I like Valentine’s Day. I’ve always liked Valentine’s Day. And not because I’m a soppy old mush. (Just ask the poet!) But because it’s such a lovely, cheerful time of the year adding a splash of colour to the winter drabness that by now is getting a lot of people down. Even when I was on my own, I didn’t begrudge a single person enjoying the occasion.
Another reason I love Valentine’s Day is because of all the happy, cheerful or nostalgic short stories we get to read and write. Twisty stories too, or horror stories. Crime stories as well.
Yes, it’s commercial. But so’s Christmas, and Easter, and Mother’s Day, and so on. Yes, it’s a sad time for anyone who has lost a loved one. But so are Christmas, and birthdays, and any other celebration day or anniversary. And this is from someone who never got a single Valentine all the way through school or college. But still it made me smile, even back then.
The poet and I do always do something on Valentine’s Day and this year it’s no different. We’ll go for a nice meal, probably at Pizza Express (our favourite) before we go to the pictures. This year we’re going to see ARGYLLE.
Yesterday I was determined to get on with some work and first thing I got into a series of email exchanges over a current job. Once at my desk (yes, the emails were on the phone), I finished and posted yesterday’s blog post. And then I started today’s. Because I’m trying to get back up to speed with the blog posts again.
I *did* fall down a bit of a rabbit hole, searching for a new, editable reading tracker/log spreadsheet. And while I was there, I found all of the templates I used to use for the monthly ideas. So I downloaded those again. I’ve completely overhauled my file system on the pc, so it was handy to have these to put where I can find them again. And then I created today’s blog post image.
Next job was a clear out on Canva, or a streamline.
All of my book covers are on there individually, but I want to put the different collections or series together in one file each. I started with the flash fiction standalone short stories. There are only 10 complete, but there are 3 new ones on there too. Then I merged all of the flash fiction anthology covers together. They looked a bit boring, so I quickly changed them and made Book 4. And then I moved all of the old covers to trash.
Here are the 3 new covers for the existing flash fiction anthologies:
I thought I was missing a trick by not publishing 2 very short stories right now. So I decided if I got on with my work and made a decent dent in it, perhaps I’d publish them then…However, the dog wanted attention every 10 minutes or so, and the work dragged out. I didn’t finish it or get to a place where I could take a big break. So the 2 short stories will be published this time next year. I’ll just do it well in advance.
We had pancakes for tea and I came back to my work so I could leave it in a suitable place for today. I really, really need to shift this one today, though. So no enjoyment time for me until it’s done.
Whatever you’re doing today, celebrating or ignoring it, I hope you have a super day. You are all my Valentines too. Oh, and they’re white Yorkshire roses in the picture, rather than red Lancashire roses! ❤️
Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too, my friend!