The end of June
came a lot quicker than I expected. This month flew by, and I'm not sure I got
as much accomplished as I hoped to.
The weather is still
fairly mild for June but the heat index for the upcoming week makes me want to
weep. It's going to be so, so hot.
Continued to have a
busy work week. Several new potential projects are waiting in the wings and I'm
excited about them. One is a fiction project with a really intriguing concept.
Two others are memoir life-story projects. I've been working on quite a few of
those and they're a nice change of pace. I continued working on the developmental
edit, pulling a few more files into the master document. Also finished up a
copy edit and started a new one.
Had a less than
stellar viewing week. I felt a little bit off all week and couldn't focus on
viewing new stuff. I did several binge marathons of early seasons of Death
in Paradise for background noise. I also got a considerable amount of
writing done because the sages were banging on the door in my brain.
I did watch another
behind the scenes bonus episode of Foyle's War. This one showed a day in
the life of an episode. Some great interviews with the cast and crew.
Also caught another
episode of Tales from Irish Castles. This one explored tower houses and
it seems like there are a bunch of them dotting the landscape. Really love
getting an inside look at some of these castles.
Started an episode of
Silent Witness and made it about halfway through. The subject matter is
really tough to view and, honestly, hits a little hard. I don't know who is
writing the show at the moment but, man, they're dead-on with the stuff that
makes people flinch.
That's it for the
life update this week. Tonight's post is from Lonely Heart Mountain, a
novella that pulls a couple together over family strife.
Here's the
miniblurb:
Author Hettie Blackwell returns home to care for her
ailing mother, because her two brothers aren't up to the task. But when Hettie
bumps into Winslow Whittaker—the hot new sheriff—she's got more trouble,
especially when her younger brother lands in county jail on Valentine's Day.
And a snippety peek…
Hettie Blackwell closed
the door to her mother's room and settled back on the sofa. "Glad she's
sleeping well tonight. Maybe I can finish this chapter." She pulled her
laptop open and started reviewing her latest scene.
She couldn't quite get
a handle on the hero, but the pieces would fall into place soon. Her love of
shaping characters with rough edges into fully fleshed-out people never failed
to get there in the end. His quirky traits would reveal themselves soon.
Sinking into the words
on the page, she sighed when her phone pinged with an incoming text. Grabbing
the device, she unlocked the screen and tapped on the messaging icon. The screen
showed a new message from Manny T, aka Manny Treadwell, one of her best friends
from high school. The ten-year gap since graduation only strengthened their
bond.
She opened the app and
read the message. "Heads up, sweetie. Your bro is mellow drunk. I'll
make sure he gets home safe." Manny couldn't say no to a sale.
Not when half the
county needed beer for the massive concert on the hillside at Tim Collins's
farm.
Hettie sighed.
"Dammit, Manny. You weren't supposed to serve him." Her younger
brother, Hank, needed to be sober—and hopefully not hung over—tomorrow so
Hettie could get the grocery shopping done.
She started to text
back when a call came in. The screen lit up with Tim's name. Dread unfurled in
her stomach. On the heels of Manny's text, Tim couldn't be calling with good
news.
She answered.
"Hey, Tim. How's the concert going?" Muffled music came through the
speaker.
Tim chuckled.
"Going great, Hets. But … Hank's ex is here and I have a feeling she's
gonna cause trouble. Wanted to let you know because he's toasted right now.
Very chill at the moment, but you know Shari."
Hettie sighed. Yeah,
she knew Shari … her brother's on again-off again girlfriend. They'd split a
few months ago, supposedly for good this time. Hank wanted something and
someone less toxic and stressful, which he needed because their mom would not
improve. It would take all three siblings, Hettie, Heath, and Hank to help her
until they no longer could.
So far, Hettie had the
responsibility for the lion's share of care their mom needed. Her brothers
meant well, but neither had a large capacity for patience and calm. But they
agreed to supplement Hettie's income when she left her full-time job and moved
back home to help them. They were holding up their end of the bargain, and she
had more time to write her novels.
When she didn't have to
bail one or both out from whatever weird situation they got themselves into.
Heath had a really bad habit of picking up women who were still in
relationships, which got him into more than one tricky spot. And Hank? Never
met a beer he wouldn't drink. Thankfully, he tended to keep his consumption to
the weekends.
Hettie weighed her
options. "Has Shari been drinking?" If so, she'd light a match to
watch Hank explode.
Tim snorted.
"Based on her volume level, yes."
Hettie sighed again.
"Okay. Let me find someone to stay with Mom. I'll drive out and drag Hank
home." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Thanks for calling,
Tim." Another great friend from high school who'd kept in touch with
Hettie.
His voice softened.
"No problem, Hets. And no rush. Take care of Mom first. Mainly wanted to
head trouble off at the pass if possible."
Hettie's lips quirked.
"Appreciate it. Especially with all you have going on this weekend."
She ended the call and tried Heath's number but got his voice mail.
She fired off a quick
text. "Gotta go get Hank. Try to get home ASAP. Will have someone come
sit with Mom." She called their neighbor, Wendi Sitler and she agreed
to come over and stay with Hillary until Heath got home from work or Hettie
returned with Hank.
Hettie put her laptop
away, exchanged her shoes for boots, put a lightweight shirt on over her tank
top and headed for the garage. After checking the SUV to make sure she had what
she'd need to haul Hank home, she hit the opener for the door just as Wendi
pulled up the drive.
Backing out, she paused
by Wendi's car and rolled the window down. "Thank you so much for doing
this. I'll try to get home as soon as possible."
Wendi waved her hand.
"No problem, Hettie. Take your time and be safe."
Hettie gave the other
woman a smile. "I will. And if Heath beats me home, he'll take over."
With a quick wave, she backed out onto the apron and headed down the drive.
"This is definitely not how I wanted to spend Saturday night."
I haven't quite
figured out if this will still end up being a Valentine-themed book or not. I
kind of love the idea but this might turn into a series with a total of four
books.
That's it for this
week. Happy reading!
Skylin
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