JB Lynn

Hijinks, Hilarity and Heart

Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman

Productively Obsessed

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Here’s the thing:

I love what I do. I worked hard to get to the point where I can do what I love. I’m still working hard at it.

On the 31st I’ll be publishing my sixth book of the year 2 Spells Too Many.

I’ve just sent the third Cursed Chicks book to my editor.

Soon I’ll begin working on Hitwoman 25.

I’m also working on a passion project and have notes for Psychic Consignment 4.

This kind of schedule is not for everyone. I choose to be productively obsessed. I’m lacking balance. I don’t particularly recommend it, lol.

Etsy addict

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I can’t be the only one….

I don’t watch TV. I stay home most of the time. I NEED stimulation.

That’s how I justify my daily perusal of Etsy.

What’s your excuse?

I love this barrette I got from there.

I’m pretty sure Armani from the Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series would approve. (Though knowing her she’d probably think it spells RUST T.)

Last Quarter of 2020

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Wow!

Can you believe that we’re already entering the last three months of 2020? I still have soooo much I want to accomplish this year. What about you?

My top goals for this month include publishing 2 Spells Too Many at the end of the month and finishing Cursed Chicks 3.

I’m also in desperate need of some “unplugged” time so that’s a priority for this last quarter. This whole combination of pandemic and election season has been stressing me out, so I’ve been throwing myself into my work, but I need a break.

As for the rest of the quarter, I want to write Hitwoman 25 (OMG TWENTY-FIVE!!!!) and finish my passion project…and at least start Psychic Consignment 4. (Is it any wonder I need a break?!?!)

Stepping it up

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It’s a busy week for me as I gear up for the release of The Hitwoman Plays Games on August 31st.

I’m managing my stress by stepping. Yup, I’m channeling my inner 90s gal, lol. I’m doing it in my home, so it’s convenient and air conditioned (very important for summer exercise when one lives in Florida).

When you’re not reading to de-stress, what are you doing?

New release news

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Excited to let you know that THE HITWOMAN PLAYS GAMES will be out on 8/31!


In true 2020 form, there’s a technical glitch with Amazon and the cover isn’t appearing.

I’m working on it. (Honestly, I’ve been trying to get it fixed for a week now…but like I said, it’s 2020, lol.)

You can still preorder it though!

Closing in on The End

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I’ve posted through Chapter 36 of 1 FLEW OVER THE RAVEN’S NEST, the first of my Cursed Chicks series and it will end with Chapter 44. 

I’ve enjoyed writing this story and sharing it. (Plus, it’s been fun to see the comments and to know others are enjoying the ride.)

You may think your mother-in-law is a witch, but RV’s really was.

And now there’s a very real chance she’ll be haunted by Mildred Bloodworth for eternity.

The only way to free herself from the curse that binds them, is for RV to make amends for Millie’s misdeeds.

Accompanied by a possessed Siamese cat, RV embarks, in her mother-in-law’s pink camper van, on a journey to right wrongs. But plans, like spells, can backfire.

RV drives right into a crime scene and quickly becomes the chief suspect in a mysterious murder.

Determined to prove her innocence, RV investigates with the help of a lucky penny, a wise owl, a reclusive turtle, and a magician whose agenda is unknown.

So what’s next for me? 

I’ll be publishing the next CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN book and I’ve got two more books featuring RV mapped out to write (okay, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve already started working on book 2!).

I’m also spending a little time each day working on a passion project. It’s a much darker book than my Hitwoman, Cursed Chicks, or Psychic Consignment Mysteries (btw, the first book in that series is currently free!). I don’t know whether I’ll ever publish it, but it’s a good outlet for my dark moods, lol.

I’m also spending time watching birds and developing my photography hobby. I just got a tripod and am hopeful this will help me get better shots.

Neighbors informing my writing

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Real life has been impacting my writing more than usual lately.

A couple of months ago, when we were still on full lockdown, a neighbor called late at night. She’d fallen and hurt herself; and wanted a ride to the hospital.

Long story short, despite my misgivings surrounding the virus, I helped her because I thought it was the right thing to do. 

Got her dressed, put her in my car, took her to the hospital, returned a few hours later to bring her home, took her to the all-night pharmacy and waited inside with her while she got painkillers, took her home.

I then checked on her multiple times a day for the next couple of days to make sure she was okay.

She verbally thanked me.

Now I don’t do things in order to be thanked, but I do notice when someone makes almost no effort to acknowledge an effort that was made on their behalf. If she’d just given me a card, I would have felt okay, but because she did next to nothing, I felt used.

Last week she moved, without so much as a text saying good-bye.

I know that says more about her than it does about me, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot as I finish up Hitwoman 24. 

In this book, despite already having too much on her plate, Maggie Lee does something which she believes to be the right thing, but then she has second thoughts about it and ends up feeling used.  In some ways, her emotional journey in this one is hitting close to home and I’ve been struggling to get it right.

Not to worry, Maggie’s story has a happy-ish ending.

To tap into that, I’ve been thinking about another neighbor.

A few years ago, a woman I barely knew (we’d met a few times but had never really spent any time together) called me in a panic. She was on a trip and hadn’t brought her passport, but they weren’t going to let her on the cruise without it. 

She asked me to go into her home, find the passport and send a picture so that they’d allow her to board.

So I did, despite the fact I’d never stepped inside her home before. I was happy to do it for her.

She was sooo grateful and when she returned thanked me with a sweet card, a sweet treat and a gift certificate. As a result, we became friends and remain so despite the fact she’s moved across the country.

And when she moved, she gifted me this painting she’d done:

I just love it!

The Magic Formula?

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I was talking to an acquaintance the the other day who asked me what the magic formula for writing is.

After exerting ALL my self-control to not roll my eyes or scoff at her (in times of pandemic, I’m thinking scoffing is crueler than usual) I managed to tell her that the “magic formula” is work. Usually hard work that no one can even see that you’re doing until your “magical” success when you finish a manuscript, publish a book, or hit a list.

There’s no magical formula, but there IS some writing advice I give to everyone who asks.

Years ago I saw this advice from author Bob Mayer (or I heard him say it at a workshop…either way he gets the credit): I would do anything to succeed at _______, just don’t ask me to _________.

Most people can fill in both blanks pretty easily.

“I would do anything to succeed at skydiving, just don’t ask me to jump out of a plane.”

“I would do anything to be covered in great tattoos, just don’t ask me to face a needle.”

Those might seem like extreme and/or silly examples, but we’re not always the most logical of beings.

For writers they might look like:

I would do anything to succeed at writing a book, just don’t ask me to give up playing video games to make the time to actually write.

or

I would do anything to succeed at landing my dream agent, just don’t ask to face the rejections that result as part of the querying process.

Right now my personal statement is: I would do anything to finish this latest Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman book, just don’t ask me to be funny in the midst of all this worldwide suffering and turmoil. (If you haven’t read the books, “funny” is a prerequisite and I’ve been struggling mightily with this manuscript.)

What about you? What are you dreaming of? What are your goals?

Take a second to fill in those blanks for yourself.

I would do anything to succeed at ____________, just don’t ask me to _________.

If you can force yourself to actually do whatever the second blank is, you’ve got a decent chance of creating your own magic.

The Cursed Chicks experiment

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Yesterday I posted Chapter 26 of 1 Flew Over the Raven’s Nest.

This is proving to be an interesting experiment. To give something back to readers during the isolation of the pandemic, I began posting chapters (as I write them) of the first book in my new Cursed Chicks series. It’s fun…but it’s also frightening. It’s strange to try know I won’t have the opportunity to go back and fix things and that’s led to me working fairly slowly on it. (That and the fact I’m trying to fix the next book in my Hitwoman series.)

But it’s been cool to get all the positive feedback from readers as I write.

And for those that aren’t reading along, YES, it will be released in book form when it’s done. (But no, I don’t know when that will be yet.)

If you haven’t started it yet, here’s what the story is about:

You may think your mother-in-law is a witch, but RV’s really was.

And now there’s a very real chance she’ll be haunted by Mildred Bloodworth for eternity.

The only way to free herself from the curse that binds them, is for RV to make amends for Millie’s misdeeds.

Accompanied by a possessed Siamese cat, RV embarks, in her mother-in-law’s pink camper van, on a journey to right wrongs. But plans, like spells, can backfire.

RV drives right into a crime scene and quickly becomes the chief suspect in a mysterious murder.

Determined to prove her innocence, RV investigates with the help of a lucky penny, a wise owl, a reclusive turtle, and a magician whose agenda is unknown.