This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Countdown to Publication Day for friend & writing mentor @annhiteauthor! Her new novel Going To The Water comes out two weeks from today on November 9th. "'Mama always said our lives were ghost stories - metaphors - to hide the truth behind.' And so begins the struggle Isla Weehunt - wife of wealthy chicken farmer, Scott Weehunt - encounters to keep her family buried in the past and her secrets well hidden. But plans, no matter how well thought out, have a way of taking their own paths..." I know I say this about every book Ann writes, but this is my favorite of hers to date. This mystery explores the many relationships we have in our lives: with ourselves, our partners, our families, where we live, and where we belong, with our past, and with our future. Add a dash of murder & long harbored family secrets, and you have a page turner start to finish! 5 ⭐️ Thank you again to Ann and #fireflysouthernfiction for this gifted egalley of Going To The Water! Going To...

The squirrels and birds are out in full force in the wooded area along the creek after a slow start on this bitter cold day. Blue Jays, Cardinals, Chickadees, Mourning Doves, a Pileated Woodpecker, all chattering loudly as they flit from tree to tree and dodge the squirrels chasing one another all over the place. They must feel the impending wintry weather approaching and seem to be preparing for a day of hunkering down tomorrow. The sky is hazy white with clouds, stretched thin as they slowly drag the storm behind them closer to us. Today is a day for laundry, and making a batch of soup in between trips to the washer & dryer. Maybe baking cookies. Fresh sheets & pillow cases, a pot of simmering split pea with ham, chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven with a hot cuppa tea. This way, tomorrow I will be free to sit by the windows and watch the snow fall; pick up my crochet again, an unfinished scarf I found while re-organizing my yarn shelves that I'm not determined to f...

Currently reading Wintering by Katherine May. This book kept showing up on my radar, but it wasn't until I read a piece in Country Living UK magazine by Katherine that I decided to take the plunge with Wintering. I've been taking my time with this book, reading it throughout this month. I'm actually a big fan of the winter season, and not at all of summertime. So in essence, summer is my winter. But no matter the time of year, we all go through wintering. Barely into the first few pages of this book I recommended it to two of my best friends because the Winter season is hard for them and I knew immediately this book could help. It's also giving me the permission I didn't know I needed to proudly revel in my love for Wintertime. I'll finish this evening. What are you reading today?

Happy Pub Day to Julia Kelly, The Last Garden In England is out now! "From the author of the international bestseller The Light Over London and The Whispers of War comes a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special place." This book is everything I love about historical fiction: Strong female leads, a mystery to be solved and family secrets to be discovered. I also love the interwoven time lines of Emma, Venetia and Beth throughout this garden's history. My favorite part of this story is in fact the garden, the setting for the novel, and a living, breathing character in its own right. Being a gardener myself, I'm fascinated with gardens and love reading about them, fiction & nonfiction wise! Is The Last Garden In England on your TBR list? And do yourself a favor and add her other books too! Thank you again to @simonandschuster @gallerybooks and @netgalley for this gifted e-gal...

New day. New year. No new me. There are many good intentions though. And hopes. We started off the new year right for us by property (land) hunting and dropping by the lake house to check on things! Yes, the lake has overflowed & froze much of our end of the island. No, it's not worrisome. Yes, it happens. Hasn't happened in a long time, but it can when there's a lot of rain + snow + ice melt during the season. I am never more myself than when I am here, in the mountains. Having started isolation a few days before Wed's IV, and still technically in isolation now since it's only two days post IV recoup, it felt So Good to get out of the house and outside for a while! (No contact with anyone except The Marine and no other stops so it's all good. It's lovely to be able to look at acreage without an in-person realtor via 'remote' appointments!! Had things like this only been possible for a spoonie like me before all the covid business!) When we left ...

I read Many great books this year so narrowing it down to these 9 was a bit tough. But afterwards I realized there's 3 historical fiction, 3 magical realism, and 3 popular fiction in this photo, which is a nice representation of my favorite genres within fiction. Of these I have to say, tied for my number 1 read in 2020 are: The Queen Of Paris A Novel Of CoCo Chanel by Pamela Binnings Ewen and Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman✨ Magical fiction and historical fiction are my favorites to read. What were some of your favorite reads of 2020?

My #topnine2020 for instagram surprised me: All bookish photos this year! (Usually a couple of my autumn & winter landscape photos make it into the mix - but the bay is in the background of the LFL photos so I guess that counts). Thank you to everyone for all of your love & support as always, but especially during the year that has been 2020 ❤️

Big news! I wanted to share this on 12/25, but since it was Christmas Day, I decided to hold off until now. My first published article! Well, my first since high school. And outside of a blog. 45 and a half years old - it's been A Long time coming! Check out my #5onFriday guest post for DIY MFA : Five Ways Journaling Improves Your Daily Life. (click here ) I had so much fun with this post. And it exercised my writers brain in ways it hasn't been exercised in far too long. Absolutely grateful for the opportunity! Did you happen to get a new journal this holiday season? Or do you want to pick yours up again, but you're not sure how? Whether you're new to journaling, haven't done it in a long time, or it's like second nature for you, I share "five ways your daily life will improve if you start journaling this holiday season and on" and tell you about my own journaling journey as well. I hope you'll drop by DIY MFA and give it a read! (click here )

Wintering by Katherine May keeps popping up on my radar so I'm diving in! (Only shortly after starting I've already recommended it to two friends). Yesterday I read Colm Tóibín's short story The Shortest Day which is set in Ireland on the Winter Solstice. It was the perfect atmospheric Irish tale for such an evening! What are you reading this week?

Happy Pub Day to Marybeth Mayhew Whalen. This Secret Thing is out now! In my book (pun intended 😁), Marybeth is the Queen of small town/suburban suspense & intrigue while getting to the heart of relationships, and This Secret Thing didn't disappoint! I read it in the equivalent of one sitting. Such a fun and engrossing read. 5 stars! Some favorite passages: "She was like an impersonator: She could make herself sound like her peers, but she wasn't." "Sometimes you didn't need a leash to keep you in a place, Violet thought. Sometimes you just chose to stay." ""The best thing I can hope for is that someday you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. For letting you down. For not being honest with you. For making mistakes."" Is This Secret Thing on your TBR list yet? 📚 Thank you again to Amazon Publishing for this gifted copy!

Two weeks from today, on October 1st, This Secret Thing , the new fiction book from Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, will be released by Lake Union Publishing . As the countdown to publication day quickly approaches, I thought we'd kick things off with an exclusive author interview : Welcome to The Eclectic Spoonie, Marybeth! This is my first author interview in several years, and the first on this blog; I'm honored you're here. Let me start off by saying that I could have read This Secret Thing in one sitting had life not had other plans for my time this month! Un-put-down-able. And truly my favorite of yours to date. Yes, I do say that after every one of your books, and yes, I mean it every time. (“Thank you so much for saying that!” -MMW)   While I’ve included the synopsis below (it appears after the interview), can we start off by you telling us briefly in your own words what This Secret Thing is about?   This Secret Thing is about a group of women who—at the beginning of the...

For those of y'all who don't know: I love Love LOVE yarn. A little too much at times! Especially shades of autumn orange, and pinks. So on this hazy-hot-and- humid Tuesday, I'm sharing with y'all a knitting WIP (work in progress) I returned to last week when a new crochet project just wasn't working out no matter how many times I restarted it!! I switch back & forth between knit & crochet because I enjoy both, but often I go with what's easiest on my arthritic hands. This yarn is one of my favorites. It reminds me of late Autumn, when there's still some oranges & yellows in the landscape, but they're past peak, and everything is starting to turn more brown... Are you a fellow #yarnlover?

I finished The Huntress by Kate Quinn on June 9th and this passage at the end of the book was one I couldn't not share because it is eerily, and unfortunately, timely.

Happy Pub Day to @ahoffmanwriter whose #PracticalMagic turned 25 today! (25th anniversary edition not pictured) I came to Practical Magic the movie long before Practical Magic the book. For some reason I didn't read the book until 2010 while I was recovering from a sepsis infection that nearly caused me to lose my left kidney, with a fever was so high it damaged my heart. Both ate away my muscle mass. I was a mere "hours away from dying" by the time I arrived at the ER that July 5th. (And it was my husband The Marine who saved my life that morning without a doubt). I had followup surgeries that fall. My total recovery time was a year & a half to make sure the hole in my kidney healed fully and both heart and kidney functions returned to as normal as possible. During that time, while I couldn't do anything physical except the bare minimum, I was in an emotional and mental state of shock, not to mention physical pain. The only book I read during that time was Practi...

"Roll The Stone Away is the true story that influenced the award-winning" Black Mountain Series by beloved friend and writing confidant Ann Hite. It's out in the world Tuesday 5/12. Ann's storytelling is pure magic! Ghost On Black Mountain and Where The Souls Go are my favorites from the Black Mountain books, though I've been known to recommend them all! One of my favorite memories from the #ReadSavannah event hosted by She Reads With Friends in 2016 was getting to meet Ann in person & chat with her for a while, and then there was the summer we spent working our way through The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, emailing weekly. She's (Ann) creative inspiration and creative support wrapped up in a generous, beautiful soul. I'm already deeply struck by these words from the back cover: "...they have a better understanding of what it takes to survive one's history and own it without shame." This is something I've been wrestling with since Mom...

Just ten days after the year anniversary of my brother-in-law W's passing, and just 13 days before the year anniversary of my brother-in-law V's passing, my mother passed away at home of a stroke last weekend. Despite our painfully complicated lifelong relationship, I am devastated. I love her. I always have. Often it is said about someone who's passed is that they're in a better place, and often you can see the doubt in loved ones faces. It's been awful watching my mother deteriorate, especially in these last four years; she was tired, she was ready, and so in her case, it's true. She's is in a better place; she's finally no longer suffering, and I pray she is finally at peace in the place where she wanted to be for so many years now. But while I knew in my heart this was coming, and had started to prepare, it was so completely unexpected when it happened, and to find her already gone like that... They say no one should have to outlive their own chil...

May your day be magical no matter the weather! And for a look back at a Halloween-ish article from my old blog, This Perfectly Imperfect Life, please click  here to read Late To The Party.

Happy Friday! I just finished up this magical book, The Girl Who Chased The Moon, by Sarah Addison Allen via my library and Overdrive 5 stars.  Next up is The Christmas Boutique by Jennifer Chiaverini. What are you reading during this last weekend of October?

Hello friends! Re-starting my blogging has taken longer than I expected. This year has been unlike others. Our family has experienced unimaginable loss. Inside of six months, from November of last year to May of this year, my husband lost three of his older brothers (due to three very different circumstances). In August, we traveled to Arlington National Cemetery for the full military honors funeral for my highly decorated Vietnam Veteran Navy Seal brother-in-law who passed at the end of November, just a few weeks after their first brother had died. We've all been on an emotional roller coaster these last ten months, and only now is it starting to level out for some of us. (There are still lose ends to tie up and that sets off the roller coaster again). Personally, despite the relief of having it behind us vs still looming ahead of us, I've had a much more difficult time since coming home from Arlington than I expected. It's thrown me for a loop, as the ole saying goes, bu...