Home improvement

It’s been a busy week around here. After 13 years of having the same faded, worn, chipped paint and crumbling siding on my house, I took the plunge (i.e., broke out the credit card) and got my house restored and painted.

It used to be dingy yellow. Now it is a very sweet shade of blue with bright white trim. It’s not quite finished yet — the trim above the upstairs window needs to be reconstructed and most of the trim still needs to be painted or given a second coat — but we’re so close! There’s a big redwood deck in back that will soon be refinished and stained, but you can’t see that in this photo.

Of course, it’s only natural that when I decided to put myself into debt for restoration on the house that other stuff would break down. Last weekend, right after the painting work began, my dishwasher gave up the ghost. It was eight years old. Unwilling to spend time doing dishes by hand, we got a new one. Another blow to the credit card. And the blinds I ordered to replace broken ones in my bedroom and in the kitchen before my Danish friends arrived— they left my house on June 27 — will finally be installed on Monday — also on credit.

Bottom line: nicer house, but bigger bills!

For the record, I don’t believe in using credit cards. But there are some times where you just get sick of finding pieces of your walls on the grass, you know? I guess I need to get writing!

In this photo, you get a glimpse of my flower garden, which brings me so much joy, in this photo. The veggie garden is off to the right behind that little wooden fence. The roses badly need to be deadheaded, but some are still in bloom. That’s butterfly bush in the foreground (purple) with hollyhocks lower right. The roses are kind of little puffs of pink around the place.

Just wanted to share the photo with you all.

Upcoming stuff —

An interview with Tina Lewis Rowe, the former U.S. Marshal who was a source for me for Breaking Point and who got a walk-on part in the book because she rocks so much.

A look at the reissue of Sweet Release and Carnal Gift, which will be available as self-published eBooks by August 1. I’ll tell you how they’re different.


Other stuff —

Those of you who haven’t joined the fun on the I-Team group page are missing out. Every day is MTM there, thanks to the fun women who share photos of super-hot men from around the universe. Click here to join.

Also, my website has been updated. There are links to the limited supply of autographed books my son Benjamin is selling through eBay, as well as some fun new foreign covers, including the Japanese release of Untamed, translated by the wonderful and gracious Kyoko Nakai.

I’m off to work on Connor’s book. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!