Saucy women packing heat
The golden hour on a lake in Maine.
Saucy women packing heat
 It's July! Summer! Heat! Swimming!
It's also a time for patriotism and cookouts. It's very odd to be in the south where my garden is already producing food and if I don't water them every day, they die. I hear it's the opposite in Maine. Most people are replanting their veggies because the first set of seeds drowned. I have summer goals for my writing. I plan to get my pirate books edited and submitted to agents. I also have a few puzzle books up my sleeves. My golf crossword and number search book is up and ready for purchase. It would make a great gift. Our country is great. If you listen to the media, you might think that we don't have all of our eggs in the same basket or even the same chicken coop, but we are all Americans and need to take are of our citizens. We as Americans need to show respect and pride. Let's not beat down our neighbors. We are entitled to our own opinions, but be aware that not everyone thinks the same way you do and that's okay. Let's just not shove our beliefs down everyone's throat. Just like in fiction some people love horror and others love sweet contemporary romance. Not everyone is going to agree on what to read. If you like to read contemporary steamyish romance, try out my books. There are more coming and don't forget Annie Get Your Gun on Kindle Vella. New episodes drop three times a week.
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 Bacon. It's a staple of the American diet. We are enjoying life in the South, but wishing we had a place to cool off, like a pool. I'll probably whine about that until it happens. We also bought a Blackstone grill. I had heard all the rage, watched videos and liked the idea of the flames being contained, not flying around willy-nilly. We have almost perfected the Smashburger, including grilling onions and potatoes and carrots. For my daughter's 27th birthday, we had a cookout at our house. This never happens. My sister and her husband are the grill masters. But, my daughter said she wanted steak and salad for her birthday. First thing I did? I turned to YouTube to some grilling channels I trust to learn how to cook a steak on the griddle. The key to a great griddle steak I found out is bacon grease. Yup. I even discovered you can buy it at Costco. No need, I had bacon in the fridge. I cooked that up and saved the drippings for later. I also found my temperature thermometer so we could check the internal temp of the steaks. I left the steaks in my husband and son's capable hands and they came out perfect, from well done to medium, every had just want the wanted and it was tender and juicy with tons of flavor. We are by no means grill aficionados, but we can make a mean steak on a griddle, which can't be done at my sister's house on their grill. The bacon grease sear can't be achieved at their house. How does all this apply to writing and reading? Only in that the grass is not always greener down the street or over the septic tank as Erma Bombeck used to say. I mentioned last month that I might have some good news for this month. Well, I do. I can't tell you what it is because I don't want to jink it, but it's exciting and something I've wanted since I started writing a long time ago. The grass might be greener at someone else's house, but right now I'm watering my lawn. (No offense to my friends out west.) It gives me hope. In addition to my super secret project, I have published a few books. One is a golf word search and number search book and the other is a picture book of lighthouses from all over the world. That one has no words and is great to use as a conversation starter for someone with dementia or someone who has had a stroke. One more thing, if you're a Civil War fan and a smarty pants, check out my Civil War Cryptogram Book. I have three books up on Kindle Vella right now. Two are non-fiction and Annie Get Your Gun, a fun dive into the world of competitive shooting. The non-fiction books are Emptynest Decluttering and 7 Ways to Overcome Anxiety. The decluttering book will be available on Kindle this month, if you're waiting for that medium. Until next month, happy grilling and find a cool place to dunk yourself when it's hot. If you want to know the grill channels I'm watching on YouTube drop me a line.  It hasn't been a warm or dry spring in South Carolina. I have been reminded on more than one occasion that it's warmer than Maine.
Now, the temperatures are in the eighties and I might be roasting. I know...suck it up. The other thing consuming my life is taking care of my dad and giving support to my mom. Taking care of our parents is a hard thing to do. It's a role reversal. I have great sympathy and admiration for those who do it. Taking care of my dad is taking over, which I know, I signed up for. My escapes are shopping once in a while. (I have found some great stores around here. Check out Under The Carolina Moon in South Carolina. It's a fun store to search through.) And, writing. I'm working on two books at the same time with similar dangers. I'm hoping to have exciting news to tell in my next note or two. I'll leave it at that. Just know that they are different and fun. Gotta love spunky heroines. I am editing another non-fiction book for Kindle Vella and will start editing "The Long Arm of the Law", which I'll release on Vella before I publish it on Amazon. "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Empty nester decluttering are both still available on Vella. Eventually, they will find their way to the Kindle program and paperback at Amazon.com. The best thing about May is the Maine Romance Writers Retreat, held in Portland, Maine every year, except plague years. It's great to hangout with friends and fellow authors. We all have different paths, experiences and passions. I can't promise that a little trouble might be found, but a lot of learning will happen, too. I'm having a sale on my writing cards book before and after the retreat. I hope you'll check it out. It makes a great gift for the writer in your life. I hope you're doing well as we blaze into summer. May can be considered summer, right? Even though the people around me won't open their pools until the pollen is completely gone. You can reach me at [email protected] with any feedback, comments or if you want to join my newsletter that I will be starting, soon. How soon? Soon, soon. If you're from the great white north or you live in the very brown desert, it's exciting to see the green of spring. The fresh green grass, the unfurling of light green leaves, and the smell of fresh cut grass all create the delight of spring. In South Carolina, where I am now, spring has been here for a while. Our grass is very long, since we sold our lawnmower before we left Maine. We'll see how the weedwhacker handles the tufts of grass we have.
It's been a busy month with publishing. I put "Annie Get Your Gun", a romance that takes place in the world of competitive shooting, up on Kindle Vella. The story is serialized, with three episodes being released each week. I also put up the non-fiction book "Empty Nest Decluttering: 11 ways to downsize a lifetime of stuff. " Both books will eventually be release through Amazon KDP program later in the year, but for now, this is my experiment to see how they do in this format. The first three episodes are free to read, and you only pay a small amount in tokens to read the rest of the episodes. Let me know how you feel about the platform and reading a book in this format. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I have also been publishing activity books and puzzle books. This past month, I released an "Animal Activity Book for Adults" with many different kinds of puzzles like word searches, sudoku, coloring pages and more. Most recently, I published "Cryptograms: Civil War Facts and Trivia." If you like cyphers and word puzzles, this book is for you. It also helps if you like the Civil War. :) I also started writing a new book series. I'm calling it the Weather Girl Series. My heroines are all meteorologists. It's fun already. So many projects and so much grass to weed whack.  February is the month of love, even if you don't celebrate Valentine's Day, every business celebrates the candy, flowers, roses (for those who want to break the bank) and cards. Maybe this year, we should encourage the men to buy us romance novels. They celebrate love every day. The characters in the books overcome obstacles and give people the chance to find their happily ever after.
When people ask why read that trash? I understand that they've never read a romance book. They just make assumptions based on what some people think or thought back in the 1980s. Romance teaches women how to recognize a hero. The men in romance have flaws, don't we all, but they are good to the women they love. The drama from everyday life can disappear between the pages of a novel. It's escapism at its best. So, this month, instead of spending a week's wage on roses, pick up a romance novel or order one from Amazon. Mine can all be found there. But, there are millions of books with happily ever afters to choose from. I hope you are all well. If you haven't joined my Facebook page for Author Michelle Libby, you can do that and/or join me at Amuck in America on Facebook or the new website www.AmuckinAmerica.com.  Welcome to another year. This year will be exciting for us. We are in our new house, not living in the RV fulltime anymore. We even have a dump sticker for our county. That freaks me out a little, it seems so permanent.
I'm working on editing new books. One will be put up on Kindle Vella, a serialized story format. I'm looking forward to using the new platform. I hope you'll enjoy it, too. Getting settled and scheduling a new routine in a new place is tough. We don't always know where things are. We were living in a little over 130 square feet, now we have 2150 square feet. We have lost phones, keys, water bottles, and jackets. I have published many low/medium content books. If you're looking to travel and are interested in creating a vision board, I have a great new clip art vision board travel book. You can buy that here. I have also created a series of books for adults with dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. This are great conversation starters for caregivers. Many of the pictures are from my travels over the last two years. I'm looking forward to releasing more romance novels this year. My computer is tired of storing them. :) 
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