No-go

Sorry the Blog's really been a no-go the last couple of months. I was good there for a while, but life intrudes. How rude.

Cooper had to go home. He was just too active for Lulu. No worries for him, though. The rescue had 5 other families who wanted him. He really was a good boy and we were sad to see him go, but he was a little more than we bargained for. (Still had those crazy puppy habits, jumping and play-biting.) The good thing about Cooper being with us for a short while is he made us realize that Lulu's gained too much weight. She couldn't keep up with him and even started limping after too much play. We've taken her to the vet, bought her reduced fat dog food and a couple of meds: MSM and glucosamine. If we can get a good 8 to 10 pounds off of her, she'll be back to her old self.

Writing ain't happening. Life intrudes once more. October promises to be a crazy month, but I'm going to try to make time for writing again. Back to my 1/2 hour a day that I always fall back on when life is crazy. Surely, I can do 1/2 hour a day.

Lifestyle changes are going pretty well. I'm able to say no to many fattening things at parties, which is something I can only do when I am in control. I've lost at least 15 pounds (weigh day is Sunday), clothes are fitting a little better, and I'm starting to feel a little better. All in good time.

I hope all is well with my friends in Blogger Land. Have a great weekend.

This Weekend

Today we visited a dog from Lulu's rescue. I like the philosophy of this rescue. They don't consider the adoption permanent until we're all sure it's a perfect match. Well, this adorable dog is perfect in every way, no question about it, but we have to make sure he and Lulu will get along. After the mess with Bubba and that other rescue, we're not taking any chances.

The rescue is calling him Cooper and so are we until we know if he'll be a permanent member of our family. He's taller and longer than Lulu (and needs to pack on a good 20 pounds) and appears to be pure American Bulldog. He also seems younger than they told us he was. He acts like a puppy. I wouldn't be surprised if he was only a year old.

Isn't he cute?

My name in lights

This will cheer you up. It worked for me:


I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

More Mini Updates

Sorry I've been so absent. Last week was a busy one! You know how that goes...

Diet Healthy Lifestyle Updates:
In spite of attending 3 BBQ's last week (Oh! The tempting desserts especially! My weakness), I managed to keep off the 12 pounds I've lost so far. I expected to gain. This makes me insanely happy.

Weekly Averages:
Week 1- Calories-1,260, Fat grams-25.6, Pounds lost- 5
Week 2- Calories-1,120, Fat grams-20.6, Pounds lost- 3
Week 3- Calories-1,130, Fat grams-22.5, Pounds lost- 2
Week 4- Calories-1,139, Fat grams-26.8, Pounds lost- 1
Week 5- Calories-1,147, Fat grams-21.6, Pounds lost- 1/2
Week 6- Calories-1,181, Fat grams-24, Pounds lost- 1/2
Week 7- Calories-1,146, Fat grams-29.9, Pounds lost/gained- 0
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Weight loss to date: 12 Pounds

The weight loss has slowed considerably, and if I expect to make my goal of a pound a week, I'm going to have to up my workouts. I got burned out in the gym, so I'd been walking every night. The heat during the day has made it so that Lulu can't walk fast or far any more, however, so the walking isn't doing me much good--weight loss wise. Walking instead of sitting in front of the computer or TV at night is always a good thing of course.

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Writing:

The WIP is slow-going. I'm not a pre-plotter, but my goal for this book was to do just that. I figured that doing something different might give my creativity a kick in the pants. Well, I have some bare-bones ideas, but the thought of plotting bores me to tears. The last couple of weeks, I've been writing random scenes and scene chunks. While I enjoy writing them, I feel like I'm writing in circles. And I am. I'm falling back into my old routine of writing 80% stuff I have to toss out because the scenes never have antagonists or goals. *sigh*

Just as we have to be hard on our characters so they can grow, I must learn to be hard on myself. No one has ever really been hard on me in my life. My mother and grandmother raised me, nurtured me in a very loving, female kind of way. I think this is why there is always something very female about the things I write, and why all of my characters have (at least a small amount) of this very nurturing side. And, of course, why I have trouble torturing my characters. Even when I think I am, I'm really not.

Do any of you have tips on how to torture your characters? How do you know when you're torturing them enough?

Come one, come all!

Please join us in the Book Club this week. Our guest is the award-winning Christine Merrill, author of An Unladylike Offer. Chris is not only a fabulous writer, but a very nice person with a wonderful sense of humor. Visit her Blog and you'll see what I mean.

If you're a fan our humor, Regency novels, romance, historicals or just a great read, give An Unladylike Offer a try. While you're at it, go ahead and order her first book, An Inconvenient Duchess too. You're going to want to read it if you love An Unladylike Offer, and you will! You'll thank me later. And don't worry, I never say, "I told you so."