Crazy fun weekend! We had Wizard’s family retirement party Saturday — it was a whirlwind and a blast. That was the last of Wizard’s parties. It’s actually funny that Wizard had three different parties since he HATES being the center of attention.  He fought me on the family party until I flat out told him, “Tough luck, this is important to me, the kids, and his family, and it’s not fair for him to ruin it for us.” That worked, and he stopped most of his grumbling. Plus I promised him that Bailey would be here too — bribery always works He pitched in Friday afternoon and Saturday and helped get the house and everything ready. Then he had a great time. This week, he goes into work Monday and Tuesday to finish up stuff and he’s done. He is one happy man!

And now, I must revise EXPOSING THE HEIRESS all week to hopefully have it done Monday or at least next week. And then get back to the Wing Slayers. I’ve laid out my writing plan for the next year and really want to hit my goals. I’m going to be taking time off to spend with Wizard, but the other side of the coin, he’ll be around to help with chores to free up more writing time. It should work out.

I also wanted to take a second to talk about BLB (youngest son). He just got a big raise at work and is doing fantastic. His accounting degree will be finished in Dec, and while he’s been doing that, he’s been working full time AND he passed all his tests to get his EA license (to sign tax returns). After the freak accident three years ago that damaged his leg and destroyed the career path he was on for law enforcement, he sucked it up and figured out how to deal. Wizard and I so proud of him. We are proud of ALL three boys, the other two for their own achievements, and for standing behind their brother we he needed them. And right now, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Life will have it’s challenges for BLB but he has the tools and strength to handle it. And while people say lovely things to Wizard and I about being his parents, in the end, it was BLB’s choice to man up and deal,  and to work so hard through pain and challenges, toward a new goal.  I think that says a lot more about him than us

And I am such a mom, LOLOL!!! I’m done, really!

One more promo related thing. I’m having a FB party Tues, Sept 30th at 7pm EST to celebrate the release of all The Plus One Chronicles in Audio, and a special sale of the boxed set for 99cents. Here’s the link https://www.facebook.com/events/327262124101838/  Join us for the fun and prize, even just to stop my and say Hi.

So overall it was a great weekend! Now it’s your turn, how was your weekend?

This week totally got away from me. Wizard has taken over my world with all the retirement hoopla. Yesterday was the lunch at work, and it was awesome. I love seeing how much people have valued his work. And although he’s all gruff and guy-like about it, it’s really meant a lot to him. It was fun. He’s going to miss a lot of the people there, but he needs to retire. Stress is a killer, as we all know and I want him healthy and happy.

Okay in other news, I saw a sample for the cover of CAGED MAGIC and love it so much! I’ve asked for one tweak, but seeing that cover made it all so real. Linc’s book will happen!

So this weekend, we’re having the family party Saturday which should be all fun. Wizard won’t have to give any speeches (he’s done two) and just enjoy himself. I’m making BBQ ribs, potato salad and other things. Middle Son’s girl friend, also known as The Chef is marinading chicken that they will BBQ and bringing other dishes. I was thrilled when she offered! And Biker Witch is bringing food too, and she always helps me. It’s great to have a sister I can count on

Sunday is all about revisions for EXPOSING THE HEIRESS.

So now it’s your turn, what are your weekend plans?

Sorry I’m late! Wizard’s work held a dinner for him last night. It was a blast, but we got home late and I obviously didn’t get a blog up. It was a lovely evening with a lot of nice tributes to Wizard. They also got him a great gift– the book FACEBOOK FOR DUMMIES! I cracked up. Tomorrow we have a luncheon at his work, then Saturday the family party and then Wizard can escape the dreaded spotlight, LOL! Next Tuesday will be his last official day at work.

Then he’s all mine, all day long

I’m working on revisions around all this, I’m making steady progress around the craziness, cleaning and obligations.  I’m also planning some promo next week for the audio books. Carla (my assistant) is helping me out with that. The good thing about being so busy is I don’t have time to second guess myself,  I just have to keep going.

Okay, so our Wednesday Worthy is a repeat:

So the question becomes; Is he worthy of a repeat appearance?

Pretty good weekend. I wish I was getting more done on Linc’s book, but I need to set it aside to revise EXPOSING THE HEIRESS. That should be done in two weeks, then I’ll go back to Linc. I’m looking forward to revising Hunt and Alyssa’s book since it’s probably one of the easiest revisions I’ve ever had There’s just one plot point I need to think of then I can dig in.

The most exciting part my weekend is this picture of “Cork Screw” otherwise known as Corky, that Special K sent me. This is how he spent his weekend.

Wizard shook his head and said, “That dog doesn’t know how good he has it.”  Umm, it looks to me like he knows and takes full advantage!

I think Cork Screw is BLB’s (youngest son) name for him, but then again, it could be Special K (oldest son’s wife)–she’s a wonderful combination of sweet and snark, so she’s fully capable of coming up with a nickname like Cork Screw. She makes Wizard and I so proud, LOL!

Okay your turn–how was your weekend?

Just over a week now until Wizard retires! And then he’ll be home with me. ALL DAY LONG.  Yay???

So for my Happy Friday news, I got EXPOSING THE HEIRESS back from my editor.  You all know how much trouble that book gave me right? It was crazy-making. So when I got the email in my inbox, a voice in my head said, “Don’t open that! Ignore it!”

My fingers didn’t get the message, however and opened the email. It began like this:  “Hi Jennifer! What a great story. I really liked this, and it’s in pretty good shape. Not much of a first pass to do here at all.” 

I’m like, wait, did I send her the right book? So I opened the file she sent back to check. And yep, it’s the right book. Huh, what do you know, it doesn’t suck. She didn’t even send a revision letter, just put some notes in the manuscript, and those aren’t so much about the story as fitting the line (we’re talking about moving it to a hotter line, but more on that when the decision is final).

After I got over my surprise, I was relieved and then thrilled. So I sent Wizard the email. And got this back from him: “That’s fantastic. See I told you.  Your too hard on yourself.:-)”  I laughed. Nothing like the pot calling the kettle black. Wizard is a perfectionist and very hard on himself. While I’m just trying to write a good story. See the difference? 

Now if only I can pull this off with the complex Wing Slayer Hunter Books. These plot lines are like herding a bunch of wet, pissed off cats brimming with serious attitude. And yet, I really missed those guys in all their crazy-alpha-dysfunctional-ass-kicking glory.  Watching Linc fall for Risa (his soul mirror witch) is going to make all the agony worth it.

So this weened will be some cleaning and figuring out the menu for a small family party the next weekend to celebrate Wizard’s retirement. We’re keeping it small per Wizards request.

What are your weekend plans? And do you have Happy Friday news to share?

I wore myself out doing a little (as in NOT ENOUGH) cleaning  so this is a quickie post.   Now these guys told me they are totally up to the task of being Wednesday Worthy Candidates. Actually–they insisted. They are kind of pushy So I thought…hmmm….I’ll just toss them out to the witches and let them decide…

So what do you think? Are these guys worthy? Or do we toss them back?

The wedding was awesome! It was sooo incredibly hot, we’re having an awful heat wave, but that didn’t dim any of our happiness for my niece. She was gorgeous, and yes, I am totally biased It was a ton of fun. And I’m so thrilled for my niece. She’s a lovely young woman and deserves the best. Romance really does rock

And in other news, I managed to dance and not injure my Achilles as I did last year at CPA boy’s wedding.  Wizard was half worried, and half teasing me all night. At one point I was out of the dance floor with the girls (my son’s girls, my sister-in-laws and nieces) dancing, and Wizard is sitting in a chair, doing “raise the roof” with his hands and smirking at me. That whole raise the roof thing was how I injure the Achilles last year.  CPA Boys and the others all laughed, just encouraging him.  Okay, I laughed too.

We got Wizard out on the dance floor a couple times too That was mostly Special K. She, as well as Middle Son and BLB’s girlfriends pretty much have Wizard wrapped around their fingers. He knows it and is proud of it. Those girls can talk him into almost anything except a French bulldog–YET. They are really working on him, though!

But enough about that. Oh wait, here’s a quick pic of me. Wizard was suppose to take a picture of my dress, but he just did a head and shoulders shot before we left house.  But you can see the color. It’s a simple dress–it was too hot for anything more.

Now moving on. Last Friday, Wizard came home and said, “I’m probably going to take a vacation day on Monday.”

I was making enchiladas in the kitchen, and paused to say, “Umm, but you’re retiring in just over two weeks.”

“I know.”

Okay… “So why are you taking a vacation day? I mean, it’s only two more weeks.”

He looked at me totally serious. “Because I can.”

Well I can’t argue with that logic. And this means I may as well get used to working when Wizard’s home because he seems really committed to retiring So today, Linc and I are going to hang out in the Wing Slayer World, while Wizard….hmm….I don’t know what he’s going to do. But he swears he’ll leave his “retirement plan” alone to work.

And lastly, as I mentioned before, we’re in a brutal heat wave. On Sunday, I got this text from CPA Boy, “Corky regrets his decision to go outside:

And about ten or fifteen minutes later, I got this text. “Cookie after playing outside for a few minutes”

It’s just too hot! (That’s CPA Boys hairy leg.)

No worries, we’re not forgetting Bailey Dog–Bailey is coming to Wizard’s retirement party in two weeks!

How was your weekend?