Happy holidays and a very happy New Year from my family to yours. See you in 2018!
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The hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing here at chateau Carroll. The boys have been making out their Christmas lists for Santa, we’ve been baking, and I’ve been fitting in a few words here and there on Elixir Saved. So that means it’s time for a picture post!
But before we get to that, I’ve been thinking about what I’ll be blogging about next year. I’d like take some time to feature some books and authors I’ve been enjoying, but in a way I haven’t done before on the Observation Desk. I also haven’t officially introduced The Gentleman here on the blog, though he’s now 5 months old (sorry third kiddo!). So I might try and get a feature on his birth story up here, ya know, before his first birthday. š I have some fun news in the works that I’ll be sharing soon. And I think I’d like to talk more about creativity in 2018, particularly as it fits into my life as a writer/mom.
And now to look back on fall:
December is a stressful and busy time of year. For me, it’s not a great month for setting up goals. I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s Resolutions because it feels too contrived and arbitrary. Sure, it’s a new year, but that doesn’t mean I’m in the right place to set up new goals. Maybe I’m still working on my current goals. Maybe I’m swamped and just focusing on the daily task of getting through the days. I certainly don’t need the pressure and stress of forcing myself to declare a goal simply because of the time of year.
So I’m afraid I can’t offer up any great insights into my goals for 2018. I certainly have goals for next year, but most of them on ongoing ones, not ones I’m just starting to think about now. But I’d love to hear about your goals…drop me a comment!
Here’s where I usually do my spiel on how #InkRipples is a monthly meme and December all about goals. However, it looks like fellow #InkRipples founders Kai Strand and Mary Waibel are moving on from the meme. I’ve loved doing #InkRipples for the past three years with Mary, Kai, and all the other bloggers who dropped a ripple in the inkwell, but maybe it’s time for me to move on as well. I do have a new idea for a monthly meme I’ve been thinking about for 2018. I haven’t made any set decisions yet. What would you all like to see on the blog next year?
LA Dragoni is here to celebrate the release of her time travel romance AGAIN, FOR LOVE. Speaking of love, I love the Matrixy look of this cover. Let’s give LA a big welcome!
Even a fiction author has to do her research. And for my newest book, Again, For Love, a time travel romance, Iāve been doing years of research. And no, I havenāt been time travelling.
I originally got this idea for a book about twenty years ago! I thought it would be cool for a guy who has a crush on a co-worker to save her by time traveling to avoid her death. I started to write it, but I just didnāt get that far. It was stale and boring and I wasnāt an experienced author who could figure out what was missing.
Fast forward to 2016. I read The Troublemaker Next Door by Marie Harte and suddenly I knew what was missing. Her characters are full of sass and snark and chemistry. Honestly, I hadnāt thought about Again, For Love in years, but as soon as I finished reading her book I knew I needed to pull that manuscript out of the cobwebs.
I had originally put the co-workers in an office environment. Yawn. Clearly, to obtain sass and snark, I had to take them out of the office and put themā¦where? Thatās when my years of research came in handy.
I live in a craft beer mecca. Bend, Oregon holds a lot of ābest ofā titles and many of them have to do with the sheer number of breweries we have, and their success. Iāve been visiting these breweries and enjoying their beers and developing a discerning palette for years. Yet Iāve never actually worked in a brewery. But Iāve toured them. I learned about the beer making process. Different ingredients, methods of aging, bottlingā¦all sorts of things. Then I toured them again. This time I ignored theĀ knowledgeable tour guide and stalked the workers. Watching them move about, interact with each other, heft, direct, etc. When IĀ developed what I hoped was a passible knowledge of what itās like to work in a brewery I had to do a little (read a lot) more research on the beer itself.
Luckily, here in Bend, Oregon, we have the largest ale trail in the west. My husband and I frequently host friends and family who come to Bend simply to experience the ale trail. Iāve tasted so much beer, I have a trophy! My favorite beer is a winter ale on nitro. I know I donāt like pilsners, Iām always willing to try a new red ale or a stout. It was so much fun being able to weave this knowledge into my story. I hope Iāve represented the craft brewing world well.
Book Blurb:
A life must be lost. Who will make the ultimate sacrifice?
Lawson lives a simple life: a job at a brewery, and his basketball and hockey leagues. Even his eccentric lifelong friend and roommateāwho is intent on discovering time travelādoesnāt complicate things. Then Jory appears. Lawson feels an immediate attraction to her, yet their attempts at dating end with him thinking it just isnāt meant to be. But Jory refuses to give up.
When one date ends tragically, Lawson turns to his best friend and the experimental time travel program heās invented. But, no matter what he does, each time the reset ends with a loss.
Itās clearā¦a life must be lost, and Lawson is prepared to give his for Jory. But he isnāt the only one playing with time.
Will he spare Jory by forfeiting his own life? Or will someone else make the ultimate sacrifice?
Buy now:
Amazon|Ā Barnes & Noble|Ā iTunes| add onĀ Goodreads
About the Author:
LA Dragoni isnāt too particular about who fallsin love or where they fall in love. She simply considers it her job to capture the story about their love. Whether itās paranormal, mythical, or time travel, LA will be there to divine their story for you. She lives in Central Oregon with her husband and children, but haunts ghost towns and cemeteries up and down the west, in search of the next adventure to sift through her storytelling brain. Learn more about LA and her work at www.ladragoni.com
The boys and I drove by a rafter of turkeys (yup, a group of turkeys is called a “rafter”…I looked it up and everything) the other day. We like to open the windows and gobble at them to see if they will gobble back (which they often do!). Since it was so close to Thanksgiving, we decided to yell at them to be careful cause we all know what happens to turkeys on Turkey Day! Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate.
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