Sunday, November 21, 2021

Quick Update: Happy Thanksgiving, Writing, and Holiday Cards

 The holidays are here!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the holidays, yet not quite ready at the same time. I managed to get the Halloween decorations down about a week after Halloween. I haven't put up any fall decorations, but I did put a Christmas wreath on the door. 

I plan to do some baking, depending upon how I feel. I get to have a broken molar removed this week. Oddly, it doesn't hurt even though about half of it is missing. The only other teeth I've ever had removed were my wisdom teeth. I don't think that's a good reference as to how I'll feel after this tooth is pulled. I'll just have to wait and see. 

I want to make sugar cookie cutouts. I haven't done that in many years. I've got color sugar and other candy sprinkles to decorate with, and I'm thinking of making a simple glaze to put on the cookies too. I'm not doing anything fancy, I just want to have some fun with them. This is the first year, I actually have enough counter space to be able to spread out the cookies. What are some of the things you're planning for the holidays.

I'm written the first draft of Phoenix, and am currently a few words short of 20,000 and I'm barely a 1/3 of the way through the outline. I rewrote the outline back in October, because the original felt story felt too rushed.

I will be sending out Holiday Cards again this year. If you would like to receive one from me, click the following link and fill out the form.

Holiday Card Sign-up

I have a new snail-mail address.

Rayne Rachels                                                                                                                                                      P.O. Box 818                                                                                                                                                        McQueeney, TX 78123

I would love to hear from you.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!



Friday, October 8, 2021

It's Been Awhile!!!

 October.

It's the start of my favorite months and holidays.

But where has the year gone?

Looking back, it's hard to believe 2021 is three-fourths gone. It's been a fast but crazy year. Here in Texas, we started the year wearing masks, and then moved to not having to wear them. Then there was the, should I get the shot, or should I not get it? Which one should I get? And then the Delta variant made an appearance. The day job is trying to suck the life out of me. There are days I swear it is a demon in disguise.

We moved into our new house and have spent the last few months trying to get things repaired or replaced that should have been fixed after we did the final walk-through. The cost of houses and lumber is ridiculous! Driving to work each day, I pass new subdivisions in various stages of development--from basic groundwork to selling finished homes. It's crazy! 

Writing has been a struggle. Write a few pages. Rip the pages into small pieces. Rinse. Repeat. I think the stress of everything was causing more havoc than I thought it was.

A deep breath later...

I have several outlines ready (not as heavily detailed as I was doing). I cleared my kanban board and reset it for the last quarter of the year, and am slowly working through my goals. I'm working toward a new book I hope to release around Christmas (This is not a set date.) I'm also slowly working my way through revision of my backlist.

I haven't put set dates on anything, and I'm not announcing what I'm writing until it's almost done. I don't want to disappoint myself or anyone else.

I am going to send out Christmas cards again this year. Sometime in November, I will post a signup form. I also have a new snail mail address.

Rayne Rachels                                                                                                                                                          PO Box 818                                                                                                                                                     McQueeney, TX 78123    

What is your favorite holiday?




Saturday, January 2, 2021

2021: A Few Goals and Plans

2021 is off to a good start. 

I'm making steady progress on PHOENIX. (YEAH!!!)

I'm working on outlines for the other books. I have a list of projects in the UPCOMING section. The series are in no specific order. I have plans for new series and new characters, but I'm also looking at the possibility of some spin-off stories for some of the series.

I have not put up any release dates. My goal is to release at least one book per quarter this year.

I'm still working the day job, so I have to work my writing around that schedule.

I plan to focus more on instagram as my social media outlet.