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Happy May, my friends! 🌸
Hard to believe we're this far into Spring already, isn't it? Especially when the weather continues to be so cold and rainy most of the time ☔️ (around here, anyway) and we're still hip-deep in all this Social Distancing/Shelter-at-Home business.😷 Just think of the stories we'll be able to tell one day, though! Of surviving a major pandemic . . . having school and work and vacations and proms and sports cancelled for for the first time, like, ever . . . being trapped inside with our families for months on end and the creative ways we kept busy . . . of our quests for toilet paper, as though it were the Lost Sea Scrolls . . . 🧻 Repeat after me: "Back in my day . . ." 🤣
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I'm sorry ~ and embarrassed and annoyed, in equal parts ~ to report that I haven't gotten nearly as much done during all this Quarantine Time as I'd like. And yes, I AM going to continue to blame it on The Great Laptop Crash of 2019, because it continues to be the bane of my existence. *&^%$#! 😝
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There has been a bit of progress on that front, though ~ so buckle, up, Buttercup . . . I'm about to share all the boring details. 🤗😁
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Ever heard of a little book called Fortunately by Remy Charlip? It's great, and if you've got young kids, they'd love it!💙 Heck, I'm not a kid anymore, and I still love it! 😀
I won't spoil anything for you, but basically it's a story about a little boy who "fortunately" has something happen to him, but "unfortunately" it happens in a less than ideal way. You know, kind of like everything in my life seems to be going lately.🙄
So I'm going to play a little game of Fortunately/Unfortunately.
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As you know, I've been begging/praying/fighting to get back uber-important computer files since August of last year. FORTUNATELY, the tech guy I've been working with thought he found some backups on one of my external hard drives, so I dropped off everything for him to work on!👍
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UNFORTUNATELY, Covid-19 hit just after that, so my laptop went into quarantine the same time the rest of the world did.😷😫
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FORTUNATELY, Tech Guy was still working from home, and though it took a little longer than usual, he did find backup files, save them to a drive I could access, and return the whole kit-n-caboodle at the beginning of this month.😀
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UNFORTUNATELY, not everything I lost was found again.😥
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FORTUNATELY, all of my older, already published manuscripts (historicals, knitting trilogy, Desires, paranormals) have been retrieved. Yay! Additionally, most of my unpublished manuscripts and works-in-progress have been recovered. Double yay!
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UNFORTUNATELY, the recovered files are all older versions than I'd hoped, which means they'll need to be updated. (I don't even want to think about how long that will take.🤪) And the story I was working on at the time of the crash ~ with only about two chapters to left go ~ seems to be lost forever.😭😭😭
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FORTUNATELY . . . well, fortunately, I'm a glass-half-full kinda gal, so I'm keeping my chin up and putting the best spin on this as possible. There's LOTS of recovered projects for me to work on ~ whether it's revising, piecing back together, or picking up where I left off ~ so
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I'm just going to review-review-review, figure out what needs to be done, and start taking baby steps toward those goals.
What else can I do . . . right?🤷♀️
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Not that I'm in a mood or anything.🤬
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What I have been doing (more than writing, anyway 🙄) during this whole Shelter-at-Home thing, is reading.🤓 And I just finished two fabulous historical romances you do not want to miss!😍📚❤️
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| THIS PERFECT KISS by Melody Thomas |
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I LOVED this book!!! Wonderful characters, good writing, great story...I couldn't put it down!
{with additional nods to Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick and Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean}
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| THE ROGUE PRINCE by Margo Maguire |
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Loved, loved, LOVED this book!!! Fell in love with it almost from the very beginning and knew it was going to be a Keeper early-on. Excellent writing, characters, story... Did I mention I LOVED it?!
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| Donna Kauffman |
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It breaks my heart to share the news that bestselling author Donna Kauffman passed away on April 9th of pancreatic cancer. I didn't know Donna nearly as well as others, but thanks to Washington (D.C.) Romance Writers and their annual Retreat, I did know her, and cannot express how much I will miss her bubbly personality and Twitter recaps of some of her favorite television shows. Not to mention our occasional in-depth chats about NCIS and the like.
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| Karen Harper |
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I am equally saddened to announce that the end of April took another author from us: Karen Harper, known for her bestselling romantic suspense and mysteries. Again, I didn't know Karen as well as others, but I'd met her a few times through Ohio Romance Writers and found her to be lovely, friendly, warm, and welcoming.
***
Condolences to Donna's and Karen's loved ones...I am going to miss knowing both of these lovely ladies are out there, making the world a brighter place.😥
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Because I could really use a sexy Mr. Fix-It right now, y'know?💪😘
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#goodwithhishands #measuretwice #cutonce
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What better treat to offer this month than a copy of the book that inspired it all?📖😃
Trust me, you'll love it! And again, if you've got young kids or grandkids, you can read it to them until you're blue in the face. (Maybe even literally.😁)
➰
To enter, simply fill out the Giveaway Form on my website or click the Entry Button below.
Please Note: This is a new Contact Form on the Newsletter page, so scroll down until you find it. Be sure to include the code "FORTUNATELY/UNFORTUNATELY" in the subject line...or if you have trouble with the form, simply reply to this e-mail with the Entry Code and it will be counted as your entry.👍
(Deadline: midnight EST May 31, 2020)
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{P.S. Be sure to enter the Monthly Giveaways with the same e-mail address you use to receive the Newsletter so your subscription can be verified. Oh, yeah, I totally check before picking winners . . . what would be the point of rewarding Subscribers-Only otherwise? 😉}
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Until next time, when I'll hopefully have more writing-related successes to report . . .
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