the story of Heather, Dominic’s sister from Chasing Prince Charming. We are also both working on our own solo projects, so expect some chatter about that/those around here in the near future. Getting back into social media is very much in pushing off the lid of the sarcophagus stage, but that’s a needed stage. Anyway, my goal for this week is to get the revised outline for what I call the “back forty” of Her Last First Kiss from longhand to document, and then get other eyes on it. If I meet that goal by the end of the day Saturday, I get to watch one of my favorite movies, The Lords of Flatbush. Streaming services are a wonderful thing. I am highly self-bribe-able in this regard. I will definitely be journaling about that and possibly sharing some of that here.

Right now, the temperature is in the sixties here in NY state. I will probably open the window when I get up after posting this, and the dilemma of hot drink or cold drink is real. In the next couple of days, I should be back to my walks around the lake, aka baby duck peeping, because I have missed my springtime surveillance of young waterfowl. Not sure if there are babies yet, but there is only one way to find out. It’s been a while since I’ve been active in that manner (as in others) and I say it is high time.

What are you looking forward to this season?

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

Reading