What I'm Reading

I am still working on the memoir I mentioned last time and still enjoying it. But sometimes it takes me some time to work my way through the thick language of a non-fiction book, so I have to intersperse the reading with something that tends to move a little faster.

The author of my next book is one you've seen before, and one you'll see me mention at least a few more times before the year is out. I am psyched to have picked up some books from Deb Caletti's backlist. For now, it's the book that first burst her onto the scene: The Queen of Everything.

I have seen the book classified under both fiction and YA but I am thinking of it as a YA book. I am just getting into it and, just as last time, I am quickly hooked. Thanks to The Contemps, again, for introducing me to Deb's work.

What are you reading these days? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

Friday Check-In (A Day Late)

So, yes - I am a day late with the Friday check in, which in part reflects how busy this past week has been. I wish I could say that I have been busy with my writing projects, but we got pounded with another snowstorm this week (a record 48 inches in the month of January) and I missed some days at the DDJ, which made catch-up a little tough. Another foot of snow + busy day job = exhaustion.

I did spend time today going through the first 1/3 of the draft on my current work in progress and I feel OK about the story I have so far. We'll see how the rest of this revision adventure goes. I plan to do some more work on it this week, and I hope to check in with a better progress report on the next Friday.

What are you guys up to? Getting some good writing done? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

What I'm Reading

For my next reading adventure, I am taking on a memoir written by Liza Campbell entitled, A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle. The summary from Amazon.com gives a great idea of what the book is about:

A Charmed Life tells the story of Liza Campbell, the last child to be born at the impressive and renowned Cawdor Castle, the same locale featured in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It was at the historical ancestral home that Liza’s seemingly idyllic fairytale childhood began to resemble a nightmare.

Increasingly overwhelmed by his enormous responsibilities, Liza’s father Hugh, the twenty-fifth Thane of Cawdor, tipped into madness fueled by drink, drugs, and extramarital affairs. Over the years, the castle was transformed into an arena of reckless extravagance and terrifying domestic violence, as Liza and her siblings watched their father destroy himself, his family, and their centuries-old legacy.

Painstakingly honest, thoroughly entertaining, and sharply written, Campbell’s contemporary fairytale tells of growing up as a maiden in a castle where ancient curses and grisly events from centuries ago live on between its stone walls.

Who can resist a true tale that takes place in one of Shakespeare's castles? Is your interest piqued? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

In Search of Summer

Way back when, during my high school days, I thought the coolest thing would be to have a black Saab 900 turbo. The height of these daydreams always occurred during the summer months, when I envisioned myself driving my ultimate car through the seaside enclave en route to my favorite beach, music pumping from the car's cassette player (it was the 80's, if you must know).

I was at work the other day and a song came over my Pandora station and it immediately transported me -- in an instant I was behind the wheel of my 80's dream car, the glimpse of the ocean just over the next hill, the stately mansions passing by, the caw of the gulls and the tangy smell of bright sunshine and salty spray. For a minute, I forgot about this cold and snowy winter, forgot about my dreaded day job, and forgot about the burden of knowledge that comes from experience as we grow up. For a short period of time, I remembered the joy and optimism and possibility I felt in dreaming about that car, about that beach, and summer in general.

Do you have a soundtrack that transports you? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

Friday Updates

I have not had a productive January thus far and I am experimenting with things I can do to combat the urge to curl up and hibernate.

One experiment I want to try is to check in on Fridays with an update on the things I did during the week. I am not sure I will share all the procrastinating activities that have come out of nowhere to take over my spare time, but I suspect the weeks I have little actual output to report you will infer that I lost the week's battle with procrastination anyway.

I don't know if this will work, but I am willing to try.

My update for this week is just that I decided to create this weekly check-in. Infer what you will from that!

Do you guys have any kick-your-butt strategies to help get you motivated and moving again? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,

bex

What I'm Reading

I'm switching it up and taking on a romantic suspense for my next reading adventure. It's been a while since I've read Iris Johansen and it's great to be back!

It will be a busy few weeks on this end, and I hope I can read fast enough! I am always looking for book recommendations -- who do you turn to for romantic suspense? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

Life Maintenance

I think most of us are always looking to do better and be better -- striving for that next rung on the ladder or what comes next in life.

There are times when things on those fronts feel like they stall though, don't they? And that stalled feeling leads to ruts and funks and can be such an unproductive time. I think of those valleys as Eeyore time.

It is hard to bust out of that feeling because in order to make things better what you currently know has to change. Which sounds practical and obvious and exciting, but change is hard. Even when it is good and for the right reasons and can lead to greater happiness and fortune.

I think I am entering a time of great flux in this new year. I am nervous and stressed about it, but excited and hopeful too. It is a time to assess what is working and what isn't, what I want to bring forward into this new time and what I want to leave behind, and to channel strength and combat fear.

In the midst of all this I will be writing and reading A LOT. These two activities help me cope and I will share what I can with you here. So far the reading is going really well -- now I need to pull the writing up to that same level.

Does reading help you get through tough and stressful times, too? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

What I'm Reading

Barbara O'Neal does it again in her December 2010 release, How to Bake a Perfect Life. This is the third of what I like to think of as her foodie fiction books and though I am just getting started in reading this book I am already hooked. If it's anything like the first two (The Lost Recipe for Happiness and The Secret of Everything) I will no doubt devour it -- and shouldn't foodie fiction be devoured?!

Barbara O'Neal is another name for the writer, Barbara Samuel. If you haven't checked her out yet, I hope you will! And if you have, what have you read of hers? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

What I'm Reading

I mentioned that I wanted to stop here more often and one way to do that would be to share which books I'm reading. Having said that, Deb Caletti's, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, is the third book I picked up so far in 2011. I wasn't fond of the first two (different books by different authors), so I don't want to mention them by name. I don't like to talk badly about books or other authors, so other than a brief reflection about these books over at my other home, the Moody Muses, I would rather move on to mention a book I *do* enjoy.

Hence, Deb Caletti's, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart.

I learned about the awesomeness that is Deb Caletti from the blog, The Contemps. I was psyched to find their blog and even more psyched when they did a feature on Deb.

I was late to the party that is Sarah Dessen -- and when I started reading her I didn't want to stop. Deb has her own unique voice, but fans of Sarah Dessen should really enjoy Deb's books. I am barely into Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, but I am already hooked. She was a great find for me, I'm just sorry it took me so long to discover her. Thanks, Contemps, for the terrific recommendation! I am thrilled to pass it along...

Have you guys read Deb? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

Happy Thoughts

I love this straightforward flowchart. If you're happy, great! Keep up the good work and keep doing what you've been doing. If not, you can either choose to make a change and try to create an improved outcome for happiness or you can do nothing and perpetuate that things stay the same.

Simple enough, right?

I am ready for some things in my life to be different but lots needs to happen between now and when I find that calmer place. I will change a number of things, but I think it's the long wait in reaching different ground that is taking the biggest toll on my happiness. So . . . simple in theory, a test of strength in practice. For now I am trying to forge a morning gratitude practice for the good things that help lessen the frustrating ones.

What about you? What have you done to take steps towards greater happiness? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,

bex