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Sigh--it seems you just can't find captioned
 images online without typos.

I hate when blog posts start out this way--double hate when I'm the one starting them this way--but...

It's been weeks since I've posted here. Truth be told, this blog has suffered sorely from my neglect for the past year. Or two. Or more? Well, whatever, it's been a long time.

I'm not making promises that I can completely resuscitate it fully yet, or ever. But I am going to start spending more time here. I need to get my face out of Facebook, and I need to get back to my roots. Writing. Art. Actually expressing myself. I know I've spent most of my time on here just sharing things like book releases and giveaways and whatnot, and keeping myself to myself. Lately it's just been hard to put myself out there. So much going on in this world, so many people angry at each other, so much division. I've become the person who only ever shows the surface stuff anymore, at least in places like this.

That needs to end. I need to open up here more. I need to stop worrying about finding marketing opportunities and start producing more. Short stories. Artwork. Novels. And blog posts.

Am I gonna keep sharing releases and such? Of course. Like my short story that just came out in Cricket Magazine:

But I'm also going to share that this came out the same week I hit an all-time low in book sales that has had me considering giving up on writing altogether. Ironic, eh? Fortunately I have a lot of writer friends who came along and lifted me up with encouragement and love.

And all of this is the same week I'm watching news reports of the severe flooding in Houston and can't keep thinking how selfish it is for me to worry about losing book sales when people are losing their homes. I also had a dear friend lost both her teenage grandsons a few weeks ago. And friends going through surgery, or suffering from chronic pain. Kinda makes small sales numbers seem rather, well, small.

Just one of the many things Beastie 1 did during his summer job.

This is also the time of year we're gearing back up and starting our homeschooling. Beastie 1 is a senior this year. Beastie 2 is starting her first year of high school. I'm only four years from the end of this journey! It seems impossible. And incredible. I'm so looking forward to the next stage, seeing the Beasties use all this knowledge and experience to start their own lives. Beastie 1 actually had his first summer job this past summer, and they want him back next year. They actually want him to keep going now, but school comes first. Still, I'm so proud of him!

Also, I'm so proud of Beastie 2 for the way she's dug into her art. Just on her own, drawing and painting away for hours, her skills have seriously improved. This is her latest drawing. (My Chemical Romance fans will recognize this face.)

Seriously, I've given her almost no instruction--she's just practicing on her own. That's something we homeschoolers often do. I wasn't homeschooled, but I think one of the reasons I chose to homeschool my kids was that I tended to teach myself, research things on my own, dig into my interests all on my own, and both my kids are the same way.

Anyway, this year is bound to be full of ups and downs, and I hope to be more focused on sharing those here. 

That's it for today, though. Baby steps, right?

PS--I do need to leave you with a couple of links. I'm part of a big Instafreebie YA/teen fantasy giveaway that you can find HERE. And I've added quite a few items to my Etsy shop, which you can get shipped for free with coupon code DRAGONS. Click HERE to go to the shop and have the coupon applied automatically.