Life Happens. You know?

Let’s just be real for a moment, shall we? The last couple months have been iNsAnE. My husband and my brother have been business partners for over three years and we have recently separated our companies. It’s hard going through a divorce, even a business one. There’s so much paperwork and dividing of assets and tough questions that have to be answered. I’ve been telling people it’s like a high school break up. You take your letterman jacket and give me back my CDs and we can part as friends. It’s been a good transition even with all the craziness and paperwork. My husband and I have always made a great team and that will never change.

Unfortunately, this transition has taken up more of my time and energy than I care to admit and some of the lesser important things have been moved to the back burner- like last week’s blog!

The exciting thing is that all my business ventures are now under the same roof! Our construction company moved in Y&R PR so now I don’t have two offices, two desks, two computers, and two sets of files. Duplication gets confusing! It also means I have more time in office to handle business so that I can write in the evenings- something I’ve been missing lately.

More DIVINE Books to Come!

I’m currently writing the next Divine Chronicles installment. I tried and failed to move a different direction with this series, but the Ryse and Avery keep pulling me right back to them and their band of misfits. I do love them so much! They bring me joy and it’s a pleasure to write them. My goal is always to give you, the reader, the best book I can. So if it takes me a bit longer to deliver a story worthy of your time and money, please be patient with me. I want us both to be happy with it.

Until then, have you visited my Pinterest board devoted to all my Divine characters and places? I try to add things to it regularly as I see things that strike a cord.

Week 20 (&21, cuz life happens)

Week 20: Things that make your spirit free! I really should’ve focused on this last week. Maybe it would’ve been a better week, huh?

1. Music! Music makes me dance, sing, fall in love, laugh, cry, and every emotion in between. A single song can transport you to memory or create the soundtrack of your current mood. God bless MUSIC!
2. Writing! Y’all know me by now. The more words I get in a day, the better I feel. If I go for a few days without typing out a paragraph or two, I’m a miserable person. 
3. The ocean! I love, love, love, the ocean! I love the water, the sand, the contrast of cool water and warm sun. I love the rush of the waves, and the smell of the salt. It just melts your worries away. Hence my current screen saver:

Week 21: This list is going to be fairly short because I’m not the crafty-type. The list of things I want to make consists of things that I’m not good at- which gives me something to strive for!

1. A large family meal completely from scratch. I can’t cook worth sh**. LOL. It’s no secret and my family gives me hell about it ALL THE TIME! I hate being in the kitchen, I hate stirring a pot, and God knows I can burn anything! But once, and only once, I would like to make them an eatable meal from scratch. (I’ll have the pizza guy on stand by!)
2. Landscaping. You’ve heard of a brown thumb? How about a black thumb? I have the kiss of death when it comes to plants, and I love flowers! I love the smell, the colors, the feel of the soil. Unfortunately, any flower I touch, dies. I’m cursed. Maybe one day, with the help of other green thumbs, I can have a lovely flower bed full of rich colors and scents.
3. A house. It’s been my dream to build houses from the ground up. Yes, my novel, Why the River Runs, is a bit self-indulgent. Tina is my hero. I’ve designed floor plans since I was a kid, I’ve been a real estate agent just so I could go look at houses, and we’ve done a lot of renovating over the years. The ultimate goal is to see a house I’ve designed come to life…much like the way I write!

How about you? What sets your spirit free and what are some things you want to make?

XO-Jo