Tuesday Catchup

Ta Da! That's me dancing into February. No groundhogs where I live, so I jumped out of bed this morning and declared that spring will come 6 weeks early. Might as well, winter here was disappointing this year. The mildest winter we have experienced in the last 9 years of living up in the mountains. Le Sigh...

What did your groundhog predict?

My romantic suspense, Resurrecting Charlie's Girl, is off to line edits. I hope to share the cover with you soon. I'm so excited, because I love the covers at Breathless Press. Justyn is a primo cover artist!

We had some excitement last night. A bat flew in when one of the kids let the dogs outside. As you all have read here before...bats are attracted to me for some odd reason. I'm not scared of them, but that doesn't mean I want them flying at me or touching me. Maybe, it is the fact that I know they can get tangled up in my hair, and well...I got enough hair for all the members of our small community I live in. Anyhoo...the chaos that came next was a regular skit out of a lame horror movie or a cheesy comedy. I'm not sure which! I scream, run downstairs, and the flying rodent follows me. Real wise, eh? Bats like caves, so my first thought was to escape into the bowels of the house.

Of course, with three teenage boys and a hubs that must protect his woman, the testosterone was fairly overflowing. I heard talk of bbguns, baseball bats, tennis rackets. Males were falling over each other in their mad scramble to be the victor...the all-mighty bat conqueror. Add in my daughter, who I have to say is way smarter than her mother and ran upstairs onto the third level. I think she was handling it fine, if I go by the amount of screaming she did to let us know that she was still alive.

Let's not forget the two dogs that joined the fray and barked their heads off and jumped on the tops of the forbidden couches, table, desk, and knocked over the stuffed beaver sitting on the hutch. Yeah, you guessed it. Now that the lifelike beaver is sitting on the floor, one dog decides that it must be alive! Thank goodness, hubs saved the wildlife. I would have missed our little mascot if it would have died for the second time around.

An hour, or it might have been 20 minutes, time kind of plays games with your mind in moments like this, the bat is captured by one of the twins. I'm not sure which one. They both claimed the winnings, thanks to their swift action of grabbing my robe when the bat went into our bedroom. I really liked that robe too.

Anything exciting happening over at your house?

50% Off Sale at All Romance Ebooks this weekend only

If you haven't read Betraying the Prince or Book One of The Chromes and Wheels Gang, Biker Babe in Black, here is your chance to pick up a copy of my book for 50% off. Can't beat that, huh? All Romance Ebook Store and OmniLit are both offering a discount this weekend only, so you'll need to hurry.

When you go to checkout, it will ask you for any promotional discount. Enter SBTBARe1

To make it easier, I'll provide the direct links to my books for you. :-)

Debra Kayn's books at All Romance Ebooks

Debra Kayn's books at OmniLit

Leave me alone! It's Tax Time

Guess what I'm doing? Yep, it's that time again where I sit amongst stacks of papers, W-2's, 1099's, and receipts collected over a years time. Thank goodness, doing them online makes the stress of organizing everything much easier. Remember when we all had to fill out the paperwork by hand and use a calculator? We'd rifle through the instructions booklet hunting to find what we put in box 42c and if we qualified for a certain deduction. Most years, I gave up and paid someone to do the ugly job for us. Of course, I'd forget something, and it would be a long, drawn out affair of running back and forth to their office supplying him with the much needed paperwork.

Today it is a simple matter of going through the guided setup, punching numbers in, and making sure you have everything covered. This year is a little bit different than normal for the hubs and I. I'm actually getting paid. lol Plus, I've got deductions, expenses that go along with being self employed. I'm doing ok though. I haven't had any meltdowns or cussed out the first person who walks by my desk...yet. Strict rules at our house. Do not bother mom/Deb when she's got her serious tax face on.

Do you do your own taxes? Does the simple thought of doing taxes make you break out in a cold sweat or do you handle it like a pro?

Tuesday Catchup

Don't panic! I know it is Monday. :-) Its been one of those weeks. So busy that the week flew by and here we are in a new week. I have things planned tomorrow, so I thought I would post the Tuesday Catchup today. Yeah, sure, I could schedule this to post tomorrow. Why wait though!

I got my first round edits back for Resurrecting Charlie's Girl and turned them back in. Now, I wait for the second round of edits. I'm also scheduling promo work. I have two books coming out in March. If you'd like to interview me or post an excerpt on your site, feel free to get in touch with me. I would also love to pay it back and have you here on my blog. A little networking does help!

Hubs had a couple days off last week, and we worked at getting a huge pile of brush burnt...major bonfire time. Worked out good, because the weather was very rainy. At times, the water was running down the hill in big muddy streams. It makes our very long, steep, gravel driveway a mess when this happens! It would have been nice if it was snow instead, but this winter has disappointed me greatly. *sniff* Two little snow storms and the rest of the time it just rains. *dabs eyes*

Have you ever noticed that you have one area in your house that seems to be the gathering point for family, friends, and guests? For our family it is the dining room table, which is in our family room. This is where we all hang out. We read, eat, talk, work, and visit at the table. I think being able to sit around the table and see everyone makes it a comfy place.

Where is your gathering place?

Speaking of tables, do you use tableclothes, placemats, or a fabric runner on your table? Since we use ours constantly, it rarely has anything decorating it. Just the plain ol' scarred up wood that can tell a million stories and provides a surface that you aren't afraid to damage. That isn't to say that I don't have all the pretties to make it a focal point in the room. My mom crochets the most beautiful things and has made me several tableclothes that wow everyone...very elegant. I love to have a bowl or candles out in the center. It rarely happens though, unless I know company is coming! lol

What does your table look like?

My interview with Reefer

I'm excited to share with you an interview with Reefer, one of the members of The Chromes and Wheels Gang. He surprised me by riding into town yesterday and visiting with me. Of course, I had to ask if I could interview him for my website. (Yeah, I know, it was just an excuse to sit across from him and stare)

Me: Thanks so much for letting me ask you some questions. I know you have a lot of fans out there that have fallen in love with the endman of The Chromes and Wheels Gang.

Reefer: *eyebrows raised*

Me: *laughs* You didn't know that, did you?

Reefer: *shook his head* Nothing special about me. I just ride the road, try to keep out of trouble, and keep the family safe.

Me: Speaking of family...Hows Margarine?

Reefer: *He chuckled* She's Remy's problem now. *laughs* Nah, she's doing great. We all stayed at her place up in Washington a couple weeks ago. *a hint of a smile appeared* I took the baby for a little ride around the house. He loves the noise and vibrations. His little arms were flapping. *He sat forward in the chair* Don't tell Margarine about that though, she'll kick my ass.

Me: Last time I talked with Remy and Margarine, they told me about their plans to set you up with a blind date with one of Margarine's friends. How did that go?

Reefer: She was a nice girl. An interior designer.

Me: Are you going to see her again?

Reefer: Nah, she doesn't ride. It wouldn't have worked out anyway. No way in hell, I'm going to plant my kickstand in the dirt for anyone.

Me: Where are you headed to after you leave my place?

Reefer: Knuckles mentioned staying in Astoria, Oregon for a little while. He said something about a fundraiser going on for a little guy who's battling leukemia. We'll blow into town and see if we can help the family out.

Me: You guys are the best.

Reefer: *He shrugged* It needs to be done. Anyone would do it.

Me: Hey, why you're here today, how about taking me for a ride?

Reefer: *He laughed* Forget it. *He stood up* Your husband would kick my ass.

Me: *sighs* Yeah, you're probably right. A girls gotta try...

Reefer: *kisses my cheek* I better get out of here. Nice seeing you again. Tell the kids hi and to keep riding.

Me: Ride safe, Reefer.

Reefer: *waves over his shoulder* Always!

If you'd like to find out what happens when Reefer rides into Astoria, Oregon, you can find out after March 25th when Ride Free is released at Red Rose Publishing. Hold on, because it'll be a wild ride!

Tuesday Catchup

Is it a sign that you are going insane if you catch yourself tapping your fingers to the beat of Mary had a little Lamb on your desk top and realize that if you tap in the same order you cover the finger holes on a child's flute it works? Before you call the men in with the white coat, let me try to explain?

Edits, proposals, deadlines, wip, economy, job stresses, kids activities, dentist appointments, taxes, book releases, grocery shopping, and the ever growing pile of dirty laundry. Enough said? I think so.

Whew! Time to take some ME time, I think. I'd love to hear how you spend your ME time...

Saturday night, I had the urge to play tennis. Wii Tennis wasn't doing it for me. I wanted to hold the racket in my hand and feel my muscles stretch and work. We're watching our money, so I didn't want to pay the fee to go to the indoor tennis club at the nearest city. Playing outside was out of the question. So, I started shoving furniture out of the way in our family room where the ceiling is high enough I could swing the racket without hitting anything. I hooked up a rope, clothes-pinned a blanket up, and stood in the middle of the room serving balls until it felt like my arm was going to fall off. We must have over 100 tennis balls in our ball picker, and I know I served/picked up the whole caboodle at least three times.

The next day, my arm was sore, but I sure felt better. Great medicine for those mid-January blahs.

Those "other" books

I could post for days about all those romance books, research books, and titillating smexy books I have lining my book shelves, but what about those books I have that I've bought for different reasons than pleasure?

When I got the idea for this blog post, I walked over and perused my bookshelves. Oh my! The amount of school books I have from Kindergarten up through college is huge. That's what happens when you educate four kids. The numerous series of books that we've all enjoyed from Pendragon, Alex Rider, Harry Potter, Bloody Jack, Twilight, Tomorrow Series take up several shelves alone.

Those still are not the books that I'm wanting. No, I want the ones that show you a little about my life. I found them...on the top shelf. Here are a few...

The Complete Garden Flower Book

Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses

Complete Gardener

Barns, Sheds, and Outbuildings

Framing Floors, Walls and Ceilings

Complete Home Taxidermy

Animal Science

Keeping Livestock Healthy

Outdoor Book and Adventure for Boys

These books tell you about me. I love to garden. I suck at gardening. I really do, but it isn't really my fault. I live in the trees and we just don't get enough sunlight to produce veggies. (please do not email me and tell me that it is possible and ruin my excuses. ;-))

Herbs are my things. I can grow them so well, it makes me look like Martha Stewart!

We enjoy building. In fact, we built the house we live in...the six of us...all by ourselves. From wiring, plumbing, roofing, and designing, we can do it.

Hubs enjoys taxidermy. Our house is full of animals, which I enjoy. I could tell you some humorous stories!

We have/had so many animals. I've raised chickens to sell. I'm talking 300 chickens at one time. I've sold rabbits. I've raised goats, geese, turkeys, pigs, peacocks, dogs, cats, fish, and many more. I dream of owning ostriches and emus. Crazy? Probably.

What kind of books will I find on your shelves that tell me a little about you?