I woke up late this morning... well, after 6 which is late for me, and I'm a little bleary-eyed, so bear with me.
I finished Wish Hits the Fan's first draft yesterday morning. It ended up being just under 48K words. No worries, though. I have tons of stuff I need to weave back in - description, setting, back story... LOL, yeah, it sounds like I actually didn't write a book there, doesn't it? :shrug: Right now, it's bare bones. I can give it flesh later. Skeletal story. Skelestory!
Umm...
I did a little reading, but all of it was yesterday. I finished a novella called Scaling the Rim - a SF romance. It was good. Not great. But good. 4 stars. I think I would've enjoyed it more if it were fleshed out more. But I'm a long writer / reader.
Which reminds me. Yesterday I posted something about not having to write last night and a friend suggested I write a short-short or something - because there's always writing to be done. Umm... yah... I don't write short. In fact, WHTF is probably the shortest first draft of a novel I've ever produced. (The longest was 147K, btw.) Yes, I do have a couple short stories out there that I did when I was struggling with a novel. But they aren't my length of choice.
I did a bunch of fishing last week. If you're interested see yesterday's Fishing Report.
I also got some progress done on the cover for Natural Causes. So far, I'm pleased with the results. I took the pic I'd posted before, found an old cross and cobbled that in, found a cover model and I'm working on getting her tweaked so she can be put into the scene. I tried some stuff with the title that I hated, but it's progress. I'll get the cover closer to done this week.
All of our flower beds are uncovered now. The hyacinths are blooming. The crocuses are barely even up. Weird. The lilac bush has leaves. The redbud has the first little red buds on it. Spring. Ah. Then we got a cold snap yesterday. Fingers crossed it didn't kill off anything.
Let's see... Ah, yes. I also did some Spring cleaning last week. My desk is dust free for the first time in months... err... weeks? Yeah, weeks sounds better than months. (But it was probably months. I'm not known for my housekeeping abilities.) I still have to dust the book shelves in the office. That's a chore and a half, so I'm dragging my feet.
That's it for me. What did you do last week? Did I miss updating anything you're interested in? Always feel free to ask if you're waiting for news on something and I'm forgetting it.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Saturday Fishing Report - 2/25/17
Well, here we are again and welcome to the fishing report for less than competent anglers.
Saturday - I got an early start. Not early-early, but I hit the lake at around 8am. I went to a cove filled with dead trees first and tried several different lures, plus the worm thing. Nada. Then I went to the park and tried a spot I don't usually hit. I went there because that morning it seemed like a place where fish ought to be. I found myself a good sittin' rock and cast out, letting the breeze and the current drag my worm along at about 5-6' deep. Nothing was happening, so I decided to get a drink of water. Dug into my go bag, pulled out the water, uncapped it and began glugging away when I noticed my bobber slowly disappear. I scrambled to put everything down without dousing myself or loosing my remaining water. Still down by the time I got ahold of my rod. Set the hook. Nada. Left it alone for a few minutes and just when I digging in my pocket for a cigarette and my lighter, the bobber disappears again. I set the hook this time. Whatever it was, it was big, but it got off. So I threw back out in the same place and waited. Sure enough, after five-ten minutes, the bobber slowly disappeared again. And the fight was on. My drag was whining and my pretty pink pole was bending. About ten feet from shore and about a foot deep, the beast rolled so I could see him, and then he dove. A few more turns of the reel and Sproing! I thought I snapped the line, but when I got it to shore, the whole rig was there - minus the worm. I tried again, but I think when the hook ripped out of his mouth, he took that as a sign to feed elsewhere. It was a walleye. Bigger than the 22" one I got back in November. Maybe 25-27"? A hawg, though. Oh, the frustration of not landing that fish. Argh.
Hubs and I went out to the same place in the afternoon. Spent 3 gorgeous hours on the lake. Nada.
Monday - I wanted to morning fish, but I had errands to run. I did try a new spot on the way back, but the place was so busy with boats and so junked up with detritus, I left. Hubs and I went out again in the afternoon. To our go-to spot. He caught a 10" bass and a 14" bass - both spotted. Then he caught a little bluegill about 5". I caught two bluegills about 5-6". He really hoped I'd catch a bass, too, but we were tired, so we went home.
Thursday - I started out back in one of the feeder creeks. Itty bitty fishies were stealing my worms, but no actual noticeable bites. So I left. I went back to our go-to spot. Got there about 4:20pm. Caught a keeper spotted bass about 4:30. Just over 15". Yay. Then I caught a 12" spot. Then I got a bass almost all the way in before it shook its head and got off. I'm thinking 13" largemouth. Then I caught another 12" spot. They were really nailing my worm, but the sun had set and I hate driving in the dark. Got home about 6:30pm. Filleted the spot and put it in the fridge for Friday's dinner.
Friday - No fishing, but man was that spotted bass tasty. Pan friend it in 3 tbsp of margarine with a whisper of black pepper. That's all. Served it with baked potatoes and baked beans.
That's it for me this week. The temperatures have dropped again, but nothing tragic, so I'll be out sometime this coming week. That's for sure.
See ya next time. And remember to get outside sometime soon.
Saturday - I got an early start. Not early-early, but I hit the lake at around 8am. I went to a cove filled with dead trees first and tried several different lures, plus the worm thing. Nada. Then I went to the park and tried a spot I don't usually hit. I went there because that morning it seemed like a place where fish ought to be. I found myself a good sittin' rock and cast out, letting the breeze and the current drag my worm along at about 5-6' deep. Nothing was happening, so I decided to get a drink of water. Dug into my go bag, pulled out the water, uncapped it and began glugging away when I noticed my bobber slowly disappear. I scrambled to put everything down without dousing myself or loosing my remaining water. Still down by the time I got ahold of my rod. Set the hook. Nada. Left it alone for a few minutes and just when I digging in my pocket for a cigarette and my lighter, the bobber disappears again. I set the hook this time. Whatever it was, it was big, but it got off. So I threw back out in the same place and waited. Sure enough, after five-ten minutes, the bobber slowly disappeared again. And the fight was on. My drag was whining and my pretty pink pole was bending. About ten feet from shore and about a foot deep, the beast rolled so I could see him, and then he dove. A few more turns of the reel and Sproing! I thought I snapped the line, but when I got it to shore, the whole rig was there - minus the worm. I tried again, but I think when the hook ripped out of his mouth, he took that as a sign to feed elsewhere. It was a walleye. Bigger than the 22" one I got back in November. Maybe 25-27"? A hawg, though. Oh, the frustration of not landing that fish. Argh.
Hubs and I went out to the same place in the afternoon. Spent 3 gorgeous hours on the lake. Nada.
Monday - I wanted to morning fish, but I had errands to run. I did try a new spot on the way back, but the place was so busy with boats and so junked up with detritus, I left. Hubs and I went out again in the afternoon. To our go-to spot. He caught a 10" bass and a 14" bass - both spotted. Then he caught a little bluegill about 5". I caught two bluegills about 5-6". He really hoped I'd catch a bass, too, but we were tired, so we went home.
Thursday - I started out back in one of the feeder creeks. Itty bitty fishies were stealing my worms, but no actual noticeable bites. So I left. I went back to our go-to spot. Got there about 4:20pm. Caught a keeper spotted bass about 4:30. Just over 15". Yay. Then I caught a 12" spot. Then I got a bass almost all the way in before it shook its head and got off. I'm thinking 13" largemouth. Then I caught another 12" spot. They were really nailing my worm, but the sun had set and I hate driving in the dark. Got home about 6:30pm. Filleted the spot and put it in the fridge for Friday's dinner.
Friday - No fishing, but man was that spotted bass tasty. Pan friend it in 3 tbsp of margarine with a whisper of black pepper. That's all. Served it with baked potatoes and baked beans.
That's it for me this week. The temperatures have dropped again, but nothing tragic, so I'll be out sometime this coming week. That's for sure.
See ya next time. And remember to get outside sometime soon.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Thursday This n That
I am becoming decidedly less tolerant of ignorance and bullshit every day. So, let's talk about other stuff, eh?
It's February 23rd and we're already hearing spring peepers. If you're not familiar with spring peepers, they're little frogs that start chirping in the springtime, looking for a lady peeper. It's a glorious chorus. Their symphony is one of the sure signs that Spring is here. We didn't have spring peepers in Colorado, and let me tell ya, I missed them. Now we're here and so are they. That makes me happy. The first time I heard them this year, I stopped what I was doing and told Hubs to listen. He was all like 'what?' and I said "SPRING PEEPERS!". =o)
My hyacinths are blooming. But my crocuses are barely peeking out of the ground. There are little leaves on my lilac bush. My roses are crazy with leaf buds and new branch buds. Keep your fingers crossed we don't get an unexpected cold snap. That would suck.
The eagles are still here, but I haven't seen a sapsucker in a couple weeks. My little friend, the ruby-crowned kinglet is visiting the suet less and less, but mainly because the bugs have awakened, and I assume he likes bugs better than suet. He needs to fatten up for his long journey north. Better for him to hunt bugs than spend his time on our porch eating the government cheese.
Bugs. Yeah, the one bad thing about Spring is that the bugs are waking up. Yesterday, Hubs and I went out on the back deck to enjoy the sun and the warmth, but there were so many little bugs, we came back inside. Bleh. And I woke up this morning to a bug bite on my arm. Gah. Hubs is already talking about when he's going to spray for ticks this year. Usually it's late March or early April. This year, it might be next week.
Speaking of bugs, I thought I saw a butterfly yesterday. I know I saw a wasp.
That's it for me today. What's it for you?
It's February 23rd and we're already hearing spring peepers. If you're not familiar with spring peepers, they're little frogs that start chirping in the springtime, looking for a lady peeper. It's a glorious chorus. Their symphony is one of the sure signs that Spring is here. We didn't have spring peepers in Colorado, and let me tell ya, I missed them. Now we're here and so are they. That makes me happy. The first time I heard them this year, I stopped what I was doing and told Hubs to listen. He was all like 'what?' and I said "SPRING PEEPERS!". =o)
My hyacinths are blooming. But my crocuses are barely peeking out of the ground. There are little leaves on my lilac bush. My roses are crazy with leaf buds and new branch buds. Keep your fingers crossed we don't get an unexpected cold snap. That would suck.
The eagles are still here, but I haven't seen a sapsucker in a couple weeks. My little friend, the ruby-crowned kinglet is visiting the suet less and less, but mainly because the bugs have awakened, and I assume he likes bugs better than suet. He needs to fatten up for his long journey north. Better for him to hunt bugs than spend his time on our porch eating the government cheese.
Bugs. Yeah, the one bad thing about Spring is that the bugs are waking up. Yesterday, Hubs and I went out on the back deck to enjoy the sun and the warmth, but there were so many little bugs, we came back inside. Bleh. And I woke up this morning to a bug bite on my arm. Gah. Hubs is already talking about when he's going to spray for ticks this year. Usually it's late March or early April. This year, it might be next week.
Speaking of bugs, I thought I saw a butterfly yesterday. I know I saw a wasp.
That's it for me today. What's it for you?
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
OMG BRB, K? LOL
When you see me out and about the internet, you may often see me type OMG. In my head, I'm saying 'oh my god' not 'oh em gee' and the letters are just an abbreviation. Same with WTF and BTW. I'm thinking the words not the letters.
But when I type LOL, yeah, I'm thinking 'el oh el'. Which, to me, is shorter than saying 'ha ha ha' and somehow seems less sarcastic. Y'all know I'm over here finding something amusing. If it's really amusing, I'm all like ROFL... which over the years has degenerated in my head to 'roffle'. If I roffle in your general direction, I'm finding it more amusing that a simple LOL.
I rarely LMAO (la-mayo) at anyone anymore. And I never put the F in the middle anymore. I guess things aren't as F'ing funny as they used to be. And nothing is ROFLMFAO these days.
I still say IMO on occasion, but I figure these days everyone ought to know that what I type is my opinion, so it's not as necessary. I never put the H in the middle of that, ever. My opinions are not humble.
I love how my friend, Silver occasionally throws BBQ in the middle of her acronyms. It makes me LOL.
I only ever BRB when I'm chatting in FB messenger with the Kid. She also gets graced on occasion with GGP, but that's between us. (Yeah, if you don't know what GGP is, I ain't tellin' here.)
She also gets and gives the occasional K, which is really short for okay and occasionally blooms into KK.
And then, as we go on about our respective days we say TTYL or TTYS. (Talk to you soon or talk to you later.) When we're feeling silly sometimes it turns into something like TTYAC or TTYOTSP (talk to you after class or talk to you once the storm passes) or something similarly long and unwieldy. Because that's how we roll.
Do you still use acronyms? Or are they passe? Do you care?
But when I type LOL, yeah, I'm thinking 'el oh el'. Which, to me, is shorter than saying 'ha ha ha' and somehow seems less sarcastic. Y'all know I'm over here finding something amusing. If it's really amusing, I'm all like ROFL... which over the years has degenerated in my head to 'roffle'. If I roffle in your general direction, I'm finding it more amusing that a simple LOL.
I rarely LMAO (la-mayo) at anyone anymore. And I never put the F in the middle anymore. I guess things aren't as F'ing funny as they used to be. And nothing is ROFLMFAO these days.
I still say IMO on occasion, but I figure these days everyone ought to know that what I type is my opinion, so it's not as necessary. I never put the H in the middle of that, ever. My opinions are not humble.
I love how my friend, Silver occasionally throws BBQ in the middle of her acronyms. It makes me LOL.
I only ever BRB when I'm chatting in FB messenger with the Kid. She also gets graced on occasion with GGP, but that's between us. (Yeah, if you don't know what GGP is, I ain't tellin' here.)
She also gets and gives the occasional K, which is really short for okay and occasionally blooms into KK.
And then, as we go on about our respective days we say TTYL or TTYS. (Talk to you soon or talk to you later.) When we're feeling silly sometimes it turns into something like TTYAC or TTYOTSP (talk to you after class or talk to you once the storm passes) or something similarly long and unwieldy. Because that's how we roll.
Do you still use acronyms? Or are they passe? Do you care?
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Sunday Update - Week 7
And what a week it was.
I hammered out 12265 words last week, and that included taking yesterday off. So, averaging 2K on the days I worked actually worked out. And I had an epiphany on Friday night that continued through to Saturday morning. To give you a hint, I was singing "This writer's gotta kill someone, before the day is through" ala Eagles while I was out fishing yesterday. And therein lay the rub. I was so pooped after fishing I couldn't write last night. Ah, well, today someone has to die.
Speaking of fishing, I did a lot of that last week, too. For more info, read the Saturday Fishing Report. It doesn't include yesterday, though. Yesterday was an exercise in patience and frustration as the biggest fish I ever almost caught got away and I spent a lot of time trying to get him to bite again.
I finished one book last week. Granny Hooks a Crook by Julie Seedorf. Cute book. Fun read. (BTW, the Amazon credit I mentioned actually did come through. Yay.)
I also had a sale last week, complete with advertising. Let's see. I spent $40 on ads. I made $15. Here's hoping there'll be some residual stuff because I can't afford to run ads that don't at least pay for themselves.
Oh, and I weighed myself last week. You may remember I used to be all focused on my weight. And then I stopped worrying about it and resolved to just be more active. Which meant I stopped weighing myself every goddamn week. Now, I weigh myself when I feel like it. Well, I felt like it. And I felt like I was either going to be heavier or about the same as where I'd backslid to last fall. Nope. Down to 181. That's a 14 lb drop from January of 2016, so yay me. And I feel great, so even better. Fishing. Who knew?
Okay, that's it for me. What's up with you?
I hammered out 12265 words last week, and that included taking yesterday off. So, averaging 2K on the days I worked actually worked out. And I had an epiphany on Friday night that continued through to Saturday morning. To give you a hint, I was singing "This writer's gotta kill someone, before the day is through" ala Eagles while I was out fishing yesterday. And therein lay the rub. I was so pooped after fishing I couldn't write last night. Ah, well, today someone has to die.
Speaking of fishing, I did a lot of that last week, too. For more info, read the Saturday Fishing Report. It doesn't include yesterday, though. Yesterday was an exercise in patience and frustration as the biggest fish I ever almost caught got away and I spent a lot of time trying to get him to bite again.
I finished one book last week. Granny Hooks a Crook by Julie Seedorf. Cute book. Fun read. (BTW, the Amazon credit I mentioned actually did come through. Yay.)
I also had a sale last week, complete with advertising. Let's see. I spent $40 on ads. I made $15. Here's hoping there'll be some residual stuff because I can't afford to run ads that don't at least pay for themselves.
Oh, and I weighed myself last week. You may remember I used to be all focused on my weight. And then I stopped worrying about it and resolved to just be more active. Which meant I stopped weighing myself every goddamn week. Now, I weigh myself when I feel like it. Well, I felt like it. And I felt like I was either going to be heavier or about the same as where I'd backslid to last fall. Nope. Down to 181. That's a 14 lb drop from January of 2016, so yay me. And I feel great, so even better. Fishing. Who knew?
Okay, that's it for me. What's up with you?
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Saturday Fishing Report - 2/18/17
Well, folks, it's that time again. Here's the report from your less than competent angler.
Saturday - The day started out at 61F and the world was being annoying, so I headed on out to the lake. I picked a spot with a cove off one of the feeder creeks to TLR. This one had loads of dead timber standing. And with my new reel, I had tons of control to cast where I needed to go. I picked a spot between two stands of dead timber and cast away. First cast got a hit, but I missed it. Second cast got a hit, but the fish got off after about 5-6 feet of reeling toward me. Third cast was a winner. 14" largemouth. And that was it. The last bite I got the rest of the trip. I got to the lake at 8am. I kept trying for about an hour. Then I moved to a different area. No bites at all. But the wind had come up fast and the haze had burned away, so I really wasn't expecting too much. I tried there for an hour and then went home.
Monday - I went out in the morning again, even though this time it was like 39F. Froze my buns off. Caught nothing. Then the wind came up and froze me worse, so I went home.
Wednesday - Hubs and I went out in the afternoon. We spent a couple hours picking up trash at one of our favorite fishing spots, then we drowned worms for an hour. We started getting hits right before 5pm, but the temps were dropping and the wind was coming up, so we left without catching anything.
Friday - Tried two different spots first thing in the morning. First, the main lake. I walked all over that place, from one end with ledges and dead trees to the other with a cove and loads of pebbly bottom. Got one bite that took half the worm about 20' off the boat ramp and then not another one. Second, a feeder creek into the main lake. No bites at all. Oh well. I picked up trash and went home.
Equipment score for the week: 20+ sinkers (including a 5oz and a 1.5oz) and one old lure for us. One lure, about 3 sinker (medium sized bites), swivel, hook rigs for the lake.
That's it for me this past week. Did you manage to get outside at all last week?
Saturday - The day started out at 61F and the world was being annoying, so I headed on out to the lake. I picked a spot with a cove off one of the feeder creeks to TLR. This one had loads of dead timber standing. And with my new reel, I had tons of control to cast where I needed to go. I picked a spot between two stands of dead timber and cast away. First cast got a hit, but I missed it. Second cast got a hit, but the fish got off after about 5-6 feet of reeling toward me. Third cast was a winner. 14" largemouth. And that was it. The last bite I got the rest of the trip. I got to the lake at 8am. I kept trying for about an hour. Then I moved to a different area. No bites at all. But the wind had come up fast and the haze had burned away, so I really wasn't expecting too much. I tried there for an hour and then went home.
Monday - I went out in the morning again, even though this time it was like 39F. Froze my buns off. Caught nothing. Then the wind came up and froze me worse, so I went home.
Wednesday - Hubs and I went out in the afternoon. We spent a couple hours picking up trash at one of our favorite fishing spots, then we drowned worms for an hour. We started getting hits right before 5pm, but the temps were dropping and the wind was coming up, so we left without catching anything.
Friday - Tried two different spots first thing in the morning. First, the main lake. I walked all over that place, from one end with ledges and dead trees to the other with a cove and loads of pebbly bottom. Got one bite that took half the worm about 20' off the boat ramp and then not another one. Second, a feeder creek into the main lake. No bites at all. Oh well. I picked up trash and went home.
Equipment score for the week: 20+ sinkers (including a 5oz and a 1.5oz) and one old lure for us. One lure, about 3 sinker (medium sized bites), swivel, hook rigs for the lake.
That's it for me this past week. Did you manage to get outside at all last week?
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Thursday This n That
I weighed myself yesterday and learned two interesting things. 1) my go-to winter clothes weigh 4lbs. 2) I lost 14 pounds since January 2016. No dieting. Just an increase in activity. It was dance-ercising the first half of last year, if you remember, and then that fell apart right around the time I painted the bathroom. Then the Kid was here. Then I was a toad for a little while. Then I started fishing regularly. I think the walking up and down the lake and river edges, lugging gear, really did the trick. Plus, I don't munch while I'm fishing. Except maybe a snack bar when we're on the boat.
I've been watching Last Man Standing a lot lately. If you ever see the immigration episode, it slays me. When she talks about the Gatos de la Playa, and then later he tells her to release the beach kitties... ROFL... "no back talk or I'll laugh while the cats scratch out your eyes." LMAO
Yes, I am a strange woman.
Yesterday afternoon, Hubs and I went to the lake with some plastic bags and spent a couple hours picking up trash at one of our favorite fishing spots. Well, he was mostly picking up trash. I was pulling fishing line out of the ground. I had a plastic grocery bag half full of tangled line by the time we were done. I hate that shit with a burning passion. Yes, I know it's a necessary function of fishing. Hooks get snagged and line breaks off. Lord knows I've had it happen often enough. Which is part of the reason I pick it up when I see it. Chances are it's not mine, but maybe someday someone else will pick up my line while they're out, and so on so on. What I really hate is when someone respools and leaves their old line laying there. Erg. Police your trash people.
I smoke like a freakin' fiend when I fish. And every butt goes in my pocket (once it's out, of course...LOL). The only thing worse than fishing line all over the place is cigarette butts. Bleh. And beer cans. And candy wrappers. My god, people. Really?
I was sore and tired as hell by the time we got home, but I still managed to get 1500 words out last night. Now I'm sore as hell but not too tired. Because, hey, morning. And coffee.
Okay, that's it for me. What's it for you?
I've been watching Last Man Standing a lot lately. If you ever see the immigration episode, it slays me. When she talks about the Gatos de la Playa, and then later he tells her to release the beach kitties... ROFL... "no back talk or I'll laugh while the cats scratch out your eyes." LMAO
Yes, I am a strange woman.
Yesterday afternoon, Hubs and I went to the lake with some plastic bags and spent a couple hours picking up trash at one of our favorite fishing spots. Well, he was mostly picking up trash. I was pulling fishing line out of the ground. I had a plastic grocery bag half full of tangled line by the time we were done. I hate that shit with a burning passion. Yes, I know it's a necessary function of fishing. Hooks get snagged and line breaks off. Lord knows I've had it happen often enough. Which is part of the reason I pick it up when I see it. Chances are it's not mine, but maybe someday someone else will pick up my line while they're out, and so on so on. What I really hate is when someone respools and leaves their old line laying there. Erg. Police your trash people.
I smoke like a freakin' fiend when I fish. And every butt goes in my pocket (once it's out, of course...LOL). The only thing worse than fishing line all over the place is cigarette butts. Bleh. And beer cans. And candy wrappers. My god, people. Really?
I was sore and tired as hell by the time we got home, but I still managed to get 1500 words out last night. Now I'm sore as hell but not too tired. Because, hey, morning. And coffee.
Okay, that's it for me. What's it for you?
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Pep Talk
Umm, yeah. I had big plans for bookiversary week. But since only me and a handful of friends really seemed to care, I figured why bother. Hell, I held a contest on my FB page with a $10 gift card and no one entered. I had plans for other things, but it's hard to throw a party no one is going to show up for. So, that's that. The books are still on sale for .99 dollars or pounds through Saturday night.
I also did some advertising. That was a rapidly deflating balloon.
But I'm still writing. I rolled over 24K last night. Still behind if I want to average 2K a day and have this done by the time my edits come back from J, but I'm feeling pretty good about the progress. The book is, of course, a hot mess. But I can fix words on the page. And I know how it's going to end.
I'm keeping my spirits afloat by listening to Andy Grammer. And fishing. And remembering why I started this self-publishing thing. I don't have a huge following, but people are reading my books and most of them seem to be enjoying the stories.
It's Valentine's Day and I'm here in my lovely home with my bestest and sweetest. There's money in the bank to pay the bills, buy the foods, etc. And I live in a beautiful place where eagles vacation and deer hang out in my back yard. It's all good.
What's good with you?
I also did some advertising. That was a rapidly deflating balloon.
But I'm still writing. I rolled over 24K last night. Still behind if I want to average 2K a day and have this done by the time my edits come back from J, but I'm feeling pretty good about the progress. The book is, of course, a hot mess. But I can fix words on the page. And I know how it's going to end.
I'm keeping my spirits afloat by listening to Andy Grammer. And fishing. And remembering why I started this self-publishing thing. I don't have a huge following, but people are reading my books and most of them seem to be enjoying the stories.
It's Valentine's Day and I'm here in my lovely home with my bestest and sweetest. There's money in the bank to pay the bills, buy the foods, etc. And I live in a beautiful place where eagles vacation and deer hang out in my back yard. It's all good.
What's good with you?
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Sunday Update - Week 6
Howdy.
Last week. Let's see...
I just did the math and I ended week 6 with 7215 words written on Wish Hits the Fan for a total of 15089. I would've gotten more out last night, but I needed to do some research to make it make sense. Now it makes sense. And it ties back to earlier in the story arc when I mentioned something that was never address to this point. Ah, the things my subconscious mind layers in that I have to later figure out what the hell I was thinking.
I've been working on some marketing to go along with tomorrow's 2-year anniversary of Dying Ember being published. I have one ad going out today with Reading Deals and another one going out tomorrow with Booktastik. I'll let you know how those go. Oh, and both Dying Ember and Fertile Ground are on sale for 99c/.99p today through the 18th. Spread it around.
After the reel debacle, I had some success fishing on Friday and Saturday. No keepers, but bass are always fun to catch. Now, I'd like to catch something I can eat. I needs me some fresh fish in my belly.
The reading has, once again, slacked off as I concentrate more on my writing. I started a book and DNF'd it. The characters were irritating me. Then I started Julie Seedorf's Granny Hooks a Crook (which is apparently the 2nd book... Derp.). It's really fun, but I haven't gotten back to it in a few days.
It was 82 degrees F here yesterday. =oO
Oh, and I got some books in the mail last week. In Defense of Selfishness by Peter Schwartz and some Viking novel a friend had recommended (to round me up to $25 for free shipping). I only ordered books because Amazon had sent me an email saying I'd get a $10 Kindle credit if I bought a non-fiction title. So I did. Then I didn't get the credit. So I contacted Amazon via their chat help thingie. The person insisted I got no such email. I gave them all the particulars and then offered to forward them the email. They gave me the credit. Damn straight. Well, supposedly. They said I won't 'see' the credit anywhere. It'll just be applied when I place an order. I haven't done that yet, so we'll see.
That's it for me. How was your 6th week of 2017?
Last week. Let's see...
I just did the math and I ended week 6 with 7215 words written on Wish Hits the Fan for a total of 15089. I would've gotten more out last night, but I needed to do some research to make it make sense. Now it makes sense. And it ties back to earlier in the story arc when I mentioned something that was never address to this point. Ah, the things my subconscious mind layers in that I have to later figure out what the hell I was thinking.
I've been working on some marketing to go along with tomorrow's 2-year anniversary of Dying Ember being published. I have one ad going out today with Reading Deals and another one going out tomorrow with Booktastik. I'll let you know how those go. Oh, and both Dying Ember and Fertile Ground are on sale for 99c/.99p today through the 18th. Spread it around.
After the reel debacle, I had some success fishing on Friday and Saturday. No keepers, but bass are always fun to catch. Now, I'd like to catch something I can eat. I needs me some fresh fish in my belly.
The reading has, once again, slacked off as I concentrate more on my writing. I started a book and DNF'd it. The characters were irritating me. Then I started Julie Seedorf's Granny Hooks a Crook (which is apparently the 2nd book... Derp.). It's really fun, but I haven't gotten back to it in a few days.
It was 82 degrees F here yesterday. =oO
Oh, and I got some books in the mail last week. In Defense of Selfishness by Peter Schwartz and some Viking novel a friend had recommended (to round me up to $25 for free shipping). I only ordered books because Amazon had sent me an email saying I'd get a $10 Kindle credit if I bought a non-fiction title. So I did. Then I didn't get the credit. So I contacted Amazon via their chat help thingie. The person insisted I got no such email. I gave them all the particulars and then offered to forward them the email. They gave me the credit. Damn straight. Well, supposedly. They said I won't 'see' the credit anywhere. It'll just be applied when I place an order. I haven't done that yet, so we'll see.
That's it for me. How was your 6th week of 2017?
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Saturday Fishing Report - 2/11/17
Welcome back! Here I am, the less than competent angler again, bringing you how this past week's fishing went.
Obviously, the weather is unseasonably warm. Monday I was out on the river in upper 60 degree F weather. Tuesday, it was mid-70s.
Monday? Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it, but that's what we're here for. So, I went out Monday because it was warm and overcast with a slight wind. About an hour in, my pretty pink Shakespeare reel bit the dust. Then about another hour went by and my backup reel (a spincaster) spit out a whole bunch of line all over the ground, which got tangled up. After cutting everything free, I called it quits. I did find a huge fake fish on a massive hook to bring home, so it wasn't a total wash.
On Tuesday morning, Hubs and I did some reel research. We decided to replace my pretty pink reel with a baitcaster that was in stock at Wallyworld, and since I had some groceries to get anyway, I went down there. The reel I went there for was a Quantum something or other. I ended up getting an Abu Garcia Black Max - because all specs being equal it was 1) an Abu Garcia and 2) $10 less expensive. Hubs set it all up for me and I went out Tuesday afternoon. Umm, yeah, if you haven't used this type of reel, do some online tutorials before you get out to the lake and look like an idiot. If you don't know how to futz with the thingies*, you'll end up with a rats' nest of line in the reel. I figured it out, but after untangling the reel about 4 times in an hour, I think I'll be going back to a Zebco closed reel. (Not Shakespeare. I've had enough of those and their short lives.) Let Hubs use the open baitcaster. Needless to say, I didn't catch anything.
Wednesday was another episode of the Further Adventures of B.E. & the Abu Garcia. In all fairness, I think I would have these problems with any of the open faced baitcasting reels. (I'm not the only one. Go ahead and use your google-fu - there are loads of videos on how to use these things.) So, anyway, I wasn't ready to give up yet. And I still wanted to fish. I went back out to where I tried testing the reel the day before. Tweak the reel, cast, tangle, sit down to untangle, tweak more. I tried everything and finally got so I wasn't tangling every cast. Still wasn't getting any distance. My determination is that this kind of reel is not made for someone like me - whose go-to set up is worm, hook, sinker, bobber. Next time I'm at Wallyworld, I'm getting a plain ol' regular reel. And if I want to fish before then, I'll take the spincaster and just get over my dislike of those things.
Frankly, I wonder if the change to other types of reels was ever really a boon to fishing for regular people. As I was sitting there untangling the line for the sixth time, I came to the conclusion that baitcasters, and spincasters, too, for that matter, are a huge hoax upon us normal folk. With my little pretty pink reel and pretty pink 5.5' pole, I've caught all kinds of fish and had loads of fun doing it. I've put food in the freezer with it, which is kind of the ultimate point for me. Fancy equipment is wasted on me.
Friday I finally went back to Wallyworld to find a new reel. I was intent on a Zebco, but when I got there, they had a Pflueger with a lighter weight and a smaller profile than any but the dinkiest Zebco, so I got that one. It's a Trion 10 (prespooled with 75' of 10lb test.) Hubs attached it to my pretty pink pole and set everything up for me, then we went fishing together. I tell ya, that reel is like butter. Casts awesome, retrieves awesome. I discovered I needed to tweak the drag when I had a 12" bass on and the thing was squealing, but when I hooked the 10" later it worked like a dream. (Hubs caught a 13" bass, too, so neither of us got skunked.)
Well, that's it for me. Have an awesome next week and, if you get a chance, do something outside.
*It's a technical term. This particular reel has a drag like all other reels, but it also has a thing you can set depending on weight of lure and another thing that determines drop speed or something. It's all very technical, which is why I'm probably going back to something super SIMPLE.
Obviously, the weather is unseasonably warm. Monday I was out on the river in upper 60 degree F weather. Tuesday, it was mid-70s.
Monday? Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it, but that's what we're here for. So, I went out Monday because it was warm and overcast with a slight wind. About an hour in, my pretty pink Shakespeare reel bit the dust. Then about another hour went by and my backup reel (a spincaster) spit out a whole bunch of line all over the ground, which got tangled up. After cutting everything free, I called it quits. I did find a huge fake fish on a massive hook to bring home, so it wasn't a total wash.
On Tuesday morning, Hubs and I did some reel research. We decided to replace my pretty pink reel with a baitcaster that was in stock at Wallyworld, and since I had some groceries to get anyway, I went down there. The reel I went there for was a Quantum something or other. I ended up getting an Abu Garcia Black Max - because all specs being equal it was 1) an Abu Garcia and 2) $10 less expensive. Hubs set it all up for me and I went out Tuesday afternoon. Umm, yeah, if you haven't used this type of reel, do some online tutorials before you get out to the lake and look like an idiot. If you don't know how to futz with the thingies*, you'll end up with a rats' nest of line in the reel. I figured it out, but after untangling the reel about 4 times in an hour, I think I'll be going back to a Zebco closed reel. (Not Shakespeare. I've had enough of those and their short lives.) Let Hubs use the open baitcaster. Needless to say, I didn't catch anything.
Wednesday was another episode of the Further Adventures of B.E. & the Abu Garcia. In all fairness, I think I would have these problems with any of the open faced baitcasting reels. (I'm not the only one. Go ahead and use your google-fu - there are loads of videos on how to use these things.) So, anyway, I wasn't ready to give up yet. And I still wanted to fish. I went back out to where I tried testing the reel the day before. Tweak the reel, cast, tangle, sit down to untangle, tweak more. I tried everything and finally got so I wasn't tangling every cast. Still wasn't getting any distance. My determination is that this kind of reel is not made for someone like me - whose go-to set up is worm, hook, sinker, bobber. Next time I'm at Wallyworld, I'm getting a plain ol' regular reel. And if I want to fish before then, I'll take the spincaster and just get over my dislike of those things.
Frankly, I wonder if the change to other types of reels was ever really a boon to fishing for regular people. As I was sitting there untangling the line for the sixth time, I came to the conclusion that baitcasters, and spincasters, too, for that matter, are a huge hoax upon us normal folk. With my little pretty pink reel and pretty pink 5.5' pole, I've caught all kinds of fish and had loads of fun doing it. I've put food in the freezer with it, which is kind of the ultimate point for me. Fancy equipment is wasted on me.
Friday I finally went back to Wallyworld to find a new reel. I was intent on a Zebco, but when I got there, they had a Pflueger with a lighter weight and a smaller profile than any but the dinkiest Zebco, so I got that one. It's a Trion 10 (prespooled with 75' of 10lb test.) Hubs attached it to my pretty pink pole and set everything up for me, then we went fishing together. I tell ya, that reel is like butter. Casts awesome, retrieves awesome. I discovered I needed to tweak the drag when I had a 12" bass on and the thing was squealing, but when I hooked the 10" later it worked like a dream. (Hubs caught a 13" bass, too, so neither of us got skunked.)
Well, that's it for me. Have an awesome next week and, if you get a chance, do something outside.
*It's a technical term. This particular reel has a drag like all other reels, but it also has a thing you can set depending on weight of lure and another thing that determines drop speed or something. It's all very technical, which is why I'm probably going back to something super SIMPLE.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Thursday This n That - Valentine Edition
I once had a guy give me the gift of an orchid plant in the middle of winter in Michigan. This should have been a huge neon sign that the relationship would not work out. Orchids are insanely difficult to keep alive in the best of circumstances and require more futzing with than I am willing to do. I'm more a spider plant person. Those things are hard to kill.
Speaking of gifts from a significant other that should be a relationship red light. Once year I got a set of hot rollers and half the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog ('outside the house' wear mostly - hooker chique). Yup. Big sign of bad things to come.
Where am I going with this? Hubs told me to pick out a new fishing reel for Valentines Day this year. Now there's a man who gets me. I got one that ended up being too fussy, so he told me to go get another one that I'll like better. Yep, he's a keeper. We 'met' 13 years ago this month. (Online met. In person met wasn't until April.) And for the record, I might get chocolates, too - ones I'll buy for both of us, because Hubs enjoys chocolate as much as I do. If you find a man who gets you what YOU want and not what he thinks you ought to have or what HE wants, plus one who enjoys chocolate, hang onto him.
For another record, getting assorted chocolates with Hubs around is awesome. He likes all the ones I hate - like ones with chewy centers that stick in my teeth. I hate those ones. And the ones we both like? We share those as equally as we can. (It helps if there's an even number. 2 for him, 2 for me. Otherwise, it's 1 for him, 2 for me because I'm greedy and he thinks I'm cute.)
That's it. Have a Happy Valentine's Day next week. And if you're not currently in a significant relationship, buy yourself the gift you'd want someone to buy you if you were in a relationship. Because, hey, you deserve it. :hugs:
Anything on your this n that this week?
Speaking of gifts from a significant other that should be a relationship red light. Once year I got a set of hot rollers and half the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog ('outside the house' wear mostly - hooker chique). Yup. Big sign of bad things to come.
Where am I going with this? Hubs told me to pick out a new fishing reel for Valentines Day this year. Now there's a man who gets me. I got one that ended up being too fussy, so he told me to go get another one that I'll like better. Yep, he's a keeper. We 'met' 13 years ago this month. (Online met. In person met wasn't until April.) And for the record, I might get chocolates, too - ones I'll buy for both of us, because Hubs enjoys chocolate as much as I do. If you find a man who gets you what YOU want and not what he thinks you ought to have or what HE wants, plus one who enjoys chocolate, hang onto him.
For another record, getting assorted chocolates with Hubs around is awesome. He likes all the ones I hate - like ones with chewy centers that stick in my teeth. I hate those ones. And the ones we both like? We share those as equally as we can. (It helps if there's an even number. 2 for him, 2 for me. Otherwise, it's 1 for him, 2 for me because I'm greedy and he thinks I'm cute.)
That's it. Have a Happy Valentine's Day next week. And if you're not currently in a significant relationship, buy yourself the gift you'd want someone to buy you if you were in a relationship. Because, hey, you deserve it. :hugs:
Anything on your this n that this week?
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Quit Meaning to Do It and Just Do It
For a while now, I've been meaning to scrub our coffee mugs. Not just wash them. I do that all the time. No, I mean scrub them. Get the coffee stains out. Get the weird gray smudges from their encounters with metal gone. All the little spoon marks inside wiped out. White mugs should, by their nature, be white.
So, this morning, I did it*. All the mugs are clean except for the two we're currently using for coffee infusion.
And as I sat down afterwards, I thought to myself that there are a lot of things on my list I've been 'meaning to do'. I get to these things as they approach 'irritating the crap out of me' stage. Floor washing was a big one, but I did that last week. Another one was scrubbing the bottoms of my frying pans. Hit that last month.
Hey, it's close enough to Spring now that I must be hitting my Spring cleaning stride. Or something.
A huge one is repainting all the interior walls of this house, but that is not in the foreseeable future. I did the painting thing in my bathroom last year. Maybe if I do one room a year, it wouldn't be such an insurmountable task. Or so damned expensive. We'll see how that shakes out later this year.
Anyway, why am I talking about any of this at all? Well, it kind of reminds me of way back when, when I used to 'mean to write a book one of these days'. From the time I was like 4, so for about 30 years, I meant to write a book. Then I just did it.
Yeah, that's an oversimplification, but when you boil it all down, that's pretty much what it is. If you mean to do it, then do it. Otherwise, it's just mental masturbation.
Maybe you do it in spurts and it takes you nine months - like my first book. Maybe you get the NaNo bug and do it in 30 days. Maybe you're like George RRM and it takes years. The point is to do it. Quit meaning to do it.
Or it'll never get done.
What's something you've been meaning to do? What something you spent a long time meaning to do that you have actually done?
*I used Soft Scrub All Purpose. Squirted it in each cup, smeared it all around, let it sit, and then rinsed them thoroughly. Then I put them in the dishwasher to make sure they're safe to drink out of again.
So, this morning, I did it*. All the mugs are clean except for the two we're currently using for coffee infusion.
And as I sat down afterwards, I thought to myself that there are a lot of things on my list I've been 'meaning to do'. I get to these things as they approach 'irritating the crap out of me' stage. Floor washing was a big one, but I did that last week. Another one was scrubbing the bottoms of my frying pans. Hit that last month.
Hey, it's close enough to Spring now that I must be hitting my Spring cleaning stride. Or something.
A huge one is repainting all the interior walls of this house, but that is not in the foreseeable future. I did the painting thing in my bathroom last year. Maybe if I do one room a year, it wouldn't be such an insurmountable task. Or so damned expensive. We'll see how that shakes out later this year.
Anyway, why am I talking about any of this at all? Well, it kind of reminds me of way back when, when I used to 'mean to write a book one of these days'. From the time I was like 4, so for about 30 years, I meant to write a book. Then I just did it.
Yeah, that's an oversimplification, but when you boil it all down, that's pretty much what it is. If you mean to do it, then do it. Otherwise, it's just mental masturbation.
Maybe you do it in spurts and it takes you nine months - like my first book. Maybe you get the NaNo bug and do it in 30 days. Maybe you're like George RRM and it takes years. The point is to do it. Quit meaning to do it.
Or it'll never get done.
What's something you've been meaning to do? What something you spent a long time meaning to do that you have actually done?
*I used Soft Scrub All Purpose. Squirted it in each cup, smeared it all around, let it sit, and then rinsed them thoroughly. Then I put them in the dishwasher to make sure they're safe to drink out of again.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Sunday Update - Week 5
Here we are again, five weeks into 2017. It's February now. January went by in a blur, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the year. Before I know it, I'll be posting about Week 26 and kvetching about the summer.
Anyhoo, here's how the week played out for me...
I finished the pre-editor edits for Natural Causes and got that sucker sent off to Janet the Awesome Editor (JAE). That round left the book at just under 65,000 words. Fingers crossed it's as clean as I think it is. (But it never is.)
Then I took a couple days off of writing/editing. That was nice.
Then inspiration slapped me upside the head Friday morning and I got back to work. I'm writing new words on Wish Hits the Fan. The plan is to do a NaNoWriMo style marathon for the month of February, and have this sucker first drafted before the edits come back from JAE. So far, so good. I left this work at 4128 words in October. As of last night, I have 7874 words. 3700 words in two days. Not bad considering I have no idea what I'm doing over here. Bad things are happening to the genie crew. People will be pissed. But I can't think about that. I just have to write until all the words are out.
I went fishing Mon-Wed last week. Caught some fish. Life is good. Then it got cold again. Oh well.
Since I used up my Kindle power editing NC, I grabbed a paperback to read after I finished - Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie. Flushed the system. Then I inhaled Silver James' Remember the Night. (So good. Which reminds me, I have to review it.*) Last night, I started a time travel romance that I can't remember the name of. I'm not far enough in to tell you anything about it. LOL
Well, that's about it for me. How's about you?
*If you're reading, please take a moment when you finish to write a quick review of the book. It's really awesome when readers do that and we writers really appreciate it. It only takes a couple minutes.
Anyhoo, here's how the week played out for me...
I finished the pre-editor edits for Natural Causes and got that sucker sent off to Janet the Awesome Editor (JAE). That round left the book at just under 65,000 words. Fingers crossed it's as clean as I think it is. (But it never is.)
Then I took a couple days off of writing/editing. That was nice.
Then inspiration slapped me upside the head Friday morning and I got back to work. I'm writing new words on Wish Hits the Fan. The plan is to do a NaNoWriMo style marathon for the month of February, and have this sucker first drafted before the edits come back from JAE. So far, so good. I left this work at 4128 words in October. As of last night, I have 7874 words. 3700 words in two days. Not bad considering I have no idea what I'm doing over here. Bad things are happening to the genie crew. People will be pissed. But I can't think about that. I just have to write until all the words are out.
I went fishing Mon-Wed last week. Caught some fish. Life is good. Then it got cold again. Oh well.
Since I used up my Kindle power editing NC, I grabbed a paperback to read after I finished - Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie. Flushed the system. Then I inhaled Silver James' Remember the Night. (So good. Which reminds me, I have to review it.*) Last night, I started a time travel romance that I can't remember the name of. I'm not far enough in to tell you anything about it. LOL
Well, that's about it for me. How's about you?
*If you're reading, please take a moment when you finish to write a quick review of the book. It's really awesome when readers do that and we writers really appreciate it. It only takes a couple minutes.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Saturday Fishing Report - 2/4/17
Welcome once again to the fishing report for less-than-competent anglers.
The first time I got out this past week was Monday afternoon. It was too cold otherwise, and I had a writing deadline approaching. By Monday afternoon, though, it was nice and warm, and I needed a break from both the writing and the craziness that is sweeping the nation.
So, anyway, Monday. It was in the low 60s, partly cloudy with variable winds. I set out about 1pm and went to my go-to spot. Nothing was biting - for me, anyway - until about 4pm. And I didn't seal the deal until just before 5pm, when I successfully landed a 13.5" spotted bass. I stayed another 20 minutes, but couldn't get another fish on my hook and the sun was dropping low in the sky, so I went home.
The big thing for me for Monday was those old guys from the other day showed up about 5 minutes after I did and set up their fishing about 20 feet from me. I don't know their names, so I'll refer to them as Beard and No-Beard. They were a hoot. Beard caught a spotted bass almost immediately - darn him - but it was only about 13". He was bottom fishing with a worm. No-Beard was fishing with a worm and bobber set up. I tried to tell them where they were fishing was only about 4' deep, but boys will be boys, so they spent a lot of time getting hung up on the chunk rock and submerged logs over there. Then Beard switched to a spoon he'd made and No-beard switched to a crankbait. They didn't have any further luck - other than No-Beard landing a big stick ("Mine's bigger than yours," he told Beard proudly) so they went on their merry way about 3pm. They made the first two hours of fishing more enjoyable with all their joking around, and when they left, they gave me the rest of their worms. Life is good, folks.
I went out again on Tuesday. I thought I'd try one of my old hangouts and see how the fishing fared over there. So, I went to the place on the main lake with loads of ledges to sit upon and fish from. A few big, dead trees sticking up out of the pretty-deep water. It was warm and sunny, and frankly, this place where I was acts like a solar reflector, so while the rest of the area was warm with a breeze, this place was hot and no breeze. Anyway, no bites. In addition to worm and bobber fishing, I tried bottom fishing with a worm (got hung up). Then I tried a Senko worm in green pumpkin with black flecks Texas rigged (third cast the knot slipped and the whole rig went flying into oblivion). After that, I moved to my old standby location and went back to worm and bobber, set about 6-7' deep (got hung up). I gave up after that. No bites and my feet were soaked and I'd just lost my third set of gear in 2 hours.
Yeah, the wet feet thing. After I cast out in that last place, I notice what appeared to be a weird little school of fish about 4' off the bank in front of me. Then I realized it was an Alabama rig (complete with hooks and fake swirly-tailed minnows) sitting pretty as you please on the bottom. So, I reeled in my bobber/worm, took off my socks, put my shoes back on and waded in. Man was that water COLD, but my feet were already soaked, so I waded to wear the rig was and it came right up like it had been dropped there. Cool. Then after my rig got snagged again and I was trying to find a way to jerk it free, I noticed something blue just down the bank. It was an almost new rattletrap baby shad. Also cool. So, the score for the day was: Lake took 3 hooks, three swivels, two sinkers, and one Senko worm (that I'd found a few weeks before) vs Me who came home with probably about $20 worth of lost lures. Works for me.
Wednesday... Still pretty nice, although about 10 degrees colder. Hey, no problem. I'm a fisherman, dammit. I head out about 2pm to a place I'd only ever been to once, when the water level was about 10 feet higher and the bank was all mud. Now, there's beach. And since it's a cove thingie, it's not really deep, so I had to walk... and walk... and walk... carrying all my gear. I finally got to an acceptable spot and cast out my worm/bobber rig. Nope. But that's okay, because I was out there to see new sights and maybe find some lost fishing gear again. None of that either. There were people tracks, which makes me think someone had already been there scoping for goodies. After about an hour or so, I finally gave up there and made the long walk back to the car. Then I went to my standby spot and stayed until sunset. Caught a 12" spotted bass and a 6" bluegill.
The rest of the week was colder and I had enough of that on Wednesday, so that's the report for this week. Check back next week because we're supposed to have 3 warm days in a row and I am determined to catch a keeper. I need fish in my belly.
Have a good week and, if it's nice, get out and enjoy nature a little.
The first time I got out this past week was Monday afternoon. It was too cold otherwise, and I had a writing deadline approaching. By Monday afternoon, though, it was nice and warm, and I needed a break from both the writing and the craziness that is sweeping the nation.
So, anyway, Monday. It was in the low 60s, partly cloudy with variable winds. I set out about 1pm and went to my go-to spot. Nothing was biting - for me, anyway - until about 4pm. And I didn't seal the deal until just before 5pm, when I successfully landed a 13.5" spotted bass. I stayed another 20 minutes, but couldn't get another fish on my hook and the sun was dropping low in the sky, so I went home.
The big thing for me for Monday was those old guys from the other day showed up about 5 minutes after I did and set up their fishing about 20 feet from me. I don't know their names, so I'll refer to them as Beard and No-Beard. They were a hoot. Beard caught a spotted bass almost immediately - darn him - but it was only about 13". He was bottom fishing with a worm. No-Beard was fishing with a worm and bobber set up. I tried to tell them where they were fishing was only about 4' deep, but boys will be boys, so they spent a lot of time getting hung up on the chunk rock and submerged logs over there. Then Beard switched to a spoon he'd made and No-beard switched to a crankbait. They didn't have any further luck - other than No-Beard landing a big stick ("Mine's bigger than yours," he told Beard proudly) so they went on their merry way about 3pm. They made the first two hours of fishing more enjoyable with all their joking around, and when they left, they gave me the rest of their worms. Life is good, folks.
I went out again on Tuesday. I thought I'd try one of my old hangouts and see how the fishing fared over there. So, I went to the place on the main lake with loads of ledges to sit upon and fish from. A few big, dead trees sticking up out of the pretty-deep water. It was warm and sunny, and frankly, this place where I was acts like a solar reflector, so while the rest of the area was warm with a breeze, this place was hot and no breeze. Anyway, no bites. In addition to worm and bobber fishing, I tried bottom fishing with a worm (got hung up). Then I tried a Senko worm in green pumpkin with black flecks Texas rigged (third cast the knot slipped and the whole rig went flying into oblivion). After that, I moved to my old standby location and went back to worm and bobber, set about 6-7' deep (got hung up). I gave up after that. No bites and my feet were soaked and I'd just lost my third set of gear in 2 hours.
Yeah, the wet feet thing. After I cast out in that last place, I notice what appeared to be a weird little school of fish about 4' off the bank in front of me. Then I realized it was an Alabama rig (complete with hooks and fake swirly-tailed minnows) sitting pretty as you please on the bottom. So, I reeled in my bobber/worm, took off my socks, put my shoes back on and waded in. Man was that water COLD, but my feet were already soaked, so I waded to wear the rig was and it came right up like it had been dropped there. Cool. Then after my rig got snagged again and I was trying to find a way to jerk it free, I noticed something blue just down the bank. It was an almost new rattletrap baby shad. Also cool. So, the score for the day was: Lake took 3 hooks, three swivels, two sinkers, and one Senko worm (that I'd found a few weeks before) vs Me who came home with probably about $20 worth of lost lures. Works for me.
Wednesday... Still pretty nice, although about 10 degrees colder. Hey, no problem. I'm a fisherman, dammit. I head out about 2pm to a place I'd only ever been to once, when the water level was about 10 feet higher and the bank was all mud. Now, there's beach. And since it's a cove thingie, it's not really deep, so I had to walk... and walk... and walk... carrying all my gear. I finally got to an acceptable spot and cast out my worm/bobber rig. Nope. But that's okay, because I was out there to see new sights and maybe find some lost fishing gear again. None of that either. There were people tracks, which makes me think someone had already been there scoping for goodies. After about an hour or so, I finally gave up there and made the long walk back to the car. Then I went to my standby spot and stayed until sunset. Caught a 12" spotted bass and a 6" bluegill.
The rest of the week was colder and I had enough of that on Wednesday, so that's the report for this week. Check back next week because we're supposed to have 3 warm days in a row and I am determined to catch a keeper. I need fish in my belly.
Have a good week and, if it's nice, get out and enjoy nature a little.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Thursday This n That
I forgot to publish Wednesday's post at Outside the Box, so it's up today.
I want to run around the nation smacking people in the back of the head. Jiggle some sense loose. Or something. Maybe I could borrow Silver's clue-by-4.
The deer are fat and fluffy right now, and their coats are slowly turning from winter gray-brown to summer chestnut. I suspect some of the 'fat' is developing fawn babies. Fingers crossed for a bumper crop of babies this year.
Yesterday, while I was out fishing, I heard voices behind me. I was the only person at the fishing spot and none of the boaters had arrived to put their boats out of the water. After several minutes, I saw a man and a little girl walking a couple of dogs, which was cool. Then I caught a bass, but they'd already moved on. I was kinda sad they didn't see my fish. Fishing alone means no one sees my fish. =o\
No, I cannot take pics of the fish I catch unless I bring them home. I don't have a smartphone and there's no way I'm taking my Nikon fishing and risk it getting wet or damaged. And I can't bring bass home unless they're more than 15" long. It's a law.
I try to be as accurate as I can when I talk about the fish I catch. No 'big fish' stories here.
The other day we were out in the yard and heard the cry of the bird we refer to as 'Show Yourself'. It showed itself, and I still couldn't identify it with 100% certainty. I think it's a peregrine falcon, but they're not supposedly here, so... :shrug: Anyway, it was crying and landed it a tree. Then it and another bird took off out of that tree. The second bird was definitely a redtail hawk and you could tell that definitely NOT a redtail. Crows chased them both off in different directions. And no, no camera.
Okay, that's it for me. I should probably go do something constructive or something. Later days, dudes.
What's on your this n that radar today?
I want to run around the nation smacking people in the back of the head. Jiggle some sense loose. Or something. Maybe I could borrow Silver's clue-by-4.
The deer are fat and fluffy right now, and their coats are slowly turning from winter gray-brown to summer chestnut. I suspect some of the 'fat' is developing fawn babies. Fingers crossed for a bumper crop of babies this year.
Yesterday, while I was out fishing, I heard voices behind me. I was the only person at the fishing spot and none of the boaters had arrived to put their boats out of the water. After several minutes, I saw a man and a little girl walking a couple of dogs, which was cool. Then I caught a bass, but they'd already moved on. I was kinda sad they didn't see my fish. Fishing alone means no one sees my fish. =o\
No, I cannot take pics of the fish I catch unless I bring them home. I don't have a smartphone and there's no way I'm taking my Nikon fishing and risk it getting wet or damaged. And I can't bring bass home unless they're more than 15" long. It's a law.
I try to be as accurate as I can when I talk about the fish I catch. No 'big fish' stories here.
The other day we were out in the yard and heard the cry of the bird we refer to as 'Show Yourself'. It showed itself, and I still couldn't identify it with 100% certainty. I think it's a peregrine falcon, but they're not supposedly here, so... :shrug: Anyway, it was crying and landed it a tree. Then it and another bird took off out of that tree. The second bird was definitely a redtail hawk and you could tell that definitely NOT a redtail. Crows chased them both off in different directions. And no, no camera.
Okay, that's it for me. I should probably go do something constructive or something. Later days, dudes.
What's on your this n that radar today?
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