Happy Friday, everyone!
My father-in-law makes the best no-bake cookies, and I’m guilty of eating two of them this morning. (If it has oatmeal in it, it’s breakfast, right?) We had a fun Halloween. The campground we’re staying at for the holidays hosted a trick or treat event yesterday, and Jake and I handed out candy. Then we went to his cousin’s house for their family party. It was a great night, and I ate way too much sugar. Now I’m ready for Christmas.
I get antsy to put up decorations before Thanksgiving, which Jake isn’t a fan of, so a few years before we sold our house to travel, I started an epic tradition that we now call the Turkey Tree. Really, it’s just an excuse to put up a tree early. Here’s how it works: I hogtie a turkey to the top of a Christmas tree and BAM, it becomes a Thanksgiving tree. Even while we’re mobile, it’s a part of our holiday traditions. We’re going to put ours up this weekend. It’ll be a little tree, because we don’t have a lot of space, but that’s okay. I’m going to clear a spot for it on my desk. I’ll keep you posted on how many times the cats knock it over.
In book news, Jake read Blood and Buttercups and gave it his stamp of approval. (He loved it, guys! He’s not usually a fan of my modern series, but he was enthusiastic about this one.) The book is now formatted, and I’m working on my final polishing edit before I send it off for proofing. I call this my audio edit because I use my laptop’s text-to-speech feature and listen while I read. It’s a long, tedious step, but it helps me find awkward sentences and typos.
I was hoping to be done with my edits by today, but I’m still behind. If I work through the weekend, I think I’ll be finished by Monday. Then I can shift my focus to Vampires and Violas and get that first draft finished by Thanksgiving. That’s the plan anyway.
A few things I’ve been enjoying this week:
Our Electric Fireplace: It’s been chilly and rainy this week, and it’s been so nice having a cozy little fireplace in the RV. When we were looking for our fifth-wheel, I told Jake it wasn’t necessary but would be nice (our primary heating system uses propane). And you know what? I was wrong. It is necessary. I absolutely love it, and I’m really grateful we picked an RV that had one.
Urban Camping: Sometimes you want to get away, and sometimes you want to be close to all the things. Right now, I’m really enjoying being close to stores and restaurants.
Slowcooker/Crockpot Recipes: I’ve been a little obsessed with finding creative ways to use the slow cook setting on my Instant Pot. I really like the convenience of prepping a meal early in the day so dinner is less of an event, but Jake isn’t a fan of soups and stews, so I’ve been looking for recipes that are a bit more substantial. This week, I made pork green chili for Navajo tacos, and putting it all in the Instant Pot on slow cook made life so much easier. All I had to do was prep the fry bread when we were ready to eat. (If you’d like a fry bread recipe, this is a pretty good one.)
Sales/Promos
The Vampire Hunter and the Heiress $0.99 Sale! This is the final day of the sale, so if you want the book, be sure to grab it now.
Holiday Event: Every year, I do a holiday event with lots of sales, fun, a few giveaways, and more. This year, we’ll kick it off with the release of Blood and Buttercups. I’ll have more info for you in a few weeks!
Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll talk to you again next Friday.
Wishing you the best,
Shari
Shari L. Tapscott 