Sunday Update - 2025 Week 37

 Well, it's Sunday.  It was a hell of a week.  No, not personally, but I guess it all does have personal ramifications.  I've been blocking people like mad this week.  Blocking saves my sanity - what little is left - and keeps my blood pressure down.  Anyway...

No writing this week.  I'm not blocked, per se, but have you ever had so much to do that you're frozen?  Like you look at all the stuff and can't do any of it?  Well, that's part of the problem.  Not all.  Hell, I don't even know what the whole problem is.  I'm going to ponder it all over the coming weeks and see if I can come up with an answer.  Maybe October will be better.

I did manage to market.  Not effectively, but better than nothing.  To that end, I moved 29 free copies of IDW and 1 purchased copy after the freebie was over.  I won't be doing any marketing this week, I think.  

Reading was okay.  I finished one book and started another.  I'm going to try to read more this week.  I'll never make my goal, but I'll live.

There wasn't much activity this week.  I wandered around the yard one day.  I did a hard-target walk another day.  I did some negligible stuff otherwise.  Miles walked: 54.9 / Weight: 171.0

Nothing baked.  I think I'll do cinnamon rolls today.  If I muster the will.

What I really need to do is some deep-dish evaluating of my work and my life and what the hell I'm actually doing with any of it.  Is it all just Hubs, and cats, and Roku from here on out, or am I actually going to stop being a viscous pool of warm pudding?  Tune in next time to find out...  Which reminds me... I have some personal stuff coming up, so I might not get a chance to do a Sunday Update next week.

Catch ya on the flip side of all this.

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 9/13/25

It's Saturday the 13th. Which isn't unlucky or anything, but I'm weirdly pointing it out.  Anyways...

Not a lot to report this week.  I didn't pick up any new books since the last update.

Books Read: 

31) Tales from the 'White Hart' by Arthur C. Clarke (9/11/25) - SF - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Picked this up for 25c from a thrift store.
No review.  

No DNFs.

Currently reading... the one new-to-me Agatha Christie I bought the other day.  I wasn't sure I was going to read it right away or save it, but I needed it, so I started it.  Sometimes a gal just need a little Agatha to make things seem better, ya know?

What have you been up to reading-wise?

 

Heartsick

I don't have the heart to do a 'this n that' today.  Frankly, I'm sick to my stomach over the assassination of Charlie Kirk.  There is no other word for it.  He was assassinated.  You can call it a horror or a tragedy - it's certainly those, too - but that doesn't change the fact that he was assassinated.  

From all I knew of Charlie, he was a good man.  He advocated for discussion over violence, and they killed him for it.  He was trying to get people to talk about issues and to think for themselves.  Well, we can't have any of that now, can we?  Feh.

There's a lot of crap out there this morning with people saying vile things.  Those people can wither up and die for all I care.  If you're one of them, please go far, far away from me.  

I'm not sure what this will mean for our country.  Hopefully, it'll be a watershed moment and those following the advocates of violence wake up and see that theirs is not the side to be on.  Hopefully, freedom will win this battle.  

Right now, though, I'm heartsick.  And yes, it's the anniversary of 9/11 - don't think I haven't considered whether Charlie's assassination wasn't planned to coincide with this.  It probably was.  

'Never forget' turned into 'only remember on 9/11' and then ignore the causes altogether.  

I'm gonna go watch TV.  Something totally not involved in any of this until I can stomach being online again.  

Peace.  Out.

Marketing Monday - Natural Causes

Well, it's another Monday and I'm marketing.  I decided to let loose with Natural Causes because it's been like 6 months since I marketed it.  Thus, it's free starting today.  Have at it.

Starting today, NATURAL CAUSES is free.  (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)  Pick up your copy of this hard-boiled crime novel today.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y44BXTM

Personally, I think this book is really underappreciated.  But I'm the author, so what do I know?

Anyway, it's free right now, so if you enjoyed ACCIDENTAL DEATH and haven't read this yet, you're missing out.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 36

Welcome to the Sunday Update.  I think it's Week 36.  These days, who knows? LOL  Anyway, sorry last week was a dud, but let's see what I can do to amuse you today.

I did some writing this week.  Not nearly enough, but something anyway.  I managed 1709 out of two days.  :sad trombone:  This week ain't lookin' great either, but we'll see.  

Marketing was accomplished.  Unfortunately, still being hamstrung by FB, I moved only 29 copies of IDW.  I did sell a copy each of the other books in the series, though, so I've got that going for me.

Nothing got finished on the reading front, so no post yesterday.  I'm in the middle of reading a collection of inter-related short stories by Arthur C. Clarke.  They're okay.  Nothing really exciting, but fun.

In baking news, I made oatmeal raisin bread with a cinnamon swirl.  What can I say... I was inspired by watching The Great British Baking Show.  Plus, I got a new to me cookbook with this recipe in it.  It's pretty yummy, but the swirl part was a bust.  It's falling apart at the swirl line.  :shrug:  Better luck next time, I guess.  Except it took all day to make, so there might not be a next time.  We'll see.

On the activity front, I was more active this week.  Yay for cooler weather, eh?  I did two walks, two days of cleaning/yard work, and a big grocery trip.  I'm up to 53.7 miles walked for the year.  Weight: 171.4

Thanks also to the cooler weather, I guess, my tomatoes are bearing more fruits and more flowers, too.  I have like 5 more tomatoes.  Yay.  I also found this show on gardening.  It's out of Ireland, but plants are plants and dirt is dirt.  I just need to adjust their advice to Missouri climate.  The episode on growing tomatoes was very informative.  I found out I'm not feeding nearly often enough and that I should've pinched off the excessive shoots.  :shrug:  Next year's garden should be way better. Live and learn.

This morning, I heard a strange sound coming out of the woods.  When I did some research, I discovered it was the sound of an Eastern Screech Owl.  Yay.  In other nature news, the fawns are getting big and their spots are fading fast.  We named Sissy's fawn Scout and it's a big fawn.  It's probably a buck fawn, but I haven't seen any antler nubs yet, so the jury's still out.

Yesterday, I wandered the yard with stakes, plotting out where we're going to be transplanting some of the deck trees.  Hubs checked out my placement and agrees, so we'll proceed with that in a month or so.  I'm trying to put them in the ground when they have a better chance of surviving the deer (i.e. when the trees are leafless and less likely to attract attention.)  I hope it works.  Otherwise, there's always next year.  

Okay, I think that's probably enough out of me.  Have a great day and a lovely week.  

Friday This n That

I keep forgetting to post on Thursday.  Derp.  I also keep forgetting to visit other people's blogs.  Double derp.

Deer have nannies.  About this time of year, the mom deers are busy getting ready for being pregnant in a few months and they don't have time for their fawns, so one doe will take over the mom duties for several other does.  Yesterday, the nanny deer brought her four charges down for a drink at the water pan.  It looked like two sets of twins.  They drank their fills and off they all went.  

My tomato plants are producing more fruits now that the weather is cooler.  I have like 4 more tomatoes out there than before.  Woot.  I also saw a hummingbird visiting one of the plants that has flowers and pollinating as it sipped, so fingers crossed for even more tomatoes.  Woot.

We've been watching a lot of British shows lately.  :shrug:  It's stuff we haven't seen, so yay.  But they have a much more casual take on nudity over there.  It's unexpected.  We'll be watching a mystery thing and SURPRISE... boobs.  Or buns.  Or the occasional humping scene.  I don't think it's for shock value like it would be here, but we're just not prepared for it.  

Also, watching a lot of British shows has given me new phrases to say.  Like 'fiddly bits', which is when you're working with something small.  (Small screws, tiny parts, etc.) 

Sawyer's being obnoxious this morning.  He's had three time outs in the bathroom in the last couple hours.  Silly cat.  On the up side, he didn't wake us up last night.  Whew.  Two night in a row.  If he goes one more night, it'll be a record.

Okay, that's all I've got this morning.  What this-n-that things do you have today?

2025 Books Read

Here we are with my 2025 Books Read post.  I started it a little later than usual this year because it took me a while to finish that first book.  

If you haven't been following along all these years, here's how this post goes.  The books I read are in reverse order - newest first.  * means ebook.  # means 'new to me and underappreciated'.  If there's a number at the end, it's where the book's at in a series.  The links go to Goodreads where I may or may not have written a review.  (Check back on Saturdays for my weekly Reading Wrap-up to see reviews.)

I set my goal for this year's reading at 70.  We'll see how that goes.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's begin...

31) Tales from the 'White Hart' by Arthur C. Clarke (9/11/25) - SF

30) Primordial Threat by MA Rothman (8/28/25) - SF*

29) Five Complete Hercule Poirot Novels (8/18/25) - mystery

28) The Devil's Angel by Margaret Bernard (7/26/25) - UF*#

27) Space Academy Dropouts by Phipps & Suttkus (7/6/25) - SF humor*#

26) Sweet Harmony by Noel Bailey (6/25/25) - magical romance*#

25) The Danger by Dick Francis (6/15/25) - thriller

0) Novella by Name Withheld (6/9/25) - SF*

24) The Face in the Water by Kathleen Pennell (6/8/25) - mystery*#

23) Blade Runner (or Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep) by Philip K Dick (6/5/25) - dystopian

22) You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming (5/29/25) - action/hard-boiled crime

21) On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming (5/24/25) - action/hard-boiled crime

20) The Singing Stones by Phyllis A. Whitney (5/17/25) - romantic suspense

19) Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (5/15/25) - mystery

18) Bill and the Last Cup of Coffee by Lance Lassen (5/8/25) - dystopian action/humor* (I read the ebook, but this is the link to the paperback. In the time between now and when I downloaded the book, the ebook page has been removed and the paperback was set to 'out of print'. :sadface:)

17) Goldfinger by Ian Fleming (5/5/25) - action/hard boiled crime

16) In Plain Sight by Dan Willis (4/27/25) - magical hard-boiled crime*

15) Dr. No by Ian Fleming (4/26/25) - action/hard boiled crime

14) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (4/20/25) - dystopian

13) Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming (4/16/25) - action/hard boiled crime

12) Islands in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke (4/11/25) -  science fiction

11) Murder by the Script by Lisa Pevey (4/8/25) - cozy mystery*

10) Festive Fonts and Fowl Murder by Lisa Pevey (4/7/25) - cozy mystery*

9) The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett (4/6/25) - suspense

8) A Murder in Cursive by Lisa Pevey (4/3/25) - cozy mystery*

7) The Ebony Swan by Phyllis Whitney (4/1/25) - romantic suspense

6) The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip (3/29/25) - fantasy

5) Murder by the Letter by Lisa Pevey (3/27/25) - cozy mystery*

4) Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout (3/26/25) - noir crime

3) Moonstruck: Retribution by Silver James (3/20/25) - paranormal romantic suspense*

2) President Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (3/14/25) - noir crime

1) Child Star by Shirley Temple Black (1/8/25) - autobiography

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this reading journey with me.