Before the virus hit, I tried to get away quarterly to write. In early September, I was lucky to get an Atlantic Coast condo along the Florida Atlantic Coast for a week. Like my earlier trip to Hilton Head, the resort required everyone wear masks and practice social distancing.

This photo was shot from my 6th floor balcony. There were days I didn’t go down to the beach, but wrote outside. With only one small elevator (allowing for only one customer at a time), some days it was easier just to hang out in my room and enjoy the ocean breeze from the balcony while I wrote.

For whatever reason, the Atlantic was Caribbean blue. The water was gorgeous!

I was amazed by the photo my iPhone took of the Atlantic at night. The ocean was relatively calm, with waves only breaking along the shore. I loved to sit on the balcony at night and stare at the wonder before me and be lulled to sleep by the waves.

My rental was only 45 minutes from S.E. Smith’s. On the way home, I had lunch with Susan and her husband. When we weren’t eating, we practiced social distancing…although the three of us ate outside at a table for 6.

Before we headed out for lunch, I spent quality time with Susan’s cat PIA.

COVER REVEAL – Crystal Enchantment

Here is my next Magic, New Mexico cover hot off the press! It’s the start of a new series, ‘Eden’s Dragon’.

Did you know the serpent who tempted Adam was in fact a dragon? Want to know more? Below is the Amazon link. Other platform links will be available in October.

Crystal Enchantment’s release date is October 27th.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GL3TYY1

I’m spending 5 days in Hilton Head sequestered in an ocean front room to write (a new series) and continue to prepare for the Worlds Apart Box Set. Since they were the first novels I wrote, I’m cleaning them up a bit (commas and a number of other rookie mistakes). It’s been incredible revisiting these books. Those girls hold a special place in my heart. August 2020 marks the 6th anniversary of the publication of ‘The Chameleon Soul Mate’. It’s still my plan to publish the box set on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited next month. Check out my August newsletter for links.

The Westin is on a private beach and has multiple pools, but I wasn’t comfortable with the social distancing. Most of the work I will be doing will be done from my balcony. I’ve got 2 12-packs of Diet Pepsi, protein drinks, peanut butter, and Wheat Thins and am ready to Rock ’n Roll.

To the north of the hotel are multi-million dollar homes with no beach access. A perfect place to take a long beach walk to stimulate my muse.

Although the stay at home order was lifted on May 1st, my routine hasn’t changed that much with the exception of playing tennis 6-days a week. I play with the same group of ladies and when the club’s restaurant reopened on May 5th, we enjoy lunches twice a week. We try to keep six feet apart on the tennis court, but can sit at a table for 4 (and now 6). Since we don’t leave the community, we feel very safe lunching together. This picture was taken at one of our friend’s 78th birthday celebration. She may be 78, but she moves like a teenager on the tennis court. Yes, I’m off to the side… The birthday girl is the 2nd from the left.

Fortunately, my community has only had 2 cases of the CoronaVirus since testing began. There has been a lot of news about Florida in the news recently, but we are doing well in Bonita Springs. We haven’t been hitting the bars being careless or not social distancing at the beaches. When I do my weekly grocery shopping I wear a mask. I’ve collected a whole assortment of masks by now…many having been given to me as gifts.

Since I’m playing tennis, I’m not taking the afternoon walks that became part of my routine. Most people took their walks in the morning, but I waited for the paths to thin out. I’d taken walks in the community before, but never had noticed all the beautiful orchids that people placed in boxes or hung on trees. I thought I’d share them one more time since they are so beautiful. I have a black thumb, but I do appreciate the results of people who possess green thumbs.

As many of you know, I’m an avid tennis player. I’ve always loved sports, just was never very good at them. Then I discovered tennis! Although I have very little upper body muscle mass, I can pound on a tennis ball… particularly my cross court forehand. Weekly tennis lessons and lots of practice have made me a tennis maven.

On April 1st, our community club ceased all racquet sports, as Florida shutdown. For 30 days, I got my exercise taking walks and exploring different parts of my community. I didn’t know there was a bird estuary behind the sub-division a ten minute walk from me. During the 30-days, Facebook friends were treated to my bird videos and pictures of the incredible flowers in Bonita Bay.

Life began again on May 1st when racquet sports could again be played. However, we only play on every other court, allowing the shelters to only hold 4 players at a time, spread out. We kept our 6 feet distance…whether getting water, during our crossovers, or washing our shoes after playing.

We were so happy to see each other again. Here I am with Patty, keeping our 6 feet separation and not touching.

I hope you are all well as we crawl our way to a new normal.