Summer Shenanigans

Big things are happening in the land of Shea! Alaska is doing the usual weather dance, a few days of intense sun followed by days of clouds and rain. The balance keeps us on our toes, one day cool, one day too hot. We work like mad on the sunny days and rest up on the cloudy ones.

What I hope will be my new backyard soon! Note that gorgeous blue sky!
Alaskan summer at its very best.

To this end, I'm beginning the long process of packing. Yes, the McMaster (O'Reilly) family is moving! After seven years renting a fairly nice house we're moving on up to a house with a bigger garage for my woodworker spouse. There are many bonuses to this move, although it will be some time before we can upgrade the hand-me-down / garage sale bargain furniture we've collected in recent years. We're looking forward to more space, quieter neighborhood, big kitchen, cozy writing room, decadent tub in the master bath, to name a few benefits!

We're excited and can hardly wait for the closing which is scheduled for later next month. Fingers crossed nothing trips that up!

In the meantime, I'm participating in the Summer Reading Trail organized by Voirey Linger. So many good books to peruse! This month, for a few more days, read the first chapter of Rachel Dahlrumple. Next month, read the first chapter of Six Foot Hero, which is winding down its contract with Lyrical Press. Be sure to grab a copy while it's on sale for 99 cents!

How's your summer going? Anything extra exciting happening?

Spring Sprucing

For the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, summer is underway. Here in Alaska, aka the Frozen North, we're just now blasting through spring and moving fast into summer. The last two weeks have seen barren trees and bushes suddenly exploding with pretty new green leaves that look wonderful against the bright blue sky.

It's been a tough year so far. Seems like every other week I've come down with the latest cold/crud. Last week was no exception. But I'm fighting back! Yes, I'm throwing open the windows and letting fresh air blow through the house. Clearing out winter's cobwebs. Revitalizing my mind and my life. Summer is short, so it's time to dig in and get to enjoying it.

Part of summer fun is reading. I have a huge stack of books that's been growing on my side table and on my various forms of ereaders. I'm very much looking forward to time to kick back with a cold drink on my warm balcony and reading my way through the long, long summer evenings. Just less than a month to Summer Solstice, ya know.

And since I know many folks are also stocking up on summer reading, I'd like to direct your attention the right hand side-bar (right at the very top) where there are a few extra pages to this blog. First up is a Featured Read, the entire chapter one of Rachel Dahlrumple. In a few weeks I'll change this out for the other two books with pages, Six Foot Hero, and Borealis II: A Space Anthology. In the anthology, my contribution is Bleu Lies, a furturistic romp on an aging space station where deceit and desire wreak havoc with the station commander's organized life.

If you still need more suggestions, be sure to stop by The Morgan Diaries where you'll find excerpts and information on books by J. Morgan (Jmo) and my alter-ego, Morgan Q. O'Reilly (MorganO).

I'd love to hear what's on your TBR pile for the summer. What are you in the mood for? What's a favorite summer time activity? I'm all ears, so dish!

Shea
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