Harley Q. Turner (Author)

I am finally starting to get used to this crazy schedule that the kids are throwing at me! Hockey is going decent, swim season is almost over, and they final performance of the play my older children are in is next weekend. My older sister has been posting about participating in NaNoWriMo lately, and I realized how much I really miss writing. Usually November is one of the worst months for me to write, since I spend most of the month working on getting projects ready for craft shows during the holiday season, but I decided to take a break from the crafting. I am currently hard at work on the second installment of Saving Avalon, and I must say I am loving where the story is going. Still no title yet, but hopefully that will come soon! Keep an eye out for previews!

Hockey season has officially started for my daughter. First game of the season was a 6-2 victory for the Jr Fury. I'm back to having my weekends filled with traveling throughout the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Back to not getting home until almost 10 pm after practice 3 nights a week. While my daughter continues to enjoy her ice time, my oldest son (13) has discovered he enjoys sports as well. He played softball over the summer and is now in the middle of swim season. I never noticed during the countless summer days spent at the pool, but he really is an amazing swimmer! Of course being 6 foot 4 doesn't hurt. Thankfully the little kids are too young for sports yet, but 2 are in scouts. So my evenings are spent in a car, shuttling various children to play rehearsals, swim practices, cub scouts, girl scouts, hockey practices, swim meets and hockey games. I havent picked up a pen to write anything in months, but that's not unusually this time of year. On the occasion I

I haven't been getting much writing done lately. With all five kids in school, I'm still getting used to the silence! I have been miserable for a long time, and I'm slowly starting to work on changing that. One of the things that has really been bothering me about myself is my weight. So I jumped into the Pokémon Go craze. Since I downloaded the game (July 27), I have lost 27 pounds! I walk over 5 miles daily. I'm eating healthier. I have a long way to go (another 50 pounds away from my goal), but it is a work in progress. As the year grows colder, I find myself spending more time on crafting than on writing. Between Halloween costumes that need to be made and getting ready for craft shows that the holiday season brings, most of my free time is spent buried underneath mounds of various yarn. Hockey season starts in a little over a week, so there goes even more of my time. I conplain about it, but honestly I think I'm starting to love the sport as much as my daugh

Earlier today, I attempted to write a post to describe how I feel, but it ended up making basically no sense. Instead of making me feel better by getting the words out, I feel worse. It's like I don't even know who I am any more. I have spent so much time being the person everyone expects me to be that I lost myself. There are a very few people that I feel that I can actually be myself around, but none of those people are the people that I SHOULD be able to be myself around. I've been hiding in the world of dragons and faeries. Like me, several of the characters are also not sure who they are. Now obviously, I know I'm not going to spontaneously erupt wings from my back, but maybe, just maybe, I can be comfortable being myself again.

I've noticed quite a few things about myself since I decided to jump into the fantasy world of Avalon with my latest book series. Until then, I had always written about real life issues. When I felt numb, I wrote about cutting. When depressed, I wrote about suicide. Feeling fat; eating disorders. Until Saving Avalon, my books have always seemed to correspond with however I was currently feeling at the time. Maybe that's why I am struggling so much with book two. When I was writing the first book in Saving Avalon, I was struggling to find names for some of my characters, so I turned to my Facebook friends list. In an act of anger, I named a character after someone that was a fairly important part of my life, making this person a horrible character. Since reconciling with the person in real life, I decided maybe I should redeem that character in the book series. So that's what I decided to do with book two. The first seven chapters are spent attempting to redeem this

Yes that's exactly what they are: excuses. My computer is finally back up and running after a child managed to break my monitor. I'm on the mend from Lyme disease, although these headaches are murder. I don't wish them on anyone. The pain from a migraine isn't as bad as a Lyme disease headache, and the fact that I have had NO relief from it since it started over a week ago isn't helping my opinion on them. It seems like every time I get on here, I am coming up with some excuse as to why Saving Avalon is not out yet. The book is finished. It's edited. It's mostly formatted. Why am I not releasing it yet? I don't have an answer for that. This will be the first book published since I lost my grandma, but I don't think that's it. It's not the fact that I'm worried about what a turn to fantasy would do to my book sales either. I'm not entirely sure why I am stalling. I have so many things going on right now. I'm trying to be

As most of my readers should already know, I have taken a break from my usual writing to work on a fantasy series. Book One of Saving Avalon is finished and will be available within the next couple of weeks. I have a couple chapters written of book two, but there is where my dilemma lies. I keep finding myself thinking back to a certain character of one of my older books. I also said that I would eventually return to the Self Inflicted series, but I believe Rory and Liam's story is pretty much wrapped up. It's Gabe that I can't get off my mind. His story isn't finished. It has barely even started. Now since I am currently in the middle of Saving Avalon (and I have readers waiting for this story), I really can't abandon that project to return to Gabe's story, but I can't keep working on Saving Avalon when I have other stories filling my head. I'm at the point where I don't know what to do. I don't have much time to write anymore, and when I do

I don't know how other people do it. How do other families manage to juggle schedules for seven people and not feel like pulling their hair out?!? I had a board meeting for my daughter's hockey team yesterday. All of the other mothers were talking about all the camps and other hockey related things their daughters are doing over the summer. I felt bad, because I told my daughter she would be taking the summer off of hockey this year. My son is playing softball and we need to focus on his sports for awhile. Now that I know she will be playing with an older team (13 and 14 year olds and she is only 11) next year, I regret that decision. What if she is further behind the other girls? What if she decides to give up? My son is loving softball. He never showed any interest in sports until I volunteered both of the older children as bat boys for the Beloit Snappers minor league baseball team. He loves it. My daughter hated it. With is being such a struggle with just the two chil

Once again, I have been slacking with my blog. I'm still getting used to getting in the swing of things. Before tax season started, I had a good habit of posting twice a week. Then life got a little crazy with tax season, hockey, and my sister's wedding planning. Now I have a bit of free time and can get back to work! I entered my newest novel, Finding Her Wings, in a contest on Kindle Scout. The program gives the READERS the choice of which books get published. How awesome is that? Anyway, I would love the support. Please click the link at the bottom and read the information for Finding Her Wings. If you like what you read, a nomination would be greatly appreciated! If the book is selected for nomination, you will receive a FREE advanced copy! https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/H53118IR46O6

This weekend is Mother's Day. I'm not looking forward to anything. I'm not even expecting anyone in my house to acknowledge the day. Instead, I plan on disappearing from the house and getting some work done. Last year, not a single person even mentioned Mother's Day. I'm expecting pretty much the same thing this year. Two of my children will be with their fathers. My stepdaughter will be at her mom's, but even if she was home, she wouldn't acknowledge me on a day like that. It doesn't matter that I'm the one that does everything for her. All that matters to her is her "real" mom. My older two children will be home, but I'm definitely no expecting anything from them nor my husband. Mother's Day is just another day of the year. I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does. Last year, our first wedding anniversary had fallen on Father's Day, but instead of celebrating the anniversary, we celebrated Father's Day. Friday

As tax season winds down, I find my first fantasy novel ALMOST complete. Today is my last day in this tax office (I will be working a few days each week over the summer, but that will be at a different location). I told myself that I wanted Finding Her Wings done by the end of tax season. Did I make my goal? Yes and No. Is the book done? Well that depends on your definition of done. I have decided that I will be entering this book in a Kindle Scout competition, and it has a chance to be published by Kindle instead of by myself, which means Kindle will be a huge help with promotion! That is my huge struggle. I don't have the time to promote my work, and I feel like I don't even know where to begin. Okay, I'm getting off track here. One of the requirements to enter in Kindle Scout means that the book has to be 50,000 words. My first draft was 46,500 words. Not a huge deal. I started editing and in the process, I moved up to 49,850 words. I am 150 words away from bei

When I woke up this morning, I knew today was not going to be a good day. As soon as I looked at my FitBit and realized the date. April 10. I hate this day. Almost as much as I hate August 20. For anyone who has read the First Love series, today is Chad's birthday. In the year's after Chad's death, I remained close to his brother Chris for awhile. We fell out of touch several years ago. It's hard to believe that Chad has been gone for almost eighteen years. Today, he would have been 36 years old. He has been literally gone a lifetime. As though dealing with the weight of today while I'm stuck at work all day isn't enough, I found out the rear axle broke on my car. Yay! That's great news! Not! Sorry, I was stuck in the 90's for a moment there. I believe I am back to modern times. I'm just sick of all these problems. I didn't sign up to be an adult! Can I go back to being a kid? Like 13 years old again? Maybe 14? Before I started high

All of my recent blog posts have been about having spare time now that hockey season, my sister's wedding, and tax season (almost) are over. Now is the time that I have to stay motivated. Now is the time to really get things done. I want the first draft of Saving Avalon to be finished BEFORE the end of tax season. I also want my office to finish strong so we can maybe get the recognition we deserve! My goal for Saving Avalon was to enter it in Kindle Scout, but now I'm wondering if that is such an obtainable goal. The book has to be at least 50,000 words, and right now I'm sitting at 37,000 and struggling with the ending. I'm not sure which direction I want it to go. I'm not sure how I am going to leave people wanting more, since I originally intended this book to be part of a series. I'm not even sure if I want to write another book in this series. It was fun to dive into the fantasy world, which in reality is the genre I usually read, but I miss

The wedding is over. My baby sister is married. She was so nervous in the days leading up to the event. She is a very shy person, and has been known to pass out while being the center of attention. She did great during the ceremony. It was short, sweet, and perfect for her. My oldest kids were a huge help to everyone. Jayson filled in for a sick groomsman who had to leave early as well as did his duties as an usher and photographer. He was definitely busy! Later in the night when the little ones were ready for bed, he babysit them all (and an extra!) Hayleigh was Sarah's personal assistant for the day. She made sure everyone smoothly transitioned from ceremony to reception as well as helped with the children and helped the servers determine what person ordered which type of food. We couldn't have asked for a better wedding. Everything fell into place, and it was perfect. Of course, now it's over. Now I go back to normal day to day life. Back to work. Back to writi

Hockey season is over for my daughter as of a week ago. No more practices two and three nights a week. No more traveling throughout the state of Wisconsin every weekend for two to three games each weekend. No more unexpected expenses (I swear, if I hear the words "I need tape" one more time!!!!). My little sister is getting married in two days. Her bouquets are done. Wedding favors are done. Decorations are done. I actually have time to myself. I started typing up what I have so far in Saving Avalon. I'm shocked that I ended up having much more than I thought I did! The writing process is coming along nicely, and I'm hoping to have the book finished by the end of tax season! (At least the writing and typing part. Editing takes more time.) The more I work on Saving Avalon, the more I am getting into the book. It took forever! None of the books that I have written so far has taken me this long. Summer Love was about two months (and was actually released a year ago

In less than a week, my daughter's hockey season will be over. On Saturday, we drive to Dodgeville, Wisconsin for her final game. No more travel on the weekends. No more practice taking up two to three nights a week. No more lugging around a giant hockey bag and trying to rid my car from the "hockey smell". The weekend after the final game is my sister's wedding. When that's over, there is no more stressing about whether everything will get done. No more favors, decorations, bouquets, meal orders, etc to deal with. Tax season is coming to an end. In a little over a month, I will no longer be working 50-60 hours each week. What am I going to do with all this free time? I definitely want to get some more writing done. I also have a chance to set up a craft booth at a small carnival in June, but I'm not exactly prepared for that. I could start working on that... Or I just could take a break. Relax. Read a book. Catch up on TV shows that I have missed ov

Okay, I will be the first to admit that I have been severely slacking the last few months. When I lost Grandma, it definitely took some time to be able to write again. I can't believe she's been gone almost six months. That's a long time without my best friend... Of course, there hasn't exactly been much time for writing either. With my daughter in hockey, I'm traveling every weekend, and then at practice another two, sometimes three, days a week. Thankfully, hockey season is winding down and her last game is approaching fast! My little sister is also getting married on March 19th. Of course, that means Miss Crafty here is in charge of too much. Decorations. Wedding favors. Dinner counts for rehearsal and reception. Bridesmaid. My son is an usher. The little two are in the wedding. It's a lot! I don't remember being so stressed out for my own wedding! Oh, that's right. I didn't get married in the middle of tax season and hockey season!!!