Jaci Dawn

So far, I have failed to meet my personal writing goals. I blame that on the failure of hardware, and must accept it as Fate. It’s not the end of the world, however: I have polished up my little YA novel, painted a nice book cover, and saved it for future use. I still have a goal of at least submitting it somewhere for publication before the end of 2018.

I changed the title to The Adventures of Ella Peabody, Book One: Magic Mice.

The book and missed deadlines aside, I am currently storing with my laundry room storage on the kitchen table. We had to tear out the faux-wood cabinets in January when the water heater decided to finally (and, I must say, suddenly) give up the ghost. We discovered this when I noticed the formerly dry laundry room floor was flooded.

We replaced a water heater back in the 1990’s, in a singlewide manufactured home with a tiny slot. Purely a DIY job, and except for some bloody knuckles and the cold rain pouring down on us, we got it installed with a mere plethora of swear words. Our marriage survived.

We figured it was still simple, so we hied down to Home Depot to discover that 1) it’s not that simple and 2)not that inexpensive. The new water heater takes up more space than the 25 year old former resident, and the faux-wood shelves no longer fit into the space. Now, we’re searching for a suitable replacement.

That’s the bad.

Networking

This is where it gets good. I’ve done some networking since the end of January. Okay, within the last two weeks. Details.

I have a list of potential events.

I finished one commission, plus the tentative cover to The Adventures of Ella Peabody, Book One.

This Wednesday, I am going to a “Meet the Makers” event at a local coffee shop/art gallery. I met the owner of another coffee shop/art gallery over the weekend, and I adore her (she doesn’t know that, yet). Her shop is the first place I am going to try displaying art, not just because I adore her, but because she’s the New Kid on the Block, and she had a lot of really good advice for me at our first meeting. She also hosts art shows, art events, and her own “Meet the Makers” events. Plus, the coffee was par excellence, and I am a coffee snob (as in Starbucks is only so-so, and Dutch Bros. is hardly any better).

I did this on my own. This is huge for an INFJ, and HSP. If you aren’t familiar with those acronyms: INFJ is how my test results always come out on a Meyers-Briggs Personality test (so, if you don’t especially buy into that, I’ve been taking it for over 30 years, and I am still INFJ). HSP refers to my results on a Highly Sensitive Person test by Elaine Aron (I routinely score 100%). (In short, I am an Introverted mess, but you wouldn’t know unless I was a really close friend and confessed it to you. Or you read this.

I have three weekend art events I am applying for, plus a national art event in Grand Rapids, MI. I won’t announce where those are unless I get accepted.

Garden

Hey, it goes without saying, doesn’t it? I garden. I’m passionate about my garden. It’s almost March and plant-buying season. I’ve pruned my crazy grape vine back (this is Year 4, so we should get grapes this year!). Deadheaded half the flower beds. Raked up the neighbor’s oak tree leaves in the same flower beds. Set out the bird baths.

The bad: I am feeling my age. Not sure I can keep up the energy required to dig out more beds and a pond. May have to hire a professional.

The good: Spring begins (officially) in 3 weeks.

Last

Watch for more new flashes on my 2017 NaNoWriMo Novel. I really hope to get further with this one than I have previously gotten, even if I missed all the early deadlines for reviews and self-publishing through NaNoWriMo connections. I’m considering publishing under a pseudonym from my youth: Seymore.

Here’s a sneak preview of the cover.