Mama Diaries

Sunday, August 26, 2018

The Botanist's Assistant Part 3


So, a couple of weeks ago I told you about our German Shepherd, Schultz, and his attempts at gardening. For those who didn't read the story, my son had been trying to grow ferns. They were in pots on our back deck. After Schultz's assistance, only 4 of the 15 ferns survived.

Well, our cat, Bootsy decided to help, too. The other day, he jumped up onto the rail and then dive-bombed the pots. He killed two more. Now there are 2. One is the blue fern. (Bootsy is now in the cat house.)

"We need to find a new place for these. Surrounding them with objects didn't stop the cat," I said.  "Why don't you bring them inside?"

Bubba didn't want to do that. He insisted that they needed more light. The remaining two ferns are now positioned along the back boundary of our yard. I predict the bugs will finish them off.

Stay tuned to find out. 


Before I go, I want you to know that I am a guest on the DMS blog. Visit here to learn more about my upcoming book, Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China and win one of three autographed copies. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

English Please?

The other day, I took my son, Bubba to a clothing store so he could get a sweatshirt he wanted. The items in this store were all related to pop culture and computer gaming.

The sales associate came over to greet us, and noticed my son's baseball cap. It's this bright blue thing with the number 11 on it. I had no idea what this represented, and still don't, but apparently the sales associate kid knew exactly what computer game it was from.

This initiated a lengthy conversation.  I will tell you, the only words I understood were, "a," "and" and "the." The gaming jargon and computer lingo were way beyond me. It didn't even sound like English.

When they were finished, I looked at my boy. "You understood everything he was talking about?"

He looked at me sideways. "Yeah, mom. Everybody understands it."

"Well, I don't," I retorted.

"Then you need to be educated in pop culture."

Okay.

What about you? Do you ever not understand gaming jargon and tech lingo that kids these days are talking about?



Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone who has signed up to be part of my book tour in the month of October. If you're interested in having me as a guest on your blog for the tour, you can find the information and sign up here.

And if you'd like to read a nice review of my upcoming book which is featured on the DMS blog, you can go here.

Monday, August 13, 2018

The Botanist's Assistant

First, I'd like to thank everyone who has signed up for my "Where in the World?" blog fest. I really appreciate it! If you haven't seen the information about it, you can go here.

Second, I'm also doing a blog tour through Mason Canyon's book tour company. She's another blogger here in the blogosphere. The tour will be for the month of October. If you are interested in signing up to have me as a guest on your blog to promote my new book, Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China, you can sign up here.  It can be anything from guest posts, interviews, reviews, or a feature of the book. Your choice. Thanks in advance to anyone who signs up to do this!

Thought I'd share this fun picture that my publisher sent. It was taken at Supercon.



Now for the story:

A couple of weeks ago, I shared that my son had taken an interest in growing ferns. They were growing nicely...until the botanist's assistant showed up.

Bet you can't guess who that was.


Yep. None other than our giant German Shepherd, Schultz.

He decided he was going to to a little cultivating. I don't know what it is about that potting soil, but Schultz can't seem to resist digging in it and eating it. We found dirt spilled and pots tipped over all across the deck.  The fern project was wrecked.

When Bubba found out, he was furious. Schultz got sent to the dog house. Fortunately, Schultz didn't assist with all of the pots. There are four ferns still  growing. We believe one of them is the fancy blue fern.



Needless to say, Schultz has been banned from assisting with the garden.     

Monday, August 6, 2018

Insecure Writers Support Group


I have been blogging for eight years, and only now have finally signed up for the IWSG blog hop. Can you believe it? And of course, my first post is late. For some odd reason, I didn't get the question emailed to me. But that's okay. Better late than never!

The question this month is:   What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?

Well, pitfall number one is not having a well-edited manuscript. I've reviewed a lot of books. It's always frustrating to see one riddled with grammar and typo errors. Take the time and spend the money to have it professionally edited.

Pitfall number two is going into the publishing industry blindly. Take the time to learn about the different publishing choices and ways to market your book. It'll be a whole lot easier if you do.

Pitfall number three: Giving up. When you are faced with a lot of rejections, it's easy to quit. But don't. If you love writing, keep doing it. You'll improve, and maybe someday you'll even see your work in print. 

Speaking of work in print, my newest book, Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China, will be released on September 4, 2018! To help get the word out, I'm having a "Where in the World?" blog hop.


When:  September 4 -7, 2018 (Post any day during that time period.)

Where:  Your blog

Prompt:  If you could go through the Earth and end up in another country, where would you go?

Info:  All posts will have cover art, blurb, and buy information for Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China which I will email to participants during the last week of August.

This is my very first blog hop. I hope you'll participate! The sign up is below. Thanks in advance to everyone who signs up!


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Thursday, August 2, 2018

The Botanist

My son, Bubba, has taken a special interest in ferns. Not just any old generic ferns, but in fancy, tropical ferns. He has decided to grow them from seeds.

He ordered some packets. A few days ago, they arrived.

"Mom, I need 18 pots," he said.

"Eighteen? What are you going to do with eighteen ferns?"

"I'm going to turn my room into a jungle."

Great, I thought. His room is already a jungle. He doesn't really need to add anything to it.

Nevertheless, I found 18 pots. (I like to garden, so it wasn't a problem finding them.)

So, now there are eighteen pots with fern seeds in them sitting on my back deck. He's been very vigilant about making sure they get enough sun and water.  Three have already sprouted. You wouldn't believe how thrilled he was about that!

Here's a picture of what one will look like:



I still don't know what he's going to do with all these ferns, but as long as he doesn't start looking for dinosaur eggs to incubate and hatch, we should be okay. No Jurassic World in my house!