It's like a newsletter... but -- Not.

Summer is the time of year where I really feel the shift in my home. The need to reset my life and routines --what with school being out and my kids' sports are typically wrapping up (I have younger kiddos who are not doing travel or ultra-competitive leagues right now). My anniversary is right around Memorial Day weekend, which I love. Plus, we usually have a family vacation scheduled for soon after school lets out. This year it's pushed back an extra week or so, which is kind of nice. A bit of a breather before chaos reigns again.

This year school let out it feels like a week earlier than normal. And within three hours of my kids being "on break" they'd had 17,576 fights over nothing, consumed 28,512,832 snacks, and asked for coke (pop, soda, whatever you call it where you are) about 1,111 times.

Each.

Needless to say, I had to take many a breather by the time bedtime rolled around. We got through the next day and the next by basically being total couch bums. We moved from the living room to the bedrooms, snacked periodically. I did have to work night shifts at my "it pays the bills" job, but it was sort of like a mini break!

Then Monday was Memorial Day. And my 7th wedding anniversary to Babe. We didn't do much. He went to Jiu jitsu and made sure the kids let me sleep in (again... night shifts!). When he came home, he had an iced tea from our local bakery + a back up for later and a dozen donuts. He even had some pretty bright flowers--that I've kept alive for a whole week so far! We exchanged cards and planned to do dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant since we'd made steaks the night before for his favorite meal.

After dinner, we went to Target and got the kids some clothes and just walked around a bit, killing time. It was nice not to be rushed for once.

Tuesday we hit the ground running though. Babe was back to work and I was in full reset mode. I did a general cleaning of the whole house. Caught up on the laundry. Got back into the routines I'd skrp'd out on the entire month of May. I'm still working on making those routines feel more like a habit, and getting the kids involved. They're way less enthused about my summer plans!

What's up ahead?

You might be wondering 1) why is this post coming out on 6/1... a Saturday? and 2) why did the newsletter not have this blog-gy info?

Well, I'm doing a reset on more than just my house. I'm trying something new here. After taking a few webinars to make sure that I'm offering y'all more of what you want and less of what you don't, one thing that was brought up A LOT was the idea of consolidating the newsletter.

Yahoo-gle situation means that more people aren't getting the full newsletter. Especially Gmail users, the ending it typically cut off and you have to click on a link to get the rest of the info after having already scrolled the whole thing. No one wants to do that! I get it.

So, at least this month, I'm changing things up. The newsletter will have less "stuff" in it. And yet, somehow... more options!

There will be a link that takes you to my website's Promos page. This page will be updated periodically with books that have been recommended to me, books I think y'all might like. Not just sports romance, but probably quite a few of those. And I'd put money on them being romance-genred because that's a lot of what I like! 😂😂

I'm also diving into the world of group promos more. Look. I love romance books. I love when an author says "Here. One link will get you TONS of new books/authors!" I've found so many new-to-me authors who I've come to auto-buy because of group promos. And while it's nice to be included in those, to have new readers find the books I've written-- the ones I love so daym much!-- I also want you all to find books and authors that will become your auto-buys. Because the romance book world isn't a cutthroat place. It's one of the most welcoming arenas I've ever experienced.

Speaking of welcoming...

I mentioned in my "Review 24 for 2024" post that I had recently gone to a romance readers convention. It was my first time ever doing anything like that. At first I had planned to just mention it in my newsletter. Then I thought I'd just mention it in this post since that's the path I'm taking right now. But honestly... that one day, the few hours I was able to be there, were some of the most incredible hours I've spent anywhere in way too long. So Wild & Windy in the City: Chicago will DEFINITELY be getting its own post.

Bookish Updates

Oh man. I actually have a lot to tell you as far as bookish content.

First:

Called Up has been reduced to just $2.99 for the Kindle version! If you haven't gotten your copy to keep, now is the time to do it. You can still read it for free with your Kindle Unlimited membership, but doesn't it just feel really nice to open your eReader or app and see Bitsy's stunning face staring back at you whenever you want? I mean, I might be a bit biased, but she's got that thing and I don't mind seeing her every day.

Second:

Audible. This is still very much "in progress" and could change at any moment but as of right now... the wee hours of Saturday, June 1st, I have not one but two books currently in development for Audible! Power Play and Trading Tinsel (Books 2 & 3 respectively in the Dropped Puck Series) are out to their narrators as we speak. I've approved the initial stage of development and now we wait. I don't have any release information right now, but I'm hoping soon. When I know more, I'll be shouting it from the rooftops!

When each is released, I will be running a giveaway for free AUDIBLE codes. 2 US and 2 UK readers per book. And yes, you will have the option to win both. More details to come when I have them, but I wanted y'all to be the first to know about this exciting adventure.

The Month of June

Like I mentioned earlier, my family (the Core-4 as I like to call us) will be taking a family trip. We will be out of state for a bit. No real internet. Surrounded by trees and a lake and mountain-scapes. I am hoping the seclusion will be exactly what I need to get my mind right and start writing more consistently again. I look forward to this trip each year; it just feels like nature's reset.

My birthday! I will be 39 this month! Not like "39 again" but really and truly 39. My daughter is a bit of a PITA and likes to remind me that I "round to 40" while her dad "rounds to 30." I'm living the puma lifestyle, what can I say?!? 😉😜 But I'm realizing more and more that this decade has given me more laughs than tumbles. More smiles than tears. The same CAN NOT be said of my 20s. So while I'm not thrilled with the physical changes that come with aging and the dr appointments that start to pile on after this year, I am actually looking forward to my last year in my 30s.

I will start the day with the last soccer game of the season. It's parks' league so there's no championship or anything. Just 10 kids who I've been able to coach and teach and lead by example, making the sport fun and interesting no matter their skill level. Dinner is TBD but it's between another Mexican place I love and this Italian place my mom swears is amazing.

Speaking of: My mom will be in town too! It's my first birthday since my stepdad passed and it's the day before Father's Day --another first without him since his passing last July. I have a feeling she and I will be vegging out on the couch, watching Cutting Edge, eating Mariano's pizza and those terrible raspberry candies he loved so much. It's been a rough year and I think we need the mind numbing that comes from a lazy day on the couch.

Let's not end this post on a sad note though.

Honestly. June is the month where it feels like things are possible. For us, the weather is usually nice. Not unbearably hot but we can still head to the pool consistently. We can play in the yard, grill out, stay on the patio until the sun sets and the mosquitos show up. My neighbors think mid-June is the start of fireworks's season, so that is always interesting! lol But honestly, I'm looking forward to a bit of a break from the go-go-go that was May.