Hi, friends! September is here…can you believe it?

Here are my #happythings from August:

1. Mellow Monday.
2. A productive day at work.✅
3. Coming home to nest after a long day.🏡
4. Hanging with Jewels and Tracy. Write on! 🖥
5. Friday night errands with my guy.
6. Bid fun with our big boy at Big Rock Fun Park.
7. Sunday snoozes. 😴
8. Comfy cuddles on a puny evening.
9. Rizatriptan.
10. Sharing ice cream. 🍦
11. Breakfast. It’s what’s for dinner.🥓🍳
12. Friyay!
13. Mexican Train Dominoes dominated by Vegas Mags.
14. Words were made. 🖥
15. Steak and potatoes. Yum!
16. Watching Indian Matchmaking with Jewels. 🇮🇳🪷💍
17. Recombobulating with a massage💆🏻, mashed potatoes, and MasterChef.
18. Clean as a whistle, inside and out.
19. Got a 5 year reprieve from ingesting Miralax cocktails! 🍹
20. LaFawnduh’s maiden voyage with Caddy Canoe 🛶, fussing about with Sawyer, and Kelli and I were punked by Bill. 🎇
21. Slept until I couldn’t sleep any more. 💤
22. Fabulous chicken melts.
23. Fortuitous oven mishaps and sugar cookies.
24. Spent the day letting Brene Brown whisper into my ear.
25. Walking the Home Depot and shopping Etsy!
26. A full chapter!
27. Big words and a night at the ballpark.
28. Survival of the warehouse shopping warriors.
29. Caramel lovers mix! Milk Duds, Rolos, and Reese’s Take5s!
30. Prepping LaFawnduh for a big trip!
31. A busy day, a lazy dinner, and an early bedtime.

Fall is coming. Though the weather will remain warm for some time, the football schedule assures me this is true.

Like the trees, I’m ready for a change.

I’ll be turning in another book in September, and I look forward to writing something completely different. I’ve had an idea running the hamster wheel in the back of my mind, and I’m ready to set it on the story trail.

I’m also thinking of redecorating my writing space. Interior décor is not really my strong suit, but I’m ready for something fresh. Likely minimalist. As I think about freeing my imagination, I find I’m also ready to get rid of some of the clutter.

I know, I know, I was supposed to clear things out in the spring. But there’s something about autumn that gets me going. Perhaps it’s a need to feather my nest for winter? Hard to say.

How about you? What’s your season of change?

It seems like authors get conflicting information every day.

Get off social media. But you have to be on Tik Tok. Instagram only works if you post consistently – make a schedule. Facebook ads might not be dead after all… Have you done a deep dive on your Amazon also-boughts? Reels are the thing to do! Buy yourself a ring light!

Gah!

I appreciate well-intentioned advice, but telling me I have to spend my time creating posts and not books isn’t going to work on me. Not anymore.

The posts I share on social media are for my pleasure and the entertainment for those who follow me.

I just finished another book that will leave me with a book hangover, but at the same time I’m thrilled there are writers producing work so engaging I want to step out of my world and immerse myself in theirs.

I thought I’d share a few of my current auto-buy authors. I’m purposefully not including author pals because I don’t want to risk missing someone, etc. So, here some writers making me a broke-but-happy fangirl from afar:

Emily Henry

Mhairi McFarlane

Kate Quinn

How about you? Do you have auto-buy authors?

Like many friends, I suffer from migraines. With the help of prescription medications, I’ve been able to manage them for the last few years.

But every once in a while, one gets it’s claws in me. Last night, I wasn’t fast enough to head it off.

You’ll forgive me for the pun, won’t you? My brain isn’t functioning a top speed.

I was hanging out in the living room the other night and Timber decided to join me. I didn’t pay much attention when she hopped up on the couch to watch TV with me. When the show was over, I stood up and found this:

These beasts of ours are a mess, but at least they are benevolent overlords.

Or cookies. A brownie. Pretty much anything in the pastry food group would do….

I want something sweet, but the only treats we have in the house are ice cream novelties. To be clear, I am pro-ice cream. I’m just a little more pro-baked goods.

And I could go for a muffin right now. Or a doughnut. Or, you know what would be perfect? Cheesecake…

What about you? What’s your go-to when your sweet tooth needs satisfying?

Are you a podcast lover? I listen to a wide variety, but some of my favorites are Smartless, You’re Wrong About, Maintenance Phase, the Categorically Romance podcast, and The Creative Penn. What are some of your favorites?

Since I’m trying to step back from social media, I’ll be posting my #happythings lists on the blog. Here’s July!

#happythings

1. Getting beerious about bar mix in the shade of the pecan tree. 🍻
2. Celebrating with the family. <3
3. Indulging my need for the nugget…ice, that is. 🧊
4. Talking out loud with a librarian named Marian. #TheMusicMan
5. Walking the Home Depot because I’m working up to being a mall walker. 🚶‍♀️
6. Office hours with Team Megibow.
7. Watching Loot with Jewels. 💻
8. Toy shopping for Sawyer’s birthday!
9. Movie and dinner date. So full!
10. Slooshing at Lake Catherine and dappled, drowsy happy hour under the pecan tree.
11. Big Monday hugs.
12. Virtual cocktails with Tom the Bomb. ❤️
13. Massage day!!! 💤
14. Wrestling with the beasties.
15. Persuasion with my puppy friends.
16. Sorta-fishing with Sawyer. 🎣
17. Lake day with Bill and Kelli. Kreme Kastle burgers! 🏖
18. So grateful for air conditioning.
19. I’m a normal as a girl from Bloomington-Normal can be. ✅
20. Team Megibow and McNuggets.
21. An Ozark rendezvous with my Lu, Pop, and Lobster.
22. Floozies, fine leather goods, flaming margaritas, and Mexican train dominoes.
23. Moonshine Beach⛱, Dick’s five & ten 🪙, 2nd thought shopping👜, and enormous food. 🥞
24. Home.
25. Plowing through a pile of Monday.
26. Executive dinner decisions.
27. Another annual wellness visit done ✅
28. Sam’s club cookies. 🍪
29. A bookish 70th birthday for my Eddie. 📚
30. Write Now! with Tracy & Jewels, then Fodder & I celebrated National Cheesecake Day accordingly.
31. Rainy days and Sundays always make me sleep. 💤

Today is my eldest brother’s birthday. It’s a big birthday. One that ends in a zero. Unfortunately, he’s dealing with some stuff and can’t celebrate properly.

Being 530 miles away from home base, there isn’t much I can do to make his day better… except tap into the power of Prime.

I am from a family of readers. It took a while for us to hit on a few titles he hadn’t blown through yet, but he came up with one and I added a couple more that I thought he might enjoy.

Books. They are my family’s love language. What’s yours?