Most everyone has heard this song by Tim McGraw. It's a powerful ballad that is about living in the face of death, and McGraw recently dedicated it to Toby Keith, a country music artist who passed away in early February, at a concert. McGraw cried while singing the song, and the audience cried with him not just because of the loss of Keith but because of the power of the truth in the words. 

We spend so much of our lives in day-to-day minutiae. Going to work. Cooking dinner. Cleaning the house. Watching television. Preparing for the next day's work. And then the cycle starts all over again the next day. Oftentimes, the weekends are our time to relax and veg out in front of the television, go grocery shopping, play catch with the kids in the backyard, have a drink with our friends, and maybe take in a movie. While the time is meant to be relaxing, it's still just the minutiae of our days.

Where is the excitement? What do we look forward to? Do we have those moments of sheer joy, the ones that make us elated that we're alive? Do we go out of our way to make memories instead of just scrolling through our phones in our downtime? Do we grab each moment as though it's precious, and do we realize just how precious they really are? 

Not all of life can be about grabbing the brass ring. We can't stop what we're doing to go skydiving or parasailing. But what we can do is create moments that are about grabbing life. Maybe it's a watching a sunset or watching a baby calf be born. It could be taking a horseback ride or a walk in the woods. It could be hunting for shells on the beach, sitting around a bonfire telling stories, or going on a hayride. Maybe it's riding in the back of a pickup truck down an old country road or going to the ballet. 

There are so many opportunities to enjoy life. Not all of them involve a lot of money, but they do involve doing more than just sitting on our sofas while letting our phones entertain us. What little changes could we do to make memories each day? What can we do to appreciate this life while we have it? We need to embrace the here and now and make time to be a part of life instead of watching it pass us by. 

​Everywhere you look, people are struggling. Whether it’s because of money, health, relationships, or many other reasons, people are having a difficult time in life. Maybe you’re one of those people, and it’s hard to get up in the morning and tell yourself “I’m going to be okay.” That’s why this post is here.

You’re going to be okay. No, it doesn’t seem like it now, but the human spirit is strong, and you can endure. I can say this because I have experience living through difficulties. It took a while, but I’m okay.

Many years ago, I was homeless, working two jobs but not making enough money for rent, and without a car. I walked or took a bicycle to work several miles. And there were days when I was glad I worked at a fast-food restaurant because I could at least eat that day.
I was in bad relationships, and looking back now, I’m glad they didn’t work out. I would have been miserable in any one of them.

And since 2003, I’ve suffered from ongoing health problems that, at times, have nearly broken me. But they didn’t and won’t because of my spirit, which is the same spirit you have inside you. The strength that keeps me going comes from my relationship with God, but there is strength in all of us, regardless of our beliefs. It’s our innate will to survive.

​I don’t know what you’re going through right now, but I do know you’re stronger than you believe. You’re on this planet for a purpose. You’re wanted and needed. You’re loved. Whatever you might think about yourself, you are important. And you’re going to be okay.

I'm working on a novella that I'll be posting to Wattpad as a freebie. It's the start to a brand new series, and I'm almost done with it. And the cover is here now! Take a look!

I hope this new year is the best for you, your family, and your friends. I wish you lots of warmth, love, happiness, reading, caring, sharing, and books! And I hope 2024 is the absolute best year it could possibly be for you! 

For all of us, I hope this new year brings us together more, that there will be less hate and more love and less arguing and more laughing. We are all in this together whether we want to believe that or not. And we all need one another, even if it's just for a smile. So Happy New Year!

I don't usually watch commercials if I don't have to, but this one, I watch several times every Christmas season. It's just so heartwarming and sweet. It makes me smile every time. 

I'll admit I've even watched it a few times when it wasn't the Christmas season simply because it's uplifting. See if you like it as much as I do!

I was reading an article recently about ways to make additional income on the side, and one of the ways listed as start a blog. I previously wrote about freelance writing being considered a side hustle as well, and I think it's a bit disingenous to tell people that starting a blog is a good side hustle. It can take a long time to build up readers and start earning money from blogging. So for those people who need extra money now, blogging isn't going to help. 

If someone is looking to invest time and energy for something that will pay off in the long run then, by all means, a blog can be considered a way to do that. But many of these articles I've read that including blogging aren't taking into consideration that many of the people looking for side jobs need that extra paycheck sooner rather than later. And blogging is a long-term committment. One post a month isn't going to work if you're trying to build an audience.

I have readers that faithfully come to this blog even though I only update once or twice a month. That's because they know my schedule, but that's taken years. Ask any writer, and they'll tell you that when they first started writing their blogs, all they heard were crickets. 

So if you're one of those people who needs to make money on the side, there are plenty of ways to do it that will get you the money a lot faster than trying to build an audience with a blog. Not trying to be a negative Nancy here, just realistic. Blogging is great; it really is. I love to jot a post when I have the time, but I also know that it does take time and dedication, and if someone is already working hard to make ends meet, they may not have the energy or inclination to share their thoughts or energy with the world. 

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe some successful bloggers do consider it a side hustle that has worked for them. I know there are plenty of bloggers who started off part-time and are now working their blog full-time. In that aspect, you have to start somewhere. Just don't expect to rocket out of the gate with 1,000 readers and advertisers begging to work with you. Realism is the key!

Every now and then, it's good to freshen things up, and that's what I'm starting to do with some of my older books. Last Showing, which released in 2016, is getting a new cover. It's in line to be uploaded now! What do you think? 

This has never happened to me before, but I was going through Google Docs yesterday and saw a title I didn't recognize. I pulled it up and began to read through it then it started to come back to me. I had written this book many years ago, so many years ago that some of the details are obsolete. But it was complete at almost 70,000 words! 

I'm assuming I put the book aside once I finished it (as I always do) to give myself a break from it. Then I come back later to begin rewrites. I didn't do it in this instance which is puzzling. But I now have another complete book to rewrite/rework. I don't know if it's one I'll start working on anytime soon, but it was definitely a surprise to unearth 70,000 words of writing that occurred, probably ten years ago!

I'm working on a different kind of story. The tagline is Dexter meets The Golden Girls. In sensible shoes and pearls, these women are carrying out their own brand of vigilante justice. I'm halfway through the first book in what will probably be a series, and here is an excerpt. 

Today wasn’t her day to kill, but Marge Hardy couldn’t say no to a friend. Bess Majors hadn’t missed one day doing her civic duty until she’d been struck down by the horrible strain of flu that had hit their hometown of Fairview, North Carolina. It had even caused the poor dear to miss Bridge Night, and everyone in the neighborhood knew how much Bess loved bridge.

With a sigh that was both resigned and reluctant, Marge put aside her knitting, shuffled down the hall to her bedroom, and stepped out of her slippers. She changed her clothes—one must always greet a guest with the proper attire—and patted her hair into place. Then with a pinch of her cheeks, she left her bedroom.

Halfway down the hallway, she realized she’d forgotten her pearls. “Oh for the love of Pete, Marge, you’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached.” She retraced her steps to gather the long strand of pearls her late husband, Felix, had gotten her for their last Christmas together. A tear sprang to her eye at the thought, but she quickly chastised herself. Now certainly wasn’t the time to be thinking about love and romance.

Humming below her breath, Marge fastened the pearls around her neck and checked her image in the hall mirror. “Not bad for an old gal.” She winked at her reflection and made it to the living room just as the doorbell rang.

Oh, good. That would be Mr. Livingston now. Perhaps she’d still have time to catch Lives Unfulfilled. The soap was her one guilty pleasure of the day, and her two favorite characters had spent the last few months in a tumultuous relationship that just might get resolved today as long as her appointment cooperated.

She just hoped the geezer would drink his coffee quickly and be on his way. She hated laggers, but more so today with it closing in on three o’clock. Missing the first few minutes of her story would simply ruin today’s viewing. Usually, a show picked up right where the cliffhanger had left off, and she’d no doubt today’s episode was going to be a doozie.

As much as she’d been encouraged to get a DVR, she should have listened by now, but since she spent most of her time at home, she didn’t think it was worth the investment. For times like these, though, one definitely would come in handy.

With a smile on her face, she swept open the door and greeted Ben Livingston warmly, beckoning him into her two-bedroom home with its “Welcome” sign over the foyer table.

“Ben, it’s so good to see you again. Bess told me you’d be stopping by. I’ve just put on a fresh pot of coffee. Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Do you take sugar or cream with yours?”

She barely heard his response as she hurried into the kitchen. Was he a talker? She hadn’t thought to ask Bess. Quite frankly, she didn’t know much about Ben except what she and the girls had learned from their former handler.

A trafficker in women and drugs, he’d topped the FBI’s most wanted list for decades but had managed to elude capture. He’d finally been arrested, but his slimy attorney had managed to get him acquitted when the evidence had magically disappeared. Livingston had sauntered out of the courtroom with a smile on his face and had gone back to his old ways, even having the audacity to move into the Mountain Reserve Retirement community under an assumed name. And had sealed his fate.

Though technically retired, she and her three colleagues, that she now considered friends, worked now more than they ever did. None of them would sleep a wink, though, if they allowed a threat to society like Ben Livingston to go unpunished. And it had been up to Bess to carry out his termination…until today.

“Stupid flu,” Marge muttered, banging cabinet doors as she searched for the creamer. Now where on earth had she put that stuff? When had she used it last?

She snapped her fingers. “Oh, yes. Mr. Shelt.” He’d been her last visitor, expiring several hours after leaving her home, but not before he’d used up all of her coffee creamer. Apparently, he’d preferred the cream over the taste of coffee which had forced her to buy another container which she hadn’t yet put away.

Ben said something to her, but she didn’t really listen. There wasn’t much he could say that would interest her, and once he drank his coffee, she’d shoo him out the door. Marge always found a good dose of rudeness tended to send visitors on their way, and she was always rude to criminals who made a mockery of the justice system.

She touched a hand to her deceased sister’s picture, held against the refrigerator by matching pink magnets. Dear Carolyn’s life had ended early at the hands of a drug dealer who’d mistaken her for one of his customers. He’d served fifteen years in the state penitentiary, not nearly enough in Marge’s opinion. Fortunately for him, she’d been on assignment when he was released from prison, or she might have been tempted to carry out her own brand of justice.

“Time to stop wool-gathering, Marge.” The admonishment sent her into a frenzy of activity. She finished adding the extra ‘spice’ to Ben’s coffee and returned the tiny vial to its safe place in the far corner of the cabinet.

​Then squaring her shoulders, she lifted the two mugs of coffee and carried them to the dining room table. The clock was ticking, and she simply had to see if Claudia was going to accept Brock’s marriage proposal.

I've been a writer for a long time, a published author for over twenty years. Along the way, I met a wonderful woman who helped me learn to promote my books, market myself, and be a better author and friend. An author herself, she has accomplished so much in her career, but she has never forgotten that once upon a time, she was a struggling writer.

Many of you know this author, and if you don't, you should because Lisa Renee Jones is one of my favorite people and one heck of a writer. She's funny, smart, talented, driven, and an absolutely incredible person. 

She's a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, and one of her series, The Secret Life of Amy Bensen is now a series on Passionflix.  And even with all her successes, Lisa is one of the most humble people you'll ever meet. And I share all of this with you today because every writer should have a Lisa in their lives. I'm just lucky enough to have found mine early in my career. Here's hoping you find yours!