Of Ice and Men

Eight months are in the bag for 2017. It's September, which means hockey starts this month! Players are starting to come back to their NHL towns. Training camp starts soon, which means preseason soon after, which means regular season after that! Plus, fall is starting to emerge in my corner of Pennsylvania, with temperatures cooling and nights slowly getting longer. I love fall! But I've got more reason to celebrate. I've finally pinned down a release date for False Start , Comets book #4. Right now, the only retailer up is Amazon , but I'll post the others via social media as soon as they go live. I'm really excited to get Chris and Helene's story out to y'all. This is a different kind of story for me—more in the new adult genre. I hope you'll enjoy! Each time I share a story, it's like sharing a part of me. And I've worked for a long time on this story, off and on, through bouts of illness. Even when I couldn't write, this story sta...

I know "normal" is a relative word. What's normal to me isn't normal to someone else. And what used to be  normal for me has gone flying out the window. So now I begin the search for my new normal . On July 21, I had my gallbladder out. Within a week, I was feeling great! I was off the pain meds, could stand up and sit down as good as ever, and was starting to experiment with what foods to eat. I've been able to to eat pizza and fries again! No more nausea and vomiting! Even better, I've gotten back some of my lost energy; last week, I was able to go grocery shopping and then come home and put everything in its place! And yesterday, I did laundry and put it all away in the same evening. Yes, I'm definitely feeling more energized. So I'd chalk the surgery up as a major success . I will continue to experiment with my diet to see what works for me and what doesn't. I still have IBS, so I have to learn what foods to avoid, what foods...

 In June, I met up with Lisa B. Kamps , Michelle Monkou (and her daughter), and Julia Canchola for a writer's retreat in Nashville, Tennessee . That week turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Get ready for my virtual slideshow! We ate delicious food and had some amazing drinks :  (Bavarian Bierhaus, in Opry Mills Mall) (Jack's BBQ, on Broadway) (Sangria at Rock Bottom on Broadway) (Happy Gilmore at Nelson's Green Brier Distillery) We had a great time sightseeing, visiting a lot of the places that make Nashville, well, Nashville. We went honky-tonking, my favorite place being Nashville Palace . The grilled cheese with ham was to die for, as were the apple pie moonshine margaritas that Lisa insisted we try! Josh, our server, was the more adorable introduction to the great Tennesseans we encountered.   On Friday, June 23rd, we went to the Grand Ole Opry to for the r...

I got a call from gastroenterologist's office yesterday with news about my latest test, a HIDA scan with CCK : my gallbladder is functioning at 18% . They have recommended removal and are in the process of referring me to a general surgeon. Finally , an answer as to the culprit of my ailments! The offending organ! I'm very relieved to have been told there is a cause for my ongoing symptoms. I'm excited to think that maybe  this treatment will cure some (if not all, fingers crossed!) of my digestive problems. But even more than that, I'm relieved to not have to focus so hard on finding an answer. So much of my mental energy was wrapped up scheduling tests, having tests performed, waiting for test results, and then repeating that cycle over and over and over again. I did so much online research and reading about tests and procedures and drugs for every possible outcome and learning as much as I could. Months of this, and years of enduring symptoms, was exhaus...

It's time for me to talk about something I've been avoiding for a long time. I'm not a very open person about certain things in my life. I'll share pics of my cats and bad hair day selfies, but I keep some stuff close to my chest. Like politics, relationships, and... health stuff. In a previous post , I mentioned that I was going to spend 2017 getting healthy and trying to resolve some ongoing stomach issues, but I didn't divulge anything else. I had no specifics to give out, and I didn't want to discuss anything more than that. I felt the need to let everyone know that I would be taking more time for myself than usual, meaning there would be less writing happening because my focus would be on me and my health/issues. Now it's time to be gutsy and talk about my guts . For the past couple of years, I've felt like a walking Pepto-Bismal commercial (and that's all the detail you're going to get about that!). I went to my doc, and s...

 I'm all about self-care, and if you follow me on any social medium, I'm sure you know that. I'm generally an anxious stress-ball of nerves. And I know I haven't taken enough time for myself in the past. I've trying to change that, so I've been implementing small changes in my life, including:  It seems so simple, right? Know what you're going to eat before you eat it. It's not rocket science. I always had a stocked fridge/freezer/pantry, but I never took the time to plan out meals. To make sure that I had all the ingredients needed for certain meals. So every time it came to make a meal, I was scrounging. That led to a lot of fast food meals, because that was so much more convenient.  Well, at that leads to is light wallet and a heavier weight on the scale.  I wanted to save money and eat better. Eat real food and not processed, frozen meals or stuff handed to me through a window. But there's a reason why meal planning is hard to do: it...

My fabulous February, coming off the adult prom, is transitioning into a marvelous March! One week after I got all dolled up and dressed up in my gorgeous purple gown, I had another fabulous weekend spent with an amazing group of fellow hockey romance writers and hockey fans! First, we all went out to the Pens game on Friday night to see Pittsburgh take on Tampa Bay. Nice seats! With the wonderful Lisa B. Kamps Hockey romance writers and readers unite! The Pens won, and we all had a good time together. Then on Saturday, I was up early to head to the Meadows Casino in Washington, PA, for the Angels & Sirens 2017 author event.  Here I am, at my table, my signing pen ready to go: And meeting readers: It was quite an experience. My first ever signing! I met some great people, including fellow authors, bloggers, and readers. I'll admit that I was nervous about my first event —whether anyone wo...