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A Little About Me

I like to write, therefor I do. I like to read, you get the idea? My hands get dirty in the garden, it’s my happy place. There’s constant work to do, I experiment with the give and take life provides me on a regular basis. Join me on my adventure!

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I really enjoyed this fictional story of the night witches under Stalin's reign. The Huntress by Kate Alice Quinn! I first heard about these women who flew bombers in the war from Comedy Central's show, Drunk History. If you have not watched it, I highly recommend giving it a go if you're not offended by drunk people talking about history.⠀ ⠀ The Huntress is told from first person POV through Jordan, the young woman who's life is interrupted by a seemingly wonderful new step-mother and step-sister. Nina who is, in fact, a Russian pilot, cast out due to her father speaking out against Stalin. And, Ian the Nazi hunter hellbent on finding the woman who killed his brother along with many other innocent people. We get the back story of each character and the book eventually weaves these three together in America.⠀ ⠀ What l liked! The author does a great job showing character development and growth for all three main POVs. Jordan is a young girl, skeptical and eager to be something more than what her father has planned for her. Nina grew up in Siberia tough as nails, but her heart isn't as cold as she lets on to be. We see her love, hate, fight dirty, and warm up to those close her. Her heart belongs to one person, she can't change that. Ian plays by the rules and is haunted by his brother's decisions. We follow him through grief to triumph. I also enjoyed the flying scenes with Nina, she is truly a badass.⠀ ⠀ Meh, what I didn't like so much? Sometimes the dialogue was long-winded and took me away from the story. I don't want to hear people talk about baseball for three pages.⠀ ⠀ Overall, this was a fun book. We read it for book club and everyone enjoyed it.⠀ ⠀ #bookreview #books #bookstagram #bookingit #reading #amreading #historicalnonfiction #thehuntress #Katequinn #drunkhistory #bookclub #goodreads #goodread #nonfiction #nightwitches

There was a moment in my life where I found myself fearful of so much in the world. As this passed I realized how small this little life of mine is. There isn't a lot of time to do things like reading all the books on my shelves, travel to all the places my mind can dream of, or make every person I know happy. ⠀ ⠀ It's February and I'm still talking about resolutions. I had three this year and my second resolution was to try new things. Challenge myself, maybe, really I just want to have fun! At first, I thought I should try something different every month until I realized deadlines cause stress and anxious tendencies. That's not what this is supposed to be about. In place of a steep willful deadline, I've decided to say yes to new things more often and seek them out. ⠀ ⠀ Why? As a writer, it puts more tools into my toolbox. As a girl who likes adventure, I get little sips of joy if something new is just down the street. It doesn't always have to be a grand plan, it just has to be something fresh for the soul.⠀ ⠀ I tried racquetball at the gym with my girlfriend. My forearms were so sore the next day and we struggled but it was fun, I would do it again. Here's a great picture of me after the fact. We went at it for forty minutes before we realized how much time had passed. ⠀ ⠀ Here's to taking a different path every once in a while. ⠀ ⠀ #trysomethingnew #writercommunity #resolution #newyears #newyearresolution #writersexplore #explore #whatsnext #writerstoolbox #toolsforwriters #mentalhealth #goals #writergoals #racquettball #getoutthere #bigworld #writing #blogging #momlife #thegym #gym #fresh #new #goodforyou

Procrastinating on a good book. I have a lot to read by tomorrow but I think I'm up for it. #bookclub #reading #thehuntress #amreading #goodbook #powerreader #books #readinggoals

I finished my first draft and now I'm taking the weekend off to relax and enjoy some spirits with friends and family. Next week it's time for editing action. I have yet to sit and edit an entire novel. Tips from anyone tackling a big project? Lots of snacks? #edits #craftbeer #Massanutten #cavehill #brewery #wip #writerscommunity #takeabreak #amediting #amwriting #vacation #vacationmode #Saturday #editing #novel #writer #writingcommunity

Yesterday I finished the first draft of the second novel I have ever written. It is a literal fiction I might call, A Place to Land.⠀ ⠀ The story follows Loren throughout a treacherous upbringing. A father who disappeared before she can remember, a mother who reasons with leaving her daughter alone for long periods of time. As a teenager, she's left to care for her twin brothers and must make the difficult decision to leave them in someone else's care. She never assumed there was an escape from the walls that closed in on her, sheltering her from normal teenage angst. Though a friend comes to her aide and pulls her from the wreckage, it's never far behind her.⠀ ⠀ As an adult, Loren finds herself constantly trying to please others. She never says no and takes on more than she can handle. The fear of being left alone is too deeply rooted and unescapable. Her husband travels so much he's never home, her mother continues to pop in and out of her life sprouting poison with every visit. It's time for her to take charge of things. A new job will whisk her away, but she's unsure how to separate herself from those she's cared for. How to pull herself out when she's put herself in the middle of everyone's existence? They rely on her, they need her. ⠀ ⠀ Loren must struggle with what it means to reach for a goal and weigh the consequences of what stands in her wake. ⠀ ⠀ Or something like that! I hate blurbs, this feels so unnatural to crunch your entire story into a few short sentences. It's impossible! Anyway, it's an amazing feeling to be done this first big step. With 104,734 words I am going to need to do a lot of cutting and editing. I started this story in November with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I wrote just over 70,000 words that month. The story got put down for a while, longer than I care to admit, but now it's done and ready to rest before I start editing. ⠀ ⠀ Cheers to me! I'm proud of myself. ⠀ #writer #writing #writergoal #authorsoffb #wip #lovetowrite #firstdraftfinisher #nanowrimo #nanogoal #novel #noveling #writerscommunity #writethis #proud #writermom #writergal #girlsthatwrite #feelinggood #goalwriting #keepitup

My garden people! I miss you ❤ Its that time of year where I am prepping for the growing season here in #maryland Last season I started saving seeds from everywhere I could. Forget me nots from a hike, lillies from my sister's garden, peas from mine, and lots more. Have you ever tried preserving seeds? Artichoke, pumpkin, sunflower, pea, zinnia, cosmos, dill, lily, yukka, to name most of them. This is me getting geek-like excited to have yet another thing on my plate. Time to plot my garden space even with things still there. Garlic, broccoli, collards, and purple cabbage are doing okay this winter with a cover over them. It's been a wet and mild winter, I'm sure that helps. Chicken keepers, grow your own grains. They will love you for it. #flax #millet #sunflower Garden lovers, thinking of you! #gardenlove #gardening #gardenplot #writershobby #growyourown #saveseeds #planting #gardenplan #gardenplanners #artichoke #happyplace

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