Shame on Me!

Almost an entire month has zoomed by, and I haven't stopped in to say hello. Shouldn't summer be lazy? Not here! And not for me!

It appears I haven't been blogging, but that isn't true. Besides here, I also blog at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writers Way, my writers group's blog. The 29th is my day to blog, but I'm constantly posting comments on everyone else's posts. It's very interactive, and we're having tons of fun talking romance writing. If you aren't a writer, that's okay! Readers are more than welcome to share their thoughts, and maybe learn something along the way.

Want to meet your favorite Harlequin American Romance authors? Check out our blog! News, recipes, writers' tips, cleaning tips, and all kinds of good stuff can be found there. My blogging date at HAR is the 19th, but I missed it this month. :( Must do better!

Last weekend, two of my daughters, my oldest granddaughter, and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I was sadly disappointed. I've only read the first book, so I'm not privy to all the ins and outs, but I have seen every one of the movies. I had a really hard time following what was going on in this one and even dozed off at one point, which resulted in a poke from my daughter. :) Mallory, my youngest, said it was because so much was left out, yet there were things in it that weren't in the book. (Mallory is an HP expert, having read each book multiple times. DO NOT play HP Trivial Pursuit with her unless you want to lose, big time.) Maybe I should start reading those books!

Sad things going on here. I posted earlier about our new puppy, Willow. On the 4th of July, someone stole her from our backyard. :(( She was playing out there in the early evening, while the neighborhood fireworks were going off. I could hear her howling at one point and went out to check who was making all the noise. (The fireworks, not the pup.) Discovered it was a neighbor, three houses to the south and muttered some unkind words under my breath, then went inside. Willow was fine. The next morning, she was nowhere to be found, her collar laying open just inside the fence. She's chipped, so if she'd run away and someone found her, a trip to the animal shelter would be all that was needed for her to be returned to us. No more pups for us. I'll stick to our two cats, Tosca and Mocha. They're tortoiseshell calicos that look like mother and daughter, but aren't related. One of these days, I'll post some pictures of them. Oh, and there are the four betta fish we have. Two belong to my daughter Chelsea, a male (the fish, not the daughter and whose name I forget) and Harley, the female. My two are both males, Shrimp and Spock. Watching them swim around can be soothing, and they notice when I'm paying attention. Maybe a bird someday? Who knows?

I've just finished writing the first draft of the third book in the Desperation, OK series. I hope readers love this one as much as they seem to love the first one, The Rodeo Rider, available in stores next month. Hearing from readers adds such a spot of joy to my day! Don't be shy to let me know what you think!

Last but not least, if you haven't met the Ditzy Chix, my very very bestest friends, stop in at our website. Or even better, come visit us on our Facebook page! We've just gone from 10 of us to 11, and will probably have another new chix or two in the future.

Yes, you can find me on Facebook! (How did this happen?) I love chatting with others there!

Until next time, have a lovely summer! Fall will be here soon--my favorite season--so what's left of the lazy (ha!) days of the last of summer should be savored. Make some memories!

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