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.

Thanks to that 7 books/7 days challenge, I've gotten to photograph so many books lately. It's been lovely, and I've decided I must talk about books on here more often. Why don't I? Probably limited reading time, but it wasn't always this way. I have hundreds of books I love and have read multiple times and can recommend. And the challenge showed me how many of us associate fond memories with certain books. So if I love it enough to mention it again, I know someone else will be glad I did. 🙂 . I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird this afternoon for the second time, the first being in high school, as I mentioned before. I'm still digesting, but that is definitely officially one of my favourite books of all time. I don't quite have words to talk about it yet. There is so much there. . However, now I can start on something new. And since Peter Brett is a keynote speaker at the When Words Collide conference in Calgary in a few weeks, I figured I better at least start on the series that made him famous and about which my husband and sister have raved for years before I go. It's my day off, so I'm diving in. I wonder if I can finish it before I start work again tomorrow night? (Pretty sure I'll want to.) . And if you saw my post on my personal Facebook page earlier? Reading is my favourite way to cope when I feel down in the dumps. That, and copious amounts of tea and chocolate. More on that when I blog tomorrow. . Happy Saturday! . ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofig #bookstagram #amwriting #amreading #bookish #reading @petervbrett #wardedman #whenwordscollide2018 #petervbrett #fantasybooks

It's pouring outside right now, the first good rain we've had in a while. My flowers are happy. And in a strange way, listening to the rain drip outside my open window is soothing. It's been a busy week, lots of words written and work done, and I could use a little soothing right now. (I've written 10,000 words on my Mermaid's Tear novel so far this week, and I'm not done yet. I might hit my goal of 15,000, still!) . I'm looking forward to a break this weekend, and a chance to finish "To Kill a Mockingbird". (I'm almost done! And it's been awesome!) . What are your plans this weekend, friend? . #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofig #bookstagram #amwriting #amreading #bookish #reading #flowers #tokillamockingbird #writers #themermaidstearnovel #fantasybooks #historicalfantasy #shifter #youngadultbooks #mermaids #angels

I was tagged on the 7 days/7 books challenge on Facebook this week (with the one I'm doing termed as "books that impacted your life"), which has sent me looking through my collection for books that fit the description. Of course, I've found WAY more than 7. I mean, 7? Are you kidding me? How do I pick? . Well, I did come up with a rubric, which I'll share in my blog post on Sunday, but there are WAY more than 7 books that have impacted my life. Obviously. This is one of them. My husband and I both read this early in our marriage, and it had a huge impact, not only on our relationship, but in how we understood and related to others, including our children. It's one of those ones I recommend to anyone that seems to be struggling in a relationship (that and Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend, which you've probably seen here before). . You already know I'm a book nerd. And I am SO thankful that we live in a time period when the printed word is easily accessible, and the wisdom it contains. . Have you read this book? Did you have any "aha" moments while reading it? I'd love to hear about it. . #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofig #bookstagram #amwriting #amreading #bookish #reading #readingcommunity #inspirational #relatinoships #fivelovelanguages #booksthatstaywithyou

Up until I got the one on the left today, I thought the one on the right was a bear. Now I see that it was only Mama Bear. . Whoa. . #amwriting #writerslife #writersofig #editing #amediting #cmos #chicagomanualofstyle #research #theslavetrade #historicalfantasy #youngadultbooks #themermaidstearnovel

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

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