Samantha Hastings

It's not no shave November, it's National Novel Writing Month.  Also known as NaNoWriMo.  If you haven't heard of it, I hadn't until this year, it's a month to jump start your novel-writing dream.  You're supposed to write 50,000 words (or the equivalent of a novel) in a month.  I am happy to announce that I have 50,712 words on my latest manuscript.  Yay!  Now, I have a ton of revising to do.  It's never too late to start doing what you love and love to write. 

I love tea parties and I love Halloween!  This year, I've been overwhelmed so I decided to keep the annual witch's tea simple, but still fun!  My daughter invited 5 of her friends to dress up as witches and come over.  FOOD I had them make their own: Spiders: mini chocolate donuts, pretzels for legs, and skittles for eyes.  Brooms: pretzel sticks and mini Reece's Buttercups. And tea, of course! CRAFT They decorated ghost puppets.  I glue-gunned 2 pieces of ghost-shaped white felt together and glued on googly eyes.  The girls cut out the mouths from black felt and decorated them with ribbons, pompoms, and buttons.  No two ghosts were the same.  GAME Witch Bingo with candy corn pieces.  We played long enough for everyone to win several times.  They picked a treat/prize from a bucket for every bingo. It was a lovely afternoon!

I love attending book club because I inevitably learn something new.  Last week, I learned about a new word: pulchritudinous .   Although it sounds like warts or something growing on a mole, it actually means  a person of breathtaking beauty.  I'm tempted to use it in conversation, but I'm afraid that it's true meaning would be lost.  "Hey, Livvy, you're looking pulchritudinous today..."

Selected for Publication by Swoon Reads:  July 9, 2019. 1861.   Miss Lucinda Leavitt is shocked when she learns that the author of her favorite serialized novel, Mrs. Smith, has died before completing the story.   She sets out to discover who the mysterious author was and how she would have finished the novel.   Lucinda reluctantly asks for assistance from her father’s much younger business partner, Mr. David Randall.   David is wealthy and successful, but overwhelmed by too much work.   He’s trying to prove something to his dead father and to himself.   He doesn’t have the time, nor interest, to find a deceased author, but Lucinda is not the type of person to take no for an answer. Their search for the elusive Mrs. Smith will take Lucinda and David around the country and the truths they discover about themselves, and each other, are anything but fictional.   See updates at:  Swoon Reads  

My friend Megan is expecting her first baby--a girl!  I googled for food ideas for a baby girl shower and oh my goodness!  There were plenty of great and some over-the-top food items out there.  I'm afraid that I passed on all the food ideas that made vegetables and fruit resemble diapers or strollers.  But I did love the idea of PINK food.  So the PINK food I bought: -Pink and White Animal Cookies -Pink and White Wafer cookies -Pink and White Wafer Rolls (look like striped candy canes) The PINK food I baked: -Strawberry banana bread -Rice Crispie Treats with Strawberry marshmallows and drizzled with white chocolate -Cupcakes with Strawberry frosting -Brownies with drizzled chocolate -Strawberry cake bites PINK fruit (not pictured-another friend brought it): -Watermelon -Red Grapes I wrapped my mini water bottles in cute white and pink papers and made a banner.  I think PINK was the  perfect way to go.