Sunday, February 25, 2018

2018 Books Read

Umm, yeah, this is way later than I usually do my 'books read' post, but that's because I chose a honker of a book to read first.  And I was also wrapped up in editing and publishing.

I have  had a goal to read 70 books this year.  Whether that'll happen after this behemoth of a book?  Time will tell.  As always * will mean ebook, # will mean new-to-me, underappreciated author.

New symbol: ? after the genre means I'm not sure what it was supposed to be so I guessed.

8/5/18 - Increased goal to 80 books.

9/9/18 - Increased goal to 90 books.

11/17/18 - Increased goal to 95 books

So, anyway, here's the list....

95) Fly Away Home by Genevieve Davis (12/29/18) - Romantic Suspense*#
94) Ebola Cell by RJ Spears and Scott Spears (12/26/18) - Thriller*#
93) Murder and the Wanton Bride by Brett Halliday (12/21/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
92) Blame the Mistletoe by Dani Collins (12/20/18) - Romance*
91) Hand in Glove (Roderick Alleyn #22) by Ngaio Marsh (12/18/18) - Mystery
90) The Stone Bull by Phyllis A. Whitney (12/9/18) - Romantic Suspense
89) Mr, Smith and the Roach by JJ DiBenedetto (12/6/18) - Hard-boiled SF Crime*#
88) Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn (12/5/18) - Political Thriller
87) High Profile (Jesse Stone #6) by Robert B. Parker (12/1/18) - Crime
86) A Matter of Love and Death by Caron Albright (11/30/18) - Historical Mystery*#
85) Purrfect Murder (Hazel Hart #1) by Louise Lynn (11/23/18) - Cozy Mystery*
84) The Affair of the Mutilated Mink by James Anderson (11/17/18) - Mystery
83) The Reckoning by Kerry Watts (11/16/18) - Suspense*#
82) Peril at End House by Agatha Christie (11/13/18) - Mystery
81) Discarded (Dumpstermancer #1) by Michael J. Allen (11/11/18) - UF*#
80) The Golden Unicorn by Phyllis A. Whitney (11/10/18) - Romantic Suspense
79) The Snow in Her Eyes by Cedar Sanderson (11/6/18) - UF*
78) The Opening Chase by Cap Daniels (11/6/18) - Suspense*
77) Meg & The Mystery Man by Elise Title (11/1/18) - Romance
76) When Eight Bells Toll by Alistair MacLean (10/14/18) - Action Thriller
75) Amazon Decoded: A Marketing Guide to the Kindle Store by David Gaughran (10/9/18) - NF*
74) Magic Born (Dragon Mage #1) - by Dylan Chick (10/8/18) - UF*
73) An Occupied Grave by AG Barnett (10/7/18) - Mystery*
72) Resurgence (Demon Spring #1) by S. Usher Evans (10/5/18) - Urban Fantasy*#
71) Crocodile Creek by Valerie Parv (10/3/18) - Romance
70) The Krewe by Seth Pevey (9/29/18) - Suspense*#
69) The By-Pass Control by Mickey Spillane (9/28/18) - Thriller
68) Mum's the Word for Murder by Brett Halliday (9/20/18) - Crime Novel
67) Outback Summer by Nancy John (9/15/18) - Romance
66) My Life Among the Serial Killers by Morrison and Goldberg (9/13/18) - NF
65) Rascal by Sterling North (9/9/18) - Memoir
64) Secret of the Lost Race by Andre Norton (9/8/18) - SF
63) Cambodia Clash (Mack Bolan Executioner #65) by Some Author (9/7/18) - Action/Adventure
62) Shade Chaser (City of Crows #2) by Clara Coulson (9/3/18) - Urban Fantasy*
61) Sabercat by TL Knighton (8/29/18) - SF*#
60) Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose (8/27/18) - History
/59) Suddenly Sorceress by Erica Lucke Dean (8/24/18) - Paranormal Romance*
58) A Scone to Die For by HY Hanna (8/23/18) - Cozy Mystery*
57) Under the Assassin's Moon by Silver James (8/22/18) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
56) Soul Breaker (City of Crows #1) by Clara Coulson (8/20/18) - Urban Fantasy*
55) Prince of Poison by J. Douglas (8/13/18) - Fantasy*#
54) The Haunting of Hattie Hastings: Part One by Audrey Davis (8/6/18) - Paranormal Chick Lit?*
53) M in the Demon Realm by Mark William Hammond (8/5/18) - Urban Fantasy*
52) Puppet on a Chain by Alistair MacLean (8/3/18) - Suspense
51) Murder Most Thorny (Myrtle Grove Garden Club #2) by LouLou Harrington (8/1/18) - Cozy Mystery*
50) Ghosts of Pinkerton: Vampire and The Frenchman by Andy DeJong (7/30/18) - Supernatural Adventure?*
49) The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton (7/29/18) - Technothriller
48) Dead Wizard's Loot by DJ Salisbury (7/26/18) - Fantasy*
47) Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (7/21/18)- Romantic Suspense
46) Term Limits by Vince Flynn (7/15/18) - Political Thriller
45) Off Leash (Freelance Familiars #1) by Daniel Potter and Marianne Fox (7/13/18) - Paranormal*
44) Die Like a Dog by Brett Halliday (7/11/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
43) Murder on Tyneside by Eileen Thornton (7/10/18) - Mystery*
42) Night Fall by Silver James (7/9/18) - Paranormal Romance*
41) Jade Star by Cedar Sanderson (7/8/18) - SF novella*
40) The Unknown Twin by Kathryn Shay (7/8/18) - Romance
39) Magic's Child by DJ Salisbury (7/7/18) - Fantasy*
38) The Shadow of the Lynx by Victoria Holt (7/4/18) - Historical Romantic Suspense
37) Wizard's Child by DJ Salisbury (6/30/18) - Fantasy*
36) No Shirt, No Shoes, No Spells by Rose Pressey (6/29/18) - Paranormal Romance*
35) State of the Union by Brad Thor (6/28/18) - Political Thriller
34) Trials of Rumpole by John Mortimer (6/25/18) - Mystery short stories
33) The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by CW Grafton (6/22/18) - Hard-Boiled Mystery#
32) The Blunt End of Oblivion by LJ Simpson (6/21/18) - SF*
31) Cleaver Square (DCI Morton #2) by Daniel Campbell & Sean Campbell (6/16/18) - Suspense*
30) The Secret Poison Garden by Maureen Klovers (6/15/18) - Mystery*#
29) Alchemy's Child by DJ Salisbury (6/14/18) - Fantasy*
28) Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (6/10/18) - Historical Mystery
27) That Ol' Black Magic by Silver James (6/8/18) - Urban Fantasy*
26) Drained by EH Reinhard (6/7/18) - Suspense*
25) His Cowboy Heart by Jennifer Ryan (6/6/18) - Romance
24) Panic by KR Griffiths (6/3/18) - Horror*
23) Dead on Demand (DCI Morton #1) by Daniel Campbell & Sean Campbell (6/2/18) - Suspense*
22) The Blunt End of the Service by LJ Simpson (5/28/18) - SF*#
21) A Grave Mistake by Alexander Tarler (5/26/18) - Fantasy*#
20) Where There's Smoke... by Laura Abbot (5/19/18) - Romance
19) Dragon's Child by DJ Salisbury (5/19/18) - Fantasy*
18) The Hitwoman in a Pickle by JB Lynn (5/17/18) - Mystery*
17) Deadly Welcome by John D. MacDonald (5/13/18) - Crime Novel
16) The Convenient Cadaver by Matt Ferraz (5/12/18) - Mystery*#
15) Too Friendly, Too Dead by Brett Halliday, Robert McGinnis (4/22/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
14) Murder on Aisle Three by Megan Rivers (4/21/18) - Mystery*#
13) Murder Over Cocktails by Nancy Skopin (4/20/18) - Mystery*
12) Ice Crown by Andre Norton (4/19/18) - SF/F
11) The Price of Murder by John D. MacDonald (4/15/18) - Crime Novel
10) The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore (4/14/18) - MG Adventure*
9) Montana Moon by Silver James (4/13/18) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
8) Serpent's Child by DJ Salisbury (3/27/18) - Fantasy*
7) Star Flight by Phyllis A. Whitney (3/22/18) - Romantic Suspense
6) Sherlock Holmes and the Cult of Cthulhu by James G. Boswell (3/17/18) - Mystery*#
5) Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case by Kristen Painter (3/16/18) - Paranormal Mystery*
4) Sorcery's Child by DJ Salisbury (3/13/18) - Fantasy*
3) The Big Kill by Mickey Spillane (3/4/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
2) The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin by L. Jagi Lamplighter (3/4/18) - YA Fantasy*
1) Shogun by James Clavell (2/25/18) - Epic Historical Adventure

Sunday Update - Week 8

The eighth week of 2018.  Time sure do fly, don't it?

As you might have heard, Blink of an I went live on the 19th.  It was 99c through Friday night and then went to $2.99.  Sorry if you missed the sale, but look on the bright side, it's only an additional $2. 

After Blink went live, I shut down.  I have not written or edited anything since I uploaded it.  That'll change this coming week, but I thought I could take a week off.  Especially since I usually work Sunday thru Saturday.

I read a lot.  I'm still not done with Shogun, but I've only got like 200 pages left. I'm hoping to have it finished by tomorrow, so I can get to all the books I've downloaded to my Kindle.  I probably won't review it when I'm through because what could I say that hasn't already been said.  Right now, barring any cruel twists in those 200 pages, I'm giving it 5 stars.  It kept my interest through all those pages.  If you're looking for something meaty to read, and have a lot of time to do it, I'd recommend this one.

The weather here has been rainy as hell and alternating between cold and warm.  I haven't gone fishing or gotten into the woods. 

I hit a baking thing this week.  Well, not all baking since one of the recipes was no-bake cookies.  But I also made maple walnut oatmeal cookies.  Yummers.  But I do not need to eat all this stuff.  Baking was so much easier when I lived in town and Hubs worked and the Kid was home.  We ate more, and I had people to give stuff to if we didn't eat it.  Now all the food is on Hubs and I.  Literally.  ;o)

Oh, yeah, I did make a cover for Early Grave.  So that was something writerly in the post-Blink days.

I did some cleaning, too.  Not a lot.  I had some gal try to offer me supposedly super-healthy cleaning products this past week.  I told her 'I don't clean', then she tried another tack. "Using regular cleaning products is like smoking 20 cigarettes a day', she said.  I laughed and told her I do that already, but thanks and then I walked away.  :shrug:  Seriously, the only thing worse for her to try to sell me is cosmetics.  LOL

Okay, that's it for my adventures this past week.  What adventures did you have?

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Thursday This n That

Ugh.  It's a short month.  I have got to pay bills and do banking today.  Bill collectors do not care that it's a short month and that you have three less days to get the check to them on time. 

It's another coffee with added coffee morning.  You see, I used to drink obscenely strong coffee, but Hubs doesn't like strong coffee, so over the past almost 14 years, I have eased to making coffee more to his liking.  (Sometimes I fail because making coffee when I'm not awake enough to make coffee is a thing.  Then I warn him.)  Some days, though, I need a cup of my old sludge.  So I add instant coffee to my cup of coffee.  This is one of those days.

We had nineteen deer show up for breakfast the other morning. 

I made it to pg 700 in Shogun last night.  It occurs to me that Clavell could've shortened the book considerably by cutting out a bunch of stuff that was unnecessary to the plot, but that's me.  He wanted a grand, sweeping epic of feudal Japan, which meant, for him, including all the deets.  :shrug: 

We had freezing rain last night.  I wonder if the mailman will get here today.  And the garbage dude.  Ah, living in the sticks.

I may have mentioned this before, but I don't like parrots.  I lived with a guy for three years who had an African Grey Timney.  It was a nasty, spoiled, crabass of a bird.  Then again, so was the guy.  Ba dum bump.

It's very quiet here this morning.  Just the sound of me typing and the computers humming.  Hubs and the cat are sleeping on the other side of the house.  All is well.

It's getting to a point where I want to fall to my knees and weep when I find someone competent at their job.  The other day I spent a large portion of my time dealing with incompetence and then I found one competent person.  I told her I loved her.  It just popped out.  All she did was do what I needed her to do.  That's it.  Kind of sad when you think about it.

And on that note...  What's up with you?

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

The Soft Launch and Other Blinky Things

Well, Blink went live yesterday.  (Read more and find buy links here.)  And it was what they call a 'soft launch'.  So soft, I don't think I could've disturbed crickets out there.  Launched amidst a boatload of distractions (you don't want to know and I don't want to talk about it), it was just set adrift on the currents yesterday and floated into the sea of other books for sale at Amazon.

This morning, I'm trying to catch up.  Do a little advertising on FB, etc.  Post some stuff to groups and junk.  Find new groups to post to because Blink isn't like anything I've already published.  I mean, it is in a way.  I wrote it, so it's got suspense and mystery and a little romance in there.  I can't not write stuff with those elements.  But it's also got... :drops to a whisper:... ideas.

I was reading the book description to Hubs this morning and gave myself shivers.  Idea shivers, not scary shivers.  Hooked Hubs, too, so it's all good. 

Trust me, though, I've tried really hard to weave the ideas in and not beat you over the head with them.  I hate message-y books that club readers to death with their message.  I aimed for creating an interesting and enthralling story that might also make readers think a little.  If it makes them think a lot, awesome.  If it doesn't make them think at all, but they just enjoy the story, that's great, too.

It's a pretty large book.  It topped out at 101K words pre-formatting.  Amazon is saying the KU page count is 478.  I think it moves along at a pretty good pace, though, so it shouldn't take forever to read.  Time will tell what readers think.

Anyway, like I said, I haven't done much to promote this book yet, so I'm not expecting gangbuster sales any time soon.  As always, though, there's hope. 

Now, I can take a break.  Not a huge one, since Early Grave is supposed to back from the editor next week, but a break nonetheless.  Maybe I'll finally finish reading a book this year. 

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Sunday Update - Week 7

Ugh, what a week. 

Some stuff happened.  It derailed my schedule and I'm left with working long hours to meet my publishing deadline.  Life does intrude when we least expect it, eh?  Anyway, it'll still get done.  I'm just about finished with that polishing I was supposed to finish on Friday.  Only the Epilogue left.  When I can't look at it anymore, I've begun the final proof.  I'm two chapters in on that.  Polishing the end and proofing the beginning.  Burning the manuscript from both ends, so to speak.  I'm really liking how it's turning out, though.

I didn't read anything but Blink of an I this past week.  Oh, wait, I started a book on the Kindle while I was waiting for something else, but I couldn't keep my mind on it.  I don't remember the title.  Something YA and magical.

After nearly five years of living here, I finally visited Branson this week.  :shrug:  It's a city like any other city of its size, I guess.  I was tied up with stuffs, so I didn't take in any shows or anything.  It was interesting driving on a kinda-sorta freeway again.  The last time was my trip to Michigan, so about 4 years ago.  LOL, hard to believe the former road warrior doesn't drive distances or freeways anymore.  I like to putter now.

I went fishing once, with Hubs, but we didn't catch anything.  We didn't even get any bites.  It was just nice to be out at the lake again with my sweetie-pie.

Hubs and I went for a wander in the woods.  No woods work.  Just walking the trails and looking at interesting things. 

Oh, and we have a particularly fat opossum hanging around the yard again.  I think she's cool and I'm going to name her Petunia.  Actually, now that I think about it, she's probably not fat.  She's probably preggers.  Petunia and her future brood of little 'possums.  Cool.  (Of course, she could be a fat he.  I'm not lifting its tail to find out.)

And that's it for me this week.  What's it for you?

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Thursday This n That

Since the recent announcement that FB would be changing their stuff so it shows more actual personal interaction type stuff and less marketing stuff, my newsfeed is filled with... :drumroll: book marketing stuff.  I'm still not seeing the people I have actual relationships with.  I have heard people who are waving their arms that FB is going to be killing our marketing opportunities, though.  Like I said, more book selling stuff has been in my newsfeed than ever before.  Just anecdotal evidence, but that's where I'm at.  :shrug:  To see the stuff I want to see, I resorted to making a folder of bookmarks to the actual FB pages I want to read that I fear FB might hide from me.  Paranoid?  Probably, but being paranoid has worked for me for years, so I'm sticking with it.  ;o)

I'm up to page 170 as of this morning.  347 pages total.  If I do 59 pages a day, I'll be done with this part by Friday.  Then I'm going to proofread it again, because I'm afraid I might've put some errors in while I was cleaning up errors.  We're still go for launch on the 21st.

We've been seeing one half-rack buck lately with a white face.  It's kind of creepy.  There's also a doe with white legs.  Not as creepy. 

While I was excited to see Shawn White win a gold, I was a bit ticked off by his treatment of the flag afterwards.  We both were.  When did the flag become a fashion accessory to be draped over one's shoulders or, if not draped, dragged along on the ground like a forgotten scarf or Linus' blanket?  White was excited, I get that.  But come on.  It's the freakin' flag.  I would hope he would at least do what is supposed to be done to a flag that has touched the ground or been otherwise sullied - burn it.  But I suspect he won't.  Burning flags has become such a hot-button thing that I would guess people will freak out if it happens when it's actually supposed to happen.  Next time, Shawn?  Tell the person handing you the flag to hold onto it for later, when you're calm enough to treat it with the respect it deserves.

And while I'm on a roll, let's all remember that, despite what the media might want you to believe, North Korea sucks.  It's a dictatorship and its people are horribly oppressed.  The guy who runs it is a whackadoodle and his sister is not a princess, she's a evil witch.

Ahem.

The little birdies are enjoying the brush piles we've created on our land.  They're awesome hiding spots where few predators will be able to snatch them up for a quick meal.  The squirrels are also utilizing them as jungle gyms and lookout posts. 

And now, I have pages to edits and miles to go before I nap.  Have an awesome day everyone and drop a line about what's on your this n that radar, if you like.  =o)


Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Three Years

Three years ago today, Dying Embers was released into the world.  It's been a wild ride ever since, but I wouldn't trade this cuckoo trip for anything.

In the past three years, I've published 9 books.  (Shoulda been 12, if I'd kept to my original plan of 4 a year, but stuff happens.)  NINE. That's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.  I know Hubs is impressed.

Nine books.  Three cover artists (four if you include me), two editors, one author.  I like the cover artist and the editor I have now, so currently it's just one one one.  Which works for me.  And I'm pretty happy with how things are going in my little self-publishing empire.

In the past three years, here's what we did...

2015
Dying Embers
Accidental Death
Wish in One Hand
Blood Flow

2016
In Deep Wish
Fertile Ground
Up Wish Creek

2017
Natural Causes
Wish Hits the Fan

And a look ahead at 2018's tentative schedule is
Blink of an I (Feb)
Early Grave (May)
Sleeping Ugly (August)
Undetermined (either DH3 or Unequal) (November)

Anyway, I'm pretty tickled.  If I'd been paying attention, I might've done a sale or something today, but I wasn't, so instead of giving readers an inexpensive read or a free book, all I have to give you is my gratitude.  Thanks for reading my books.  You guys are awesome.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Sunday Update - Week 6

Hey, Everybody!

And that's about as awake as I get this morning.  It's 5:06 and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

I made some good progress on getting Blink of an I ready for y'all to read it.  Got through the editor edits and started the read-through.  Made it about 4% in before I remembered that I'd had this awesome epiphany the night before.  So I input the epiphany, which is awesome btw, and then I sent the updated manuscript to my Kindle Fire so I could continue working.  My Kindle Fire had other ideas.  It decided to have a brainfart and tell me I wasn't connected to the WiFi, so it couldn't download.  Checked the WiFi connection and the damn thing was 'Connected' with 'Excellent'.  Tried some things, but it was still being a little snot, so I sent the manuscript to my old Kindle.  And there it was with no damn problems.  Yay!  By then, though, I was so thoroughly irritated, I took the rest of the night off.  Like a whole hour.  Today will be devoted to finishing this thing so I can format it and get it in your hands.

I haven't been reading much lately.  I'm about halfway through Shogun, but getting ready for publication takes precedence.

The woods work is coming along.  In fact, we're almost to the point where we said we'd stop.  I'm trying to decide if I'm going to keep going.  It's great exercise and it gets me away from this computer when I can't fish. 

Let's not talk about fishing, shall we?

We did not win the lottery.

The Olympics are underway and I am watching.  So far, it's been kinda disappointing, but I'm watching.  We have one medal so far - a gold.  I'm not saying in which sport because I don't know if it's been televised yet.  All I know is I was watching the preliminaries yesterday, so maybe they showed it last night after I went to bed. 

Okay, that's about it for my boring life.  Hopefully, next week I'll be more interesting.  ;o)

How'd things go for you last week?

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Saturday Fishing Report - 2/10/18

Sorry, folks, but I'm suspending the Saturday Fishing Report until I actually go fishing again.  There've been a few days here and there where I might've been able to go fishing (not catching anything, mind you, but fishing), but I've been busy with writing and other work and home projects.

Until then, go outside when you can.  And I'll see ya when spring fishing lures me back onto the shore.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Thursday This n That

I still hate my new keyboard.  The backspace key is too small and too close to the home key, so I keep hitting the home key by mistake and erasing things I don't want erased.  Also the capslock key is too close to the A, so I keep turning that sucker on aND IT ENDS UP LIKE THIS.  Derp.  I don't hate it enough to buy a new keyboard, though.  The miser in me beats the writer in me every time.

I made chicken thigh sandwiches the other night.  Cooked the boneless, skinless thighs in the Foreman, then slapped 'em on buns with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayo.  Yummers.

Kira gets fed at 6am.  She thinks she gets fed approximately 1 hour after we wake up, so if we get up early, she begins meowing at us about 30 minutes afterwards in anticipation of being fed.  Actually, she begins meowing at us about 30 minutes after we get up, regardless of when we get up...  This morning, she did the meowing thing, we did the ignoring thing.  We hear her slurping and Hubs thinks she's trying to eat the last of last night's food and feels bad for her.  I go into the kitchen and see she isn't, in fact, eating her leftovers but is instead picking tufts of hair out and spitting them on the floor in protest of being ignored.  :facepalm:

I pulled a muscle in my back this morning... putting on my fleecy top.  Aging sucks.

I only have 119 pages left to edit on this pass through. (It's about 350 pages total.)  After bitching like a whiny baby, I hit a stride.  Sometimes that happens. 

The Olympics start today, I think.  I remember seeing something about February 8th.  (I'm too lazy to go check right now, so if I'm wrong, oops.)  I usually get really jazzed about the Olympics, but I'm kinda meh this time.  Maybe it's because athletes in general have irritated me lately.  Maybe it's because it's in another meh locale.  :shrug:

Okay, as my father used to say, enough of this falderol and ballyhoo.  Have an awesome day out there today, folks.  Tomorrow, check in at Outside the Box for a blurb reveal.  I'm off to have more coffee and plan my next editing attack.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Football Season is Over. Yay!

Yep, the season is over and I'm celebrating.  I told myself last summer sometime that I would not be watching football this season, not a single game - pro or college - and I did it. 

Sure, the kneeling crap was part of the reason, but I've had a tough time rationalizing watching football for a while now.  Between the criminals who get off with slaps to the wrist and then continue to be celebrated as 'heroes' and the bad behavior and the bad officiating and the increasingly asinine adjustment to the rules...  :harrumph:

Like I said before, it's like drinking.  I was a big fan of drinking, but now that I've stopped I can't understand why I ever thought it was fun.  Football meant sitting home on Saturdays and Sundays watching an endless stream of game after game.  Adjusting my schedule around when my favorite teams were playing.  'Want to go fishing?  Can't, the Michigan game is on or will be on or whatever.'  'Better get that writing done during the day because the Packers are playing tonight.' 

Football also meant getting wrapped up in the drama.  The highs, the lows, the shouting at the TV.  Ohio State beats Michigan and I'm bummed.  The Packers beat the Bears and I'm elated.  Why?  I have no skin in the game.  Whether anyone wins or loses doesn't make a damn bit of difference to my life.  :shrug:  

Now, sure, college football isn't as wrapped up in the political crap or so much of the criminal crap, but the universities are so totally into the political crap it makes me want to barf, and they're churning out the pro-players who turn into criminals.  Done with that, too.  I'm not spending any more of my time on them either.

I have half a mind to get rid of all my football related clothing, but that would leave me with one sweatshirt.  One sweatshirt that doesn't have a logo on it.  So, I'll just keep the ones I have and pet them nicely, remembering what football used to be before all the BS started.

So, yeah, like an alcoholic who's been dry for a year, I'm celebrating.  Football season is over and I won.  Next year will be totally easier to ignore. 

Now, on to baseball!  And golf.  No issues there. Not yet anyway.  And if issues come up, well, I know now I can quit them cold turkey, too.  (But don't get me started on Tiger Woods.  Ugh.)


Sunday, February 4, 2018

Sunday Update - Week 5

Five weeks in, people.  How are those resolutions coming along?

But enough about that.  Let's get to the weekly update...

I got the editing pass done on Early Grave and sent it off to the AWE.  She sent me back Blink of an I.  (Not in that order.)  And I did get started on the final editing stuffs for Blink, really I did.  I just didn't make much progress.  To tell you the truth, this book still scares me.  I will shake it off and finish this for publication on or around the 21st as promised, though.  Probably with a mad flurry of work at the end there, if I don't get off my dead ass.

In reading news, I'm still making progress on Shogun.  As I said, big book, tiny-tiny font.  I'm approaching 500 pages, though, so that's something.  It is a really interesting and enjoyable read, which is why I'm committed to finishing it. I have about ten books waiting on my Kindle for when I ever do.  This is the first year I can remember where I haven't read an entire book before Feb 1st.  :gasp:  I think maybe a goal of 70 books was thinking too big this year.  We'll see.

I spent about 3 hours doing our taxes yesterday.  Off they went and that's done for another year. 

No fishing.  Although I am hearing tales of people catching fish out there.

Got my shot Wednesday, so I'm good for not being a psycho for another 3 months.  (Well, not any more psycho than usual. LOL)

Our woods project is nearing the end.  Unless we get a wild hair and decide to go beyond the set target area.  I'm not jazzed about tackling the steeper part of the hill, though.  This is another 'we'll see'.  The two log piles we've created look like beaver dams.  Or funeral pyres.  I joked with Hubs that if I die, I want him to throw my body on one and light it.  Like Darth Vadar.  Or a Viking funeral on dry land.

And on that note, I'll let you get back to your day.  How'd your last week go?


Saturday, February 3, 2018

Saturday Fishing Report - 2/3/18

Hey All.  This isn't really a fishing report because I haven't been fishing in a couple weeks now.  The weather's been weird - cold cold and then unseasonably warm and then windy as all get out.  And I don't feel like standing on the shore catching nothing for hours at a time. 

Plus I'm pretty sure the worms I bought back in December are dead.  I need to feed them to the rosebed.  That's where I put all my leftover worm dirt anyway.  $3 down the drain, but what's a gal to do.  Expensive fertilizer. 

Before I go fishing again, I need to either switch my Abu spincaster reel to my other pole or get the superglue out and fix the pole it's currently attached to.  The top eyelet is loose.  It kept coming off when I'd cast.  We temp fixed it with electrical tape, but the line keeps getting hung up on the edge of the tape, which is annoying.  I've been meaning to address the problem for months/  I even bought the superglue, but bleh.  Of course, my Abu baitcaster is on the other pole and it's kind of color coordinated there - maroon/black reel, maroon pole.  Decisions, decisions.

That's it for me this week, I guess.  We'll see what the next week brings.  And even though I haven't been fishing, I have spent a lot of time outdoors.  Give that a shot, if you get a chance.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Thursday This n That

It's February.  I suppose I ought to change my calendar.

I've had the same song stuck in my head for DAYS, and it's making me crazypants.  I won't mention the title here because I don't want to see this and get it started again.  You know, in the off chance I ever get it stopped.  I keep trying to replace it with other songs and that works for a while.  Then next thing I know, it's there again.  Arrgghh.

What's up pussycat? Meow, meow, meow.

Okay, now that that's over for a while, maybe I can think about other stuff.  Let's see...

Hubs and I were watching See No Evil last night when the lead-in showed a rabbit underneath a car and we were both like 'Bunny!'  Then we started joking about how traumatic it must've been for the rabbit and now it's got to be in the Rabbit Protection Program.  We were cracking each other up.  By the way, the bunny never figured into the murder.  Talk about 'gun on the mantel'.  ;o)

By the way, we each shout out animal names as we see them.  So, if one of us is by a window and sees a rabbit, the viewer will shout 'Bunny'.  Most often, though, it's 'Deer'.  Yesterday, we both happened to look out the front window as a big red-shouldered hawk was flying through and we both yelled 'Hawk' at the same time.  Yep, we're weird.

I bought a couple pairs of thermal socks last year.  Women's thermal socks.  They never fit right and they're actually kind of nubby, so they hurt to walk on.  But I paid good money for them and I am going to wear them, goddamnit.  (No, I couldn't take them back.  I washed them before I discovered they were foot torture devices.)  Except this morning the pair was hurting so bad while I was standing in the kitchen, I took them off and threw them away, crying "Socks shouldn't hurt!  Why am I wearing socks that hurt me?!"  The other pair will get thrown out the next time I'm by my sock drawer.  I now have soft, fluffy thermal socks on.  Men's thermal socks because, even though they're too big, they don't hurt me.

I have to wear thermal socks pretty much all winter because I get really cold feet.  Sometimes it's hard to cram on shoes because my socks are so fat.  But they're warm, so I live with it.  If I had all the money in the world, I'd have 'winter shoes' a half size larger than 'rest of the year shoes', just for the socks. 

Okay, I think that's quite enough out of me.  What's on your radar today?