It’s official…Flying is Pretty Cool is published!

 Within 1 month I will be able to say I have published my 1st book and I have gone on my 1st mission trip with Operation Christmas Child. #operationchristmaschild

Look for updates on my travels to South America later this week. You can find the book on Amazon published via KDP. Flying is Pretty Cool https://a.co/d/0aOInqGx

 2023 is the year to publish!

I've been working hard with a new friend that is helping me illustrate Flying is Pretty Cool.

A fun children's picture book about a blackbird that has a hard time finding his God given talents.  With the help of a few of his friends he finds his wings.

Be on the look out for it on Kindle ebook soon!

Great reads during the pandemic

Like many I have read so many books during this pandemic it's hard to keep track, but I wanted to highlight some of my very favorite page turners.  I will break them down by genre so you can skip to your favorite.

Historical Fiction (my favorite genre)

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

Non-Fiction

1000 Miles to Freedom by Eusun Kim w/ Sebastien Falletti

Woman Who Risk by Tom & JoAnn Doyle

Fun Summer Reading

One Step too Far by Lisa Gardner

One-Hit Wonder by Lisa Jewell

The Panther by Nelson DeMille

 2022 Coloring Calendars

Are you the creative type that likes to doodle?   This calendar is for you! 

12 month desk calendar 11" x 17" with 4 different designs throughout the year.

Buy an additional one for the person or persons in your life that you know loves to color or doodle while they work.  I use mine while on the phone.  Coloring is stress reducing and calming.

Call me or e-mail me if you want some.  Print Resources has every kind of calendar you could want in addition to this desk calendar.  Custom imprinting with your company name keeps you in the forefront of your customers year-round.

 

To blog again....

I decided to dig my blog out of archive, dust it off and start using it again to spark my writing juices. As we know digital never truly goes away and I wanted to see if I could actually blog on a mobile device. Low-and-behold I can! The secondary reason to start blogging again is to use while I am in Paraguay with Operation Christmas Child. This will allow me to share my experience real time with my friends and family that helped me make this trip possible. I am hoping to witness a miracle that you so often hear about or at the least see what impact shoeboxes have on the lives of the children that receive them. I’m sure this upcoming trip will have a big impact in how I see these boxes in the future and I’m hoping my stories will have similar impact on my readers.

The other reason that sparked me to start writing again was a book or 3 that I actually picked up at a book store the other day. This prompted me to dig out an obsolete item called a book mark. I don’t collect much, but I admittedly I do have a good selection of these from years passed. Metal etched, laminated with pressed flowers or even a paper one from somewhere I once visited. I predict this will be an item the next generation will not recognize. Much like land line phones, phone booths or typewriters.
I digress, one of the hard backed books I picked up was a writing journal because like my initial hesitancy to start reading my books digitally, I still love to write, not type my musings. Some habits are harder to break than others. I rationalized the digital books downloaded on my phone or iPad for those times I have alone to read my books on the go. With digital books I could read my current book while grabbing a quick lunch by myself or sitting waiting for someone. I don’t always have my latest book, but I always have my phone. Now I have both!

Book Review....
The Nightingale
I have to shout from the rooftops about a new book I just finished. (Full disclosure it was via audible. I travel in the car a lot and "read" half my books this way.)
It is actually one of her newer books, published in 2015 by Kristin Hannah.  I would loosely categorize it as a historical fiction which is my favorite genre!

You get such a great point of view from every day folk that experienced the worst of WWII. Not on the battle field with soldiers but in their very own French towns and homes that got invaded by German troops.  It doesn't paint a pretty picture of these animals.  Some may have been kinder than others but for the most these men were monsters that you can't even fathom and treated everyone with pure contempt.

The story follows two sisters that have a colorful background already. You will laugh at these women's gutsy attitudes and cry with them during their trials because this author does such a great job of ensconcing them in your heart.  The bravery these woman show is more than admirable and I'm sure a small example of what people did to try to preserve good in a world that couldn't look any darker.

The story does a great job of wrapping up the story with the main character as an elderly woman.  I loved how it ended but won't give you any more detail.

Thank you @authorKristinHannah

Traveling via the Commercial Airports
Call me crazy but it seems that airports especially mine (PHX) has filled every possible space with retail and restaurants and expects us to stand while eating or waiting by out gate for the recommended 2 hour window.
Perhaps this is their newest ploy to charge us for something other than the luggage we need to have for our trips. Say $35 for a seat in the lounge or a premium seat by your gate.  The only other option is to sit in a overpriced restaurant and there may be a wait to get that seat.....
I'm pretty sure they know how many people will be sitting on said planes so why have they taken out all but 30 seats by the gates?