Hey all! So in case you want an organized version of the chatty video below, here is an update on EVERYTHING that has been going on lately and some big news I am really excited and nervous to share.

work

Yikes. I feel like the last few months have FLOWN by and so much has been packed into them. I went to a writers conference with my dear friend and sister, Livy Lynn in October. The weekend was so beyond spectacular and we really connected. We filmed a few videos together and my vlog of the weekend is still coming. That was just an amazing experience.
In addition to working over 30 hours a week at my job, I took on the task of cleaning/doing the floors every other week at the salon where I work. Which turned into a bigger more exhausting task than I realized, but it’s all good. Just lots of time away from home.
Victoria Lynn Designs has had pretty constant work for the last few months. With blog tours, (one this weekend) Cover designing for A Royal Masquerade by Allison Tebo and Hailey Rose and interior formatting for A Royal Masquerade, Songs From The Small Hours by A. L. Buerher, and Midnight Justice for Patience Royale, I have been designing a lot which has been a blast! I love doing that and it has been so nice to be able to work with these lovely and talented authors.
Blogging has been intense with blog tours and reviews that have needed to be put up. Planning the Black Friday blog tour turned into a huge event when we realized that over 150 books were signed up for the sale and over 40 blogs signed up for the tour. Whew! I’m so excited for this weekend!

writing

Bleh. I have tried on and off to get some fictional writing done, and Hailey Rose and I were challenging each other to writing for 10 minutes a day this month. I know, it sounds pitiful, but we both really needed something to get our engines revving. I for one have been caught up in editing and releasing books, so my fiction writing has suffered a bit. Nothing has really taken off this month and my writing time turned into writing non-fiction blog posts and articles. Which is great, but the fiction fire is begging to be fueled. All of that being said, I have been at a very stuck place with Shadows over London. I’ll try to explain myself, but it’s just an annoying, convoluted mess. LOL!
Shadows is two thirds written! That’s the good news. The bad news is, I hand wrote all of that in notebooks. I want to type it going forward. Also, the problem is that it has been so long that I have worked on it, that I need to re-read what I have to get a good lay of the land. But I can’t really read my handwriting all that well. *ducks* I’ll put a picture below. Soooooo. . . that being the case, I am typing what i have up right now so that I can print it off and read it much easier. THEN, I can push forward with finishing the rough draft. Guys. This book is going to be a doozy. Definitely going to be a longer word count than the first London book and it’s so awesomely intertwined with steam ships, Titanic aftermath and Edwardian era drug dealing that it’s getting to be SUPER EXCITING! I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave you with the fact that I am super excited to get back to writing it. I’ve been chatting with some friends and I am going to be taking the month of December off from a lot of things. . . more on that in a bit and hopefully devote that time to some other important things along with writing Shadows. I miss London so so much.

(my messy, fast handwriting, see my problem?)

life

God’s really doing a huge work in our family in general. If you asked us I don’t know that we would really be able to explain much other than the fact that He is really working in our hearts, purging out some of the garbage and baggage that we all carry, drawing us closer to Him and connecting our hearts to Him, His purpose and mission for us, and drawing us closer as a family unit. He is really shifting some of our visions.
The biggest thing is that we are really struggling in some areas of our life and the word He has been giving us is that breakthrough is coming and the only way I can describe it is that I feel like a huge change, shift, and/or breakthrough is right around the corner for us. We are excited to see what God is doing.
He has really been working in my heart as well. Some of it is talked about in the video, and I don’t really want to repeat myself, but about learning to do the things He has entrusted to me well. How to do them best. I tend to spread myself super thin and have my hands in so many pies, but they don’t always turn out the best that they can be and some might even be classified as half-baked. He is really showing me that less is more. Being honest with others and myself, open to saying no to things I can’t really handle, and only taking on the things that I can do well. Stewarding the gifts and time He has given me. Which brings me to my next topic.
Kudos to you for sticking with this post this long.

blog announcement:

Ruffles and Grace is moving!
After much prayer and thought, in order to move forward, allow this business and ministry to grow, and to help make things easier on me and my readers, I have decided to move and rebrand. You can watch the video as I explain my umbrella principle to you and why I needed to make this change. Everything feels so scattered and I am super excited to put all of my pies under one umbrella instead of having all kinds of tiny ones opening everywhere. (look at me mixing my metaphors. . .) It has just become so much to manage. So. . . the new website is currently under construction. I am so excited for the new look and the easy navigation! Woot woot! But with this move, there are three big things that I need to let you know about.

#1

The email service is going to be changing. If you want to stay connected with my blog and transition smoothly with the move, please subscribe at this link to emails. I will automatically be signing anyone up who subscribed with an email address, but if you used your wordpress account, I don’t have any way to transfer you over. And over 2 thirds of the people subscribed here are via wordpress. So, if you want to stay abreast of what is going on and be able to follow the new website, please sign up for this email list.

#2

I have a survey! It shouldn’t take you longer than five minutes tops, but I am wanting to make this new website the best it can be for you. You all are the reason that I keep blogging, and I would love to be able to tailor the blog and website to your needs. If you wouldn’t mind, I would absolutely love it if you could fill out this survey below! I am excited to hear your thoughts on everything!

Survey

#3

I am going to be taking a somewhat significant blogging break as we build this new website. Mostly just thinking the month of December. With the holidays, my desire to write more on my next book, and my overall need to just CHILL, I have decided to slow WAY down on blog posts. I love posting three times a week for you guys, but I think I need to take some time off to get my mojo back a bit. That being said, there is still going to be quite a bit of content coming your way with previous engagements such as blog tours, book announcements and other things, so you will still be getting posts, just not three times a week, and not really all that consistent. I also wanted to let you know that with the blog break, there might be a few youtube videos coming out to keep you up to date on what is going on, so if you don’t already, please consider subscribing to my youtube channel so you don’t miss out.
I think that is everything! Wow! That was a long post! Thank you for sticking with it to the end and THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART for being here at all. Your faithful following and encouragement has meant so much to me and I am excited for this new chapter in our lives!
By God’s Grace,
Victoria