To State the Obvious...

I'm not a very good blogger.  Hahaha.  Let's just say that I tried but blogging isn't quite right for me.  I still read a few blogs, even comment every once in awhile but keeping up my own blog hasn't worked out.  I think part of it is that I over think even a small post and sharing my family life doesn't come naturally to me.  Besides how many times can I try to put into words how cute my pets are and how much I love my husband's cooking?  My life isn't that exciting on a daily basis, isn't that why most writers and readers escape to their books?

I wasn't too worried about how my busy life has made it hard to keep up with my blog and website until I noticed a reviewer that said she enjoyed my books but was disappointed to see that I was no longer writing.  Ekk!

I think I'm better at keeping up with one liners, which is why if you'd like to get to know me and keep up on my latest projects you can find me on facebook here.  I won't be updating this blog anymore but I would like to thank everyone who kept up with me, even when I wasn't here to see it.  Thanks!

Perfection

I'm not a pintrest person.  I've seen a lot of it pop up on my facebook page but being a crafty person all my life I've learned my limits the hard way.  I can look at some of those fancy do it yourself ideas and say, "Nope, can't do that." and move on with doing the things I can accomplish, like writing.

Recently I heard that many moms look at pintrest and believe that if they can't make those things, or don't have the time, then they are falling short.  It is another one of those keeping up with the Jones' I guess.  And with the modern day interenet the Jones are no longer your next door neighbors they are everyone who pops up on your homepage.

It's the same with weight-loss.  I've seen friends go on unhealthy crash diets after finding out that their 'fat' friend from school suddenly got thin.  Or someone's post gets more likes, comments, shares and others try to make up clever ways to get attention.

Yikes.  Let me just say that perfect is over-rated.  If you have someone or something making you feel like being yourself just isn't cutting it, then take a step back and remember who you are and what you CAN do.

I am a woman who can't bake, cook, clean, decorate or organize.  But I am a woman who knows how to pick a husband that can.  And really, THAT'S what is important!

Just For Me-Spring Daffodils

Does anyone else feel that this winter has worn out it's welcome?  Our area of Maine has endured so much late winter snow that when there is a sunny day me my husband and all of the pets crowd around the bay window in our living room for a bit of warm sunshine.  Why aren't we outside enjoying it?  Still waiting for the foot of snow/ice to melt away so that mud season can begin.

So for now I'm filling my writing area with pictures of spring, like these wonderful daffodils and hoping that one day soon I'll see them replace the snow outside.

You know what?  One picture isn't going to do it, so here's another lovely image of my favorite early spring flowers!

Life In The Way: An Update

What is that saying about the best laid plans...they get blown to smithereens?  Hahaha.  Well my goal of building a blog that would allow me to touch base with fans and friends kinda hit a big snag after my last blog post, by the way we survived that huge October storm just fine.

No what really got in our way, or at least the excuse I'm using, is my husband's etsy shop.  It began out as a way for him to make a little bit of spending money while selling fun geeky items.  Then last year we watched it grow in a way that we had never anticipated.  In October I had to learn some of his methods for making items, so that I could help out a bit.  By the start of November every minute of my freetime was helping out and my beloved writing had to take a back seat.  Black Friday was when things really hit the fan and my recently delivered two-weeks notice at my full-time audit job had to morph into "I found someone who can cover my last few shifts."  That's right the shop was doing well enough with pre-holiday sales that I had to (well got to) quit my day job.

It would have been all well and good if we had been able to catch up with sales and enjoy the holiday.  Instead I spent everyday, even my birthday, working 12-16 hours on my husband's shop, often staying up until 2 or 3 am.  The final edits of my newest book, A Touch of Mistletoe, had to be pushed back so far that I couldn't even release it until Christmas day.

The insanity of our etsy shop didn't end there.  Even our post Christmas sales were good, enough so that my husband was finally able to quit his management position at a huge corporation so that he can now stay at home with me and work on his art, etsy shop and writing.

Our small family of two went from almost never seeing each other due to me working 40+ hours a week and him 50-60 hours a week to suddenly the two of us being home all of the time.  It is a huge adjustment and the shop is still keeping us very busy, but we are excited about this opportunity.

Now here's the great news for Lindsay Kiernan fans, I can finally go back to being a writer!  I've hated taking this much time off from my writing but it allowed me to finally become a full-time stay-at-home writer.  I'm thrilled to continue work on my next book and I have a new series that I will be starting up later this year.  Check back to hear more very soon!

Writing, Deeply Dapper and Frankenstorm!

I'm used to busy holiday seasons but this year is something else.

For those of you who haven't heard I'm wrapping up the last few edits for my fourth book that will be released right around Thanksgiving.  I've had quite a bit of feedback lately on the first two books in the Mrs. Brentley's Girls series and nearly every one has shown excitement for my Christmas novel and the wonderful main character Winnie Brentley.  You can imagine how wonderful that is and yet how nervous that makes me.  I've never had to deal with expectations before.  I feel like I have to preform perfectly and have an amazing book for my growing base of readers.

Then there is something quite exciting going on in my house.  The entire small building is being over-run with bubble wrap, stickers, resin skulls, boxes, light-switch plates, spray paint and great big wooden plaques.  What's going on?  My husband's etsy shop, Deeply Dapper is in hyper drive!  Wonderful new items that he has added to his shop over the past few months are now selling like crazy, at least for us.  With around 24 orders coming in a week I have offered to help take over some of the running of the shop especially now that Christmas is coming and we expect pretty decent holiday sales.  If you haven't checked out the shop yet please swing by here!  He has some great new items, many for under $10!

Finally I'm guessing that all of you know that Frankenstorm is coming to New England this week.  It kinda sounds like it will visit Maine right around Halloween and they are warning us that our area will likely loose power.  Living out in the boonies means that we have our own water well...thus no power means no pump so we would have no heat, no power, no water, you get the point.  I doubt that we will loose power for more than a day or two and despite our best excuses we will both have to continue to drive into work.  Still we have to be prepared in case it is a worst case scenario.

It isn't even November yet and this holiday season is already kicking my butt!  Luckily, except for the storm, all of the things keeping me busy are great signs for the future.  Happy early holidays!

New Month, New Promotion!

Zombie Chef-The Joys of October!

It is finally October.  The month when fall will not be denied and spooky movies are always playing in the background at my house.  This year my husband even has a special lego haunted house that he will be putting together and setting out for display.

I am also happy to report that due to the success of my last promotion and to celebrate my brand new release, A Scent of Scandal, I have decided to do a promotion for the first book in the series, A Taste of Honey.  This book is something of a soft spot for me.  Not only because it was my first finished novel.  I just love the characters!

If you don't own it yet please visit Amazon.com to get your free copy but hurry, the promotion ends Saturday night.

History for the Small Screen

 Over the past month I've had a bit of time at home to catch up on two television shows that my husband has been urging me to watch for years.  He knows how much I love history, when it is done well.  Although I had a hard time getting through the first episode of Mad Men I ended up watching the entire series up to date.  I'm not about to rave about it but I do feel that they have created a unique show with interesting characters and I will continue to watch it.  It is really the interesting mix of history that I enjoy.  Well that and watching Don, even when he's bad....

The second show is the one that my husband instinctively knew that I would love, even though I didn't think that I would.  I don't like shows that have gore just for the sake of being gory and for quite some time I thought that I would be very disappointed in the show. Game of Throne fans will easily see how anyone interested in history would fall in love with this series.  Manipulative lords, brother killing brother, loyalty, deception, honor, and just enough fantasy thrown in to make someone like me squeal with joy!

I like to think that it is better to become a late fan than not a fan at all.  For anyone who hasn't tried the HBO series yet I highly recommend it, but be warned sex, gore, and one fantastic irreverent 'Imp' awaits you!  For loyal fans who haven't kept up with the news, Cieran Hinds will join the cast for the new season. That's reason enough to watch in my opinion!