Category: weekendcoffeeshare

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 07/01/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

IMG_0701

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Fourth of July weekend if you are in the U.S. If you’re not, welcome to my #weekendcoffeeshare on this first weekend of July! Grab some coffee or tea and whatever pastry looks good to you this morning and join me in my writing room. I’m looking forward to visiting with all of you this morning.

Thanks so much for joining me for the #weekendcoffeeshare today. I wasn’t able to be with you last weekend. It’s been a busy time at my house, some of it good, some not so good, but life got out of control last weekend. If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the main reason for that was my little dog. Betsy has always been so healthy – I thought. Seems I was wrong. Her breed is plagued with genetic health issues. I had hoped she had escaped, but it was not to be. She is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and has developed a condition called Syringomyelia, a condition of the spinal column. I won’t go into it anymore than that except to say it is always fatal. We can give her a normal life for a while by managing her symptoms but only for awhile. She is only four years old. So a difficult week became a difficult weekend.

How is your writing coming along? When something upsetting happens to me, my creativity takes a nosedive! I’ve written a little this week, mostly for this blog. But, my novel is sitting, simmering, on the back burner. I have so many ideas in my head for it and so much of it mapped out. I hope to get back to it this coming week.

I do have some other things to do this coming week. My BFF is having surgery on July 10 and I am traveling to be with her. I’ll be getting ready to travel this coming week. I’m anxious to see her and help her as she goes for her surgery and starts the recovery process. She has been sick for one year as the doctors could not really figure out what was wrong. It is an unusual condition. Hopefully, not too serious from a surgical standpoint. We live a little over 200 miles apart. I’ll be able to write a short #weekendcoffeeshare next Saturday and then I’ll leave for a few days.

I don’t know how many of you share my problem, but let me just say that sleep is so very important. I am a long time insomniac. My insomnia has been particularly bad recently. I actually got a decent night’s sleep last night and feel so much better today. I can feel those creative writing juices kicking in again!

If we were having coffee, I would tell each of you to have a good upcoming week and I hope you write well!

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 06/17/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0373

Good morning, everyone! It’s so busy around here, I’ve just put out some pastries here on the table and the coffee machine is by the door. There is also hot water for tea. Please help yourself! I’m so glad to see everyone this morning!

I guess the big news this weekend is that it’s Father’s Day. I hope that those of you who are fathers are having an awesome weekend with your children.

I suspect I’m not the only one who feels like this, but Father’s Day is a little difficult for me. My dad has been gone for a long time – over 33 years. He passed away when he was younger than I am now – too young. Of course, I remember everything about him and our relationship. I was much closer to my dad than to my mom. He was usually jolly and he taught me so many things. My dad was from Sweden and emigrated to the U.S. Not long after he emigrated, he joined the Navy because World War II was just starting. He was in the Navy and the war until the end.

He was injured. His ship was almost sunk in the Pacific theatre. He watched the carnage on the beaches of Normandy. When he finally came home to my mother, he was shell-shocked and a changed man. Gradually, he became somewhat like himself again. He never ever talked about the war except a little to my mom who told me about it. It took them a long time to have me, but they finally did. My dad was the best father a girl could have.

I miss him every day – still. As I get older, I think I miss him more. I hope you’ll excuse my nostalgia this weekend. Father’s Day is one of those tough times.

I think I got my writing “gene” from my dad. He was a beautiful writer in his spare time, as was his father. My grandfather wrote in Swedish. Both wrote personal essays and what these days we call op-eds. Writing has come naturally to me since I started writing as a child. Did anyone in your families write?

One of the other things going on with me is that we are having our house appraised. The appraised is on Wednesday. Sometimes, appraisers just look at the outside of your house, but we have requested that he come inside as well. This means a whole lot of work getting the house ready. I will be doing a lot of that over the next few days!

Mid-June is a lovely time here in Kentucky. The flowers are just starting to bloom and show their colors. We have a lot of bright blue skies and sun. It is one of our best months. June and September are my favorite months in Kentucky.

I’m finally over bronchitis, which I still had the last time I wrote a #weekendcoffeeshare. It lasted six weeks! I probably kept the drug companies in business. I hope all of you are well!

That’s it from here this weekend. I have to get to work! I’d love to hear what’s going on with each and every one of you!

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 02/18/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0373

Florida, Climate Change, and Extreme Life

Good morning! Welcome to #weekendcoffeeshare! I want to invite everyone in for coffee, tea, hot chocolate or the beverage of your choice. I am liking the Indian Spice Chai Tea because I don’t drink coffee. We have many different types of coffee and tea here for your drinking pleasure!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my #weekendcoffeeshares have been odd the past few weeks because I’ve been traveling but I am back home and back to normal now. Traveling has really done a number on my writing. I’ve gotten a bit of writing done but have done absolutely nothing on my novel. I have to get back to work on it as soon as possible. Traveling does, I think, enrich your writing.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope all of you are doing well and that your writing muse is with you. I hope you’ll share your writing experiences with me in the comments and I look forward to reading your #weekendcoffeeshares.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it is indeed interesting to now anticipate  living in the tropics six months each year. We are going to be living far enough south in Florida that it is certainly in a tropical zone. That is quite different from the temperate zone in which I live now. I do so love it there, however. But, I’m concerned. I don’t know about each of you, but I do believe in climate change and that the actions we take effect our climate. It seems that one of the key cabinet positions in the Trump Administration is now being run by an individual who does not believe in climate change and that does not bode well for keeping the regulations we have concerning the climate in place.

Florida is one of the states in the U.S. that will be first affected by rising sea levels. My new little home there is only one mile from the coast so I am concerned. Tides are getting higher. Real estate values, tourism, and Florida’s fresh water supply are already being affected. Florida is also getting hotter. When I was there this winter, it was above 80 almost every day in the Ft. Myers area. In late January and early February. I believe climate change is real and, living in Florida, you experience it first hand.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have a lot of different interests. One of them is science and I read something this week I want to tell you about. Scientists have discovered a Mexican cave system that is incredibly beautiful but so hot that they call it both Fairyland and Hell. In that cave system are microbes that they think are at least 50,000 years old and have survived by living on minerals such as manganese and iron. They are called “extreme life” but they are not the oldest extreme life. To illustrate how extreme they are, they are very far from their nearest relative — as far as humans are from mushrooms. Just a science tidbit I thought you’d find interesting!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope to have some new writing to tell you next week, such as the fact that I’m making progress on my novel!

I have to go now and finish our unpacking from a month-long RV trip. A huge job. I’ve enjoyed being back with you!

 

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 01/28/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_1394

Hello everyone! If we were having coffee today, it would be at a coffee shop since I am away from home. We can have fun in the coffee shop nearby!

I hope everyone has been well and that your writing muse is with you. I’ve been traveling, so my writing muse has been absent recently. I haven’t had ready access to Wifi which has also hurt me since I’m so used to writing while I’m online. I do that so I can readily do research when necessary.

If we were having coffee today, I would tell you how much I’m enjoying the weather here in Florida. I’m used to snow and cold at this time of year. Instead, it’s in the 70s and beautiful. We’re having a little cool spell right now, but nothing compared to what my friends in Kentucky are having. We love where we are staying. It’s a special place along the South Florida Gulf Coast.

Big news. We eventually want to buy a house here and move away from the cold. It will take awhile to find what we want. So, as a temporary measure, we have bought a little vacation home on this island we love so much. It’s tiny and temporary…..though we don’t know how long temporary will be. Could be a year or more as property here is so desirable. It will do until we can move permanently.

We haven’t been sightseeing as much as usual. I’m just enjoying being here. Living here for a few weeks. I’m trying to see some things I’ve never seen before. I’m also trying to spend time in the little village nearby.

I’ve been writing a blog series on our adventures driving an RV to South Florida. If you’re interested, you can find the series under Blog Series on my site. I’ve done a little writing besides that series but not as much as usual.

I’m happy to write another #weekendcoffee share. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked with all of you! I hope you are well and happy and prolific. More from here next week.

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 12/31/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0423

Good morning and Happy New Year! Please come in and share a hot beverage with me this last day of 2016! I have a full bar for you today. Coffee – expresso, cappuccino, regular blend, decaf. Tea – everything from black tea like English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Russian, Sencha Green, and a white tea. I also have hot chocolate. I can make lattes for you. I even have some liquor that we can spike our drinks with this morning. After all, it’s New Year’s Eve and a celebration. So, anyone who wants it, feel free! I will leave it up to you. There are some treats for you to eat. Hot cinnamon rolls, hot cross buns, and two kinds of scones. Help yourselves!

When you get everything you want, please join me in my writing studio and we’ll talk.

As you get settled, let me tell you how much I have enjoyed our #weekendcoffeeshare time in 2016. I’ve loved talking with you and reading your contributions! One of my goals for 2017 is to make more comments on all of your contributions. I do read them and enjoy them greatly. I think #weekendcoffeeshare is a great idea that helps us all. Thanks, Diana! Thanks to everyone who has read my writings and ramblings in 2016!

I only started blogging in April of this year. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! I have learned so much and I have learned much of it from all of my fellow bloggers. Thank you! I’ve found that blogging is a great way to hone your writing skills. But, blogging for the sake of blogging is valuable in itself. We put ourselves out there every time we publish a blog post. We learn a lot about what works with our writing and what doesn’t. We learn what topics we like to write about and what we don’t. We have the opportunity to decide if we like to write fiction or non-fiction. Maybe, most importantly, we have a platform for opinion pieces. We get to say what we want to say about anything. Perhaps, sometimes, we even make an impact. I have developed a deep respect for bloggers who work at their craft and I have a great respect for WordPress for giving us a platform.

Writers need tools and I’ve talked to you about some that I use. I promised I would report back to you about an external keyboard I have tried for my iPad. It’s called the Querkywriter. It’s expensive, but I thought it might be worth it. WRONG. I bought it and I hate it! Somehow, it just doesn’t work with my hands. It might work for some of you, but the way I position my hands and with my typing speed, I tend to hit keys unintentionally. I don’t do this with my iPad or laptop, so I have to think it is the configuration of the keys. I am sending the Querkywriter back. I’m back on the hunt for a better external keyboard. Any ideas appreciated!

Do any of you have any particular New Year’s resolutions? With regard to writing, some of mine are to get better at reading and commenting on everyone’s posts in #weekendcoffeeshare and other challenges in which I participate. Another resolution is to reorganize my blog. I have way too many categories. I have to cut them down and reassign articles to the appropriate category. A huge job, but it will make finding articles easier for my readers. I’m participating in JotItJanuary and that means I’m committed to writing a blog post per day. I blog a lot anyway, but that is a big commitment. I participate in so many challenges that I can hardly keep up. I think that they all improve my writing. I do want to find some that require long form writing. If you know of any, please let me know. As you know, I’m writing a novel which is a psychological thriller. It’s going well but novel-writing is a huge job with a big time commitment. I find myself writing half the night most of the time.

Another New Year’s resolution is to read more. We all know writer’s need to read and I find myself writing so much that I’m neglecting reading. I particularly need to read in the genre in which I’m writing – the psychological thriller. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. What are you reading?

Writers also need new experiences since we know at least some of our writing comes from our experiences. I’m going to travel some in 2017 with this in mind. I hope to have new experiences in my travels and take great pictures I can use.

I also hope to work most of 2017, both selling my writing and as a consultant in my field in which I was trained.

On a personal note, I hope to sell my house in 2017 as we want to move to a warmer climate. I’ve always liked the four seasons we have in Kentucky, but the cold is starting to bother me. So, I hope we will sell my house in 2017 and move although we aren’t quite sure where yet. Somewhere in Florida, I think. Last, but certainly not least, I have a very important and special responsibility to take care of here at home. I am a dog lover. My little dog, Betsy, is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The breed tends to have many genetic health issues which so many purebred dogs do now. Betsy is just barely four years old and my constant companion. Two days ago, completely unexpected, Betsy had a Grand Mal seizure. I rushed her to the vet, but he could not find the source of the problem. I’m worried about Betsy and am very watchful. I’ve never blogged about Betsy and I should do that! She’s quite a little girl who will travel with me.

Happy New Year to you all and thanks to Diana! #amwriting #amblogging #writing #Challenges

 

Posted in The Economy, Uncategorized, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 12/17/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0373

“Hello, Jenn! It’s great to see you for the #weekendcoffeeshare this week! How have you been?” I ask as Jenn comes through my side door.

“Good,” Jenn replies. “But the weather has been too cold for me. Looks like you have the hot beverages ready for everyone!”

“I think I do, Jenn,” I said. “I decided to serve just regular stuff today. A breakfast blend coffee, English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast Tea, and Hot Chocolate. I will also make lattes for anyone who wants one. I hope everyone enjoys it. Here they come now.”

After everyone got settled in the writing studio, the first topic was the strange weather we’ve been having. If we were having coffee, I would tell everyone about the weather here where I live. After a very warm early and mid fall, it suddenly turned bitterly cold with Artic air dropping down into the Ohio Valley and resulting in very cold temperatures until today. Today, it is 60 degrees! We’re supposed to go back into the deep freeze after today.

If we were having coffee, I would tell everyone about how much I’ve been writing during the last week. I’ve been participating in some writing challenges that I thought would challenge my writing skills. In my opinion, that is the reason to participate in writing challenges and prompts. They help you kick your writing up a notch because you really have to think and research along with the writing. You can also get some feedback from other writers participating in the same prompt or challenge which is invaluable. It seems to have been busy this past week, here on WordPress, with prompts and some new challenges. Has anyone else noticed that? Also, what do you think of the look of the new WordPress Reader?

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that, even though I am working on a novel, I find great value in continuing to blog. You make great contacts, improve your writing skills, and get an opportunity to read other writers’ works. I have, in fact, done more blogging this week than writing on the novel. That has to change in the week to come. Is anyone else working on a novel? What has been your experience?

If we were having coffee, I would ask you if you are finished with your Christmas shopping? I am not and only have one more gift to buy but it is an important one. I have thought the trend toward online shopping might cut down on the traffic in the city around the malls and shopping centers. I was wrong! Have you noticed any improvement in the traffic where you live?

Last week, I talked a little about a fellow blogger’s list of gifts for writers (Chuck Wendig). I am buying at least two products he recommends. I received my Brother Laser Printer this week but I have not yet had time to hook it up and use it. I’ll keep you advised how well it performs, particularly the WiFi. I will let you know.

I am about to buy another product Chuck recommends. I use an iPad a lot for my writing. Not exclusively. I work on a laptop when writing my novel but for blogging and other things I use a BIG iPad. As we all know, an iPad’s keyboard is not very useful if you are going to type much! Right now, I use a cheap external keyboard with my iPad, but it has to be charged often and it is pretty flimsy. Chuck recommends what looks to be an awesome external keyboard for the iPad. You can see it if you go to this site for an awesome external keyboard. Folks, this thing is on sale until 12/20. I am BUYING IT. I’ve decided to order it today. Yes, it is way expensive. I think it will make me way more productive. I will report back!

Now a personal note. I hope all of you are having a happy holiday season. I don’t do much for Christmas except I do enjoy buying gifts for friends. Christmas is a hard holiday for me for a myriad of personal reasons. The next #weekendcoffeeshare will be on Christmas Eve and we’ll talk about all things Christmas and other holidays associated with this time of year. Keep on shopping and writing and I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season! #amwriting #amblogging #writing #chuckwendig #WordPress

*This post in response to parttimemonsterblog.com

Thanks, Diana!

 

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare, Writing

#weekendcoffeeshare 12/10/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

image

“Jenn, I’m so glad you’re back for our #weekendcoffeeshare! It’s been a long time since we’ve had coffee together,” I said as Jenn came through the door.

“Oh, I’m glad to be back. I’ve been gone too long. I’m anxious to hear what’s been going on. Let me help you serve everyone.”

“Thanks, Jenn,” I said.

As folks started coming round, Jenn and I served coffee, cappuccino, expresso. We also served apricot, chai, and Indian spice tea, along with hot chocolate. Everyone settled in with their hot beverage of choice. They were all glad to see Jenn.

Jenn started our coffeeshare by telling us about her recent trip to the Ft. Myers, Florida area, which is also one of my favorite areas in Florida. They had actually stayed in Punta Gorda but had visited one of my favorite Florida towns, Matlacha. It is a small, “old Florida” fishing village and one of the communities on Pine Island, FL, a place where Jenn and I have both vacationed many times. Matlacha has some of the best seafood restaurants and bars in all of Florida, in my opinion. Pine Island is also one of my favorite places to vacation, at least on the Gulf side of Florida. Great deep sea fishing and sightseeing to the outer islands. The best grouper I’ve ever eaten. A quiet old Florida culture.

I wish I was in Matlacha right now! It’s getting cold in Kentucky. Last night was in the low 20s and today, we’ll be lucky if the temperature gets out of the 20s. The dreaded polar vortex has decided to pay us another visit as it did last winter. Kicks my seasonal affective disorder and newly-discovered claustrophobia right into high gear! Maybe I’m getting used to winter. I’ve haven’t noticed it as much this week.

I want to tell you about the most interesting book I’m reading. Writers have to read, of course. It’s called Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. Some of you may know that I come from an area of the country very near to Appalachia. Vance wrote this novel about Appalachia, his home, and it is an excellent story and also a good look at the culture of the area. If you’re interested in Appalachia or just in different cultures, give it a look. It really is a good story. I hear it isn’t terribly popular in the Appalachian region. Vance doesn’t always paint a flattering picture of the culture but what culture doesn’t have unflattering aspects? If you are interested in the Appalachian culture, try books by the author Silas House who is a good writer technically and knows the culture inside and out. House is a wonderful storyteller.

I have gotten very little work done on my novel this week. This novel seems to be so character-driven. The characters have taken on a life of their own and, in any psychological thriller, there are a number of twists and turns. One character has caused a major twist this week. I have to see where this one takes me.

I’ve been really fond of listening to classical music this week in my writing studio. Do you find that music with lyrics disturbs your writing? I surely do. So classical or jazz it is. Sometimes, I prefer silence. I moved out into my writing studio to escape the television in my house. I do have a television in my studio but, so far, I’ve only turned it on for the news. There is so much news, these days, that I sometimes watch too much of it.

We know, as writers, we all need a good printer. I finally broke down and ordered a Brother Laser Printer. I can’t wait for it to arrive. I’ve used a problematic Epson Inkjet for a long time now and I am so tired of buying the extraordinarily expensive ink cartridges. I was shocked at how far down the price of the Brother printers have come. You can also get wireless ones, which I did. If you’re interested, I encourage you to check them out. The price is more than reasonable.

I may have another cool “writer” purchase to tell you about next weekend!

That’s it for this weekend. I have to wrap-up our coffeeshare a bit early. I’m doing something exciting today. I’m going, with my girlfriend, to a performance of the ballet, “The Nutcracker,” at the Lexington Opera House, this afternoon! I’ve never seen it so I’m super excited, I will tell you all about it next week.

Have a great week and a productive writing week! #amwriting #amblogging #writing

*This post is sponsored by parttimemonsterblog.com

Thanks, Diana!

 

 

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare, Writing

#weekendcoffeeshare 12/3/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0373

Come right in for coffee, tea, hot cocoa! It is very cold outside, in the upper 20s! I’ve added some herbal teas to my stash so if you aren’t into caffeine, help yourself. There is also decaf coffee. Then, there is English Breakfast Tea, Hot Cinnamon Black Tea and Green Tea, and Russian Tea (watch out for this one!). You can have your choice of a chicory coffee, a breakfast mix, cappuccino, or expresso. I also have hot cocoa. So cold this morning. Join me in my writing studio and I’ll tell you what’s up in my world!

I’ve done a lot of writing, and a lot of reading about writing, since we talked last. Last weekend, I told you that my novel had morphed from a romance into a psychological thriller. I’ve written almost 10,000 words on it this week, writing it as a thriller, and it is working very well. This book is so clearly not a romance that I wonder why I was thinking it was. I think I can make it fly as a psychological thriller. I will be interviewing some psychologists to make sure it makes that cut.

I’m getting so many book ideas that I’ve started keeping a notebook listing my ideas and I’d like to tip you off to do the same or you’ll forget those ideas. It seems like everything fiction that I blog about is screaming for a book of its own. Clearly, that will take some time and some of the ideas won’t ever see the light of day.

As I mentioned, I’m reading a lot of books and authors who have written about writing. If you haven’t read Stephen King’s book On Writing, do! It is possibly the best book I’ve read on the subject though there are other good authors out there.

Where I live, cold weather is finally starting to arrive. We had a warm, even hot, fall. Cool and cold temperatures are finally here. I don’t mind the cold, but when we start having a little snow in the weather forecast, I do mind that. I live on top of a hill and snow makes it impossible to get off this hill of mine.

I’m hoping we don’t have a snowy winter as I can already feel some cabin fever creeping into my psyche. Some of you may remember from previous posts that I had a rather severe trauma in my personal life earlier in the year. Even though I am feeling some better, for some reason, that trauma has caused me to develop rather severe claustrophobia. I don’t have an explanation for that except to say the trauma was a bad one. I feel like if snow traps me on top of this mountain, I will be crazy! What I will do try to keep busy which probably means I will write and write.

I read an excellent blog post today about getting through the winter if one doesn’t like winter. It recommended using winter as a time of regeneration for the new spring that is just around the corner. The idea behind that blog post gave me hope for spring. It gets pretty gray around here during the months of December and January particularly.

Are you getting ready for the holidays, whatever your version of the holidays is? For me, it is Christmas and I have been doing some shopping but just started doing a little decorating today. I don’t do as much decorating as I used to but I do like for it to look a little festive here. My next task is to get some Christmas cards sent with some gifts to the people who perform services for me during the year.

When I have been to the city nearest me during the last week, I can tell the holidays are upon us. The traffic is unbelievable! During one visit there, it took me an hour to get across the city to the interstate. Any shopping I have to do either has to be on weekdays or online! I wouldn’t dare attempt it on a weekend day.

I hope everyone has a good week and I hope to see you next Saturday! #amwriting #amblogging #writing #claustrophobia #seasonalaffectivedisorder

 

*This post sponsored by parttimemonsterblog.com.

Thanks, Diana!

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 11/26/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

image

Good morning, everyone! Please come in and share a hot beverage with me. I have coffee, just about any type you want to try. I also have hot tea, my personal hot beverage of choice. There are many varieties. Take your pick. My favorite is hot cinnamon spice. I even have it in green tea. The apricot is also excellent. Let’s go to my writing studio and I will tell you what’s been going on this week. I have exciting news!

I’ve had a revelation this week with regard to the novel I’m writing! Writing my novel just has not been going very well. I’ve been blocked but it has been more than that. The story just wasn’t coming together like it was supposed to. Then, suddenly, this week I realized why. I was writing it as a romance novel. It isn’t a romance novel at all. It is a psychological thriller! After I realized that, the entire story suddenly made perfect sense. I could put the characters where they were supposed to go and the plot just fell into place.

This epiphany happened, of course, in the middle of the night. I got up out of my bed, came to my writing studio, and wrote the prologue with a psychological thriller in mind and I knew it was going to work. I did a little more work on it, just to solidify it in my mind. By that time, it was almost morning and there was no point in going back to bed. I just stayed up and got some work done.

I feel so much better about my novel. I have quite a bit to rework but it is going to be so much better written as a psychological thriller. That’s all I’m going to tell you in hopes you will read it when it is published! Imagine a romance that turns into a psychological thriller. I hope that’s enough to peak your interest!

That’s what I’ve been doing during the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s been a quiet, sedate holiday other than that. I’ve been flying around the house, thrilled that I figured this out.

The other exciting thing that happened this week was that I connected with an old friend, someone very special to me. I feel like it was a miracle to make this connection again but this is all I’ll say about it right now. I’ll leave you in suspense. #amwriting #amblogging #writing #thriller #Psychological

*This post sponsored by parttimemonsterblog.com

Thanks, Diana!

Posted in Politics, Thanksgiving, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 11/19/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

image

Good morning! Come right in. I’m glad to see all of you this cold Kentucky morning! Please, take a cup of the beverage of your choice. Several types of coffee and tea. I probably don’t have as much to choose from as usual as I’ve had a terribly busy week, but I hope you’ll find something you’ll like. Bring your cup into my writing studio so we can talk!

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that it has been kind of a scary week here in the Ohio Valley from a weather perspective. We, like many of you, are experiencing a drought that just started this fall. It is so dry. We did get about 15 minutes of hard rain last night; obviously not enough to do anything but dampen the ground. We live in the forest with deciduous tress surrounding us. The leaves have been falling for weeks and we have been trying to keep them cleared away. A few weeks ago, wildfires started in my state and they are now close to me. Finally, the temperatures have dropped to normal and the winds have died down. We are hoping for rain.

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that I have some exciting news. News that is, at least, potentially exciting! I may have a new job. At least I am hoping it will work out. I wear two hats in my professional life. I am a writer and sell my writing. I’m working on a novel and write non-fiction articles on a variety of topics. My second hat is that of business consultant. In my previous life, I was a college professor for 27 years and did some consulting in the finance area for many of those years. My new job, if it works out, is as a finance consultant.

I know those two professions sound like they could not possibly  be simpatico. I have a variety of interests so when I retired from teaching, I was able to pursue my love of literature and writing. I, however, still have my finance knowledge and am able to consult with and help big and small business. I am often consulting for someone somewhere even though I am also writing.

Those of us in the U.S. have had a Presidential election. I know the world was watching that election. Obviously, many Americans were happy with the outcome and many were not. Political science has always been of great interest to me so I am watching the aftermath of the election carefully. For me, it is a rather frightening time in the U.S. I don’t remember such a time during my adulthood. I’m hoping for cool heads and good advisers.

In America, one of our favorite holidays is coming up this coming Thursday and that is Thanksgiving. For many people in America, we find that is our favorite holiday. Families gather but it’s not a commercial holiday like Christmas. I find myself missing the big family gatherings that I attended as a child and young adult. Those gatherings don’t happen for me anymore as most of my close family are gone. I have a quiet Thanksgiving now. I surely miss the gathering of my family at my grandfather’s farm deep in the heart of Appalachia. Mostly, I miss my family.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. To my international friends, have a wonderful week! #amwriting #amblogging #writing #Thanksgiving #politics #weekendcoffeeshare

This post sponsored by parttimemonsterblog.com

Thanks, Diana!