Finally! Time to relax and do as I please

 I'm feeling lucky this week. For the second time this calendar year, I have a full week off. Time to relax, recharge and do as I please (within reason obviously).

We could have gone away perhaps, but the week off was rather last-minute. So, instead, I'll be at home doing absolutely nothing but what I want.

Still, I would love to be here. How about a lovely cabin near the sea. Lovely and warm, a cool breeze, the sounds and smells of the sea while you look outside through your window. Laptop on the desk and writing the next book. Hmm, sounds nice, don't you think?

But being home is not to be sniffed at either. During the weekend, I have been reading and finishing two books on my TBR list. I'll soon start the next one on the TBR list.

The rest of the week, I'll spend on reading, writing and editing, just generally lazing about, and, if I can find the motivation, do some housework.

Although work should be far away, I still had two members of staff check in with me today. One to inform me she was off sick and wouldn't come in. The other informed me her lateral flow test was negative for the last 2 days and she will be in again tomorrow.

At least we are not that strapped for staff I have been recalled (yet). During the height of the pandemic, I was recalled. Let's hope that won't happen again now. 

So, what have I got planned for the rest of today?

First, I will check my emails, social media, etc.

And, shortly I'll return to editing Wake-Up Call. I really should spend more time on the editing process than I have been doing. After all, the last book I published was released in August 2020. High time the next one became available. But, there is only so much time in a day when you have an over full-time job.

Finally! Back to editing "Wake-Up Call"

 Finally!

Life has been really busy, and I've had little to no time to spend on my writing.

Today, for the first time in months, I have managed to edit a chapter of "Wake-Up Call". It really was time I got back to that book. With a little luck, I should be able to find a few minutes a day to continue editing.

After all, "Diary of a Female GP" was published in August, and it is about time another book sees the light of day and gets published.

However, between a job taking over 50 hours a week, a family of 6 and the promoting of my books, there is little time left over to also write and edit.

Want a taster? I'll get you one, but, remember, this is only a first edit and the book needs some serious improvements still.

*******

Alicia still didn’t react to my words or touch. She continued to cry and scream at times, shaking the ‘me’ on the bed intermittently.

“Why are you so cold? Wake up!” Alicia placed her head on the chest, “I can’t hear your heart.” Again she shook the body on the bed. “Come on, stop hurting me! Wake up! Wake up!” Tears ran down her beautiful face.

Things were getting stranger. Alicia could not hear my heart? Still, my heart beat in my ears and I felt it thumping in my chest. A lump settled in my throat. What did this mean? Why did Alicia not pick up my heartbeat? What was going on? Something appeared very wrong.

“Why are you punishing me? What have I done wrong? Wake up! Please, I’ll do anything you want, but please wake up!” Alicia’s voice became softer, and it dropped to a whisper.

“I can’t do this without you. Please, Daryll, I love you so much. Please, wake up and take me in your arms. What will I tell the kids? Don’t do this to me. Nooo!”

Again I looked at the ‘me’ on the bed. I was lying so still, so pale, and the eyes stared into nothing. What did this mean? What was going on?

If you saw this in the movies, this was a dead body. Was that what I was now? Was I dead? No, this couldn’t be. There was still so much I needed to do. So much I still wanted to do. And how about that weekend I had planned today? The romantic family weekend we so desperately needed as a family?

******

Enjoy Valentines Day!

No rest for the wicked. Annual leave? What annual leave?

 

Annual leave? What annual leave?

 

I should be used to it by now. Although I’m entitled to 6 weeks annual leave a year, it is unlikely I actually can take this time. I guess I really shouldn’t complain.

 

This week I was supposed to have the entire week off but it didn’t quite work out that way.

 

Saturday and Sunday were fine, but I don’t work the weekend, anyway. Except when we have flu clinics., anyway. Except when we have flu clinics.

 

Monday was okay too and I looked forward to a week of reading and writing. Just a few queries from my assistant manager but nothing much.

 

And then Tuesday came along. I had already decided to come in for a return to work interview if the team member returned to work that week. The person’s health is such you have to take one day at a time and it would be possible they would be off sick again by the time I would return to work the week after.

 

The team member did come in, fortunately feeling a lot better.

 

A receptionist didn’t turn up at 8 am as she should have done. She forgot she was covering for a colleague who was on annual leave. When she did come in (after a reminder from a colleague), she had a cough. A cough she developed on the Saturday.

 

It does make you wonder. Why do people not use the mind they’ve been given? She was obviously sent home immediately (and ordered to have a Covid test) but it still took 25 minutes before she left. 25 minutes which were put to ‘good’ use. She spent these 25 minutes with a colleague and also with a nurse and healthcare assistant.

 

Another colleague phoned the assistant manager the same day. He also started with a cough on Saturday (the two had had no contact with each other) and was having a test on Tuesday too.

 

On Wednesday, the receptionist’s result came back: positive.

Now, we had to trace who she had contact with from 48 hours before the cough until the last time she was at work. The result was we had to send 2 receptionists home to self-isolate. A third one was on annual leave and was informed to self-isolate too. The nurse and healthcare assistant were told to go home and self-isolate too.

Brilliant! NOT!

 

The branch site was to be closed down as we didn’t have the staff to cover this as well as the main site.

 

On Thursday, the other colleague’s result came back: also positive.

Another search for contacts started. All those on the branch site who had contact with this colleague already were sent to self-isolate. However, he also worked at the main site and another four receptionists were sent home to self-isolate. One receptionist was already off sick with a broken leg. This left four receptionists standing to cover both sites. As there was only one receptionist able to work Thursday afternoon and finishing before the close of day, I had to come in to play receptionist. Not really my forte, I work in management instead. I brought one of my sons to help out too with opening doors and anything else he would be able to do.

At least the receptionist off sick was due to come back on Monday.

 

On Friday there would again be a need to come in to cover reception in the afternoon. It was also clear paperwork would be mounting up due to the absence of staff. So, instead of waiting until the shift I would cover in the afternoon, I came in in the morning to clear some paperwork first.

Friday afternoon, a covering receptionist turned up. When asked if she was okay, she informed us she had just had a Covid test but didn’t want to let us down. She had come in anyway.

 

Again, why don’t people use the brain they’ve been given?

 

I ordered her out immediately but had to tell her three times before she finally accepted I was serious. Really?

 

Okay. So now it looked like I would need to cover reception on my own (with the son I brought) that afternoon.

 

Fortunately, we were able to ask a healthcare assistant who had reception experience to come in on her day off to help out too.

 

And then, we got a phone call from the receptionist who was due back on Monday. Unfortunately, she had been told she was not allowed to return to work yet. At least she can do some work from home.

 

So, no rest for the wicked, I guess. My annual leave was partially cancelled and my hopes of getting some writing done were completely dashed.

 

It turned out doing the return to work interview during my annual leave was a blessing in disguise.

 

Two of the receptionists asked to stay home to self-isolate are my son and daughter. They have been exiled to their bedrooms, unable to come out other than to use their bathroom. If they do, they have to clean everything they have touched.

Via text messages, they inform us if they want food or something to drink. We prepare it, put it in front of their door, knock and leave. Of course, washing our hands again straight after.

 

A complicating factor is between them they acted as the taxi service to and from school for our youngest son. This now won’t be possible. So, now I will need to work from home next week to be able to do the schoolrun too. And, of course, play delivery service. And we only have 3 receptionists standing now. The first person in self-isolation should be able to return to week on Tuesday. Whether she will or not (10 days after start of her symptoms) is unknown. She will need to be temperature free for at least 48 hours. And chances are she is not willing to cover as Tuesday is not a normal working day for her. We are, however, desperate and she was a party to this problem.

Another problem would occur if one of our children would develop symptoms and have a positive test. In that case not only me, but also my husband (and the other 2 children) would need to self-isolate. At least we would be able to work from home if this was the case. Not ideal, but possible.

 

In desperate times, we need to take desperate measures. And, we are a team. A team that works together well and tends to come together for the greater good. We are all committed to making this work and to ensure our customers don’t suffer because of it. However, we are human and we can only do so much.

 

Pity about the annual leave, I missed the writing and I’ll have to see if I can actually take part in NaNoWriMo as I planned to. Even more difficult this year than I thought already.

 

Just like the rest of the world, we can’t wait for things to go back to some semblance of normal.

Time to stop playing around again.

After a weekend of trying to do some things I enjoy doing, the time has come to get back to real life.

My hobbies are taking a backseat to the Covid pandemic at the moment. The attempts to keep staff calm are partially successful but that is not enough. Keeping up-to-date with the guidance that comes out on a daily and sometimes even hourly basis is near to impossible but I'm trying the hardest I can.

During the weekend I try to relax and to catch up on the housework. If only... (the kids did some of it, the wish could be).

It's 5pm already. And this means I'll need to make a start on tea for the family. Tomorrow will be another early day with hard work.

And my writing? Close to non-existent at the moment. No time. Or perhaps, I'm not making the time for it.

Here is a little image I created especially for the fifth book in the series. Hope you like it.

Or watch it with some music:

Holiday Love received 4-star reviews.

Quick summary of the book:

Freya prepares for and goes on a camping holiday in Brittany. Unfortunately, her brother couldn't come with her this time and she goes on her own. Her friends are not able to join her either.
After a long journey and a night at the campsite, she returns to her tent to find a familiar car parked at her plot.
You don't expect to see your brother's best friend on your camping holiday. Neither knew the other was planning to come here.
Freya and Joshua agree to team up and go on some outings together and they explore many of the great sites around. From picturesque towns to Neolithic sites and castles.
Romance finds them too. Will this just be a holiday fling or will their love endure?

Read more in the book. You can read it for free on Kindle Unlimited:

books2read.com/u/mYo9xo

And, if you like the book, why not share what you loved about it in a review. Indie Authors live for your reviews.

Stay safe, stay home and keep reading!

Joni

Light at the end of the tunnel

Yes, there is. Finally!

We had our 5-yearly inspection visit yesterday and things went very well. We hope to get a very good rating on the basis of the visit and I'm so very proud of the team I now call 'my team'.

I've only officially been part of the management since January and the team has simply come so far in a short time. They are amazing!

After 2 weeks of very hard work getting the visit prepared, there should now be a somewhat quieter period ahead. This morning I even had time to do a little editing of the nearly completed book.

Yes! It's nearly completed. Another chapter has been edited and I had a quick look. Three more chapters left to edit.



Although it may be nearly a year since I started 'Diary of a Female GP' as my NaNoWriMo project, it's nearly ready now. Three more chapters to go, then a little work on formatting (exporting it to Word from yWriter 6 first) and then it will be ready for the beta-readers.

I have so far received interest from 4 people. If you are interested too, let me know. I'll be grateful for any help people can offer to make this book the best it can be. Who knows, I might even get it ready for publication by Christmas! Wouldn't that just be a great time for launching a new book?

Aah, you're keen for another little excerpt, are you? Well, okay then, here you go. Hope you'll enjoy it.


*****

At ten to nine, I call in Dr K’s third patient. My third patient has also arrived, but slightly later and with the double workload I have decided to see the patients on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Seventy-three-year-old Mabel is not impressed to see me, “I thought my appointment was with Dr K today. If I had known it was with you instead, I would have rearranged the appointment.”

Okay then, it is absolutely in her right to do so, “I’m really sorry about that. Dr K has called in sick this morning. If you wish, we can re-book your appointment with Dr K.”

“No, no, I’m here now. Better get it over and done with,” Mabel huffs. “My right knee has been playing up lately and I want something done about that. The painkillers are no longer doing anything for me.”

Mabel is known with osteoarthritis (ageing of the joint) and is currently on co-codamol 8/500 (this is a combination of 8 mg codeine and 500 mg paracetamol). Although Mabel takes two tablets of this four times a day, her pain is not sufficiently under control, and she would like something stronger for the pain. “Would you like to try co-codamol 30/500 instead? This is a little stronger than you are taking at the moment. Instead of 8 mg, it has 30 mg codeine in it.”

Mabel’s expression softens, and she no longer appears as displeased as she was when she first entered my room. The medication can, however, cause more constipation and drowsiness than the lower version does and I advise her of this. After I also advise her not to drive if any drowsiness occurs and to return if she has problems tolerating the medication or the pain does not respond to the stronger dose, she leaves.

*****

Joni

Life is busy

Recent weeks have gone by quickly. With hardly any time to spare, life appears to continue from day to day with no more than work. Getting up early in the morning to get lunch ready for the family, then go to work shortly after. On return from work, it's time to get tea ready for the family and then it's time for bed once more.
Hopefully, it won't be much longer before I have a chance to get back to writing. For now, work needs to come first.
In the near future, it's time for our 5-yearly inspection at work. Time to prepare everything in as far as possible.
And then, maybe I'll be able to take a little bit of time off. Have a bit of time to do what I enjoy, writing my books. They are desperate for some attention and I would like to see at least one of them published by the end of the year.
However, it's already the middle of September. Time is passing quickly and I may not be able to get my wish.
I have not given up. I will continue writing my books. Unfortunately, it needs to be at a slower pace than it was before I returned to work. Instead of writing one book every one, two or three months, I now need to be content with writing one a year perhaps.

So, now you know why I have not been around that much, life is busy. Family, work and housework interfere. But, I will not give up and I will not stop writing.

Joni.

The weekend is near!

Morning all on this cloudy Thursday morning. The weekend is nearing and I can't wait for the free time to follow.

Today and Friday will be days to go to work and perform all the household tasks I'm due to do on a daily basis. The weekend can be used to catch up on any work not yet gotten around to and my hobbies.

And those hobbies are what I'm looking forward to. Getting my writing and editing done, maybe make some cards or work on the challenges for CRAFT Challenge. Read another book (or two).

I was fortunate enough to find time to edit my book for the last two days. Perhaps I can edit a few more scenes before I need to leave for work. Only half an hour remains, so I should be quick.

What have I been up to today?

Well, the usual. Baked fresh bread, emptied the dishwasher and got on my laptop. I posted an already written review and wrote another one for a book I finished last night. Then I posted that review too.

Do you also find it annoying when the spelling and grammar are lacking? When there are either too many (duplication) or too few words in sentences? The last book I finished reading was full of this. Although the story was good, all these errors shouted out and ruined part of the experience. Yes, this book really needs some good editing to iron out these problems.

Even when we can't afford to employ an editor, there are many free tools available to us. I mentioned these in previous blog posts. Tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid and Hemingway Editor. Those tools would have filtered many of the errors mentioned in that book. Such a pity.

For a moment, the sun came out. It brightened the day, bringing with it hope for a good day. And that is what I wish you all, to have a very good day and weekend. I hope you will enjoy your time!

Joni.

Where does the time disappear to?

"Why have you been so quiet the last few weeks?" I ask myself.
As though the answer isn't obvious to me.

I hate not being in control of my life, my usual schedule. Too much OCD running through my veins to feel comfortable for that.

Work is busy. No not my writing, my day job.

Only a year ago I had all the time I could wish for. Freedom in abundance. The life of a retired lady.

I was celebrating too early though. Along came my husband (okay, we've been together for about 25 years and married for 20) and dragged me back to the world of the working bees. And now I'm as busy as one.

Really, I couldn't say no to his pleading eyes. His manager was terminally ill with cancer and he wanted continuity for his business. Understandable and I agreed with the sentiment. Having worked in the same sector of industry he works in, I had some background knowledge of the job he wanted me to take over. I had never called myself a manager before, though. I had been on the same side of the job he is. Only had to step in when our manager was given the sack by my colleagues and myself.

So, there I was. Hubby told me, "I need you to come in next Monday." That was on Tuesday. Dutifully, I reported for duty a few days later. I hoped his manager would be okay with seeing me and would not feel like I was invading her territory. Unfortunately, that was exactly how it seemed to be.

Everyone was able to see she was dying in front of our eyes. She did not (want to) see it herself. Excitedly she still spoke of plans for the coming Christmas party (2020). She came to the party in 2019, if only for a short period.

I tried to stay out of her way as much as possible. Helping where she accepted help. Staying away when she did not want me around. After I had updated the policies and protocols (she was okay with me doing that work), I asked what else I could do to help. Not much was pushed my way and I tried to quietly observe the job I was to take over when she was no longer able to perform it.

Yes, she was one amazing woman.

There were a lot of jobs she did not want any interference in and jobs she would not explain to me. All the finances were kept tightly in her own hands. Understandable, she was a partner in the business after all. Only, it meant it was difficult for me to get an insight into how they were organised.

For a number of weeks, I quietly looked over her shoulders and hoped to pick some of it up. It would have been better if she had explained how it worked, but that would have threatened her too much. She was going to stay around for years and years to come, after all.

By the middle of January, she began to realise it might be time to retire. She was only 74 after all. That day, we started to fill in the documents to get her pension sorted. It was her last day of work and she died only 10 days later. She had only just agreed to have the mandate for the bank changed to say I was a signatory on the account too. This was only 4 days before she passed away.

Getting the bank sorted and being able to sign the cheques still took another 2-3 weeks, the bank was rather slow and made some errors along the way.

It was a stressful time and we are only just starting to get things under control a little. There are still things I don't know about the job. Things I will never be able to ask her about. Denial is such a strong sensation. She was not ready to admit her life was coming to an end and as such was not ready to hand over the reigns. It was difficult to stand back and stay in the background, but that is what she needed.

And now my days are really busy once more. Little time for relaxation and getting my writing done. I miss my writing and stories keep swirling through my head, even if I don't have a chance to write them down.

So, what does a typical day look like?

My days start at the same time as they used to when I was not yet retired. (well, I guess I'm out of retirement again now)

Up at 03.45, get dressed and go downstairs.
Mix the dough for the fresh bread and knead the dough.
Leave the dough to rise and unpack the dishwasher.
Knead the dough again.
Leave the dough to rise again and fold and iron the clean clothes.
Put the oven on and form the bread rolls.
Leave bread rolls to rest and tidy the washing away.
Put rolls in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Make lunch, coffee for husband and wait for him to come downstairs.
Now it's quarter past five on a Monday or Friday.
Get a shopping list ready for later.
Once my husband leaves at half five, I clean the bathrooms, bins and washing machine. Afterwards, I put the daily load of washing in the machine and let it do its job. I get changed and ready to do the shopping at 7am.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I leave the rising times a little longer and finish by six. I skip the bathrooms; feeling lazy, and go upstairs to do some work. With my laptop on my lap, I check my emails and catch up with social media/marketing. On Monday and Friday, there is no chance to do this.

At around 8 am I leave the house to go to work. Every day I do my best to keep the business running as efficiently as possible and it appears most of the staff are happy with how things are at the moment.

My official working day is from 9-5 but I usually get there around 8.30 and often leave after 5. Sometimes I don't manage to leave until 6.30 when the doors close.
After a half-an-hour drive home, it's time to change and cook tea.

By now, it's 19.30 already. With my husband enjoying himself on the PlayStation, I look at my watch and decide it's time to go to bed. After half an hour reading, I close my eyes. Tomorrow will be another early and busy day.

So, just in case you've missed me, now you know why. In the weekend I need to catch up on sleep, housework and any marketing I can fit in. Not to forget the work relating to CRAFT Challenge.

No wonder I feel guilty most days now. There is simply not enough time in the world to do everything exactly the way I would like to do them.

To be honest, I miss those days of retirement. I will now have to wait at least another 5 years before I can consider retiring again. Probably longer. My husband is a few years younger than me and wants to retire at 60. Another 6-7 years, I guess.

Yes, I really miss those days of freedom.

Although I may not be as active as I used to be on here, I will still do all withing my power to help my fellow authors and friends. I just can't do it as much as I used to.

Joni.

So glad it was a Bank Holiday Weekend!

Time seems to be running away from me a lot these days, but at least this weekend lasted for 3 days. This has allowed me the chance to catch up on writing some book reviews of books I have recently read and you can read those below. I'm sure the authors will be glad I finally got around to posting these reviews, they had been waiting for a few weeks.

So far, I have not had a chance to work on my own books this weekend but hopefully I soon will again. This week is also a busy week for CRAFT Challenge. We will be 10 years old as a challenge blog which means some celebrations and as the DT leader there a lot of that work falls on my shoulders.

This is the little gif I created for later this week:

And I also created the below to show all crafters, whether authors, cardmakers, knitters, or whichever craft you enjoy they are welcome to take part in our challenges in CRAFT Challenge. Please join us if you like!

And if that is not enough yet to show how busy a bee I am, have a look at the below. After all, I work full-time, co-promote where I can, run a challenge blog, try to write when I can, review books, craft and like tinkering around with creating images, gif and mp4 creations to show what I do and enjoy.

I hope you all enjoy all this and help to co-promote, support Indie Authors and, above all, enjoy life!

Love,

Joni.

The joy of receiving reviews.

This week I got a rather nice boost of my self-confidence. Self-confidence has always been a rather sore point for me and any boost is welcome.

Earlier this week I decided to have a look at reviews I had received for my books and found there were a few new ones there. Even the harsher reviews, if you can call them that, were great reviews in that they confirmed what I had felt myself and also gave some great pointers on how to improve my work. All reviews were very much appreciated.

To my surprise I even found a few 5 star reviews. Something I always hoped, but never thought would happen. Perhaps I am better at writing than I thought I was. Perhaps not just someone trying to play the game, but actually having the potential to be a good writer/author.

With the full-time job I started in November, there has been little to no time to write or edit my books. Reading the reviews has made me more motivated to find the time, where ever I can. There must be some time, surely.

At the moment I get up at around 4 am on workdays to deal with the housework, do some marketing and if possible get some writing done. I have done this for the last two weeks but so far I have only managed to edit one scene. Not a lot, but it is a beginning.

I'm adamant I will do some further work on my works in progress tomorrow. I know, however, I have more work to do than work on my writing. I will need to do the ironing and other housework, I need to arrange some things for CRAFT Challenge and do some marketing for my books and the co-promoting group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1963020040577375/). At least I have scheduled all the posts for next week and I can concentrate on other things.

So, what is the plan?

• Get up at a reasonable time tomorrow.
• Change the beds
• Do the laundry
• Do the ironing and tidy it away
• Send out reminders for sponsorship of CRAFT Challenge and order images for the DT Team
• Schedule posts for the challenge blog
• Post some tweets/marketing posts
• Edit some further chapters of 'Diary of a Female GP'

Why do the days pass so quickly? I need more time in the day to be able to do everything I want to do. Maybe 4 am on a weekday is still too late.

One thing is certain: I will make this work! The reviews received have made sure of that.

Joni.

If only...

Most of us will find times where we think "If only.."
Sometimes this will be because we wished we had done things differently. Sometimes we wish people who have passed on were still here to discuss things with.
At the moment I'm in a situation where I think "If only there were more hours in the day, or more left-over time"
The trouble is, at the moment I have a full-time job to content with. This seriously impacts on the time I can spend on my writing and most days since the start of December I have had little or no time at all to write. I'm talking serious withdrawal symptoms here.
So, what can I do about it? Lose the job? An option I guess, but I don't think my boss and husband would thank me for it (they are one and the same).
No, I think there is only one option. I need to reorganise my life in such a way to leave time for writing as well.
How? I'm not quite sure yet. Perhaps all that is needed is to get up a little earlier. I have been lying in a little lately. Only getting up at six am to get my husband's lunch ready before he leaves for work and to do some of the necessary housework. Occasionally it leaves me some time to sort out marketing (read tweeting and re-tweeting etc) but there is no time left to write.
Today I got up at half past four. After the ironing was done I finally had a chance to take the Christmas tree and decorations down. Yes, I know, it's a disgrace it was still up. When the family is in the living room it's not so easy to get that sorted.
With that job out of the way the only time left was to check any messages/tweets/emails and write a quick blog post. I will need to leave for work in fifteen minutes again. Another busy day will likely lay ahead and we'll see what it will bring. Our youngest son also needs to be picked up from school and this means I certainly won't get home until half past five.
Then it will be time to prepare tea, eat, do the housework and put the bins out. If I'm lucky, I might be able to check emails before it's bedtime again.
Tomorrow I'll get up at 4.30 am again. Hopefully, now that the big housework jobs are out of the way, I'll have a little time to write tomorrow. We can only hope.

And what will I be writing? Tomorrow it'll be time to work on editing my sixth book. Remember to get in touch if you would like to become a beta reader. I would love to have you on board.

Joni

Update as stress levels soar.

Stress levels are rising steadily over the last few days of October. Soon the first of November will be here and that means #NaNoWriMo aka #nanowrimo2018 is due to start.
Although my project for this is fully outlined and the prospect of starting this project does not scare me nor stress me out, the fact that I want to finish the first draft of 'Growing Love' before November does.
This sixth book in the 'Friends, family and love' series is progressing slower than I had hoped. The words flow from my fingers quite easily, that is not the problem. The problem is, more words emerge than I would expect and the chapters are longer than I anticipated. The grand total of words at the moment stands at 105411 and I'm nowhere near finished. Another 10 chapters are waiting to be written before the book is completed, well the first draft. Is that possible to do in the remaining days of October? I have no idea. Only today and tomorrow are left and I will need to see how fast those chapters flow from my fingers onto the screen.
Perhaps it doesn't help that the draft edit happens as I go along. In other words, I write the scenes in yWriter 6, copy and paste them to ProWritingAid and tidy them up, then double check in HemingWay Editor before copy and pasting them back to yWriter 6. Grammarly also checks at the same time. At the moment I'm averaging around 7000 words and 2-3 chapters a day. This does not bode well for completing the first draft in time and it seems likely that I'll have to work on both projects at the same time.
Perhaps at least doing one chapter of 'Growing Love' daily and two chapters of the project for November each day. It will be hard work, but I'm sure I'll love it.

In case you need a reminder, here are the covers of the books I'm talking about.

 


And here is a little excerpt from the first draft of 'Growing Love', hope you'll like it.

Right at that time, a doctor and a nurse entered the room, “Morning everyone, hope you are all doing well.” The doctor looked around the room, “There seems to be one patient too many in here, one of the wrong gender.” He raised his eyebrows at Joshua.
The nurse shuffled her feet a little, “Sorry doctor, I allowed this gentleman to come in for a short period this morning to check in on his girlfriend before he needs to go to work.”
A smile appeared on his face, “Don’t worry nurse, I’m only pulling your leg. Let’s get started with the ward round, shall we?” Then they walked to the other two patients in succession first.
After a few minutes, the doctor came to my bed, “Morning Freya, how are you this morning?”
“Doing okay, thank you. When can I go home?”
He raised his eyebrows, “One step at a time, young lady.” He turned towards the nurse, “Can I have a look at this lady’s charts, please?”
The nurse handed the clipboard at the end of the bed to the doctor and he leafed through the details, making noises as he did. “Okay, this appears okay. Blood pressure normal, temperature normal, pulse normal as well. Ah, not drinking much yet, I notice,” he turned towards me, “Have you tried to drink some fluids? Or eat something?”
When I told him I had tried a little, he nodded, “That is great. Only little bits, but keep trying. Once you are able to keep your fluids down and are hardly sick any longer, we can consider letting you go home again. At the moment, I would suggest continuing as we are for now.” He turned towards the nurse again, “Can you arrange an ultrasound so we can check on the pregnancy and confirm how far along this young lady is? Thanks.” 
The doctor and nurse left and Joshua and I were alone at the bed again.

Love, 

Joni

Do you like stories? If you like reading or writing stories, read further here.

Do you like stories? Whether you like reading stories or you like writing stories, this group might be just the ticket for you. It is a group where people share their daily life stories. You don’t have to be a writer, it is for writers and readers alike.

Sometimes we forget that stories are not always written by authors. It can be non-authors who like to talk about what they did today, what their hobbies or passions are. Maybe it was something on TV, in a book or in the paper which moved them.

So, if that is you, it might interest you to join this group:

Karen J Mossman’s Magic of Stories

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1393997700722131/

Karen J Mossman’s Magic of Stories is a closed group created by and belonging to author Karen J Mossman on the 25^th of November 2017 because she loves stories. It is a closed group for anyone who likes stories, books, movies or just life in general. It is not a place to promote your books if you are an author, though!

You can in this group share your thoughts on a book you have read, a TV series you have watched or a film.

Sometimes, funny things happen in our lives. This is a great place to share those.

Do you belong to a charity or a group you are passionate about? Do you have a hobby you really enjoy? Can you tell a great story about what happened to you today?

Authors, tell us how you began writing, share book excerpts, teasers and your flash fiction. Anyone can post anything in the group you think others would like to read, but no preaching or spamming.

Unfortunately, every group needs rules. They are no profanity, no swearing, no bullying and no sales of any kind. Be kind and nice to each other.

No direct book links. Use Goodreads, your website, your Facebook Page or your blog instead, whichever works best for you.

So, why don’t you join us there and share in the stories we all have inside us? Hope to see you there!

Writing? What is that?

Today is another day with very little progress. It's already half past three and all I have managed to do so far is to clean the utility room, clean the windows inside and out and do some gardening. Writing has been pushed into a corner in favour of preparations for the visit in a few days.

I have, however, managed to post a book review and get some marketing done. Other than that, I'm still well behind in my writing. Only 28 chapters have been outlined in detail so far and that is only about half of the chapters to be done. It will be my next task on the list to continue with that.

While you are all waiting with baited breath for the next book, here is a little excerpt from

You can, of course, find it here: books2read.com/u/mYogEV

Chapter 3

Rob

I hadn’t noticed Lydia coming back home last night. I knew she went out with the girls to the pub and she would usually make sure that she would get home relatively early. She did have to go to work today after all.

Lydia was my little sister’s best friend. She worked as a receptionist at a local GP surgery and had wanted to live a bit closer to work as well as be a bit more independent than living at home on the farm with her parents would allow her to be. I had needed to have a housemate to share the costs of this little cottage and we had thought that sharing this cottage together would be the ideal solution to both our problems.

We both had our own bedrooms, both with ensuite bathrooms. We shared a living room and a kitchen between us. It had so far worked out really well in the year that we had lived together. We were great friends and we enjoyed each other’s company.

Strange, it was already eight in the morning and I had not heard any noise come from her room yet. I was sure she had to start at nine and she was cutting it a bit short if she was still asleep now. That was not like her at all.

I grabbed another coffee and read the paper. Half past eight and she still wasn’t up. Should I go and wake her up?

I walked to her bedroom door and knocked. No answer. I lifted my hand and knocked again. Still no answer. “Lydia, are you awake yet? It’s half eight.” Still no answer. I knocked again and grabbed the door handle opening her door.

Her bed was made, everything looked nice and tidy and there was no sign that she had been in her bed recently. A fresh uniform was draped over her chair. I walked to her bathroom. The door was open and no one was inside. I felt the towel and it was dry. It did not look like she had come home last night. Where was she?

I went into the living room again and sat on the couch. I got my phone out and phoned my sister. She would know if Lydia had decided to sleep over at one of the girls’ instead last night.

The phone rang for a few times and then Krista picked up. “What’s up, bro?”

I explained that Lydia was not at home and asked if she knew where she was. Had she perhaps stayed over with one of the girls? Krista explained that Lydia had left a little earlier than the others last night at around twelve. She had bid them goodbye and said that she was going home. She had no idea where she could have gone either. I told her not to worry, Lydia must have left to go to work earlier than usual today. Then I finished the call.

I still had an uncomfortable feeling though. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze my chest tightly to restrict my breathing. Something just didn’t feel right. I decided I would drive past her work on my way into work that morning. I needed to check she had arrived there safely. Was I right to be worried or was I worrying about nothing?

I hope you enjoyed that little taster of the first book, it is on as a #Permafree at many stores.

Love,

And time just passes by.

Today I have been busy clearing out and cleaning a cupboard in the kitchen. I thought it would only take me an hour, but there I was 3 hours later. At least it is looking a lot better now even if it means I did not get everything done I had planned to do this morning.
Tonight will be busy as well. My youngest has a trip to the Battlefields planned in a few weeks and there is an info evening at school to attend. Tea will be late for me, only after returning my hubby and I will be able to have our meal. No early night for me even if that is what I need.
Fortunately, the cold feels a lot better today. Yesterday I was completely in suffering mode and couldn't stop blowing my nose and sneezing.

"And how is 'Growing Love' going?" you may wonder. It is going slowly, I'm still in the outlining process and now up to chapter 28, still quite a few to follow. Once the in-depth outlining is done, I'll start writing properly. I can't wait, I'm on the edge of the seat and can't sit still. In the starting block already, but some other things need doing before I can continue.

So, now you're up to date again and it's time for me to continue with all the work I need to do today.

Don't forget, 'Bevrijde Liefde 18+' is currently free for Kindle. You can find it at books2read.com/u/meA26I

And of course, 'Holiday Love' is not to be missed either. One review stated: "Holiday Love is written with a very caring Virgoan attention to detail". You can find the book at books2read.com/u/mYo9xo for the Kindle version or https://bookgoodies.com/a/1719947597.

Love,

Joni.

A busy week ahead.

This week is full of preparations. We will soon have visitors staying over and that means that the house and garden need to at least look presentable. 

This morning I have worked in the garden after the initial housework (bathrooms, dusting, unpacking of dishwasher, laundry and ironing) was done.

Now I'm trying to catch up with everything else in need of doing. 

The emails were dealt with, but I notice some more have just arrived. I have dealt with the Social Media Co-Promotion Group things as far as I can for today and now it's time to update my blog, website and Facebook pages. 

If I'm lucky, I may be able to do some writing as well. It is, however, already nearly 3 pm and that means it won't be long before my youngest gets home from school and preparations for tea need to be made. Quiche always takes a while to prepare from scratch.

While I have your attention:

Remember: Today is the last day that 'Freed Love 18+' and the censored version 'Bevrijde Liefde gecensureerd' are available free for Kindle. They will remain free for Kindle Unlimited users.

 

I hope you have enjoyed the celebrations for the release of my fifth book in the series 'Holiday Love' and I look forward to continuing work on the sixth book 'Growing Love'.

Have a great day everyone!

Love,

Decisions, decisions.

I know the garden is waiting for me. It looks rather cloudy outside and not very inviting and I don't know if I can give myself that kick up the backside I need to get going. The weather is likely to change in the next few days, so I really ought to get it sorted now while I still have a chance. I would much rather continue working on my sixth book, 'Growing Love', the basic outlining has been done and it is time to get to the scene descriptions. I'm desperate to get started, can't wait to see what happens.

Just a quick update on my other books:

Captive Love: available as #PermaFree
Freed Love, censored: available free on Kindle Unlimited
Freed Love 18+: available free from 6-10 September 2018, grab it while you can.
Hidden Love: available free on Kindle Unlimited
Lost Love: available free on Kindle Unlimited
Holiday Love: newly released 31st of August 2018, available free on Kindle Unlimited.

My internal struggle continues. I will try to be a good girl and do the gardening this morning. My in-laws will be visiting in just over a week and I really need to get the garden and house into the right shape for visitors.

Well, enough procrastination for now. It's time to get to work. Especially if I also want to have some time left to write today. See you all later.

Love,

Book marketing. Does it work?

Book marketing. Does it work?

A rather difficult question to answer as I haven’t done a lot of it as yet. However, the first indications are that it's not going too badly. I've found some useful friends at the Social Media Co-promotion group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1963020040577375/) and it seems to be bearing fruits. It probably also helps that one of my books 'Freed Love, censored' is currently available on a free offer for 5 days.

My sales have always been rather on the low side, sometimes zero for weeks or even months on end, but with the free offer I've noticed a high of 11, but 5 and 6 on some other days.

Hopefully, my readers will now slowly get 'hooked' on my books in a responsible manner and feel hungry to read more of my work. I myself believe that my fifth is probably my best work so far, although the first in the series, 'Captive Love', isn't bad either as evidenced by the lovely review I received on it:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A novel worth reading for today!

September 3, 2018

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

Loved the story and the pace. Fast moving and Sam, hmm. Just a bad boy! Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

So, why don’t you go and have a look for yourself?

‘Freed Love, censored’ the second book is currently available free for Kindle, but only from 1-5 September. Grab it while you can. It is always available free on Kindle Unlimited (as are all of the other books with the exception of ‘Captive Love’ which is #PermaFree).

Direct links to the Kindle versions of my book:

Captive Love: books2read.com/u/mYogEV

Freed Love, censored: books2read.com/u/brG1YA

Freed Love, 18+: books2read.com/u/brG1YA

Hidden Love: books2read.com/u/bQ9Pxv

Lost Love: books2read.com/u/bWzE9M

Holiday Love: books2read.com/u/mYo9xo

Don’t forget to leave a review if you read any of them. #IndieAuthors rely on your reviews to be seen by other readers. Thank you in advance.

Love,

What's next today?

So, what is in the diary for today?

The plan is to do all the housework that needs to be done and I'm already over halfway there. Only the vacuum cleaning and changing a few beds and then I'll be done. I'll have to wait till the kids have vacated their beds before I can do that. Of course, the laundry needs to be done after that, but while it runs I can be on my laptop again continuing with the work to be done.

It's raining here at the moment, so no chance of gardening today, it will have to wait until it's dry again. I'm not complaining, the garden is in desperate need of some watering and I can do what I enjoy: writing.

The marketing surrounding my fifth book 'Holiday Love' also needs to be done again. It's already received a very nice review from Rin Hoshigumo:

"Holiday Love is written with a very caring Virgoan attention to detail. It tells the story of what might be a romance burgeoning between Freya (a hairdresser) and Joshua (a mechanic), who have known each other and been friends since childhood. The narrative is very straightforward, with no unexpected dark twists and turns. However, I am a little suspicious of Freya, who seems to be an unusually naïve young woman. (I find it hard to believe that someone at her stage in life can notice so much, yet understand it so incompletely).

Joshua is a very decent, responsible young man, who carries condoms with him wherever he goes (he seems to have "an endless supply" of them) and always drives with due care. When he meets Freya entirely by chance on a camping holiday (which they have both prepared for meticulously), he finds himself increasingly attracted to her, but is a little hesitant as she is the sister of his best friend (who is also his workmate).

However, feelings can be strong enough to override the good sense of even the most sensible people, and both Freya and Joshua end up making very silly, uncharacteristic mistakes, which draw them closer together.

The characters in this novel are all extremely decent, hardworking, responsible people who don't intentionally do things to harm others. Reading about them makes me like the sort of horrendous train wreck of a person who was Christopher Columbus. (I'm not as bad as he was, but compared to them, I'm not nice at all.)"

Why don't you grab the book and judge for yourself?

Kindle: books2read.com/u/mYo9xo

Paperback: https://bookgoodies.com/a/1719947597

Always free on Kindle Unlimited.

When a holiday fling becomes more.

Can be read as stand-alone.

Love,