01/12/26 It's An Author's Life

We are all creatures of habit, aren’t we? I know I am more so in my retirement years. I have a routine every morning that sometimes hampers me from doing anything that starts at 8am. I know weekdays are when I pick up my granddaughter from school. I set aside the evenings for working on my latest book, which I am currently so far behind on. I have time set aside for household tasks (i.e., laundry, cleaning, paying the bills). Then again, there are times when I have the urge to do something that isn’t on my schedule, and I do it…If it isn’t too early in the morning. Hahaha 

The past several weeks have been dedicated to getting things in order after the holidays. After getting the Christmas tree down, packed up, and put away, I couldn’t sleep the night of January 6 (the last day of Christmas) and kept thinking about moving furniture. So, I got up a little after midnight (which was January 7) and moved the furniture around my living room. Well, it was just putting things back to their usual places. After 45 minutes, I took two ibuprofen and slept like a rock the rest of the night. 

I am so proud of my community, which can be critical of what is happening in and around town, for coming together the past week in the search for a missing 12-year-old boy. It took a little over a week to find him, but with the help of the United Cajun Navy on the last couple of days, he was located near his home on Sunday, where he was hiding. His mother and stepfather are both in jail awaiting charges. There are so many unanswered questions, but for now, he was found safe and is currently in state custody until a suitable family can be found for him. Continuing to pray for this boy as he puts his life back together with the help and love of those around him. If you are interested in learning more, you can find the story on Facebook and any news station in the Oklahoma City area.

Even though it may get into the 60s today, it’ll still be cool enough at night to keep the heat on in Quillcote. I know you are wondering who or what Quillcote is. As 2026 began, I decided to give my home a new identity that defines the household. I did a search asking if and what people named their homes. Quillcote came up, and after following the link, I decided I would also call my home by that name. The original Quillcote was the home of author Kate Douglas Wiggin in Maine. I also found out Quillcote means “home of the pen,” so I asked ChatGPT to give me a tagline and logline based on that definition. I absolutely love what it came up with, so I made this design on BookBrush:

Well, my friend, it is time for me to open the front door and welcome the day into Quillcote.

I can never thank you enough for continuing to read these snippets into my life as an author. I hope I have not bored you too much with them. 😊 After all, other people's lives are never as glamorous as we may think. 

May your ereader or bookshelf overflow with delightful books to read!

Maxine