Life as of Now — 02.25.20

Instead of doing monthly recaps this year, I'm going to try doing this type of post every 6-8 weeks, sharing some random recent life stuff. *throws up a peace sign* we'll see how it goes. 

• Discovered that I've been saying the words chagrin and chasm wrong for my entire life. Like, WHAT. I heard them both on a TV show, a day or two apart, and I was honestly in denial for awhile. My life is in shambles. I've lived a lie for years. Such deception. What even is truth? (slightly kidding...maybe...)

• Bought too many books... Seriously, though, does anyone else use BookOutlet? Because I ADORE that site, y'all. It's my newest Achilles Heel.

• Appreciating this post by the epic Angela Watts. <33  And this post by...another Faith. ;)

• Reading loads of good books. Like, nearly twenty reads docked so far this year? Love it. I haven't read so much so quickly in over a year. It'll probably plummet soon, but for now, I'm on a roll, m'dudes.

• Ventured off to the big city of Atlanta for a work thing. *finger guns*

• Adoring Midway... Honestly, y'all, this movie. It's incredible. When my bestie came to see me last fall, we saw it twice in theaters. And I've watched it again since then. It's so so good. My new favorite film. It makes me want to rewrite War Tears, so that's definitely a good thing. 10/10

lemme just slip this hunk in here... *coughcough*

• Binge-watching Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. And then rewatching favorites. This show is so underrated, you guys. There's epic camaraderie, cases to solve, cute dudes, and sign language/deaf culture references. Was this show meant for me or what? I LOVE IT. Crash and Sparky are my dudes. <3333

• Drinking coffee. Always. Nothing new there, though.

• To celebrate my being close to hitting 15k in Chasing a Dream (asjehkflpc !!), here's a snippet for you homies.

At this point, I'm not even sure this chick really knows Leah. She's probably an imposter who has my girl gagged in the back room.  

I finish my note to Leah, trying to ignore how aggravating the horrible red pencil is, fold the paper in half, and place the pencil on top of it. "Thank you, ma'am," I call across my shoulder on the way out the door.  

"Anytime."  

As I walk to the truck, I shoot a quick text to Leah. : Your roommate is a fruitcake. 

how's your 2020 going? 

Always at Work + Sweet Nineteen || July Recap

 

Yes, this is late again. Yes, I'm aware. As with last month's, I almost just skipped, but I didn't want to break a trend. But at the same time... there's not much to report, as I was basically at work all month. xD 

|| House-Sitting

• I was house-sitting for about five days this month, making a little extra money. And having an entire house to myself (except for the puppy dogs) for a few days, mwahahahaha. So I basically ate junk food and watched Hallmark every night. :P

stinkin' adorable baby

|| Sweet Nineteen

• So, I turned 19. Which is kinda freaky. And also kinda scary. Because I now have less than a year of teenager-ism left?? and then I'll probably have to be a real adult or something????

tired birthday selfie. just cuz.

A dear sweet friend (you know who you are <3) made these darling wood-burned signs for me, with the titles of all of my published or about-to-be-published books. Aren't they amazing? I adore them so much! 

looking into the future like... "lots of clouds...but it's pretty so"

|| Independence Day

• So, the 4th of July happened. We were supposed to dress in red, white, and blue for work that weekend, so I pulled out my very patriotic and very adorable, thanks for noticing sandals. And blared patriotic country over the speakers at work. (You're welcome, customers.) 

Yet again, I really don't know what to put in this section. I read some here and there, but only finished one book—The US Marine Corps by Rebecca Rowell. I did buy a few books—The Reinvention of Skylar Holt series by Stephanie Morrill. It was a birthday sale or something, so I went ahead and snagged all three books, even though I haven't even tried Mrs. Morrill's writing yet—except in Go Teen Writers, which I adore.

So yep.

|| Freedom Update 

Writing wise, Freedom is really all that got my attention during the month of July. Like, at all. Since my editor finished the last week of June, I started working through and applying her edits to the book in my free time. I should be finished with this final edit in the next day or two!

25 days until release!

|| Snippet

I’m suffocating, dying the slow, defeated death of a prisoner. Freedom…  

There’s only one way out.  

A war surges through my mind.  

A war between giving up and getting help. A battle between getting out and waiting until I can think clearly. A fight between doing what my broken mind wants or sticking to what I know is right.  

I grip the top of the dresser with a shaky hand as my head spins, threatening to send me to the floor.  

I can’t, I can’t… 

|| Favorite Posts

Showers of Blessing >> Only in You, Lord

Kaitlyn Krispense, Author >> Beloved + Freedom: Blog Tour Signups

RebekahAshleigh >> Exciting News

|| My Posts

|| July Goals

• Because I posted the June recap soooo late (later than this one, actually), I didn't state any July goals.

|| August Goals

• Finish the final edit of Freedom.

• Send Freedom to the formatter.

• Prep for the 13 Reasons Why blog tour.

• Answer all blog tour author interview questions.

• Pre-write over half the blog tour posts.

• Order a proof copy of Freedom.

• Finalize paperback preorders of Freedom.

• Anything and everything Freedom. xD

• Probably 74 other things I'm forgetting.

• Sleep occasionally.

how goes it, my peeps?! anyone else out there just trying to keep up? *raises hand*

Pathetic Jokes + Failed Camp || April Recap

Good news!

I'm not dead. You were expecting better news than that, weren't you? Not only am I finally arriving with this post, but I'm here to announce some super exciting things. So stick around, eh? :D

|| Work Schedule 

• A major happening of the month was the official opening of the general store where I work. Today marks 30 days of being open for business, and our grand opening is in two weeks!

• Similar to last month, I took approximately 59,742,658 tired selfies. Which makes sense, since I'm always tired and chugging coffee. Faith needs to admit she isn't invincible. Faith is stubborn. Faith doesn't learn lessons easily.

Note the pile of clothes in the floor, the unmade bed, and the stack of textbooks...

• I usually work the morning shift (6:45 to 4:00, or there abouts), which means earrlllyyy mornings. Well, early for the night owl that—in a perfect world—would go to bed at 2:00am. and get up at 10:00. 

Note the time at which I was setting alarms... xD 

|| Randomness

• The little bro was telling jokes that he didn't know the punch line to... 

Bro: Hey sis. What did the farmer do when his tractor got stolen?
Me: uhhh...track it?
Bro: I don't know, maybe.
Me: Wait, you don't know?!

• Our church youth group produced an Easter skit, which meant many nights of practice. Plenty of soda/cookie breaks. And some corny tag-line puns finding their way to the white board.

• Some precious friends (a fellow family in ministry) visited for a few days. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because I was in the midst of swapping phones while they were here so I took, like, zero. But hanging out with them was so nice. <3

• I created a group text chat between myself and the other three members of my immediate family. With everyone going in different directions, it seemed like a good idea to keep up with everyone. Right? Not exactly. Day One, it resulted in Mom and Tucker talking about random things and exploding my phone while I was at work, and Dad jokingly asking to be removed from the chat AND from the family.

Regardless, #PottsFamSpam is thriving. (Yes, I'm very proud of the name.)

|| Reading

Since I only read TWO books this month, I'm not going to bother with best/worst book sections. xD I hardly have time for reading these days, although I should be able to fit some more in now that I'm finished with school sh'tuff and getting into the rhythm of working full-time.

I did buy a few books this month though, so that was fun! Between an Amazon preorder that arrived (Sweet on You by Becky Wade), an on-a-whim buy from the library's sale shelf (Behold the Man by Bodie Thoene), and a book I bought when an online friend was getting rid of some books (Shaken by Kariss Lynch), I came out with a nice little threesome. :D

Total Reads: 2

|| Update

A quick update...about an update. A major announcement is coming to the blog TOMORROW about my upcoming release! 

The secret has been out among my newsletter subscribers since the beginning of the month, and if you're an avid Goodreads-er, you've probably already figured out the gist of it. But either way, there's more to be known. So check back tomorrow! 

I'm soooo excited to talk to y'all about this. *literally bouncing*

|| Camp NaNo

So, um, I kinda failed Camp? But I'm kinda okay with that? The beginning of the month was slightly crazy while I came home every evening to work on assignments, schedule blog posts, reply to emails, and write until I literally fell asleep at the desk. Just wasn't working out.

But, ya know, it's okay. I don't have time to speed-write The Project right now—as much as I would like to—because I'm working through some edits and my writing time is already limited. But I'm plugging away, and it'll happen when it happens.

I don't know exactly what I wrote as far as word counts go, but it was less than my lowered goal of 10k, sooo... *wince* But see... I'd said that I would talk about the project in this post, adding the little clause of "if" I completed/almost completed it. Which I didn't do.

But, I'm unveiling it anyway. Because y'all deserve better than being lied to. And I need to share my baby to the world. So read on for that.

|| Chasing a Dream

Sooo...here it is. Chasing a Dream. My precious, precious baby. This little darling that's got a large chunk of my heart wrapped around it's finger.

It's rodeos and cowboy boots. Horses and dirty pickups. Bonfires and American flags. Injuries and phone calls home. Windblown hair and shy smiles. Finding yourself and chasing your dreams and falling in love.

*happy sigh*

Oh, and speaking of secrets... Other than being kept under wraps altogether for a time, this book has a special secret. It's related to another book I've already written and published. Yup, the main guy of the story is Drew, Ryder's older brother, from Dandelion Dust. Drew-fans, you're finally going to get your story! Chasing a Dream is set 4-5 years before DD, offering lots of backstory on the Traven family as well as some lovely Drew-secrets.

Ahh, I'd love to sit here all day and chat, but regardless, I have #thingstodo. So just because y'all are amazing, I'm going to leave y'all with the far-from-final synopsis, a inspiration collage, and not one but THREE snippets. Feel special, darling people. <3

All he had ever known faded into the rearview as Drew Traven drove away from the family ranch to follow his dream of being in competitive rodeos. He had plans—plans that involved riding bulls for a season and no longer. Then he’d return to the land where he was raised and settle down. Ranching was his heritage, his future. 

But first he had a dream to chase. 

He didn’t scheme to get chosen to travel with the cooperation. He didn’t plan to extend his contract. And he certainly didn’t intend to fall for the judge’s blue-eyed, barrel-racing daughter. 

His dreams took him farther than he’d planned to go. But just how long can you chase a dream before you get bucked off?

|| Snippet

I lift my sin-stained heart with dirt-stained hands. Holding my all up to the God of Heaven, with Whom no stain remains. 

“It is well… Whatever you want, God. I’ll follow You. I’ll chase You first.” 

 *

"That boy's in love with you, Leah. You can see it in his eyes.”

“I know.”

The gate flies open. The crowd cheers when the buzzer rings before he's bucked. 

“He's set on leaving when the season ends.”

Tears prick the back of my eyes as Drew flashes a smile my way from the arena floor. “I know.” 

“You may never see him again, honey.” 

“I know…”

 *

“Ah, c’mon, Lee. You know you won’t sleep easy until you check on your guy.” 

“He’s not my guy, honeybunch.” 

“Whatever. Just shoot him a text and be done with it.” 

I glance down at my phone, tuning out my well-intended roomie. Call or text? Obviously, calling Drew would be the logical adult choice. I pace from the window to the couch and back again, phone in hand. “So… call or text?”

“Oh, yes, call!” This child is literally bouncing up and down on the futon, hands clutching her heart like some starstruck moron. “Maybe he won’t answer and you can leave a msg. Just like Austin!” 

My heart skips a beat. “Austin?” The rodeo was in Austin the night Drew nearly got himself killed… 

“You know, the Shelton song. Girl calls guy and leaves a message on his machine?” Willow shakes her head. “Whatever. You’re not even listening. Just call the dude already.” 

|| Favorite Posts

Belrose Cottage >> Nor No Man Ever Loved

One Name >> Let Me See Your Glory

Lit Aflame || 7 UNSTOPPABLE Ways to Portray God’s Greatness in Your Novel

Chautona Having >> When a Christian Doesn't Look Like One

|| My Posts

|| April Goals 

• Write a book.       *shakes head at overly-optimistic past self*

• Blog 4 times.           *coughing*

• Read 3 books.          *louder coughing*

• Announce 3 super awesome writerly things.     Two out of three isn't bad.

• Don't die.      *insert picture of Faith passed out in the floor*

|| May Goals

• Write something.

• Get Freedom ready to go to my editor.

• Blog weekly.

• Read 3 books.

• Resume staying alive.

how was your april? did you do camp? ready for SUMMER?!

A New Routine + Secret WIP || March Recap

I'm not even going to waste time expounding on just how quick March flew by—other than to say it's went by even faster than the past two months of the year. So, like, by the end of the week I'll probably be thirty years old or something.

(Also, yes, I'm aware this post is embarrassingly late. Read on for a flimsy excuse.)

|| New Routine

• So, my routine got tossed up a bit this month—meaning, it went right out the window. I've been working 30-35 hours a week, which—on top of ASL homework, blogging, writing, and communicating with other human beings once in awhile—doesn't allow much time for anything other than food and the occasional snooze. So figuring out how to juggle has been a, uh, learning curve. ;)

• For the next two weeks, I'm on the schedule at work for 40+ hours/week. So this is probably the story of how I died. Or how I actually made some decent money. Ya know, one or the other. *clueless shrug*

• Looking back though my phone...apparently I was tired a lot? In all the selfies (I never realized I took so many blurry shots of my face, yikes) I look like I'm half dead... But my guy is adorable, so it's fine. <3

|| Craziness

• March had lots of crazy days. Like the days where you find yourself falling asleep at your desk because you've hardly slept all week.

• Speaking of which, I graduated to a new kind of crazy this month. This realization struck me when I found myself drinking coffee in the shower at 10:30 pm...

• Not knowing what day it is. Since my off days are sporadic, unless it's Sunday, I'm always going "wait, what day is it?" (I think I need help. Go to www.faithneedscounseling.com to donate to my therapy fund.)

• (OKAY, FINE, I'M KIDDING. Not even sure I can apologize for the sarcasm at this point.)

|| Random

• My fam went to a rodeo one weekend in celebration of the bro's birthday. So that was pretty cool. ;D  And a good reason to dress like an honorary Traven, ahaha.

• I felt like I was literally always looking for a pen...? One night, while pilfering through my bookbag for one, I shouted into the next room, "that's probably what they'll put on my tombstone, ya know? 'She never found the pen.' " No one laughed as hard as I did.


• More conversations with my clan of crazies. (You're welcome.)

      Granny: *giving Mom some dishes* When Faith ever wifes out, you can split some of that stuff with her
      Me: *splutters* uh, wife out?!

      Fam: talking about steps in old house and how to make then not as slick
      Dad: our steps aren't slick. ...are they?
      Mom: Faith fell down them. Like, all the way from the top
      Dad: oh yeah
      Mom: I fell down them when they were still carpet
      Dad: I fell up them...


• Spring is coming! Maybe...? I think? I hope...? Let's just pretend it is. I'm so ready for summer.

• My little bro turned SIXTEEN and I just... I just can't even... *sobs*

• My friend, Bethany (of A Great God and Good Cocoa fame) shared with me a video that she and her sister filmed and put together. I know they'd greatly appreciate it if you took a minute to watch their video and perhaps subscribed to their channel!

|| Best Read

Just Sayin' by Dandi Daley Mackall was FANTABULOUS. The kids, the dogs, the snark, the grandma, the match-making, the epistolary style... *happy sigh* Adored it to pieces. I'd got this book for free from Tyndale Rewards Program because it looked cute and I was far from disappointed!

(Psst! If you sign up for the Reader Rewards program using this link, you'll get extra points and so will I. Free books all around, am I right? :D)

|| Worst Read

The American Sign Language Phrase Book by Lou Fant, I suppose? It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't astounding either. And, I mean, given the measly amount of books I read, I don't have much to pick from here. :P

Total Reads: 3

|| Update

I'm still writing and it's SUCH a beautiful thing, y'all. (The fact that I'm writing, I mean. What I'm writing isn't exactly beautiful. It needs help. It all needs help. Shucks, the writer needs help—what do you expect?)

I did more short story work during the month of March as well as some plotting because... Well, you see...

I'm writing a new book.

Yes, you read that right. And, yes, I felt the bold font was necessary. I had this idea dumped in my lap mid-month and just couldn't escape it, so I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to do Camp NaNo this April (previously, I'd planned to skip and/or edit) and just write the darn thing.

So here I am, the girl that has a zillion other things she should be doing, drafting a sixth book. And I am SO darn hyped over this pathetic little bundle of words, y'all. I could ramble all day about it... except, not.

You see, I've decided that I ain't spilling details. None. Zero. Zilch. (If you're in my Cabin, you're hereby sworn to secrecy, 'k?) If I finish—or nearly finish—the WIP during Camp NaNo, I'll divulge all my deep dark secrets in April's recap. But if the plot fails and the storyline totally falls apart and I burn my notes in a fit of rage... Well, let's just hope it doesn't come down to that, aye?

|| Snippet

The fire had burned low, now only a heap of smoldering coals that emitted just enough of a glow to outline his brother’s tall form as he loaded a rifle on the far side of the room.  

“What do you think you’re doing?”  

The rancher whirled toward the voice, cartridges scattering across the carpet. “Blasted… I thought you went to bed.”  

“I asked what you’re doing.”  

Running his hand through his damp hair and still growling, he reached for the rifle. “I don’t know yet, but it's about time somebody did something.” 

|| Favorite Posts

More Precious than Gold >> I Need God

The Peculiar Messenger >> Most Anticipated Reads of 2019

twilight to dawn >> it's part of the journey

Alyssa N. >> 19 Life Lessons I've Learned in 19 Years

Allison's Well >> How to Survive Camp NaNo

|| My Posts

|| March Goals

• Read 8 books.       Nope.

• Finish a short story.       Nope...

• Blog weekly.       Uh, barely not...?

• Review 3 books.      *just cries*

|| April Goals 

• Write a book.  (Whew, it's gonna be lit.)

• Blog 4 times.   (*fingers crossed*)

• Read 3 books.    (Puhleeaasseeee....) 

• Announce 3 super awesome writerly things.   (All are wickedly awesome. Not that I'm biased. And none are the new WIP.) 

• Don't die.   (Ya know. Just thought I'd add this just in case.) 

so how was your month, lovely human? are you doing something crazy in April—like writing a book or climbing Mt. Everest or fighting grizzlies or jumping out of a plane?