Busy...Busy...

Hi There! Jackie Ivie here. Blogging. And I'm so not a blogger. The reason? I suffer from a severe case of "foot-in-mouth" disease. I have to take back my words so often, the last thing I want to do is put them out on the net where they will be there, like...forever. But, hey. It's a gorgeous summer day in Alaska. Temps in the mid 50's at present. The sun might shine. No wind.

I've already done my dog walking for the morning (all .75 miles of it. I have a lab. We used to go a mile and a half, but his leg is getting lame. He's got arthritis in his hock. Has had it for years, and he limps, but the other day it was serious. We were barely moving when we got home. I don't know what I'd do if he got lame and couldn't walk. My hubby said to just put him over my shoulders and bring him home. 88 lbs? Easy for my 6 foot 7, 240 lb hubby to say. If I try that, I'll be in traction.) Where was I? Oh yeah. I've been busy. As usual.

I'm an avid cross-stitch enthusiast. Avid. I've done about 10 pieces this year. And for the first year since I've lived here, I'm entering some in the fair today! So...when I got back from Anaheim last week, I looked through the listing of classes and discovered I had another one in the works that I could enter - this time in cross-stitch quilt, but it wasn't done. In fact, it was only half done. So, I've been sewing like a madwoman for a few days to get finished. Cute, huh? And then there's the writing. Wow. I have a great life. I have the hubby convinced that chocolate is necessary to my creativity. So, he's making me fudge this weekend. And I've been writing busily on a Highland historical for next year in my clans series for Kensington. (love to write historical Highlanders for Kensington! That's got to be way up there on life's joys. My new one comes out next month! A PERFECT KNIGHT FOR LOVE for love just got a rocking review from Romantic Times! 4/5 Stars!!! It actually says stuff like: "Ivie's newest title raises the bar with its strong plot, fast pace, and hold-your-breath action." It's not live yet, or I'd post the link. But wow. I've never had such a review) I just noticed I use a lot of exclamation points. That's probably in the list of "writer don'ts" somewhere. Hmm... My next one is titled (so far) A KNIGHT LIKE NO OTHER. And I'm having so much fun writing it. I just reached page 125!! Woohoo! Only 270-ish more to go! --and remember Jackie. They have to have a plot. You can't just write forever. Fine. A plot. There is that. I'm a pantser, in case you can't tell. No plot. No direction. No idea of where it's going. It's like watching a movie, except I can usually figure those out right away. In fact, for the opening ceremony of the Olympics in London? I was in a hotel room in Anaheim for the Romance Writers Conference with three of my favorite people, from the DEBS, and as soon as they started rolling up that first piece of sod, I said. I'm going to call it, ladies. That's going to be an aerial map of London. And when they poured that molten stuff down the center to make a ring, I called that as the Thames. I did get 'high-fived'. So, I had that one figured out, too. it's the writer in me, I guess. Always wondering where the plot is going whenever I'm watching or reading something)

Oh! I'm also starting to flesh out in my mind what my next VAL (Vampire Assassin league) novella will be about. And looking at the newest shots of models from Hot Damn Designs. I love Kim Killion and her cover art service! She's a big reason why my short story FOREVER KNIGHT won the Judge-A-Book-By-Its-Cover contest for 2012 in Houston! So exciting! And I actually get a cover going before I write the story. Helps with the inspiration. I mean, have you seen my VAL covers? So...hey! I guess you could call me busy. And here's another reason I don't like Blogging - I've tried four times to add the proper spacing in this, and it still all runs together. I guess that explains me. Every project just runs into another one. Hmmm...again... I'll sign off now. Have a great day! Jackie