All That Free Time...

By Jeannie Watt

I retired to Montana last fall. Dream come true, right?

My horses and ponies weren't so sure. However, this is what their life looks like for the rest of the year, so as long as we keep a lot of hay in front of them and a windbreak behind them, they're cool.

After I retired, I thought I would have sooooo much time to write. After all, I wouldn't be commuting, teaching, coming home exhausted, trying to fit in housework and laundry around the job--I would be organizing my new house and writing!

Except, this is what my house looked like when we moved in.

We still have so much to do, but I'm happy to report that we now have sinks and counter tops. And this is the view from my kitchen window...

Which kind of made the lack of amenities like sinks and counter tops bearable.

My mom, who lives about 200 yards away, told me that time is like walking in the mud. When you free up some space, like say by retiring, something else rushes in to fill it. I scoffed. I was wrong. That something else, besides the house, is ranch stuff.

I've been around cows, but other than attending the occasional branding, I never really worked cows personally. That's all changed.

Now the cows run the show. In the winter, its a matter of moving them and feeding them. I'm still learning the tractor, so I open the gates and cut the stings on the bales. Kind of the internship role.

But here's the pay off, come spring...babies!

And a very, very happy husband, surveying his domain. Happy ending, but a busy one!

I hope everyone has a great Monday. If you want to find out more about me and my books, please check out my website or my Facebook page. Also, here's a link to my latest book, A Bull Rider to Depend On, which is, of course, set in Montana.

A BAD BOY WITH A GOOD HEART

Widow Skye Larkin will do anything to save her ranch, even if it means accepting help from bad-boy bull rider Tyler Hayward. But he and his penchant for partying are to blame for her late husband's financial indiscretions, which got her into this mess. She might be attracted to the dark, dangerous cowboy, but putting her trust in another rodeo man is unthinkable.

Ty knows he shouldn't be surprised that Skye isn't convinced he's changed. He wants to prove that beneath the bravado, and no matter what happened on the circuit, he's one of the good guys. Offering her a business partnership is just the first step. What will she do when he offers her his heart?

Endless Summer - For Real

Today is the last day of my teaching job, which means that tomorrow is the first day of my life as a…(dare I say it?)…a full time author. I’ve been working toward this for a long time, doing the things authors with day jobs do—having a crazy schedule, trying to do too many things at once, sweating deadlines, telling my husband that my share of the housework can wait until retirement. It’s been a wild ride since my first book came out in 2006.

Book #1

And now…well, I will no longer be able to use my day job as a way to procrastinate when I hit a writing wall, which means I’ll have to come up with new hobbies. Just kidding. My wise mother told me that quitting the day job is like walking in the mud—you create a temporary empty space, but it is almost instantly filled with other important things.

I believe her wholeheartedly, but the one thing I will have is my mornings free to write. My brain is a morning brain and it loves nothing more than a cup of coffee and a blank word document. I’ve increased the delivery schedule on my Starbucks home delivery subscription. I foresee going through a lot of coffee and filling a lot of blank word documents. Good thing, too. I have three deadlines this summer, but the beauty part is that summer isn’t going to end!

Jeannie Watt writes contemporary and western romance. She lives in northern Nevada and will soon be spending a lot more time sitting at her computer drinking coffee and torturing her characters. To find out more about Jeannie, please visit her website or Facebook page.