September 16, 2014

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September 16, 2014

Winters' Day In

Sit down and have a cuppa...

Writer. Knitting pattern designer. Foodie. Tea addict. Book geek. Mom of boys. Aspiring mermaid. My Secret Wish: Be your most fabulous you.

Get more encouraging and knitterly posts by following me on Instagram @TalenaWinters.

Lots of food posts lately, I know. Today, I'm celebrating a date with my honey. I can't remember the last time we were at a Starbucks together. Notable moments so far: . - young guy at Best Buy customer service saying "Yeah, I could tell you were from the country" when my husband pulled out a good-sized pocket knife to open a box - hubby saying "oh, you're one of THOSE people" when I snapped 3--yes, only 3--photos of my coffee for this post. My poor "Instagram husband," who has to put up with this annoying behavior at least once a year or so. . For real, I wouldn't want to do life without this man. This is definitely going on my "Good Things List." . #crazyinlove #hanginwithmybestie #morecoffeethanineed #thankfulforalmondmilklattes #coffee #datenight @rokclimer73

Is it healthy? Probably not. But c'mon, it's a RAINBOW BAGEL. I had to at least try it. 🌈😍 . #letsallbekidsagain #justforfun #funfood

Happiness is ... summer strawberries fresh from the garden. I'm glad to have a little something to harvest this year, even though I'm taking the year off of gardening. In fact, nearly everything in my front flower bed is edible--though I usually prefer to enjoy the pansies where they are. 🙂 . Yum! Now back to writing. . #summerstrawberries #gardeningforlazypeople #summer #garden #flowers #writerslife #amwriting

... Because you can never see enough beauty. I've loved remembering my adventure to Washington this spring with all these beautiful shots. When it comes to writing, the adventure never stops, though. On Friday, I made a major decision in my writing journey about how to move forward, and just making that decision has been a huge load off of my mind. Decisions are like that, aren't they? But beyond the relief of having decided, I feel confident that I made the right choice. So, yay! . Progress continues on "The Mermaid's Tear". Look for more info soon. And read Friday's blog post here: www.talenawinters.com/wintersdayin "Adventures in Authoring" or through the link in my bio. . Happy Monday! . #writers #writerslife #writersofig #themermaidstearnovel #bookstagram #amwriting #amreading #fantasybooks #historicalfantasy #shifter #youngadultbooks #mermaids #blog #indieauthor #indieauthorsofinstagram #indiepublishing #motivation #inspiration #seekbeauty #spreadsunshine #twinfallswa

I've had a week where I feel like I'm fighting to accomplish anything. I am INSANELY gratified by being able to check things off my list. And I've been doing that. But I've had enough emotional setbacks In Real Life that the list-checking doesn't seem to be doing the trick. . What I'd love for my list to contain? - Drink tea - Read books - Make up stuff . Well, I do get to do those things, but there are a lot of other things on the list, too. That's just part of being a self-employed person. And I DO love it. I just wish I didn't feel so overwhelmed at the moment. . I'm thinking it's time to take a day off, reassess, and decide which activities of mine need to be weeded out. The things I love doing aren't what are stressing me out. So how can I do more of that, and less of the other stuff? #thingsimthinking #beingmyownbossisawesome #butmybossisaslavedriver . Isn't this a lovely book cover? I bought this book @owlsnestbooks a few months ago when I did a signing there, and haven't been able to dive in yet. The first one in the series was so much fun, I can't wait to see where @e.c.bell takes this one. I hope I get to it this summer, after the When Words Collide conference in Calgary. Any other readers/writers out there going to the conference? . #whenwordscollide #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofig #bookstagram #amwriting #amreading #bookish #reading #tealatte #tea #ilovetea #ifteacantfixitisaseriousproblem

My friend Lara has been reading Finding Heaven and posting photos of all the "heavenly" locations she's found to snuggle up with it. It's been so fun seeing where my cover has popped up! Thanks for sharing, Lara! . @lalaboo9860 #findingheavennovel #fictionbooks #amreading #amwriting #domesticnoir #romantic #suspense #womensfiction #inspirational #survivor #abuseawareness #domesticviolence #sextrafficking #childhoodsexualabuse #healingispossible #metoo #bookstagram #bookish #summerreads

Thanks to Carrie (@poetinthepantry) for posting this great example of the heels on the Just Plain Socks pattern. Still my most popular freebie--formulaic, can easily be adjusted to any size. . I love these colours! And I love seeing my patterns on other people's needles. ❤️😀🤩 . Pattern for free at: www.talenawinters.com/just-plain-socks/ . #justplainsocks #knitstagram #amknitting #knittersofig #knittersofinstagram #knitweardesign #mysecretwishbytalena #mswbtprojects

Going through some old keepsakes this afternoon and found the first newsletter I ever made (for a school assignment). I was 10. Kinda fun to see that the basic premise of my newsletters hasn't changed--whimsy, encouragement, and inspiration. Haha. . (Grown up version now available at www.talenawinters.com/contact.) . Happy Saturday! . #inspiration #motivation #throwbacksaturday #newsletter #amwriting #amreading #writerslife #saturdayfun #seekbeauty #spreadsunshine

One of my favourite things to play with when I knit is texture. And I love stripes. When I started designing this sock pattern, I wanted to play with a shell-type pattern, and came up with this. The surprise was how the pattern twisted as it travelled, but I ended up using that idea as part of the design and came up with "Jill and the Bean Socks" (naming help from my friend Colleen.) I still love these socks. Find the pattern at: www.talenawinters.com/jill-and-the-bean-socks . #knitstagram #amknitting #knittersofig #knittersofinstagram #knitweardesign #mysecretwishbytalena #mswbtprojects #jillandthebeansocks #socks

Most of the reading I have been doing lately has been digital for author friends. But last weekend, I finished an ARC read and finally picked this up. It's been on my shelf for a year, and I'm so glad to dive in. . Y'all, it's SO good! I read it in high school (as required reading), but had forgotten most everything about it, other than that I enjoyed it and (since I had more time to read back then) pounded through it in only a few days. Now, I'm on Chapter Five, and have been reminded of two things: 1. The reference to "Boo Radley's house" in the movie Mr. Deeds came from this book. 2. The reason I see a woman combing her hair at her dresser in the moon's face most of the time instead of a "man in the moon" is because of this book. I had completely forgotten I had first seen that here. . The writing is powerful. I feel like I'm learning much more about good writing from it this time around, actually. But I'm also enjoying the story. . The only down side is that the words used to describe African Americans so far are now considered very ugly. I think this book addresses racial issues, so I'm curious to see if the narrator's vocabulary changes throughout the book. Then again, in 1960, when this book was published, some of those terms may not have had the connotations they do now, as that has been a cultural shift. . Have you ever re-read a book many years later and found little "Easter eggs" like this? Without giving me spoilers (I really don't remember anything about this book), what was your impression of how the book addresses issues of racism? . #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofig #bookstagram #amwriting #amreading #bookish #reading #harperlee #tokillamockingbird #literature #classicliterature #tea

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