Prickle Forrest ChroniclesApril 2020 Newsletter

PRICKLE FORREST CHRONICLES

April 2020 (Posted 04/30/2020

By Chrissy Hartmann

Spring is finally here. And even though most of America is on lockdown, Mother Nature still provides us with flowers readying to bloom, trees sprouting new leaves, and a clear path for the Easter Bunny to travel. The weather is warming up, enough to sit out on the deck and contemplate book ideas and how this year might end. There are no do overs for 2020, so push on for happier times. The coming celebration of the rebirth of Jesus Christ is a good sign, don’t fear, for this is a glorious time and we shall overcome. Keep your prayers going, wash your hands, and stay home as best you can. Remember, America is strong and shall always be America the Beautiful. Good luck to all, stay healthy, stay safe, and most of all have a blessed Easter!!!

THE TOP 5

Happy Happy Joy Joy! Easter is here! Thank you, Jesus! 💙✝️
Tax refunds! 💰💰 Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching!
Writing Book 2…SAVING WHISKEY’S SALVATION ✒️📖 Woohoo! Woohoo!
Lockdown is almost over! 🇺🇸Woohoo! Woohoo!
Jelly beans…the fruitier the better!🤍💛🧡❤️💙💜💚🤎🖤

WIP (Work In Progress):

Oh wow! So close to being done with Rescuing Whiskey’s Salvation© edits. Good thing to, cause need to resubmit to EP by June 1st. definitely think the book is worth publishing. Spent lots of time writing and editing and have enjoyed every bit of it. Need to think about a page for acknowledgments and who to include in those. The Muses of course think they only need to be acknowledged. Ha! They are good, but not that good! Well, maybe…

Hopefully the beta readers will send their comments soon so corrections or additions and even deletions can be made. In the meantime, going to work on the sequel. Not 100% sure on the title, see potential title name above, but have the outline done and five chapters written for it. Loving it!

QUERYING:

Target date to start querying for Rescuing Whiskey’ Salvation © is going to be June 2nd… but hoping to write the second book for Whiskey while we are under lockdown for the COVID-19 disaster. Ugh!

The finger tappers are working hard to write this novel and twitch with excitement with the other 50 stories rambling around in the noggin.

Going to plan plenty of time to pitch on Twitter and hopefully attend the Cleveland Writers Conference on July 11th…if it hasn’t been cancelled.

THE CRAFT

This month’s writing tip…

Check out Jami Gold’s Blog. Great advice for writing tenses.

Storytelling Verb Tenses: Past, Present, and “Literary” Past Tense <https://jamigold.com/?email_id=1574&user_id=675&urlpassed=aHR0cHM6Ly9qYW1pZ29sZC5jb20vMjAyMC8wNC9zdG9yeXRlbGxpbmctdmVyYi10ZW5zZXMtcGFzdC1wcmVzZW50LWFuZC1saXRlcmFyeS1wYXN0LXRlbnNlLw&controller=stats&action=analyse&wysija-page=1&wysijap=subscriptions>

THE HOLIDAYS:

Everyone probably woke up April 1st hoping COVID-19 was just a figment of the imagination. WRONG! Unfortunately, Ohio and other states are on lockdown until May 3rd. Looks as though the peak hit for this area, but looks like the stats were wrong. Easter was definitely behind closed doors. No big family get together this year. Learned how to use Cisco WebEx. Maybe next lockdown (Hahaha!) the family can do a virtual holiday. Hmm?

And major league baseball is postponed. If this gets over by the summer, they might still have half a season to go. Hopefully all the athletes are staying in shape. Would love to hear Hammy announce another tribe winner.

Go Tribe!

MY BOOKSHELF:

Write your story from the middle; a new approach for plotters, pantsers, and everyone in-between by James Scott Bell.
Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis
The Country Guest House; A Sullivan’s Crossing Novel by Robyn Carr
A Wild Pursuit by Eloisa James

MONTHLY FAVORITES…

SEASON: Spring!

SPORTS TEAM: The Cleveland Indians.

COLOR: Dark brown with pink and white

CAUSE: The Seeing Eye www.theseeingeye.org

SONG: Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden

FOOD: Bacon wrapped garlic peppered Brussel sprouts…Yummy!

HOT DRINK: French vanilla cappuccino…Ooo! So good!

FLOWER: Daisies and roses…better yet…both!

DID YOU KNOW…

Dexcom G6 is a fabulous continuous glucose monitor. No more finger pricks. This is almost like having the pancreas working on its own again. Provides a sense of freedom. One quick look at the iPhone app to see the blood sugars and then it’s go time. And if you want to dress your CGM up why not try an overlay patch from Expression Med? Lots of great designs. Puppy paws, flowers, flags, shamrocks, etc. Check them out with the link and get $5 off your firsts order. Love love Love them! Hopefully you’ll love them too!

http://expressionmed.refr.cc/christinabenchoff

PRICKLERS OF THE MONTH…

Tax fraud, someone stealing a family members SSN for taxes. Arghhhh!
COVID-19
Lockdown.
No Easter family dinner get together.
Stupidity…preferably from the progressive libs.

THEY SAID…

This month’s quote is by

John Grisham –

“Don’t compromise yourself, you’re all you have.”

HOMETOWN UPDATE:

All is quiet here in Woo. The kids are finishing the school year via home school until May 27th, 2020..hopefully they can go back next school year.
Wal-Mart still working on their renovations for online shiping and pickup are almost done. Supposed to be done May 1, 2020. Boy will that save a lot of time. Already learned how to use Instacart with Aldis and I love it!!! Already got my favorites folder filled to make finding stuff easier. Yeah, a good idea!
Last month Lucky Records closed, but Josh Lehman from Operation Fandom bought the record store and has reopened it using the name Blackbird Records…a takeoff of a Beatles song. Woohoo! Woohoo!
Downtown Woo is revamping the other side of the square this spring and summer. Unfortunately its near Operation Fandom, Blackbird Records, and Tulipan Hungarian Bakery. Ugh! Let’s hope it is completed before the summer is over. !

COMMENT BELOW

The Muses want to know… which do you prefer

Fruity or spicy?

Don’t get any wild ideas, we’re talking jellybeans, folks.

And which color is your favorite?

GOOSING OFF>…

Goosie & Gander

Its springtime so you know what that means, right? Bunnies, eggs, flowers, bumble bees, birds, and more flowers for them to show off. They’ll be sporting new shoes this season to match their outfits too. Rain is in the forecast this month, but never fear, they do have their own raincoats. And let’s not forget about the frogs they want to save. These are two geese well prepared. Check them out …they like to show off their duds.