Sheer Stupidity

As you probably all already know, there's a winter storm headed this way. We knew about this in advance, so I did all my shopping yesterday to make sure we were stocked up.  I had thought to see if Wallyworld had snow shovels - just to have a backup or if we wanted to double-up and work together to move the impending tonnage.  Wallyworld, in their infinite wisdom, has filled the area where they kept all the winter tools with summer stuff.  No snow shovels, but you can buy a lawn mower.  No salt but you can buy hoses.  

I asked a worker if they still had shovels in the back.  The kid blinked his eyes several times, looked at me as though I was speaking another language, and repeated that they don't have any snow shovels.  Did they ship all the snow shovels back to some unknown warehouse?  I don't know.  Apparently so.  I went farther into the store to continue my shopping and ran into another worker.  This one was older and seasoned.  I asked him about the snow shovels.  He gave me a wry grin and said they didn't have any.  He then pointed to an aisle behind him and said they got rid of the space heaters, too.  The aisle he pointed to was filled with fans and AC units.  The only heaters they currently have at my local store are propane camping heaters.  Sure, pick one of those up and asphyxiate yourself.  Woot.

At the time, they were predicting a winter storm that would drop 6-9 inches on us and drop the temps to below freezing.  (The snowfall has since been upgraded to 8-12 inches.)  The people around here are NOT prepared for winter, but the sheer stupidity of the higher-ups at Wallyworld decided February would be the perfect time to shift to summer stock.  

I didn't check the clothing, but I wouldn't have been surprised to find swimsuits and shorts where there ought to be coats and sweaters.

Right now, Wallyworld could be selling the hell out of their cold-weather gear and make huge profits.  Instead, they're pissing people off with items no one in their right minds would buy right now.  No wonder they're losing the battle to places like Amazon where you can find snow shovels in August and bathing suits in December.  

We all joke about them having Halloween stuff out in August and Christmas crap up before the bats and witches are put away for the season, but this is ridiculous.  Don't get me wrong. 90% of the time, I love Walmart, but this stupidity is mindblowing.  

:endrant:

Marketing Monday - Blink of an I

Okay, so I started this post around 6:30 this morning and then discovered just now that I never finished or posted it.  I guess this explains why no one has commented on it yet.  Anyway, here it is... 

It's Monday and that means marketing.  This week, the book is BLINK OF AN I, and it's totally free.  Here's today's ad copy:

Starting today, BLINK OF AN I is free worldwide.  (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)  Pick up your copy of this gripping journey through a dystopian future we can only hope to avoid.

In the blink of an I, the world can change.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079X142G2

Run out right now and download a copy.  

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 7

 Yeah yeah, I know you know what year it is, but I started putting the year there so there wouldn't be any confusion if someone was doing a search.  (Not that there are many people coming here or searching for stuff, but I'm like that sometimes.)

This week was a slug week.  

I'm up to pg 107 in the edit notes, which means I did notes for 69 pages.  And this put me about halfway through.  If I could muster the gumption, I'd be done with this by now.  I am gumption-free at the moment.

I did do some marketing this week.  Dying Embers was free and I moved 814 copies.  I thought it was all me, but then it occurred to me that I had received what I thought was a spammy scammer email talking about they had promoted my book and all they were asking was that I share the link to their page... or something.  Like I said, I thought it was a scammer, so I marked it as spam and deleted it.  Oops.  If you're from there, email me again.  I'll put you out of spam.

I also got an email this week from someone who said they were a talent agent and they were interested in talking to me about taking UNEQUAL to the movies.  The agency they supposedly work for has a website, but no internet chatter.  The person isn't listed on their website as an employee.  And there's no chatter about them either.  Plus, their email address isn't from their website.  No movie deals for me, I guess.  (Not that I would want anyone in Hollywood coming anywhere near any of my books.  I don't trust them to do it right.  Especially not a book as philosophically driven as UNEQUAL.  They'd fuck that story up in a major way.)

Speaking of... well, books and freebies and philosophically driven stuff... BLINK OF AN I will be free starting tomorrow.  Woot.

No reading.

Loads of baking.  I made carrot cake for the first time.  :muppetflail:  I also made another batch of cinnamon rolls.  These turned out awesome.  I think I've got them down now.  Yay.  And I did bread pizza again.  Also, not baking but I made beef stroganoff in the crock pot yesterday and it was awesome.

No activity.  Like I said... slug.  I did weigh myself, though.  Weight: 172 - down a pound from the last weight.  Yay?

Wrong Way Wren is still in the garage.  I saw him yesterday and we can hear him singing in the mornings.  I thought I got him out after then, but Hubs heard him this morning and he ate his last suet pellet, so I guess he'll be a guest for another few days.  Once this polar snap is over, I'll try to encourage him out again.  

Sawyer's been a turd these past few mornings.  I figured out why today.  He likes to sleep in my desk chair, but I'm using it in the mornings.  This morning, he was meowing all over the place and making a general nuisance of himself.  Then I got up to do something.  He jumped into my chair, curled up and went to sleep.  I am now sitting in my old desk chair to preserve the quiet.

This week, I got a new project from the pay-job, so I've been hitting that pretty hard.  I have to pull data from 12 months and compile sales figures for that span according to the parameters the boss has given me.  It's a slog, but I like playing with data, so it's all good.  I've gone as far as I can without some needed data from the office, which isn't open on Sundays, so I can try to focus on editing today.  

Other than that, we're supposed to be getting a winter storm again this week.  We got a little bit of snow last night, and the temps are dropping.  Fingers crossed that whatever this is hits and moves out quickly and without too much fuss.  I don't like fuss.  Thank goodness I don't work outside the house anymore, but it does make errands a little iffy.  

Okay, I think that's it for me.  What's been up with you?

Thursday This n That

Wow.  I mean, just... wow.  The freebie thing for DYING EMBERS shot off like a freakin' rocket this week.  When I checked the stats this morning, my orders said 777.  705 of that is DE.  (71 was from last weeks freebie of PH. And I sold one FG.)  I've never moved that many copies of anything at one time.  Hell, I haven't moved that many copies of all of my books in an entire year since my first year. That year, I moved like 1016, which is fewer books than I've given away this year.  I am shocked.  This is my wow-face =oO.  Anyway, thank you.  Thanks to all of you who've read my books, and to all of you who've downloaded my books, and to all of you who've reviewed my books.  You're all awesome and I love you. :HUGS:  You're really making my anniversary special.  Special thanks to Silver and Debs and Janet for sticking with me all the way.  You guys rock.

Today is officially the 10th anniversary of DE going out into the world.  On 2/13/15, it went live on Amazon and I got my very first sale ever.  Woot.  

Speaking of sales, I've officially made more money this year than all of 2023.  Sure, it's $28.82 vs $28.08, but we have to take our little successes where we can find them, eh?

Man, these last few years have been a little depressing for me with regards to being a writer.  I mean, I haven't broken $100 since 2021.  The last year I made more than my average of $400/year was 2019.  But there's always hope.  And more than a little of a masochistic nature, LOL.

Okay, enough about that... I think I might've already mentioned it, but I made carrot cake.  It was good but unimpressive the first day.  Every day, it's gotten a wee bit yummier, though.  Mmmm.  Next time, I definitely need to add raisins.  I do love me some raisins.

The weather here has been gross.  Wet and cold and icy.  Blerg.  Good thing I got all my errands done over the weekend or we'd be screwed.  Eh, it's all about planning ahead when you live in the back of beyond.  

Ack.  I need to wrap this up so I can call Mom.  It's a thing.  Every morning M-Th, I call her at 7am and we talk for an hour.  She's 84 and, let's face it, she's not going to be here forever, so I like to get as much chatting in as I can.  Plus, I really enjoy our conversations.  There's no better way to start the day for me.  (I also call her on Saturday, but that's at 7:45.  She gets Fridays and Sundays off from me. LOL)

And with that I bid you all adieu.  Have a great day wherever you are!

Ten Years

I had a great idea for a post for today, but that was last night, and now it's gone.  So, let's see what I can come up with...

As you know, it's my 10th Anniversary celebration week.  Woohoo.  It's been one helluva ride (which is something you apparently can't say on FB because I had several marketing posts declined there yesterday using the made-up word 'helluva' when without the word, they were approved.)  

In the past ten years, I've published 17 novels in 8 genres - suspense, mystery, thriller, urban fantasy, paranormal mystery, dystopian, hard-boiled crime, and fantasy.  I have 4 series in the works (with more than one book in them) and two books that are waiting for their sequels.  One of those will have a sequel out either this month or next.  I have three books that will never have sequels - the two dystopians and the political thriller.  Hell, I didn't PLAN for any of my initial books to be the start of a series, but they worked out to be Book Ones.  SLEEPING UGLY, while planned as the start of a series, was not one of my initial books.  Just sayin'.

Over the decade of publication, I've sold almost 3300 books for nearly $4000.  So, that works out to about 330 books and $400 a year.  Ummm... woot?  I've also given away just over 8000 books.  

My biggest seller is DYING EMBERS, of course.  It's also the one that's been out there the longest, so no big surprise.  Then ACCIDENTAL DEATH.  Then WISH IN ONE HAND.  That's the order they were published in, so again no big surprise.  Unfortunately, the fourth oldest book is not next on the top sales list.  PROJECT HERMES isn't for everyone and that's fine.  It's #9 and has been passed by all the books in the genie series and the second book in the SCIU series.  

Sadly, my lowest seller has been my last book - SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD.  Poor thing.  It didn't get a whole lot of marketing love from me, since I went back to a day job shortly after it was published.  It's also supposed to have sequels which would help sales, but I haven't mustered the will to write those books yet.  I expect it will continue to languish in obscurity until I get those done.  The ideas for them are there, just not the words.  

Only 8 of my books have earned me more than $100 each.  The rest of them are still in the double digits.  It can disheartening.  Believe me.  I lost count of the number of times I swore I'd quit this endeavor.  It ain't for the faint of heart.  It might be a sign of a tendency toward masochism, but I'm undiagnosed by medical professionals, so we'll ignore that.  ;o)

I also lost count of how much money I've spent on this.  Last tally was over $11000 - most of that in the first year.  I'd like to eventually have this publishing thing fund itself, but I'm not holding my breath.

If I could go back and do it all over again, would I?  Yeah, I think I would.  I'd do a few things differently.  I wouldn't pay that first cover artist for WIOH for one thing.  All in all, though, I think I've done all of this the best way I knew how at the time.  I'm still at this and I don't foresee quitting any time soon.  

Anyway... here's to Ten Years!  Thank you to everyone who's helped me along the way and to all the readers who've enjoyed my work.  I can't wait to see what the next ten years bring.

Marketing Monday - 10th Anniversary!

 Hey all.  This week I'll see the 10th Anniversary of being a published author.  On 2/13/15, DYING EMBERS was pushed into the world.  So...

To celebrate my tenth anniversary as a published author, this week DYING EMBERS is absolutely free. (Always free on Kindle Unlimited.) It's been a helluva journey. Thanks for sharing it with me.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TEQK7OU

And it has been one hell of a journey.  Who knew when I started this writing thing back in January of 2004 - that's right, I've been at this for 21 years now - that I'd be a self-published author with sales and reviews and junk?  I certainly didn't.  Of course, when I started writing back in 2004, I thought that I'd be represented by an agent and have loads of traditional book sales by now.  

We all know how that turned out, eh?

Anyway, I'll talk more about that in the week to come.  Until then, pick up a copy of Dying Embers and enjoy my gift to you.  And if you enjoy it, pay it backward by leaving a review.  ;o)

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 6

Six weeks into 2025 and I'm feeling pretty good about life in general.  Specifics?  Eh, the jury's still out.

I finished the second round of edit notes on Tuesday, took a day off, and began inputting them.  I'm only at pg38, but it's going well.  I guess.  I'm trying to just go from note to note, but I keep finding things I missed making notes on, so it's going slower than anticipated.  Like I said, I won't meet my goal of having this finished by Valentine's Day.  Not even close.  I am shooting for before the end of the month now, but that will depend on how fast I can get these notes entered, the next pass through and notes completed, sent out to readers and how quickly they turn it around back to me.  Then there will be formatting, etc.  Actually, typing all that out now makes me wonder if I can have this done by Easter.  (And I don't know when Easter even is this year.)

I did some marketing this week.  Not nearly enough.  I slacked off on this one.  Project Hermes did move 71 copies and had some page reads, though.  Tomorrow, Dying Embers starts its freebie week in celebration of its ten year anniversary.  Woot.

Reading still isn't happening.  I can't seem to muster the urge to read right now.  :shrug:  This, too, shall pass.

In baking news, all I made this week was Italian bread pizza.  It's like French bread pizza, but with a loaf of Italian bread.  Big shocker there, eh?  Anyway, it was totally yummy, and I still have half a loaf of bread left to make it again sometime this week.  Also, this week, we need cinnamon rolls.  We ate the last two a couple days ago and I'm jones'n.  Oh, and I plan on making carrot cake this week.  Maybe today.  I bought a huge bag of carrots for this purpose and for the beef stew I made yesterday.  OMG, that stew turned out amazing.  Yummers.

On the activity front, I did something active 5 out of 7 days.  Cleaning, walking, woods work, etc.  Oh, and I went fishing one afternoon.  I didn't catch anything, but lugging the gear around after ages of not going fishing was a real workout.  Speaking of real workouts, day before yesterday, in addition to my puttering around in the woods, I lugged a couple dead dogwood tree trunks up the hill.  And I paid for every inch of both the trees and the climbs.  Dogwood is not a light wood.  OMG, ouch.  I'm still feeling that one.  Weight as of Wednesday: 173.0

I found a couple really neat rocks in the woods, too.  One of these days, I should take pictures of all my neat rocks and let y'all see them.  Anyway, one of them was small and has interesting differently colored stripes in it.  The other is bigger and has some kind of translucent brown mineral layered into the white base rock.  Not sure what it is, but it's cool, so home it came.  Hey, Hubs didn't tell me this time, as he often does, not to bring any rocks back with me, so I went for it.  LOL

Yesterday, I hit Wallyworld ahead of the coming weather scuz.  And this morning I remembered that I forgot coffee :gasp: and some other essential, but less important, things.  This means a Dollar General run shortly.  

And that's about all I have for you today.  I hope wherever you are, life is good for you, too.  Have a great day!  And leave me a comment or two when you get a chance.