Yep. Picked the kids up at 330. Voted about 345. We live in a small-to-medium sized town [just under 15K]. A few years ago we annexed a tiny town [a few hundred] that retained it’s own mailing address/dot on the map. That’s where we vote. In that tiny town. At a fire station in the middle of nowhere.

There’s MAYBE 20 parking spots. Probably more like 15. [Okay. I Google Mapped it. There’s 21 plus 2 handicapped.]

I’ve NEVER EVER had to park in the ‘far’ side of the lot [12 spots right in front of the stations and the rest a bit further away]. But today I did. They had blocked off the area in front of the fire doors [never seen that before either].

Hubby left my house about 5:55 this morning since he HAS to vote before class. He was number 20 or so at 615am. I was number 879 at 345ish this afternoon. My next door neighbors voted about 30 minutes later and were 961/2.

In 2008, there were 1129 voters in my precinct [68% of registered voters].
In 2010, there were 804 voters in my precinct [45% of registered voters].

So higher numbers this round it seems, though our population has grown some too.

Anyway…

Yesterday, I ended up with 3564 words. Wrote some this afternoon while waiting to pick kids up from school. A few hundred. Hope to get some more in tonight while watching election results.

Day 5: 3564
Total: 13021

Oh. And I started a fire in my oven. Bought frozen pizzas for tonight. And the cheese one [which my kids prefer] slid off the thing into the bottom of the oven where it caught fire. Immediately turned off the oven which helped then managed to dig it out and salvage half of it… :p

When her brother is injured fighting in France, Meghan enlists her fellow Harvey Girl waitresses to sew a Red Cross signature quilt to raise money for wounded doughboys. Local horse breeder Caleb McBride longs to join the battle, but the army won’t take him. Because he has kept his shameful infirmity a secret, the townsfolk have labeled him a coward and war profiteer. When Meghan uncovers his malady, her poor opinion of Caleb unravels. Can this beautiful seamstress find a way to mend his heart?

The day before writing this review, I went to the mailbox and pulled out an ad booklet from a local Christian bookstore and a bunch of envelopes. The first couple were credit card offers [yeah, haven’t used one of those in about 10 years…] followed by EOBs from our insurance company. I thought “Man, I wish I could get something nice in the mail – books are nice, but a letter would be really cool, too.”

I flipped to the next envelope and, lo and behold, it was from Erica. Her first ever newsletter, complete with bookmarks for both this book and her four-in-one collection of novellas, Sagebrush Knights, due out early next month.

/big happy sigh/

Totally made my day.

I’d finished this book the day before the newsletter arrived and thoroughly enjoyed it [yes, that’s a phrase I use often when reviewing books – but I only offer to review books I expect to like].

Meghan is wonderfully stubborn and feisty and impetuous. This can get her into trouble more often than not [don’t those kind of traits get to all of us sometimes?] and she’s set to raise $1000 for the Red Cross to use to buy an ambulance.

She’s a Harvey Girl – and I loved learning about them. I’d heard of them before but didn’t know near as much about them as I do now. Meghan’s boss is a hard-nosed woman who gives little room for error and seems to have it in for Meghan from the very beginning.

Caleb [and his sidekick, Joshua – loved that!] trains horses for the cavalry. He’s branded as a coward for failing to enlist in the military but still profiting off it with the horses. He has his reasons – great ones – for not enlisting and none have anything to do with being a coward*.

Erica does a wonderful job of pulling us into the world of Needles and the Harvey restaurants along the route. When the Spanish influenza hits Needles, they all pull together and begin to put aside their differences. Will they continue to do so as she tries to raise the money for the Red Cross? Or will long-held prejudices derail her efforts?

This is Erica’s second full length novel [the rest of her works are either Heartsong Presents or novellas] and I hope we get many more from her in the future.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for this review.

*Ironically, in both this book and last week’s Sleigh Belles, the hero wants to enlist for WWI but can’t due to health issues.

Yesterday wasn’t nearly as productive as I’d hoped but it wasn’t a total loss either. Plus we took the kids to see the Shaolin Warriors last night and had lunch with friends [after rocking babies in the nursery ;)]. So all in all, a good day even without a huge word count.

Today is going much better as far as word count is concerned. And since I likely won’t post until fairly late tomorrow, I thought I’d get my PSA in today ;).

VOTE!!!!

It doesn’t matter so much [to me] WHO you vote for, but please vote. I mean, it does matter. But you and I can disagree on who to vote for and still be friends. So I’ll just ask you to make sure that you do vote.

Day 4: 819
Total: 9457

When her client and old college friend is murdered, P.I. Kat Justice knows the killer will come for her next. Her survival depends on finding her unknown enemy first…and working with homicide detective Mitch Elliot, her onetime crush. It’ll take all her professional skills to ignore the sparks between them, but Kat can’t allow the handsome cop to get close. She’s seen too many people she loves die, so she vows just to do her job without getting emotionally involved. Yet keeping her distance may not be the best way to protect her heart—or their lives.

This is my second Susan Sleeman book and I enjoyed it as much as the first :).

This is the second in the Justice Agency series and I’m guessing there will be three more [since there’s 5 siblings] and I look forward to the others.

Sleeman does an excellent job of keeping all of us on our toes. From the opening sequence until the resolution, she keeps us guessing. I’m usually pretty good at guessing twists and this one caught me by surprise. I love that.

Neither Kat nor Mitch were perfect. They both have things in their pasts that need to be worked through. They both know all the reasons why they should run far away from each other, but they don’t. Thank goodness. 😀

The romance aspect was well done and I hope to see Kat and Mitch in future installments of the Justice Agency series.

One thing I did miss in this one was the couple from book 1. They were mentioned but didn’t make an appearance. It wasn’t a deal breaker or anything for me, but I love seeing part of the HEA in other books in a series.

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to Susan for an influencer copy of the book in exchange for my review.

Yesterday was my best day so far :). 5272 in between everything else and only about a 3 hour dedicated writing block [in which my computer locked up :p].

Today, was church. We were in the nursery and then had lunch with friends. Fortunately, it only takes one thumb to type on my phone ;). Rocking a sleeping baby with a phone in one hand works. Not the whole time but some of it. And in the van. And while waiting for the friends to arrive for lunch. A total of about 750 words on my phone today. Emailed them to myself then pasted them into the document. Current total is nearly 9500. I’d love to pass 10K today.

But we’re getting ready to go to the Sholin Warriors [or something like that] with the kids and hubby’s work. I may get to write a bit more in the car or while waiting for it to start. Another 1K total would be better. 1500 more to hit 11K would rock :).

So yesterday:
Day 3: 5272
Total: 8638

Total by the end of day 4: TBD

Yay! Today was one of those “breakthrough” days!

Pepper and I had talked earlier this week about the hero’s name. We joked about one possibility, but I went with the nickname anyone – as it could be short for several names. Today, I figured out how that name – or, rather, the reasoning behind it – will be one of the keys to getting my hero and heroine together once and for all.

Plus my hero told me something completely unexpected today. But something completely wonderful that totally ties a bunch of other stuff together [yes, that’s vague – trust me ;)].

AND I’ve written a bunch of words – and I’m not done yet :D.

Day 2: 1703

Total: 3366

Back to work!

That’s “sicko” like actually sick. Not like… well, Criminal Minds sick.

Have been headache-y all week and today my neck is also feeling it and I’m running a slight fever. 🙁

I did hit my regular NaNo goal yesterday but not my elevated one. Or close enough anyway.

Day 1: 1663

That’s 4 shy of the daily goal. Not too shabby with my head the way it is.

It’s one of those headaches that when you bend over to get something out of the bottom cabinet and then stand back up and the whole head throbs.

Yuck.

I don’t feel TOO horrid. Not like I did when I had strep or when I have bronchitis or whatever. But enough to slow me down some. I’ve fought hard for a bit over 1K words today. I do plan to get another 1K or so before bedtime. Early bedtime.

Plus I talked to Pepper today and she helped me figure out some plot stuff for a different manuscript – the one from Speedbo in March. I won’t say too much about it because it’s going contesting – and there’s always the chance that someone judging could see this. But hey – that’s THREE – count ’em THREE days this week that I got to talk to Pepper!!

On a completely different note…

I do teach political science – or American Government. How it works [or is supposed to anyway]. But I am sick to death of political ads.

Because the way to get me to vote for you [whoever you is] is to bash your opponent for bashing you.

Yeah.

That’ll change my mind.

/roll eyes/

Thank God for DVRs.

But then I saw this commercial. I could watch it all day long.

I would so vote for this dude just for this commercial.

Except I don’t live in Massachusetts.

Seriously. It’s worth your time.

Promise.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alzz11k9yMk]

From Savannah to Montana…
In 1916, Southern belle Alanna Lessing travels to Montana on a mission—to rescue her older sister from the influence of suffragettes and bring her back home to Savannah where she belongs. Alanna fears that her sister, Margaret, has allowed herself to be swept away by these newfangled beliefs.

The Christmas season is drawing near, and sleigh bells are ringing among the snow-covered peaks. The charming town of Missoula begins to grow on Alanna, and so do a few of its inhabitants—particularly neighboring rancher Tanner Jacobs. Alanna takes it upon herself to turn Tanner into a true Southern gentleman. He plays along, in part because he likes being near her, and in part because he’s intrigued by her very different way of life. Will their differences bind their hearts, or forever keep them apart?

Another winner from Janice Hanna [also writes as Janice Thompson – see yesterday’s book review].

I loved both the hero and the heroine. A cowboy from Montana and a Southern Belle from Savannah, Georgia. What’s not to love?

Both are very set on their ideas about the role of men and women – and they’re not entirely at odds with each other as they are with other’s in their lives, particularly their sisters, who are active in the women’s suffrage movement.

Alanna does her level best to turn Tanner into a true Southern gentleman. Tanner, for his part, does his best to become one as well as to turn Alanna into a sturdy Montana woman. Their interactions are fabulous as they struggle to learn each other’s culture. Though both Americans, they may as well have been from different countries given the differences in their lives and lifestyles.

The Suffrage Movement is front and center in Sleigh Belles, offering insight into some of the women behind the movement and into their motivations.

As always, Janice left me wanting more. And as always, I’ll be impatiently waiting for her next book.

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to Janice for a copy of the book in exchange for my review.

For the next week or so, I’m planning two blog posts a day – one book review/COTT [those are already scheduled through next Friday] and then a NaNoWriMo update [because I’m also doing NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month – and you can’t count prescheduled blogs for that]. I have one other book review scheduled for the end of the month as well.

So NaNo…

I’ve had a story in mind for about two months that I planned to write for NaNo. But now I have two others jumping at me. /sigh/

One is something completely different and I won’t start it today at all.

But the other is book 2 [at least in my head] of the same series. There’s three siblings, you see, and the oldest sister was supposed to get book 1 and I was supposed to write it this month. But the middle child, a brother, was supposed to have book 2 and is demanding his story be written now. But so is his sister from book 1. /sigh/

The good thing is it would be easy to make either one of them book 1 and the other book 2. The only thing dependent on book 1 would be the mentions etc of the relationship status of the characters from the first book.

So I guess I’ll just see which way I end up going when I sit down an hour or so from now. See what words flow out of the fingertips.

But…

I’m setting a SUPER AMBITIOUS goal for myself [and will be adjusting the counters appropriately in a minute].

100K

This month.

Finish one manuscript [the rough draft, geared toward Love Inspired which has a word count of 55-60K so a 50K rough draft is about right for me] and start another [which one, TBD]. And finish that rough draft.

Is it doable? Yes. Is it insane? Also yes. Will it happen? We’ll see… 😉

Will they both need TONS of editing? Absolutely. But they would have anyway :D.

When pampered Jacqueline Abington secretly elopes with the family gardener, she asks another woman to take her place on the much anticipated maiden voyage of the Titanic. Tessa Bowen hails from a poor corner of London but has been granted the opportunity of a lifetime—a ticket to sail to America aboard a famed vessel. But there’s a catch: she must assume Jacqueline’s identity. For the first time in her life, Tessa stays in luxurious quarters, dresses in elegant gowns, and dines with prestigious people. Then a wealthy American man takes an interest in her, and Tessa struggles to keep up the ruse as she begins falling for him. When tragedy strikes, the game is up, and two women’s lives are forever changed.

Janice is a favorite of mine so it should come as no shock to anyone that I’m reviewing one of her books today and another tomorrow [or that I’m absolutely itching to get my hands on her new contemp, Picture Perfect, coming /cry/ February 1! So long to wait!].

I’m a bit conflicted about this book. Though a wonderful read, part of me was hoping for more of a Titanic-the-movie type book. More on the Titanic rather than as much off before the sailing. I understand why – groundwork needed to be set to explain why Tessa was on board and Jacquie wasn’t. And to give the background for Nathan, his mother and his mother’s friend – but I wished for more both on the ship and afterward.

Something Janice managed to do was a bit different than most Titanic novels. Mostly she followed those who survived. This won’t come as a great shock to those who read it as the people she follows – and we become well-acquainted with – are the hero, the heroine and the lady’s maid to the heroine. That’s not to say all of the characters survive [or don’t] but that we don’t spend time with other characters. They’re met and become ‘real people’, but mostly we’re with fictional characters or lesser known real people. The Astors are mentioned as are the Strausses etc, but we don’t get to know them.

I would also have liked more after the sinking. Because I *always* want to know more about what happened afterwards in a good book. I’m sure the hero/heroine go on to have their Happily Ever After but what form does that take. Children? What kind of husband/father is the hero and how does he help the heroine overcome her childhood trauma? What happens with Jacquie and the gardener? Not just in the few days after Titanic sinks but what is the long-term consequences? And I would have loved to see a bit more of what was going on in the gardener’s head.

All of that may make it sound like I didn’t enjoy it but that’s most assuredly not the case. It’s a case when I wish the book was twice as long [though I’m sure Janice is glad it wasn’t ;)] because I want more!

Overall rating: 8.25 out of 10

Thanks to Janice for a copy of this book in exchange for my review.