Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, Family, Fiction, food, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, writing, tagged antiques, B & B's, bad form, Baer House, Baer House Inn, broken lamp, broken things, candy, candy wrappers, complaining, etiquette, ice makers, laziness, manners, porch sitting, porches, stairs, Victorian houses on June 11, 2018| 10 Comments »
I’ve blogged before about oddball things that have happened here at the Baer House Inn. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago you learned of my weird napkin findings. And, I’ll reiterate that most guests are very polite and respectful of my house and my things. But, there are a few things that people do that are just, well in bad form. What are those things, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. (more…)
Posted in authors, awards, blogging, bucket list, drinks, driving, Family, Fiction, friends, goals, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, resolutions, success, vacation, words, writing, tagged 50 states, bucket list, games, guessing, guessing games, prize, prizes, traveling, winning on June 4, 2018| 7 Comments »
Today we’re going to play a game. I don’t know about you, but I love to play games. As in actual games with rules and prizes and stuff, not the emotional games game. I don’t play those games. Those are hurtful. But I digress. (more…)
Posted in Baer House Inn, beauty products, blogging, breakfast, drinks, Family, food, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, writing, tagged china, cloth napkins, crystal, eating, food stains, innkeeper, lipstick, lipstick stain, meals, napkin folding, napkins, pretty table, set table, stain remover, stains, table setting on May 28, 2018| 10 Comments »
Here at the Baer House Inn, I like to set a pretty table. We use china and crystal and cloth napkins for breakfast every day. We try to add special touches for special events. Something about a pretty table makes the meal seem that much better, at least in my humble opinion. (more…)
Posted in Amazon.com, Aunty Cindy, authors, blogging, books, Fiction, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, Loucinda McGary, reading, romance, short story, social media, words, writers, writing, tagged artwork, authors, book covers, book shelf, book titles, books, cover blurbs, cover design, first impression, fonts, foreboding, foreshadowing, images, judge book by its cover, mock-up, romance writers, RWA, titles on May 21, 2018| 10 Comments »
About a month ago I blogged about the importance of a good title, in relation to articles and books. A lot of that post was poking fun at embarrassing headlines from newspapers, but the point got made – how something is titled is important. Because I’m on the brink of publishing my first novel, I’m at the point where I need to start making some very important decisions about not only titles, but the items that will make or break someone’s decision to buy my book. The items that create a good first impression. The things that will make my book stand out from the rest on an already crowded shelf. (more…)
Posted in authors, blogging, dogs, drinks, Family, Fiction, friends, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, love, writing, tagged celebrations, child, childless, children, dogs, fur babies, fur baby, labrador retriever, labs, mother's day, motherless, mothers, toasts on May 14, 2018| 6 Comments »
So yesterday was a day to celebrate our mothers. We all have, or had, a mother who in so many ways changed and shaped our lives for better or worse, hopefully better. I lost my mother to cancer in 2008 and I miss her darn near every single day. My husband lost his mother in . . . em . . . 2002 I believe. So, we’re both motherless and therefore don’t “celebrate” our mothers on Mother’s Day except via clinking of glasses when we go out to eat in their honor. (more…)
Posted in authors, blogging, Disney, Disney World, Family, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, success, vacation, Walt Disney World, writers, writing, tagged atom bomb, cancer, cancer free, chem port removal, chemo, chemo ports, chemo therapy, clean bill of health, healing, hospital, life, lymph nodes, medical check ups, oncologist, outpatient, outpatient surgery, scarring, scars, surgery on May 7, 2018| 19 Comments »
Today I return to the hospital for my final outpatient surgery. What? Another surgery? Relax. Breathe. Everything’s fine. This one’s a good one. This is the one I was hoping for, the one that might not have happened for a year or more. This is the one I’ve been hoping for since last October. This one symbolizes the end of my battle with cancer. (more…)
Posted in anthology, authors, blogging, books, Fiction, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, short story, sports, success, words, writers, writing, tagged bad headlines, book blurbs, book covers, book titles, catchy titles, fun, funny headlines, humor, inappropriate headlines, internet, risque headlines, titles on April 23, 2018| 4 Comments »
Writers know how important it is to grab readers’ attention as soon as possible. A catchy opening line, an intriguing back cover blurb, even a good title is important to make that very first awesome impression. Sometimes those 3 things alone are enough to make a sale. That along with a good cover of course. I’ve been known to buy a book based on these 4 things. (more…)
Posted in April, authors, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, fingers, friends, goals, humor, Jansen Schmidt, resolutions, success, writers, writing, tagged cheer, cheering up, concentration, Cooking, energy, focused, healing, horse, just do it, manuscript, motivational, normal, positive, publishing, saddle, to do lists, Youtube on April 16, 2018| 14 Comments »
So I’m back in the saddle again. Sort of. I’m not galloping full speed ahead or anything, but I’m chugging along doing normal things. Sort of. I still get tired out but one step at a time. It’s the second Monday in a row that I haven’t had to see a medical professional, so that’s a very good thing. (more…)
Posted in April, authors, blogging, books, dancing, Family, Fiction, food, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, resolutions, roses, success, Vicksburg, writing, tagged aches, ashes, bad taste, cancer, cancer free, cancer sucks, eating, exhaustion, food, healing, IV, medicine, medicine taste, nausea, pains, tired, treatment, Wonder Woman on April 9, 2018| 8 Comments »
There’s a line from a song from the movie Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, that I love: “Up from the ashes, grow the roses of success.” That line can be applied to a lot of things. For me, right now, it applies to my rise from “sickness” to improved health. Not that I was unhealthy before, because I really wasn’t, I was just infected with a nastiness known as cancer. (more…)
