It has been a really busy month for me. Sheesh! I'm just now able to get my head above the water and breathe—for now at least. I'm trying to catch up on three things while adding another four to the list. So is life. I'm just going to list what I have been doing.
Deep Waters Volume 2- Deep Waters is my baby. It is an epub only literary magazine that is for stories we get but we have no place to put. They just don't fit in the lit mags we have going, but we really like the stories. I have been working really hard on this thing to get it finished. We needed more stories, so I wrote a sequel to my short story in Deep Waters 1. So I'm published three times under my pen name. Yay! I am always amazed at the talent of my friends. So there is that....Also....in case I haven't said it before, I hate Scribus.
The Wish Book- Oh this book. This book is beautiful. We picked up another author and she had a great idea for a children's book. I agreed to be the editor and my illustrator agreed to work with me on this project. It is a very simple story that is adorable that children will absolutely love, but the artwork! So freaking beautiful. You can find the book here. If you are interested in more information about the author, please check out Heather's website here.
My Bestie- My girl, Springfield, had to have open heart surgery to replace a valve. This is her third open heart. I have been a ridiculous mess making sure she is okay. It was a rough surgery for her. It turned into a 9 ½ hour ordeal. Then she had to spend extra time in the hospital because her body was like, “wtf?? what is going on?? what the hell?” and freaked out. Once everything stabilized, she was able to go home, but she needed 24 hour supervision. Since I'm self-employed, I took the day shift. That first week was hell for us both. I was trying not to hover, on the other hand, she needed help doing simple things, especially things that involved her hands. They had her trussed up like a turkey, so her muscles took a while to actually start to work again. It broke my heart that she was in pain and there was nothing I could do other than hold her hand and tell her it would be okay. She also wasn't sleeping well because the bed and the couch did not offer her the support that she needed. She couldn't sleep on her side or her stomach, obviously, but being on her back caused a lot of pressure on her lower back and her butt. She was miserable until her grandmother bought her a brand new electric recliner. Our girlie, Fayetteville, came up late Friday night with her oldest and they took care of her over the weekend and kept the Boog entertained. When I came back this past Monday, she was a different person. She was moving around better, her color was better, she looked healthier. I took her to all her appointments. She had nurses come out to do whatever it is they do. She was able to do things herself and use her hands so much better. I just kinda had to sit there this past week unless she needed anything. I was trying so freaking hard not to hover. I mean, really hard. I am a caretaker. I always have been. That was always my role in the family. I'm the caretaker. But there came a point where I had to stand back and let her do things because she needed to, because she had to. So I didn't argue. It was difficult, but she got there. She was medically released to work from home, so my job is done. I'll still text her like crazy to check up on her. She is my family and very important to me. My life is much better with her and she needs to stay in it.
Now that I'm done being sappy, here is my biggest project.
Best Wishes by Ashley Kay
I started a business. Can you believe it?? It is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I have always loved to wrap presents and do crafty things. I'm pretty handy with a glue gun. I view present wrapping as a work of art. Last year, my buddy/boss hired me to wrap her important gifts and make them pretty. Little did I know, she was already planning on convincing me to make this an actual business. The last time we did this, I ended up as the Minion, for GFP. I have my own car now, so that made it easier for me to actually build this thing. I kept thinking about it. The more I thought about it the more I thought, why not? So I put aside the anxiety and applied for an FEIN and a state tax id and went from there. It was a bit of a process. I had to go to the courthouse and register my business name. I had to go talk to zoning to get permission to conduct business out of the house, but before I did that, I had to get an affidavit signed by the landlord stating she is giving me permission to use my office to conduct business. Then go back to zoning to pay the fee and get the certificate, the over to the other side of the county complex to get my business license so I can work in my county. Then I opened a business account at the bank and a P.O. Box since I don't want to give people my address. I'm not allowed to have employees come into the house nor am I allowed to have clients come into the house for business purposes. Not that I mind. My house is my sacred space. I'm looking at places to rent so I have a bigger office and a store front. So now all that is left is getting my website finished (which you can find here), launch my FB business page, and open the business. Ahhhh!
Abby 4- I just gave you Abby 3! Yeah, with everything going on, I'm behind on that. So much so, my illustrator poked me about it. I'm working on it.
So that is about it from me. We are fast approaching November and that means NaNo and we all know what that does to me. WRITE ALL THE WORDS!
Deep Waters Volume 2- Deep Waters is my baby. It is an epub only literary magazine that is for stories we get but we have no place to put. They just don't fit in the lit mags we have going, but we really like the stories. I have been working really hard on this thing to get it finished. We needed more stories, so I wrote a sequel to my short story in Deep Waters 1. So I'm published three times under my pen name. Yay! I am always amazed at the talent of my friends. So there is that....Also....in case I haven't said it before, I hate Scribus.
The Wish Book- Oh this book. This book is beautiful. We picked up another author and she had a great idea for a children's book. I agreed to be the editor and my illustrator agreed to work with me on this project. It is a very simple story that is adorable that children will absolutely love, but the artwork! So freaking beautiful. You can find the book here. If you are interested in more information about the author, please check out Heather's website here.
My Bestie- My girl, Springfield, had to have open heart surgery to replace a valve. This is her third open heart. I have been a ridiculous mess making sure she is okay. It was a rough surgery for her. It turned into a 9 ½ hour ordeal. Then she had to spend extra time in the hospital because her body was like, “wtf?? what is going on?? what the hell?” and freaked out. Once everything stabilized, she was able to go home, but she needed 24 hour supervision. Since I'm self-employed, I took the day shift. That first week was hell for us both. I was trying not to hover, on the other hand, she needed help doing simple things, especially things that involved her hands. They had her trussed up like a turkey, so her muscles took a while to actually start to work again. It broke my heart that she was in pain and there was nothing I could do other than hold her hand and tell her it would be okay. She also wasn't sleeping well because the bed and the couch did not offer her the support that she needed. She couldn't sleep on her side or her stomach, obviously, but being on her back caused a lot of pressure on her lower back and her butt. She was miserable until her grandmother bought her a brand new electric recliner. Our girlie, Fayetteville, came up late Friday night with her oldest and they took care of her over the weekend and kept the Boog entertained. When I came back this past Monday, she was a different person. She was moving around better, her color was better, she looked healthier. I took her to all her appointments. She had nurses come out to do whatever it is they do. She was able to do things herself and use her hands so much better. I just kinda had to sit there this past week unless she needed anything. I was trying so freaking hard not to hover. I mean, really hard. I am a caretaker. I always have been. That was always my role in the family. I'm the caretaker. But there came a point where I had to stand back and let her do things because she needed to, because she had to. So I didn't argue. It was difficult, but she got there. She was medically released to work from home, so my job is done. I'll still text her like crazy to check up on her. She is my family and very important to me. My life is much better with her and she needs to stay in it.
Now that I'm done being sappy, here is my biggest project.
Best Wishes by Ashley Kay
I started a business. Can you believe it?? It is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I have always loved to wrap presents and do crafty things. I'm pretty handy with a glue gun. I view present wrapping as a work of art. Last year, my buddy/boss hired me to wrap her important gifts and make them pretty. Little did I know, she was already planning on convincing me to make this an actual business. The last time we did this, I ended up as the Minion, for GFP. I have my own car now, so that made it easier for me to actually build this thing. I kept thinking about it. The more I thought about it the more I thought, why not? So I put aside the anxiety and applied for an FEIN and a state tax id and went from there. It was a bit of a process. I had to go to the courthouse and register my business name. I had to go talk to zoning to get permission to conduct business out of the house, but before I did that, I had to get an affidavit signed by the landlord stating she is giving me permission to use my office to conduct business. Then go back to zoning to pay the fee and get the certificate, the over to the other side of the county complex to get my business license so I can work in my county. Then I opened a business account at the bank and a P.O. Box since I don't want to give people my address. I'm not allowed to have employees come into the house nor am I allowed to have clients come into the house for business purposes. Not that I mind. My house is my sacred space. I'm looking at places to rent so I have a bigger office and a store front. So now all that is left is getting my website finished (which you can find here), launch my FB business page, and open the business. Ahhhh!
Abby 4- I just gave you Abby 3! Yeah, with everything going on, I'm behind on that. So much so, my illustrator poked me about it. I'm working on it.
So that is about it from me. We are fast approaching November and that means NaNo and we all know what that does to me. WRITE ALL THE WORDS!
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