Dreams CAN Come True!

Today was my first local public appearance as V.J. Allison. I visited LaHave River Books in LaHave, Nova Scotia, to talk with the owner and see about getting some of my books put up for sale there. I was shaking in my sneakers but the trip down to the store was worth it, and more.

First of all, this little bookstore is amazing. It’s so cozy, warm, and inviting. It’s the type of place you want to hang out all day, reading and enjoying a coffee and a pastry from LaHave Bakery, which is next door. The scent of books in there is intoxicating, and although it’s tiny, it’s just perfect for someone to come in and hang out for hours, browsing and reading a new treasure. I hope to hang out there a little longer the next time I visit!

I had one copy of Stricken, Away to Me, and Under Your Scars with me – the only three books I have in paperback right now. The owner looked at them, and told me that romance novels have been selling well since COVID hit the province 2 years ago. 

We talked about pricing, and how hard it is to write a book, let alone get it published and then market it. She isn’t an author herself, but she is big on helping out local ones like me and others I’ve seen on her Facebook Page.

It was then that my dream of being an author reached another pinnacle. After pricing them, she put them on the Local Interest/Local Authors area. 

They are on the left here, right at eye level. Stricken is black, Away to Me is white, and Under your Scars is blue. SQUEE!!!!!!!

My books are now on sale at a local bookstore. For sale. 

My books.

Holy stinking catnip.

My dream of seeing my books on a local store's shelf, for sale, finally came true! 

I've been waiting for this moment ever since I was 9 years old, and my Grade 4 teacher at Petite Riviere Elementary School, Mrs. Hache, told me I had a knack for storytelling. It took almost 40 years, but it finally happened!

We chatted for a few more minutes before I left. Unfortunately it’s a drizzly day, so I couldn’t really get pictures of the outside, or its wharf on the LaHave River. Next time!

We also talked about a possible author signing event if my books sell fast. I’ll be shaking in the sneakers but it’s something that I am willing to do.

There are not a lot of romance books set in Nova Scotia, or a lot in Atlantic Canada. I’m trying to fill that gap, and thanks to Extasy Books, I’m able to put Nova Scotia on the map as a romantic location. Come on, we have tons of beaches, a beautiful tartan, tons of amazing places to visit, lots of history a great view of the ocean, and the highest tides in the world, for starters. What’s not to like?

A huge thank you to Tina, Jay, Angie, and everyone else at Extasy Books, for giving this old girl a chance. Love you all!

WRITING UPDATE

At 12:03 PM April 13, 2022, I typed “THE END/To Be Continued” at the end of Honestly (Feathered Tartan 3). It’s had a read-through, and is now in stasis. This past week was insane with me trying to wrap it up. Between Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, it was a 15K week. Tuesday was an 11K day on its own – thank you to my son for being an angel while I worked on it after he got home from track practice! I was so bad that I was writing this one in my sleep. I was seeing everything happening in my dreams…

Oh, I was a flipping mess. I’m so glad it’s written and out of my head. I’m able to sleep again! It does need tons of work – me and my first drafts are FILTHY – but it’s done and patiently waiting for cleanup, which I hope to do in a few weeks.

I’m now in the prelim stages of getting its sequel started, a two part story – first a short love story, then a full romance novel. It’s going to be a wild ride, but hopefully Universe helps out and lets me work.

I’m thinking the two new ones and maybe one more should wrap up the series, unless I do one I’ve been considering for a while. What it is, is between myself, my publisher and my co-conspirators.

Nova Scotia Remembers, 2 Years Later…

As we Nova Scotians mark the second anniversary of the Portapique Shootings that took place on April 18^th and 19^th, 2020 this coming week, I want everyone to remember the victims. Please say their names and remember them, even if you never met any of them.

The name of the monster who took them from their families, friends and loved ones should never be remembered. Let him fade into obscurity, and remember the lost, their families, friends and loved ones. Thank you.

Just a note to say my old school friend Sammy Oickle Lowe passed away in March, after a battle with cancer. Miss you tons, girl!

Have a great weekend everyone! I leave you with “Angel” by Nova Scotia’s own Sarah McLachclan.

Posture Perfect

Things have been so crazy here! First of all, it's March Break, and that means I'm dealing with a goofy teenager all day instead of only part of it. Hubby had a mishap and that means I've been in charge of taking care of HIS end of things like shopping and such as well as my own stuff. 

PLUS we had a nor'easter here on Tuesday, and the power went out at 7 p.m. that day... It didn't come on again until 11:20 this morning. That's over 40 hours without power, folks! 

I did get in some reading while the power was out... Two books, but this is the one I really want to show off:

SQUEE!!!

Heh. YES, it does have a LOT more than the movie did, and I am grateful for it. It explained and showed stuff that should have made the final cut. 

Overall, I think I actually liked the book better, despite it being one of Mark Hamill's best performances to date. 

ROUNDUP!

The first round of nerve blocks wore off around 2 weeks after I got them... So that meant another trip in to see my specialist, on February 14th.

Four weeks, one day later, I'm still pain free for the most part. Now I do have a sinus headache and some shooting pains associated with nerves in my face, but that is *nothing* compared to what I've gone through with the occipital neuralgia. 

I'm so darn grateful for the nerve blocks because I don't think I could have managed everything that's happened the last two weeks without some sort of relief from the neuralgia. That stuff is PAINFUL. 

In between things, I've still managed to get some work done on the first book of the "Something About" series (edits, and revisions, plus a LOT of eliminating!), plot a few things for Fourteen (companion book to another one) AND start looking for ideas for books 2 and three of the "Something About" series.

PHYSIOTHERAPY - I started on February 13th, and it's not just acupuncture as the specialist ordered. Apparently if one slouches, it pulls on the muscles that are around the C2 vertebra, where the occipital nerves exit the spinal column, which can compress the nerves and therefore aggravate the occipital neuralgia to the point where one cannot function.

So..... I'm now doing resistance training to strengthen the muscles in my back, and I am now in the middle of training myself to hold my back and neck perfectly straight when I'm sitting or standing/walking. 

It IS helping, a LOT. Or I think it is. It's kind of hard to tell when the nerve blocks are still working... LOL

In conjunction with the physiotherapy and nerve blocks/injections, I made a huge decision about something a couple of weeks ago.........

I chopped off my hair. 

(Did some of you faint?)

Seriously. It was waist length, straggly, thin, fine and FRIED from the medications I'm on as well as being dyed so many times. I used a TON of conditioner every time I washed my hair. It tangled easily, felt hot and heavy, and was driving me bananas... Despite how thin and fine it really is. 

It also made my occipital neuralgia go crazy when I pulled it back into a ponytail, because it pulled on the scalp, and therefore aggravated the nerves. Having it short makes it so much easier to get the injections, not so much hair to wade through either.

Today, I went to the salon and a good friend of ours, Susie, cut it for me. We were not sure what to do with it first - she and the other girl in there (another longtime pal of ours named Crystal) just about fainted when I said I wanted it SHORT. We talked it over for a few minutes, and settled on an angled bob. 

If anyone watched Orphan Black, look at Rachel's hair. That's an angled bob, and I loved her hairstyle. That's exactly what I have now, except mine isn't as thick as hers was.

It needs another dye job, due to the amount of roots I'm showing, but overall, it's awesome. and I love it. 

Front.

Back!

Side view!

Just for reference, here's a before photo, from last year...

Note how my ponytail is ultra thin in that one (ironically from a year ago on Saturday...)

I feel so much LIGHTER! I think I lost about a foot of hair, and about a pound or two from my head alone. It feels so much better too, no dead ends, no broken parts, no fried areas, nothing but soft, healthy and easy to maintain hair. 

I don't know if my mom saw the photos on Facebook or not, but I'm betting she's going to be shocked. I've had long hair as long as I can remember... The shortest it's been since I was a toddler was when I was 12, it was about shoulder length then. It's been longer than that for over 30 years now.

It was past time for a change. Way past it.

I'm glad I did it. No more fried hair for this little metal chick!

On a final note, a HUGE CONGRATS to my friend Maggie. YOU DID IT GIRL! (She knows what I mean!)

I leave you with my favorite song by Heart. "Alone".

The Grass Has 'Riz....

Another month has passed, and things are changing again...

It's hard to believe we are almost through yet another school year, and this time, we will be saying good bye to a very special group of people. 

Son will be graduating from elementary school this year, and going to junior high/middle school in the fall. Students at the school's complex graduate after grade five, while other feeder schools tend to go until grade six. 

Sad to say we will be saying good bye to Son's elementary school team, and one member has been on it since the beginning in 2010, his resources teacher, Mr. R. Mr. R has not been there just for Son, but for Hubby and I as well. He's been a great source of support, knowledge, and wisdom. He's been more than a teacher to Son, he's been his friend.

It's not like Son will be leaving the complex completely though. He's just moving on to the junior high building, and has already asked if he can visit his former teachers and his pals in the elementary end of the school. I think it would be good for him to do that, it would make the transition into a different building a little easier for him, even though he's already taking classes like Music over there, and eating lunch in the cafeteria.

The month of June will comprise of an orientation for parents of students entering Grades 6 and 7 - which I hope includes a tour of the Grade 6 wing in the school; as well as a Transition Meeting for me where I meet all of Son's Grade 6 teachers, the Principal, and any new members of his Mainstreaming Education Team; and his Grade 6 orientation. 

Yeah, it's going to be a wacky month. 

This weekend is Son's 12th birthday, and he's asking for Star Wars stuff. I'm so proud. *smug grin* 

With summer on the way, that means warmer weather and BUGS. We just had the peak of black fly season last weekend, the Victoria Day weekend, and as they start to go away (thank heavens), I'm seeing more mosquitoes around. Yuck all around.

But that means the flowers are blooming, and a lot of trees are in full blossom. I've been snapping photos of various trees and shrubs as spring has progressed.

I do have a new camera, well new to me at least. It was given to me by my longtime pal and corgi addict, D. It's a gorgeous camera and takes great photos, see for yourself....

The last two are of apple blossoms on a tree near Son's morning bus stop. Aren't they pretty?

I've also been capturing Miss Amber on "film", just because....

She's laying on her TARDIS blanket in the first photo, on my son's lap in the last two. Yes, her fur is really that glossy!

My exercise regime continues, even with me suffering from one hell of a chest cold (thanks to Son for giving it to me, grumble!). My pal D and I decided the bugs were too bad last week to go for our four mile trek outdoors again, so we decided to check out an indoor track at a local sports complex. 

It was awesome. I did a full five laps - which is a kilometer, one lap is about 209 meters - and she did a full seven laps, a whole mile, or 1.6 km approximately. No bugs, climate controlled, and best of all, we didn't have to cross the Fisherman's Memorial Highway (also known as Provincial Highway #103) to get to the road with the beaver dam. 

It was nice to be able to take a walk without worrying if I was going to be inhaling flies...

I've noticed a few things, like how I'm able to go for much longer without needing to rest or even getting winded... And the other day, the bus came very early. I wasn't even outside yet! I ran out of the house and to the bus stop in record time, about 300 yards from our driveway, all without breaking a sweat or getting winded. My only problem was that I'm big busted, and well, things were bouncing a lot. I think I'm going to have to invest in a proper sports bra if I ever take up jogging or running... It was NOT pretty!

I'm going to be going back to that track again, either by myself, with D and her mom, or with Son. He's been to the complex several times with the school and he loves the walk and run track. 

I've been doing a few exercises writing wise too, nothing that actually goes into a story. This is to get my mind into the mindset of writing again, as well as see how far my creativity can go. So far, it's not easy but hey, I've been sick and I'm now just starting to feel well enough to try again. 

When I'm not doing exercises for writing, I'm reading. A LOT! I've read two more books on the Kindle App for the tablets, and I'm going to get MORE when we get somewhere with Wifi, hopefully this weekend.

I also have two *new* Star Wars books, one of the "Legends" and one of the new canon books, it was released last year just before "The Force Awakens" hit theaters. I haven't finished the Legends one yet, but the other one was an immediate hook, and I finished it the day it came in the mail from Amazon. Yeah. Leave it to me to read something that quickly!

I think I'm going to get a few of the SW Legends books on Kindle, the ones I haven't read yet... Or I may just get the actual books. I haven't decided yet. 

I leave you with the newest music video from Whom Gods Destroy, the hard rock version of their country song, "God Made Days Like This for Drinkin'". Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone!