Five Things - May 1, 2023

Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

1. I can’t believe it’s May 1st! Last summer, when we came up with this crazy idea to sell everything and tour the country, we mapped out tentative plans for nearly an entire year. I wondered then if spring would feel like spring in different parts of the country, and I didn’t just mean the weather. In the springtime, I’ve always felt a sense of personal renewal as the flowers bloomed and the leaves turned green. I felt like I was coming out of hibernation right alongside the natural world, blinking at the sun, stretching my brain, and waking up. Next to fall, spring has always been my most productive time, and I definitely feel that renewed sense of energy and creativity while on the road. Hopefully, that will continue to hold true.

2. “There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” — Rachel Carson

3. A few highlights from Texas… It’s, well, big, and we’ve only seen a fraction of it this go around. We’ve spent most of our time in and around Austin, mostly because we love the city. There’s so much to do here including enjoying fantastic food, music, and of course the BATS. I love the bats. They shoot out at dusk looking for tasty snacks, and they eat between 10 and 20 thousand pounds of insects every night. Thank you, bats! Flexibility remains key as we encounter things like Texas storms. When large hail, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes were predicted, we drove about 120 miles west to keep well out of the way. The drive turned out to be beautiful. We’ve made a note to spend time in Texas wine country on our next visit. There were miles and miles of vineyards and tasting rooms, and after that, ranch land as far as we could see. The words that came to mind as we made our way through the countryside were vast and rugged. We’ll definitely be back.

4. I’m buying new cowboy boots tomorrow, because when in Texas!

5. A final reminder that I’m teaching another Zoom webinar for the ARIA Writing Academy titled ‘Editing: Soup to Nuts’ on Thursday, May 11th at 7 pm EST. A well edited manuscript can mean the difference between a book that’s ready for the world and a document that sits in a drawer collecting dust. If you’re ready to tackle your edits, check out this class. Here’s a link to the full course description and registration: ARIA Writing Academy.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Our itinerary, subject to change:

May 1-5: Austin, TX

May 5-8: San Angelo, TX

May 8-15: Carlsbad, NM

May 15-22: Albuquerque, NM

May 22-29: Santa Fe, NM

May 29 - June 2: Alamosa, CO

June 2-10: Colorado Springs, CO

June 10-18: Granby, CO

June 18 - July 5: Central City, CO

July 5-9: Vernal, UT

July 9-15: Salt Lake, UT

July 15-22: West Yellowstone, MT

July 22 - August 5: Jackson, WY

August 5-10: Rock Springs, WY

August 10-18: Hurricane, UT

August 18-27: Coachella, CA

August 27 - September 5: Temecula, CA

September 5 - October 1: Santa Barbara, CA

Monday Musings 4-4-22

It’s April already. I feel like I just wrote a post about my goals and projects for the new year, and that new year has just entered its second quarter! Spring is in the air here on the east coast. With it, for me at least, comes a feeling of renewal and a rush of energy. As we march toward the vernal equinox, the days are getting longer, the weather sunnier, and my disposition happier for sure.

I’ve written about my personal rhythms before many times, because I’ve learned that working with those rhythms helps with my professional productivity and my personal well-being. In the springtime, I try to capitalize on my increased energy and lighter mood. To that end, here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish in the second quarter of 2022…

• Dreamwalker. Good grief, it seems like I’ve been working on this manuscript forever. In actuality, editing often takes several rounds, and Dreamwalker is no different. This time, though, I’m working with an agent who sees the market potential for the book and wants to help me get it just right before we send it out on submission. We’re talking next week and hopefully we’ll be close.

• Moving Target. I’m finally far enough along in the next book in the TSI romantic suspense series, written by my alter-ego Maggie Clare, to create a publications schedule. Once the manuscript is finished, it takes a lot of time and work to produce, but the editor is lined up, I’m chatting with my amazing cover artist this week, and I’m nearly ready to set it up for pre-order. Expect this book to release on June 14th, just in time for a hot summer read!

• Book Club Babble. A few friends and I own this little gem of a website. We met years ago at a writing conference, and together launched this ‘read, write, review’ platform for book lovers. We’ve interviewed some amazing authors, read some great books, and created a ton of good content. The site is big enough now that we can really monetize our work. This quarter, I want to do my part to set that up.

• Kindle Vella. Amazon launched a serialized reading app last year called Vella. In between writing projects, I started posting a story there. It’s darker and edgier than my other Maggie romance stuff, but it’s been really fun to write. I got about half-way through though and had to turn my attention to the above mentioned stories. I plan to finish it up this quarter and see if this is a platform that works for some of my writing.

That’s a wrap-up of my spring to-do list. Personally, there are some big things happening too. First off, my oldest son is getting married this month! Yes, married! It will be a small courtroom ceremony, and they’ll celebrate with the extended family and friends once my son’s tour with the Navy is over, but still, we’re gaining a daughter-in-law, and the two of them will be officially starting their married life! Ahhhhh! So exciting. I’ll be heading to the west coast this month to witness the nuptials, and to spend time with my sister. We are overdue for some girl time and I can’t wait.

Our youngest child will also be graduating from high school this June, marking a huge milestone for us as parents. Our last kid is officially an adult! We certainly aren’t old enough for this, are we?

Anyway, spring promises to be full for me, both professionally and personally, and I’m looking forward to it. I expect that these next few months will rush by in a flurry of activity, so I’m really trying to slow my roll and appreciate each moment. Easier said than done, I know, but I’ll do my best. Wishing you all a happy spring!

“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” - Laura Ingalls Wilder

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” - Mark Twain

“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own.” - Charles Dickens

Monday Musings 3-7-22

Instead of thirty one days, March often feels like it lasts thirty one years. On the one hand, this is great, because I’m coming out of my winter hibernation mode and feeling quite productive in my work life. More time means more content produced. But March is also a turbulent month, with spring arriving in fits and starts, and that unsettled quality carries over into my mood. Like the weather, I fluctuate. Some days I’m filled with energy, and other days I have to force myself out of the house. I’m my own personal roller coaster.

When my disposition tends to waver between highs and lows, I have to use a particular set of tricks to keep my balance. Like a bear coming out of its cave into the bright sunshine after a long sleep, I feel a slight bit of disorientation in March. Certainly, I’m eager for the longer days, the warmer air, and the burst of life that comes with springtime, but I’m also trying to shed the sluggishness of winter. I don’t quite have the fortitude yet for the increased activity that comes with this time of year.

So, I have to build it back. Incrementally, I increase my weekly word count, and I plan longer days. I add a little more to my workout schedule. I take advantage of my desire to spring clean, and choose a few projects around the house. While I try to get outside regularly in the winter for a dose of vitamin D, I actually look forward to being outside in the springtime. Most of my book events occur in the spring and summer, so I begin to prep for them.

As I look to the month ahead, I try to focus on March’s potential, while at the same time easing gently into the new season.

“In March winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too.” ― Jean Hersey

Monday Musings 4-5-21

Life is messy. At the moment, it is particularly messy for my family and several friends in our close circle. But, even in the midst of the messiness, there is beauty. We can find it in the perfect note of a song, or a colorful sunrise over the water, or the softest brush of a kiss. It’s there on a warm spring morning, with the purr of a kitten, during a shared meal with friends. If we are looking, even in the midst of the messiness, we will find generosity and kindness and the strength of the human spirit.

It’s all there. If we have opened our eyes in the morning, it is all still there for us.

So, in the midst of the mess, I think we have a choice. We can choose to live mired in fear or beaten down by our challenges, or we can choose to seek out the sweetness. We can actively look for it, appreciate it, embrace it. This perspective doesn’t minimize our grief or suffering. Life will bring every one of us to our knees at some point. But, if we don’t pay attention to the beauty, even when we might rather bury our heads under the covers, the suffering is all we will see.

“Struggles are a part of life but they are not the totality of what life entails so we must remember to discover all the other ingredients that make life worth living.”

Monday Musings 3-15-21

There’s only a week left of winter, officially anyway. Here in New England, it’s that in-between time when one second it’s breezy and warm, and the next it’s snowing. Today, was frigid. I think my face froze when I filled my gas tank, but the promise of spring is in the air. The world is awakening - full of promise and new growth and sunshine.

This time last year, regardless of the actual date on the calendar, we entered what felt like a winter of the soul. Fear was already in the air. Sickness crept across the globe, and we didn’t know what that meant for ourselves, our families, or for the human race.

Here we are, almost exactly a year later, and the world is slowly opening back up. In some ways it feels like a lifetime has passed, and in other ways it feels like lost time, like we are awakening from a prolonged pause. I’m more than ready to return to many of the things I missed last year. I can’t wait to be with the people we haven’t seen, including two of my kids. I’m eager to attend book events and live conferences. I’m ready for the freedom of travel. But, I also don’t want to forget some of the unintentional lessons we learned from ‘COVID season’. We took to heart the idea of living simply. We enjoyed time with our family and friends close to home. We thought carefully about how and where we wanted to use our time and resources. We found new ways to care for each other.

In my yoga class today (yes, yoga is in the studio now, not virtually in the basement) the instructor invited us to ‘be in creation.’ While she was talking about the physical poses we were creating with our bodies, on the drive home, I thought about the phrase on a larger scale. We all have an opportunity to thoughtfully and intentionally ‘be in creation’ as we re-enter the world.

“The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.” - John Schaar

Monday Musings 4-29-19

It finally feels like spring may have sprung here on the east coast. I cheated and spent last week with my sister in Folsom, where temperatures hovered around 85 degrees with sunny, blue skies every day. We even spent Saturday boating on the lake! The difference in how I feel, both mentally and physically, when there is enough daylight versus smack in the middle of winter is enormous. I do the things in wintertime to try and stay healthy, but for all that mindfulness, it’s work. One sunny day, with a few sprouting green leaves and the smell of cut grass, does more for my mindset than all the hot chocolate, warm fires, and homemade soup combined.

When the first burst of color arrives after a long, gray winter, it might not feel quite so magical if we had it all along. Don’t get me wrong, I’m slowly spending more and more time in the warm weather, and at some point, the move will become permanent, but I fully appreciate the lively birdsong after the deep silence of winter. Sometimes wading through discomfort makes the sunny moments so much sweeter. Happy spring!