May In a Nutshell

Hey howdy hey, my people!  How did the Merry Month of May treat you?

I went through most of May looking something like this –

But I survived – so that’s always fun. 🙂

But I woke up this morning not just to discover that I survived May, but that it’s now JUNE.  CAN WE HAVE A COLLECTIVE SCREAM (or at least a shudder) over the fact that it’s JUNE????  As in, half-way through 2019????

*sighs*  Oh well.  Nothing we can do about it.  Might be a project to hand off to some mad scientist for hire on Fiverr.

Anyway, onto the Nutshell!

– WATCHED –

Mary Poppins Returns

I watched this with my big brother, and it definitely did not live up to all the hype for either of us.  The music, overall did a fair job of imitating the original Mary Poppins music (except for the sometimes inappropriate The Cover Is Not The Book and the nightmarish Turning Turtle (what the heck was that about??  Are you trying to traumatize people?) but the often pitchy singing certainly can’t be compared to the original.  They can’t dance (or choreograph a dance) anymore, either.  Let’s not compare the awkward jumping and gyrating of Trip A Little Light Fantastic with THIS.

Modern filmmakers have really lost the knack in how to make a proper musical, and the blend between music and story felt unnatural. The scenario was cute – but, honestly, a tad cliche, and I felt that most of the story lines weren’t developed as well as they could have been.

I liked the setting, I like the concept of magical nannies . . .  Some of the actors weren’t bad and couple of the songs were wonderful (I loved The Place Where The Lost Things Go and The Lovely London Sky) but it just wasn’t there for me.

My favorite parts were definitely Dick Van Dyck’s and Angela Lansbury’s cameos.  They are talented, wonderful, and magical as always – true class acts.

Sorry gang, I know a lot of my friends loved it, and I can appreciate that, I just . . . didn’t.

If social media really wants us to stop “hating” (i.e. comparing the old to the new and realizing the old is better) the Disney live-action movies – well, there’s one good way to stop us!  Start making original movies again that can’t be compared to anything!

Diagnosis Murder

Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyck) has a knack for getting into trouble, negotiating the twists and turns of mysteries and solving crimes with the help of his son, Steve (Barry Van Dyck), a homicide detective.

Speaking of Dick Van Dyke!

This unique murder mystery show starts Dick Van Dyke and his son, Barry, as a father and son duo who team up to nail criminals.

Dick Van Dyck, as always, is gold, and his non-invasive, good-humored gentlemanliness are not only believable as a doctor, but perfect as a amateur detective.

Barry is not as good an actor as his father, but the father and son angle was still cute. Fortunately, the rest of the cast more than makes up for anything Barry Van Dyck was lacking. We have the classy and always relatable Amanda Bentley, the tough but funny ex-street guy, Jack Stewart, the neurotic Norman Briggs, and the down-to-earth, sassy Delores.  The cast dynamic is SPOT ON.

In yet another interesting twist, some of the stories are more about “WHYdunnit” since we often know who the guilty party is early-on, it just remains for the cast to prove it by intriguing (and often hilarious) means.

– READ –

I read 18 books in May and I’m only a few books away from hitting my reading goal for 2019!

And one of the books I read this month was a five star rating!  *gasps*  I haven’t had one of those since March!

Can you guess which one of these received a five star rating from yours truly?

– WRITING –

Most of you probably saw this already, but I’m going to mention it again because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want here.  My author website is new and updated and all of the designs were completed in May!  You can check it out in all it’s glory RIGHT HERE.

Now, as for FICTION.

*crickets*

I think I wrote somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 words this month?  *gulps*

The good news is, some of those words were for a piece of flash fiction that I submitted to a magazine!

True twist of irony, I have trouble getting a measly 5,000 in a month, and then in the piece of flash fiction I wrote, I had to CUT 400 words.

Now . . . all I have to do is wait for the editors to respond about my submission.  Hmm, this scenario is becoming very familiar.

I also submitted one of my blog posts about chronic pain to Guideposts!  I’m not sure if it’s quite what they’re looking for, but we’ll see.  *crosses fingers*

Annnd, on the other end of submitting.  I heard back from the magazine that I submitted a short story to back in February!

The good news is, my fear that I submitted it incorrectly and was deposited in their spam filter was unfounded.  The not so great news is that the story wasn’t accepted.  However, they did include a note letting me know that The Queen’s Cure made it to the second round of judging and that “not many stories submitted to them made it that far.”  The court is still out on whether that’s encouraging or salt to the wound.

Anyway, almost immediately, I started reformatting the story to resubmit it to a different magazine this June.  *shakes fist in determination*  The submission battle continues!

I’ve also been working on an author newsletter, which, I know, I am dreadfully behind in sending out.  *hides in shame*  But since I’m so behind, I’ve recruited BURNDEE to write next month’s newsletter.  He’s quite cranky about it and I’m not sure what the joker is going to tell you, but I’ve briefed him on all the news, so you should at least get that.

I know you don’t want to miss out on reading Burndee’s take on my writing news.  So if you haven’t already subscribed to my newsletter, you can do it right here!

And speaking of newsletters – 

MY AUTHOR WEBSITE: UPDATE.

Most of you already saw that I have a UPDATED AUTHOR SITE, but I’m just going to leave this here again, in case you missed it.  🙂

BY THE WAY, a few of you mentioned to me that you were having trouble subscribing to my newsletter and blog.  First of all I want to APOLOGIZE.  I’m so sorry it’s being difficult!

The link above should allow you to easily sign up to my author newsletter.

And here is a screen shot of where you need to subscribe if you are interested in following my author blog.

I hate to ask you to spend a moment more fiddling with it, but if one of you who was interested in subscribing to the newsletter and blog could try this again and let me know if it’s working I’d be SO, SO GRATEFUL!

It seems to be working for me, but it will be your feedback that will let me know whether I need to contact my designer and ask for an emergency fix or not.

The Unnamed Project

I’m always working on a top secret writing related project – ahem – WITH MY TWO SISTERS.  Lord willing, HOPEFULLY, I will be revealing more about it in the next couple of weeks.  I don’t QUITE feel that I’m ready for this massive undertaking but, oh my goodness, I’m so excited about it.  I wish I could say more, to sort of try it on you for size, but it has to remain quite just a bit longer.

– LIFE MOMENTS –

The Kentucky Derby.

*STONY SILENCE*

I baked Derby cupcakes, we took in Chinese food, we turned it into a party, AND LOOK WHAT THEY DID.  *seething with outrage*

The Preakness

This wasn’t quite as enjoyable as it could have been because of the shadow cast by the Kentucky Derby Fix, however it WAS hilarious to see a horse running the race without a rider.  Don’t misunderstand me, I was greatly relieved to here that the jockey was not seriously injured and I felt sorry for him for not being able to participate, but seeing Bodexpress take off around the track all on his own WAS funny.

Little Women:  The Broadway Musical

I attended my tenth play!  Appropriately, I went to see this one with my two beautiful sisters and we had a lovely time together!  Aside from the perfect company, what could not be enjoyable about getting dressed up, going downtown to attend the theater, and nibbling on the free coffee, tea, cookies and chocolate?

It was a local movie theater converted into a playhouse and, commendably, had just launched its 40th season.  It really makes very little difference to me if the stage is small, the talent local, the collaborative magic and the enthusiasm for art that is found around a theater never fails to fill me with excitement!

Celebrated my wonderful, AMAZING, godly Mom on Mother’s Day.

She’s reading this post (she’s my number one fan as well as my proof reader) so I know she’ll get that special Dumbo reference. ^  Love you, Mom!

Played Board Games With My Brother

It’s Star Wars themed and is a blend between a strategy game and role playing.  It’s also based on the Hoth campaign, which doesn’t quite seem appropriate considering the heat we’re now embroiled in, but I guess we can use the psychology of snowy game boards to cool off.

From Google Images

As always I am playing my beloved Empire.  *beams at the very-cool dictatorship*

I got to email a little fan of Ambia back and forth a few times!  #WHAT

The fireflies are back.  

I look forward to this every year.  There is a reason fireflies are often considered an enchanting sight.  Seeing fireflies winking in the dusk is one of my favorite things and always gives me a special thrill.  It makes me pause, like time-stands-still, as I simply look and enjoy in a magical, transcendental moment at the wonder that is scattered throughout ordinary days and nights.

I went out in the twilight with my twin to catch some in a jar, and while I did succeed in catching two of them – (skillz) – I was dismayed that they didn’t light up even once once captured.  Were they holding their breath, or what?  What happened to all those Pinterest or Instagram photos of brilliant flashing lightning bugs in a mason jar?  I have been cheated and snookered by what is apparently an urban legend.  I must admit a keen disappointment.

I also recorded a song for my Youtube channel over Memorial Day weekend!

I know, I’m so sorry, it’s been FOREVER.  I haven’t posted a new song to my channel since Christmas because of Reasons. *hides in shame*  But I promise you, that song is coming SOON and it’s from a popular movie, so stay tuned!

And there you have it.  Another month and nutshell wrapped up and now I’m ready to kick-off June.  Erm . . . Sort of ready.

Now what about you?  How was your May?  Have you finally received warm weather?  Did you indulge in some wonderful spring-time activity?  Did you do anything special for Mother’s Day?

I await your comments with eagerness, as always!  Speak to me, friend!