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JB Lynn

Hijinks, Hilarity and Heart

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  • Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman Series
        • 1. Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman
        • 2. Further Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman
        • 3. The Hitwoman Gets Lucky
        • 4. The Hitwoman and the Family Jewels
        • 5. The Hitwoman and the Neurotic Witness
        • 6. The Hitwoman Hunts a Ghost
        • 7. The Hitwoman and the 7 Cops
        • 8. The Hitwoman and the Poisoned Apple
        • 9. The Hitwoman’s Downward Dog
        • 10. The Hitwoman’s Act of Contrition
        • 11. The Hitwoman Hires a Manny
        • 12. The Hitwoman and the Sacrificial Lamb
        • 13. The Hitwoman and the Chubby Cherub
        • 14. The Hitwoman and the Mother Load
        • 15. The Hitwoman Under Pressure
        • 16. The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone
        • 17. The Hitwoman Takes a Road Trip
        • 18. The Hitwoman in a Pickle
        • 19. The Hitwoman and the Gold Digger
        • 20. The Hitwoman's Juggling Act
        • 21. The Hitwoman and the Fallen Angel
        • 22. The Hitwoman Goes to Prison
        • 23. The Hitwoman and the Exorcism
        • 24. The Hitwoman Plays Games
        • 25. The Hitwoman Owes A Favor
        • 26. The Hitwoman and the Teddy Bear
        • 27. The Hitwoman and the Body
        • 28. The Hitwoman Pays A Debt
        • 29. The Hitwoman Plays Courier
        • 30. The Hitwoman’s Girls’ Night Out
        • 31. The Hitwoman’s Getaway
        • 32. The Hitwoman vs The Security Guard
        • 33. The Hitwoman Investigates
        • 34. The Hitwoman Gets Her Man
        • 35. The Hitwoman and the Ninjas
        • 36. The Hitwoman’s Charity Case
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writing retreat

A week in this writer’s life…Thursday

January 28, 2021 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

Today was blessedly focused.

Sometimes I get tired from working on so many projects simultaneously. Today I gave almost all of my attention to the story edits of The Hitwoman Owes a Favor.

I’m so pleased with how this latest Maggie adventure has turned out!

I had to do a little work regarding covers for other books and some admin work (you know I abhor admin work, lol) but overall it was a very focused, very productive day. Yay!

Whimsical Art (& the Tin Man)

May 29, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

It was such a delight to stumble across this artwork while driving along on my writing retreat.
Of course, being my weird self, I had to stop and take pictures. Especially when I saw the Tin Man!!
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Unfortunately I couldn’t get close enough to get a decent picture of the Tin Man, but he stole my heart nonetheless.
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Ideas are like wildflowers…or weeds

May 27, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

If something blooms, chances are I love it.  Doesn’t matter if it’s a bush, a tree, a flower, or a weed.
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While on my writing retreat in North Carolina, I got to see a lot of wildflowers (or weeds…who cares?!?) as I hiked.
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I didn’t know when they’d show up on my trail, but I delighted in every time they did.
 
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I didn’t make any effort to identify them, I just enjoyed their beauty and cheeriness.
 
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Little bursts of color reminded me of ideas and the little bursts of inspiration they provide.
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You never know what’s going to show up next!
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Solo trips…Pros and Cons

May 24, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

I’ve given up on having someone to travel with,  so this writing retreat was my second solo trip…though this one wasn’t technically solo, since I brought my dog.
A lot of women have told me they’d never be “brave enough” to travel alone. I tell them to connect with their inner badass and give it a try!
The big plus to traveling solo is that I get to do exactly what I want, when I want. My schedule, my interests, all the time.
So for example, I loved this view and spent a good ten minutes just standing and staring at it. It’s not exciting and isn’t on any “must see” list. I just liked it.
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The big minuses to traveling solo are safety concerns.
Taking a road trip alone with a dog provides some logistical hurdles…like I had to leave her alone in the car while I ran into places to use the restroom.
Then there are just the safety issues of being a woman traveling alone.
But by far, the most frustrating problem I faced was on the hiking trails.  I like to go off the beaten path, but that’s not the smartest idea for ANYONE hiking alone.
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If you sprain an ankle or take a tumble when you’re alone, it’s a lot easier to get back to your car if you have the help of a hiking partner.
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Plus, if something did happen, no one would miss me for days. (Especially when you consider a lot of the time I didn’t have a cell signal.)
I didn’t let this stop me, but I did move slower and more deliberately.  (And I’ll be honest, things were more complicated with the dog. More than once I ended up in a stream because I lost my balance as she tugged on the leash.)
I avoided some spots altogether if I determined the footing looked too unsafe.
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Obviously I survived, and you can too!!

My writing retreat wasn't perfect

May 23, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

Overall, I had a great time on my writing retreat.  I managed to relax AND get a lot  of writing done on not one, but two novels…and a screenplay.
I accomplished my major goals for the two-week period. I received some major signs and confirmations from the Universe.
I can’t wait to do it again.
BUT…it wasn’t perfect.
I’m not telling you this because I’m complaining. I’m sharing what went wrong because I hate when people only share the “positives”.  It paints an unrealistic picture that some people live perfect lives and I don’t want to do that.
I don’t love traveling by myself. I do it because I hate staying home even more, but in a “perfect” world, I’d have someone to go with; a significant other or a friend.  But that wasn’t to be. ((shrug))
For the Georgia part of my stay, the RV I was staying in wasn’t balanced correctly, so I battled motion sickness the whole time. (Luckily, because I tend to over-prepare, I’d brought Dramamine with me, but that makes me groggy.)
And I set off the carbon monoxide detector in the middle of the night because I’d turned off the roaring fan that was giving me a headache.
And there was a tornado watch.
For the most part it was windy, wet and gloomy while I was there.
As for my North Carolina stay in the tiny house….
The toilet didn’t flush on the day I arrived.
The woman who owned the place sent her adult son over to plunge it.  He complained that his girlfriend was sick. I took “sick” to mean “strung out” since he was pretty obviously needing a fix.
Yeah, that was kind of alarming.
He went to get a “better” plunger from a house fifty yards away and didn’t return for another two hours.  Even then it wasn’t fixed. I had to deal with two plumbers in the space the next day (remember it was a TINY house) but eventually it was fixed.
Also, the outdoor seating area was infested with carpenter bees.  I don’t have much fear of carpenter bees, but they’re big and loud and they scared the dog on a regular basis.
Then we had a couple days of torrential rainfall. (I heard locals say they’d never seen such heavy rain before.)  Not a big deal.
EXCEPT….there were only two places to sit in the tiny house, the wooden chair and the bed. Two days of shifting from one uncomfortable seat to another to write bothered my back.
Plus, the rain triggered an invasion of ants. Which in turn meant I had an exterminator in the space a couple of days later. No big deal, but a little annoying.
And then there was the incident with the bear.
I was out hiking with the dog, on a section of path with precarious footing, when all of the sudden this big ball of black fur came barreling toward us through the trees.
I pretty much had a heart attack.
Again, I don’t have a big fear of black bears, having encountered quite a few over the years when I lived in NJ. I know that normally making noise and waving my arms will keep them away. But since it was springtime, I was afraid it was a momma bear defending her cubs.  (Plus, my dog has never encountered a bear before and I wasn’t sure how she would behave.)
It wasn’t until it was just a few feet away that I realized it wasn’t a bear.  It was a Newfoundland dog.  Now, I love Newfies, but if you’ve never seen one, you have to understand that they’re BIG dogs. They’re about four feet tall and weigh at least 150 pounds. And when they’re running at you through thick vegetation, they totally pass for bears!
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So if you ever see me use one in the CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN series, you’ll know that this scare was where I got the inspiration!
Like I said, overall I had a great time. A good part of that was due to my attitude. I was determined to make the best of it.  But that doesn’t mean it was perfect.

Art Break!

May 22, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

I had three things I was intent on doing during my writing retreat.

  1. Writing all the words — On any given day I worked on at least two, sometimes four, different projects
  2. Meditating — I’ve talked about it before, but meditation is a big part of my daily routine.
  3. Spending time in nature — The hiking trails around Asheville are amazing.

 
BUT….I did take a break on a couple of days to refill my creative well but visiting the Asheville Arts District.  So much fun (and dog friendly too, so I exposed Smudge to some culture…not that I think she appreciated it, lol).
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My favorite shop there was the GREAT COSMIC HAPPY ASS CARD COMPANY.
I mean who wouldn’t love a store with a name like that and products like these?!?!
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Ingredients for a Creative Refill

May 20, 2019 By JB Lynn 1 Comment

As a writer, I find inspiration in many things, but being out in helps to refill my creative well in a way nothing else does.
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I spent a lot of time on my writing retreat hiking trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I didn’t spend much time writing outside. I was too busy soaking up the beauty.
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The air was clean, the sky was clear, the water was cool.
(I know about the water because I MAY have slipped into a stream on more than occasion, lol.)
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Doing what you can't do

May 17, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

As part of my writing retreat at the tiny house, I decided to stretch some other creative muscles. I started trying to learn to draw.
It’s a skill I’ve never had and I didn’t expect to become an artist, but maybe I’d be a passable Pictionary player.
So I got this book
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and got started
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I’ve been sharing my progress (or lack thereof) on Instagram.
If you follow me there, you’ll see that I drew and posted every day for thirty days.
It was an interesting exercise. I ended up learning more about myself than I expected.
But I still can’t draw, lol.
I’d better stick to writing.

Which came first?

May 13, 2019 By JB Lynn Leave a Comment

One of the benefits of staying at a kinda quirky AirBnB in the country for my writing retreat was that I had the company of chickens and the gift of their eggs.
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One of the drawbacks of staying in a tiny house was that there was no stovetop, but I became pretty darn adept at microwaving the fresh eggs.  Brain fuel!!!
 

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