Ready for quilting

This one is for my son and daughter in law. Tiny cardinals on the back.

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Fall is coming

I think summer is finally over! Maybe not officially, but the weather has definitely changed in Utah. It was another long super hot summer, but this week and last it’s been cooler and rainy. Fall is definitely my favorite season, and here are some reasons why.

• apple cider
• sweaters
• Halloween candy
• corn mazes
• colorful leaves
• sunflowers
• my birthday
• pumpkins
• caramel apples
• baking pies
• books

Books are of course, good no matter what the weather is. I hope you’re reading something great. If you’re not, then find something better! Life is too short for bad books.

Writing Prompt

Picture your characters in an abandoned town by the beach. Why are they there? Who are they with? What will they find?

How To Deliver A Satisfying Ending

Helpful advice

Jaq Vegan Writes

“In the planning stage of a book, don’t plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it.” 
― Rose Tremain

There is one part of writing that a lot of writers struggle with, and that’s the ending. For most writers, writing the story can be fun, until they get to the ending. And then they get stuck because they’re not sure how it should end, and sometimes, they end up abandoning the piece because it doesn’t feel right.

What are the reasons writers have a hard time ending their stories or articles?

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My favorite new shirt

Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen

Title: Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen 👑 🔪💈 (Sheriff Dan Rhodes #19)

Author: Bill Crider

Setting: small town Texas present day

Petty young Lynn was a favorite stylist at the beauty shop, especially with the men. But someone didn’t like her – enough that they got her over the head with her own hair dryer. Is her murder connected to the string of thefts in the county? Or was it her love life? The sheriff needs to catch the killer before someone else dies.

I really like these books. There’s a lot of humor in them, as well as a slice of small town life. As a former Texan, I just really get a kick out of this series. I would start with the first book in the series, Too Late to Die. They’re all pretty quick reads.

My Latest Book Haul

I got books! As you can see, I’ve also got a cat. Tina saw me take out my phone and had to get in the shot, so here she is.

I have lots of great thrift stores nearby. Usually I try to restrain myself, but this time, I bought all the books.

 

5 mysteries and one fiction! Strong as Death on top, that’s a historical mystery set during a pilgrimage. Then four mysteries from the same publisher. I’ve read The Lord Mayor of Death and wanted to read that one again. It’s good, very suspenseful. Not sure about the others, but they were worth a dollar!

Fannie Flagg writes HILARIOUS stuff. We read one of her books for book club last year and it was really good.

Oh, Murder and Chips is set in New Zealand. I never get mysteries set there, so this should be good. Here’s another shot of my helpful cat.

Thanks, Tina.

Weekend Writing Prompt

Write a scene where your character meets 3 people – one they like, one they don’t like, and one they’ve never met. Make sure each character has a distinct voice.

What are you doing this weekend?

What are your plans this weekend? I’m looking forward to some more sewing time. I’ve been going through my Netflix queue and watching some pretty good stuff. I discovered a new Amazon series, Medieval Deaths, which is like Historic CSI.

I’ve also been watching Rosewood, but I can’t decide if I like it. The main character is kind of a know it all, and I really want to smack both him and his partner detective. I like the secondary characters though. Crossing Jordan is the opposite – all about the MC, secondary characters not really engaging at all. But I’m not very far into either series.

I do like the Father Brown series. Have you read the books by GK Chesterton? Mostly short stories, and in this case, I think the TV show is better than the books, but the books are free through Kindle Unlimited.

I’ve also been sewing a lot. I have a denim quilt I’ve been working on while I watch TV or listen to my audiobook and it’s close to being done. Then I have another quilt top done and I just need the batting and the backing. It’s a camping/woods quilt.

Here’s my list of what I’m currently reading:

• Queens of the Conquest: England’s Medieval Queens
• American Colonies: The Settling of North America (audio)
• The Queen of Attolia (audio)
• Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen

 

Feel Good Friday

Today’s post is all about reasons for readers to feel good.

Let’s start with this guy. His name was Johannes Gutenberg. He was born around 1400 and sometime later, decided to try his hand at coming up with  a new way of making books. So he invented new ink, new movable type, and a printing press that combined everything. Thanks to him, people could afford to buy books. Before that, everything had to be written by hand. After he came along, you could print multiple copies of a book in the same time it took you to finish one chapter! So blame him for your out of control TBR list!

Next, I want to thank this guy – Andrew Carnegie. He wasn’t the first to come up with the library idea, but he sure made it big in the United States. Over 2500 libraries were built all over the world thanks to money he donated. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to an actual Carnegie library, but thanks to him, politicians realized that a library was a positive thing for a community. They began to plan on building them for their towns. And libraries today are more relevant than ever, serving not just as sources of free books, but as meeting places and centers of community outreach.

Finally, I want to thank Sesame Street. For me personally, Sesame Street has been a big part of my life. When I was little, I was in a car accident where I broke my leg and had to be in a body cast. With nothing else to pass the time, I watched TV and thanks to Big Bird and the gang, I learned how to read. By the time I started kindergarten, I already knew how to read some basic words. It just took off from there, and I’ve been reading ever since.

There you go! That’s my Feel Good stuff for Friday. Have a great weekend!