Guys! HALP! How did this happen? I swear it was just barely September, I had all the time in the world-- well, the year, at least-- to wrap up ALL the 2022 projects, do some cover updates, and still sign up for a few promotional opportunities with some other authors.

The date on my computer screen says it's December 16 and...that just can't be right? Can it?

Add in a dash of extra panic for me being on the east coast this new year, which means I lost three whole hours of my deadline on top of it all!

There's just not enough caffeine in the house to get me through this.

At least the grocery delivery that's on the way will contain snacks. Snacks will help, right?

Well...first of all: Buckle up, because another Romance Bookworms download-a-thon is about to drop! And I know a ton of you guys are also on several other author mailing lists, so you'll be getting drowned in promos for that!

NOT that that's a bad thing! Right?!

And then, starting in 2023, I teamed up with a group of other authors for a year of cross promotion-- this is GREAT NEWS FOR YOU because it means I HAVE to send emails on time for a year! And since I have no intention of just sending out emails to talk about how great other authors are without also getting in a word or 500 about how great I am as well, this ought to keep me a smidge more on schedule for 2023. (crosses fingers.)

And speaking of being a smidge more on schedule: I'm working on A Promising Beginning (#15 in the Modern Match-Maker series,) I really am. But-- true to form, our characters got panicky in a way that didn't work for the story and I had to cross out a bunch of pages and start over from the middle. (face palm) And now I spend most of my allotted writing time each day pacing back and forth and asking them why they're doing this to me.

Meanwhile-- I keep checking the calendar nervously and adjusting the mental math while I run out of time to finish two other small projects that I had penciled into the calendar.

And that's just what's supposed to happen before the ball drops on New Year! Right after that, a whole new to-do list starts.

I'll tell you about it then. Right now, I have to get Hunter and Carissa squared away...WHERE ARE MY SNACKS?! (Rice Crispy treats and carrot cake, FTR.)

The BFF and I went on an adventure the other day in search of a real, live Christmas tree to brighten a corner of our temporary home here in Washington DC.

Our plan was to spend BFF's one, sunny day off hiking our clueless butts about three miles to the Whole Foods store that was selling trees.

Unfortunately, they were selling trees three weeks ago when I first arrived.

When we approached the Whole Foods, there were TWO-- count them TWO!-- trees out front. Of course, my impulse was to jump on that! But BFF said, "There are more inside, let's go across the street and enjoy a hot beverage at the coffee shop."

We sat in the coffee shop for half an hour.

Spoiler alert: There were not, in fact, "more inside."

Both the trees that had been on the sidewalk were gone daddy gone when we emerged from the coffee shop, and what BFF thought was a row of Charlie Brown trees inside near the registers, were just potted juniper bushes-- which we agreed was not a satisfactory substitute.

Another three mile walk back to the house, an opened bottle of wine, and some time on the internet and it was clear that the DC window of opportunity to procure a Christmas tree had closed.

The corner of our house remains empty.

BFF is currently back in our home court comfort zone taking care of business she couldn't reschedule, leaving me alone in DC with nothing but an overwhelming writing to-do list and my debit card-- Hence, there will be snacks arriving soon...and a small, but artificial, Christmas tree to greet Bestie when she returns early next week.

Being away from home for the holidays is harder on her than it is for me. She pretty much is my family, but she's got the hubster, grown kids, and grand-babies that she'd much rather hug in person than Facetime with from a different time zone.

With luck, you'll be hearing from me one more time before the fat man sneaks down the chimney-- if he does that in your household, that is. I promise, I've only taken two breaks to watch sappy Christmas romance movies! I'm working hard on wrapping up one more book to get under the tree in time.

~Rox