Happy St. Patrick's all!
Even if you are not Irish a little bit of green goes a LONG, LONG way. With Spring just a few short days away, it may be time to strip away all those dark colors you've been sporting and add a touch of color... Green is fresh, neutral, and lively. We all need a bit of spring in March!
After a STUNNING 70 degree day yesterday here in Chicago, our temps dropped over 30 degrees! Yes, sadly, winter is back. BUT the sun is shining and the ice and snow are gone. As I look out my window there are patches of the emerald stuff stretching toward the blue sky. Yes, there is hope for Spring.
Life renews itself once more and this is THE PERFECT time to dust off all those old stories and put a bit life back into them. I spent all last week doing that to my novel and I am HOPING that this will be the last. Later today I plan on sending out a few queries. It's time. This will be the last chance I can query the agents/publishers from the SCBWI conference. They only allow six weeks. And I am certainly cutting it close. Hopefully I will make it just in time.
I've missed all of you. As you know life is insane as usual, trying to settle down into a new home. I'll be returning to Tampa next week HOPING to finalize my place. WE are still in negotiations. Both of us standing our ground, but neither party willing to move on. They want to sell and I want to buy, but we are still haggling over the price. It's too much. The place needs TONS of work, but they are banking on the neighborhood. Yes, it is AMAZING, but I don't want to fall into the same trap. I way overpaid for my condo in Chicago and put THOUSANDS in upgrades. I lost a ton when I sold it, so I don't want that to happen again.
I'll keep you posted for sure. Waiting on a few other things to tell you about. Spring is my favorite time of year and that is when all good things happen to me. SO I am keeping VERY positive that all works out.
Please let me know how you guys are doing! Any fun SPRING projects? I know many of you are debuting cover reveals and novels. I hope to catch all of them. I will try to make myself more visible. It's just so overwhelming sometimes when your private life is in upheaval and you are living in boxes. I decided to leave my rental half done. It's a waste of time to finish doing it. I hope to be out of here and in South Tampa SOON...
Take care everyone and HAPPY SPRING!!!!!!
Even if you are not Irish a little bit of green goes a LONG, LONG way. With Spring just a few short days away, it may be time to strip away all those dark colors you've been sporting and add a touch of color... Green is fresh, neutral, and lively. We all need a bit of spring in March!
After a STUNNING 70 degree day yesterday here in Chicago, our temps dropped over 30 degrees! Yes, sadly, winter is back. BUT the sun is shining and the ice and snow are gone. As I look out my window there are patches of the emerald stuff stretching toward the blue sky. Yes, there is hope for Spring.
Life renews itself once more and this is THE PERFECT time to dust off all those old stories and put a bit life back into them. I spent all last week doing that to my novel and I am HOPING that this will be the last. Later today I plan on sending out a few queries. It's time. This will be the last chance I can query the agents/publishers from the SCBWI conference. They only allow six weeks. And I am certainly cutting it close. Hopefully I will make it just in time.
I've missed all of you. As you know life is insane as usual, trying to settle down into a new home. I'll be returning to Tampa next week HOPING to finalize my place. WE are still in negotiations. Both of us standing our ground, but neither party willing to move on. They want to sell and I want to buy, but we are still haggling over the price. It's too much. The place needs TONS of work, but they are banking on the neighborhood. Yes, it is AMAZING, but I don't want to fall into the same trap. I way overpaid for my condo in Chicago and put THOUSANDS in upgrades. I lost a ton when I sold it, so I don't want that to happen again.
I'll keep you posted for sure. Waiting on a few other things to tell you about. Spring is my favorite time of year and that is when all good things happen to me. SO I am keeping VERY positive that all works out.
Please let me know how you guys are doing! Any fun SPRING projects? I know many of you are debuting cover reveals and novels. I hope to catch all of them. I will try to make myself more visible. It's just so overwhelming sometimes when your private life is in upheaval and you are living in boxes. I decided to leave my rental half done. It's a waste of time to finish doing it. I hope to be out of here and in South Tampa SOON...
Take care everyone and HAPPY SPRING!!!!!!
35 comments:
Get those stories polished!!
Hope you guys come to an agreement on the price. I know you are ready to move.
Just gearing up for my release in three weeks...
Don't let them take you. Come at them with an itemized list of the cost of work that needs to done. They can either knock some off the price or do some of the work themselves.
You have been busy! Don't settle. I bought a home from a bank that needed (and still needs) tons of work. I've been fairly absent from the blogging scene myself. Funny how springtime seems to liven things back up again. :)
Hey Michael; nice to see your happy face, and all painted up for spring :) Everything is green here - trees budding, grass growing mostly weeds. Across the street my neighbors have the most gorgeous tree with lavender flowers. I want one in my back yard! Glad to hear all is going well for you, despite the frustration of home buying. It will all work out.
Good luck with the querying. Have a wonderful week.
70 to 30 - that is just cruel!
Hang in there with the new place. I hope it all works out.
spring is popping and I sure hope you have a good one. To me St.Pat's is always an upturn in spirit. Here in TX it's not too hot,,not too cold so I am busy with the walks for the MS Society - one in Ft.Worth and one in Dallas. For writing I'm trying to get ready for April A to Z. So yes, all good. Take care
Real estate deals are tricky. You hate to lose a place that seems perfect for you, but you don't want to lose your shirt getting it either! I hope it swings your way soon. It is considerably colder here today than yesterday too, but the sun is out and the snow is gone, so I'm happy.
All I want to know is this: ARE YOU LOOKING AT A GREEN RIVER? Ha ha. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I know you're in Chi-town now - are you trying to buy a home in Florida, too? Or instead?
Happy Spring and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, too, Michael!
Hi Michael!
Great to see a post from you. How hard it must be for Mr Interior Design Guy to live in boxes eh? Hope it's not for too long. I wish you every good wish for the Tampa deal. Glad Chicago turned on a good day for you.
Not spring here Michael. Not everyone lives in the US, mwahhhhaaa. It's Autumn and cooling down at last after a 6-month heatwave, ugh.
Keep us posted.
Denise :-)
I hope you have the strength to stand your ground and not give in to the sellers Michael. No spring here just yet although we have had lots of sunshine lately and a lot of our snow has disappeared.
We're getting up to the low eighties during the afternoon, but dropping to about fifty at night. It feels so good. I don't need the AC yet. The housing market is enough to drive you crazy. The people who owned my house wanted 200k for it. The realtors told them it wouldn't happen. They asked 179. It sold, but the neighborhood didn't have any comps so the financing didn't go through. I came along and snatched it up at 159. About a year later I had to refinance to get my ex-husband off the deed. The price had dropped to 79,000. What a shock! It's gone up some in the past year, but not much. I'm grateful I can stay here and don't need to sell. I wish you well with your real estate transactions.
Love,
Janie
I wish it looked like spring here. We still have snow and plenty of it. Good luck with your querying, and I hope you get your housing situation worked out soon!
I know South Tampa must be calling you like the sirens did Ulysses. Ouch! A 30 degree drop? I wish you success on your queries. I hate doing them!
I've been fighting an abscessed tooth and now a root canal! Double Ouch!! I am speaking mid-April at a Sci Fi convention here and have a print version of THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH ready to sell there.
The air conditioning has given up the ghost in my car and with summer coming on, too! Sizzle!
Drop by my blog to see what mischief Hibbs got into at Meilori's St. Patrick's NIGHT! :-)
Hi Michael - I certainly hope Tampa comes through and good luck with the queries ... I'm so glad to see Spring and the warmer weather beckons ... but time to enjoy one day at a time .. and not rush our lives away. Good luck with all things - cheers Hilary
I always wanted to be Irish. ;)
I hope you get your place in Tampa and I'm sending you prayers and luck for your queries.
Here in Florida, it doesn't even feel like spring. It feels like summer! I do have plans to move this spring too but I'm still trying to find a place. It's tough, so I know what you're going through.
I always wanted to be Irish. ;)
I hope you get your place in Tampa and I'm sending you prayers and luck for your queries.
Here in Florida, it doesn't even feel like spring. It feels like summer! I do have plans to move this spring too but I'm still trying to find a place. It's tough, so I know what you're going through.
Happy day after St. Pat's, Michael! Best of luck on the apartment. Stand your ground. That you're still in negotiations is a good sign. The sellers could have simply rejected the deal.
Here's something I never thought about before. Because the sellers have your name, they could easily google you (I would to find out who I'm selling to), find your blog, and see how much you want the condo. This is probably not a good thing.
VR Barkowski
Hold strong on those negotiations! I will keep my fingers crossed for you!
The weather is still fluctuating wildly here in Pennsylvania. Which means it's a typical March.
I've been meaning to thank you for posting your review of TIM on Amazon -- so THANK YOU!
I understand how moving can take up a lot of your spare time, or not so spare time. I'm in the same process. Complete with boxes.
I hope the queries go well and you're able to send them out in time!
Spring is considering coming here. There are nice days with lovely sunshine, but then the clouds roll in the next day and make it look cold even if it isn't. I'm ready for green grass and sunshine and hope to get in plenty of hiking trips this year.
We still have ice and snow here, and hail yesterday, but it didn't stop me from preparing Guinness stew.
Happy St. Patty's Day, Michael!!! I'm looking forward to spring. Though, here in Buffalo my backyard still has 6-7 inches of snow. Good luck with the big move. I'm sure the warmth will be a Godsend!!!
Same weather pattern for us these last few days and snow coming again tomorrow night. Hope your house deal works out.
Hey Mr. Blurb King!
Well, we are officially in Autumn, but still experiencing summer humidity, though not as stuffy as the past two months...
Hang in there with the property negotiations! Something has to give-----
I feel spring is on it's way. Even if it was 29 degrees this morning. Good luck on getting those stories polished and on the negotiations. May the luck of the Irish be with you.
Hope this spring is another great one for you, Michael! Take care and good luck on getting everything settled.
What I always like about March when I lived in harsh winter climates was you knew the end of it was right around the corner, even if a big storm came in. Wishing the same for you in your house haggling, Michael, that the end of your search is right around the corner!
Happy spring to you too! It has been unseasonably warm all winter over here on the west coast, and for us that isn't a good thing. Stand tough on the negotiating! They haven't turned away which means they need you. Fingers crossed for you!
Living out of boxes is never fun.
I'm so glad spring is here I could shout with joy. It's still cool the last three days but a hot flash in comparison to the deep freeze we've lived in the past few months. It's in the upper 40's lower 50's but hey, I see green grass and the trees are budding up. Yay. Peepers are singing so all is well in my world. Well, except the list of stuff I've had to get done. I don't have moving to deal with but I'm overwhelmed with other things and being on line, most days, is evening only. Wrecks havoc with blogging. :-(
Tampa is a nice area. Hope you get the place you want and how you want it.
Sia McKye Over Coffee
So great to catch up on what's going on with you! Yes, don't bother unpacking--waste of time. Hope you can settle on a good price soon, and get that escrow started and done with. I love your attitude about spring, and wish you the best with your querying. Take care!
very very nice article this happy to visit your website Obat Bius
Happy Irish Dance back at you! Here's to getting all of the business settled, so you can move ahead and be happy.
Hope you've gotten those queries out in time!
Me... it's going better. My projects are mainly writing, editing, revising, and fixing up my new room.
Best of luck with your negotiations!
Good luck for querying those SCBWI agents. Hope you (and I) get an agent this year :)
It's our birthday month!!!!!!!!!
HAPPY SPRING, Michael. When I think of you, I think of spring. Warmth. Sunshine. Happiness. You're such an inspiration and easily one of my most FAVORITE people. Need another Michael update soon!
<3
Post a Comment