Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Coming Home

My husband and daughter are coming home from China on Thursday. Can't wait to hear the stories. My daughter emailed me this morning and said Don has learned to suck the heads off shrimp just like any good Chinese. He's been daring. He's been a good sport.

I knew he would be.

I didn't get nearly enough done while they were gone. I had great plans. There's tonight and tomorrow for some general straightening.

But like I've said before, we do "Hello" very well.

I did okay on my own. Blew a head gasket on my pickup truck. Had to replace a cracked rim on my sedan, and two new tires. Picked up the car two days ago with a big dent in the trunk from the shop they aren't going to take responsibility for. The well went out on the 4th of July, but I got it fixed. Blue got a foxtail in his left eye and had an emergency Animal Hospital visit.

And then there was the dental implant I had completed on Monday which left me "wavythinking" until today. Drove myself to Walgreens to get my meds and scared off the line of patients with my bloody gauze in the mouth.

Along the way I've learned a few things. Adjustments. Recalculating. That's what life is all about, right?

I was on three blogs this week, plus my own twice, and a two-day six-blog tour the week before. I had a ball!

Got my book cover posters I sent to Jimmy Thomas signed by the man himself!! Yum.

Heavenly Lover  made it to the #1 spot for Fantasy Romance on Kindle for 3 days. Over 11,000 downloads taken. Yup. I got a screenshot of that one!

My new book, Accidental SEAL is doing really well, and still climbing the charts after its release on June 18th. The short, SEAL Encounter made it into the teens for part of the promotional giveaway. I made new friends, joined with other authors I'd been reading about for years. Cried on a couple people's shoulders. Got my first really crappy review. My friends directed me to some doozies authors like J.K. Rowling, Tom Clancy, Scott Turow and others have received. My soft little pink bubble is burst, and I'm alive, excited and full of energy!


Life is good. I am surrounded by miracles, when I remember to look for them. When I listen to the stories in my head, and in my heart.

What about you? How has your last week gone? I'd love to hear it. Any of it.


4TH of JULY CONTEST: LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST FROM NOW THROUGH JULY AND BE ENTERED TO WIN A NEW KINDLE FIRE ON AUGUST 1ST. You can also get 3 extra points for leaving a review on either/or Goodreads or Amazon or any other review site, and send me the link to that review. You can get 2 extra points for following this blog.
Happy reading. Happy commenting. Happy reviewing.
And thank you!
Sharon Hamilton




Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.
Accidental SEAL   SEAL Encounter    all at Amazon

26 comments:

  1. Love the photo! God Bless America!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You got that right, Melanie. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  2. What a fantastic blog site!!! and Jimmy so perfect and yes God Bless America xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hate it when life resembles Lemony Snicket, a series of unfortunate events.

    Jimmy is such a sweetheart. Lucky you!

    Something had to go right. :-)

    It's been a rough few weeks, trying to get my eating back under control and book 2 of my contemporary series written. Need to start editing book 2 of my historical. Other glitches, which I'll gladly take over your glitches. I had a summer like yours once, and would prefer to never repeat it. :-) Hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, my dear friend. You remember when I did the month of grattitude for April - because I needed to remind myself about it.

      Every once in awhile, yes, I have to go back there again.

      But the books are doing great. And that's what I'm here for, after all. So mission being accomplished!

      Delete
  4. Excellent news on the books and I love the "Recalculating" picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's definitely a keeper, LD. I think I hear that more often on my GPS than I do anything else!

      Delete
  5. Your visit to my blog was a big success and generated some good discussion. Thanks for being my guest.

    I have a nephew who is married to a woman from China. They've been to China several times. I'd love to go one day, but my wife could never be convinced. She won't even go with me to a Chinese restaurant. She thinks they serve cat meat. I don't think so in the U.S. at least.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anytime, Lee. I enjoy the varied group you have, and more than happy to shake it up a bit. Going cross genres is a healthy thing.

      My husband was a reluctant traveler, but with our daughter showing the way (you can see her posts upper right corner of this blog), he went. We couldn't afford to both go, so it was his turn. I got to do the European thing when she graduated from college. Only fair.

      I think more than anything else he's come back with a new appreciation for what we have here in the US, and in California in general. But he's already had me make an appt. with a doctor on Friday. They are both coming home sick. :(

      Delete
  6. Sharon, it sounds like your life is going just fine, recalculating as you go. Blown headgaskets, cracked rims, dents, all part of life. Gone fishing, just in case....":) Congrats on your books performances!
    As they say in the movies, "Good on 'ya " ":)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Raymond, for the praise. You know how hard it is to get things noticed when you are Indie. Perhaps I would do more writing if I would go fishing more often.

      Love the pictures on your post.

      Delete
  7. So the good with the bad, huh? Overall excellent! Except the shrimp head sucking and the foxtail.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations on the great news!

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Julia, I'm with you on the head-sucking. My daughter even sent me that picture, but I didn't use it. Didn't have the guts!

    bn100 Nice to see you here again. It's been a great week, even with all the bumps in the road. Makes for all those stories, doesn't it?

    Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm afraid I'd never be brave enough to such the head off a shrimp! *shudder*

    Congrats on the awesome #s - those are exciting! And impressive :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jemi. Yes, I'm with you on the shrimp heads, thus no pictures on that one.

      I'm thrilled with the numbers too, but as my friend, Tina Folsom says, it happens after you have 4 or 5 out there, and she's turned out to be right so far...

      Delete
  11. I can see why you didn't get everything done. You had FAR to many major interruptions. You survived, and that's saying a lot. Glad your family is coming home soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Today! They come home Today!
      Now off to get a few words in before I cut flowers and re-vaccuum.

      Delete
  12. Hurray! You must be excited to see them. Sounds like you were busy while they were gone:)
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. First time here. And WOW you did handle (and accomplish)so much and so well. You should be very proud.

    Sorry about your negative review (no I didn't do it) :). So many times in life and in writing, if I have a 100 great reviews on something and 1 negative, I focus on the one negative. And why would I do that?

    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to have you here, Teresa. I completely understand. Funny how that happens with the reviews. But, as was recommended, I look at other authors making 100 times more than I am, and they get them too. I mean, really bad ones!! I remember Anne Rice told me about a rejection letter she got from someone who said she just flat out would never be a writer. LOL. Kinda makes you want to prove them wrong.

      Sounds like you have a healthy perspective on things, and something I should emulate!

      Delete
  14. Nutschell,
    I am so excited to see these books take off. Yes, I must admit, having a darkened, vacant house to work in helps in some ways. But the dogs are definitely happier now!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations! I'm envious!

    I hope to be able to talk with Don and Jaime about China, too. I'm planning on going in October. I'll be spending a couple weeks in the south east (hope to find some way to spend more time over the next few years).

    Jim March

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim, sorry not to have commented earlier. I try to do it same day...I appreciate your words and your encouragement. We all just do the best we can, and I love that I can make a little by doing what I love.

      Don and Jaime and I would love to tell you about China (well, Don and Jaime would) anytime. They are planning to go back some time this winter or next Spring. They'd help you decide where to go, in case your plans are still flexible.

      Nice to see you here. Come back again and visit.

      Delete