My Muse's Musings

On October 7th I Finished The Damn Book.  That's an inside joke I share with a wonderful group of writers I critique with on the Kiss of Death Chapter of RWA.  I've belonged to the Lethal Ladies critique group almost as long as I've been a member of KOD.  And the ladies and a few gents, come and go, but there are always eager writers on the loop who critique my chapters. And in exchange I do the same for them. These ladies are invaluable to me. They act as a sounding board for my chapters and if something doesn't follow my character arch, plot line, or is wasting space in my story, they'll let me know. Every line has to ring true, or they'll tell me straight up. And I really appreciate it. When I posted my last chapter, it was both a relief, because I had finished my 9th full length novel, though only the 6th who will find its way into print,  and a moment of pride, because I had accomplished something extraordinary for the 9th time. I had a busy year. I re...

Recently my husband and I have been at an impasse over the replacement of a toilet seat in one of our bathrooms. He likes the padded plastic kind because he can sit on his throne for an hour at a time and read the newspaper without his butt or legs going to sleep. And I like the wooden ones that last 30 years or more because they don’t have to be replace as often and they’re easier to keep clean. Obviously I don’t read on the throne. Since I’m the one who usually replaces things like this around the house, you’d think I’d just buy what I want and install it. Not so. Not because I can’t afford to buy it. And not because I’m being considerate of his desires. It’s because I’ve been replacing the toilet seats around our house for 34 years, and I’m tired of doing it. So, I decided to take a stand. I told him to buy the toilet seat of his dreams. But if it was the padded plastic kind, he had to put it on himself. Undaunted, he zoomed out to the hardware store and bought the seat he’...