Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/31/20

Happy Halloween!  Now, on to the book stuff...

I only picked up one new ebook at the start of this week and I already read it.  Then last night, I picked up a couple more off of FB.  I have a romance left from before, and now I have a new mystery and a new UF to read.  Yay.  No new hardcopies this week, but I have tons of those on the shelves.

Books Read:

71) Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs (10/30/20) - Suspense - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  50c at the thrift store.
Review: "I'd never read this far back in the series before. If I hadn't picked this copy up at a thrift store, I probably would never have thought to go back this far. Now I need to find the first book in the series. Definitely thrilling. Also very interesting."

70) Groundskeeper: Raking Up the Dead (10/24/20) - Paranormal Mystery* - 5 stars.  The author isn't new to me, but as a new release, this is probably less appreciated than it should be. I follow the author on FB. When she said she had a new release, I scampered over to see what it was about and then one-clicked it at $1.99.
Review: "I inhaled it! This story was so much fun. I only wished there was more of it. I loved Chloe! And the whole idea of a cemetery caretaker actually taking care of the undead residents of the cemetery is brilliant. I hope the author writes more stories about this character.

DNFs:

10/27/20 - dark UF - free.  Meh.  I got about 18% in and decided I didn't really care enough about any of the characters to keep reading.  Which was too bad because the premise was pretty good and the world building was solid.  =o\

Currently reading... after I finished the suspense, I decided to spend the rest of the night watching TV and playing poker.  No clue what I'll pick up next to read.  Probably the one ebook I have left - a romance.

What was on your reading list this week?

Mental Meandering

 I'm brainfried this morning.  So let's do some mental meandering... or more this n that, if you will...

Yesterday at about 3:30 in the afternoon, the phone started blowing up with phone calls.  Nearly all of them leaving a message on my answering machine about a breach of my iCloud account and telling me I needed to talk to an Apple advisor.  And if I didn't want to press 1, then I could certainly call them at their toll-free number (315)232-8257.  1) I don't have an iCloud acct.  2) No Apple devices in this house.  3) 315 isn't toll-free.  It's an area code in NY state.  All the calls came from different 'local' numbers, so no exactly blockable.  I did some internet research and discovered this is an old scam.  And apparently the only way I can stop it is to order some blocking thing through my phone company.  We turned the ringer off.  From between 3:30 and 5, then again between 8 and 9p, we easily got 20 calls.  Add in the calls we're getting from what I assume are pollsters and telemarketers and Medicare enrollment hucksters, and it's a noisy house here.  Ring ring ring ring.... answering machine picks up and I get to hear my lovely voice telling people what number they've reached and to please leave a message... followed by the message if there is one or the dial tone if they've hung up.  Yay.  Not.

By the way, I've shifted most of my internet searching to Duck Duck Go.  They're okay.  A little slower than the behemoth G.  But they work for basic internet searches.  I still use the G every rare once in a while, when I need to know things like definitions because G puts them right there at the top.

I'm about this close >< to staying away from social media until after the election.  Unfortunately, I'm working a sale right now for which I'm using FB as my main advertising outlet.  

People really have gone batshit crazy lately.  I can think of several politicians who should've already been brought up on charges of sedition and treason.  Then again, it seems like there are lot of crimes these days for which no one is punished.  =o\

I'm old school, what can I say?  

Goodness this coffee tastes yummy this morning.  Hubs made it.  Not sure why the coffee tastes better when he makes it, but it often does.  It's not like we're using different coffee or more/less than the other person.  

I haven't moved my car in over a week.  I should probably do that so it stays in good running shape.  I know when my mom doesn't run her car often enough, the battery goes squonky on her.  

I tried the Salonpas patch thing on my shoulder yesterday.  It worked pretty good, except it left a red rectangle, which, according to the package, means I should stop using it.  "If redness occurs..." that sort of thing.  I think it's the adhesive.  I have a problem with adhesives on my skin.  The Blue Emu isn't working nearly as well as I had hoped.  Back to Aspercreme.  I mean, you'd think that something that costs as much as Blue Emu would work better than something that costs like $5.  If I'm paying four times more, it should work four times better.  Right?

I could yatter more.  Apparently being brainfried does not equal having nothing to say.  But I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled lives.  Have a great day.

And feel free to drop some meanderings of your own in the comments.

Thursday This n That

 In case you missed it, I have a new book (Cinder Ugly) up for pre-order right now and a sale going on (Once Upon a Djinn).  

Amazon, in its infinite wisdom, isn't showing pre-orders.  It's been a long time since I did a pre-order, but I'm pretty sure they used to show how many pre-orders I had.  I should have at least one (cuz I pre-ordered it).  

Amazon has also not grouped my A Model Curse books into a series yet.  I have a request in to them.  We'll see if it gets done before CU goes live.  (They used to do this automatically.  At least, they've done it for my other series.  :shrug:)

I'm not sure if it's the 'rona or Halloween or the approaching election, but twice this week I've had people screw up the attachment thing on emails I need.  Once, there was no attachment.  The other time, the attachment was wrong.  From totally different people.  Blerg.

Sometimes I have to remind myself 'you can't know what you don't know' and not feel stupid about things people point out that I didn't know.  (I don't think they meant to make me feel stupid.)  I mean, maybe I should've known.  But I didn't know such a thing even existed, so how could I have known that I didn't know?  Ya know?

I've been feeling kinda low these past couple days.  No big deal.  I only mention it because I woke up this morning with 'High Hopes' stuck in my head.  A positive song out of nowhere.  Part of me is all like 'yay'.  Part of me wants to punch myself in the brain.  It's like facing a cheerful person before you've had enough coffee to deal with all that cheer.

It's raining raining raining here.  The lake's gone up a foot in the past day or so.  Not a problem since the lake was a 'normal level' which means it can go up another 15 feet without causing a major problem.  Still, all this rain is making my yard look like a waterfall and it's really mushy out there.  It's also harshing my ability to take walks.  

I saw the cutest kitten posted on one of the rescue sites I follow and I wanted it in the worst way.  It was killer cute.  Death by cuteness cute.  This is not the time to be taking on a new pet - especially a kitten or a puppy.  I don't have the time or the energy or the patience for a baby animal right now.  And then there's Kira.  The old lady doesn't need that kind of irritation.  She's gotta be... what... 86 or so in cat years?   She takes up a lot of time and energy and patience all on her own.  Throw a new pet into that?  Nope.

And that's enough out of me.  What's up with you?

Busy Busy Busy

Okay, so after much foot-dragging and toadness, Cinder Ugly is available for pre-order.  (I will explain my reasoning for pre-order versus actual order tomorrow on Outside the Box.)  Now that it's live and I have a linky-loo, I have loads of work to do.  As in my post-publication checklist... 

Goodreads listing – add ASIN before the book goes live
Add book to your Amazon author page.
Verify book is on Amazon UK author page.
Update FB header.
Add book to all blog sidebars.
Update internal links inside book to Amazon
Post to the blogs
Post to FB pages
Post to Pinterest
Post to MEWE
Add book to appropriate Outside the Box book page
Update links on book page – US, UK, CA, AU
Bookmark Amazon pages – US, UK, CA, AU
Update back matter of all other books
Post to FB groups
Fall apart.

(The last item is optional and can be inserted anywhere along the way.)

The crossed off items are done.  Other items have to be done today.  Some of the other items are partially done.  (7:42pm Updated to reflect what I've done since this posted.)

I'm questioning the wisdom of doing all this and having a sale going on at the same time.  Really, I am.  It's a little crazypants right now. (In my head.  All outward appearances show the usual calm and relaxedness of every day life here.)

Launching a new book is a bit frazzling.  Thank goodness I make lists or I'd never remember all the things I have to do.  And I still have to do print versions of Cinder Ugly and Ugly and the Beast - which a totally different list.  Ugh.

I know I said I'd have a sale on the first two A Model Curse books next week, but I hit a speedbump.  Sleeping Ugly's 90 days in Kindle Select is up on the 5th, which makes it hard to schedule a sale to overlap two 90 day windows.  So, the sale will begin after Sleeping Ugly renews for another 90 days and it allows me to schedule a Kindle Countdown Deal.  All the little variables.  Blerg.

I need a clone.  None of this is hard, it's just all so tedious.  Not a fan of tedium.  I'd rather hand this all off to someone and say 'do it' and then not have to worry about it.  

So anyway, I'm busy busy busy.  Like a little bee.  Or a beaver.  Personally, I feel more like a beaver - fat and waddling and ready to curl up in my den and sleep.  But I'll get it all done.  Hopefully before the book goes live live next week.

Sunday Update - Week 43

Blerg.  I'm running late today.  Again.  Anyway...

In writing news, I got all the proofer notes in and input.  Friday, I fixed the last few things and started the formatting.  Then I fell down (figuratively) and didn't get anything else done.  Today.  Today I really need to get ahold of myself and get stuff done.  

In marketing news, I have a sale starting tomorrow for all the genie books - 99c each.  Get all four for less than $4.  I haven't set up any advertising, so this will be all FB posts and stuff.  Fingers crossed.  In a perfect world, I'd have the CU stuff done so I could put links in the backs of all the genies books.  This is not a perfect world.

I had a good reading week last week.  Yay.

I did something active every day. Once again, not active active, but active is active, eh?  Weight: 180 even.

Yesterday, I went a little goofy and started the day making apple-cranberry bread.  Then I made beef stew.  Then I got a wild hair and made homemade drop biscuits to have with the stew.  All that mixing and chopping and stirring... my arms are kinda ouchy today.  On the upside, we have loads of homemade stuffs to eat.

Also, yesterday, I saw a golden-crowned kinglet.  So cute!  They're a winter visitor here and it's nice to see them back again.

A new buck came to the yard yesterday.  One of his ears is flopped over, so he'll be easy to identify in years to come.  Hubs named him Lear.  (Short for Left Ear, but it fits with the kingly names theme this year.)  Arthur is looking well and his face is healing nicely.  Lumpy and the twins are also fine - although one of the twins is getting independent and not always right with mom when she comes to feed.

I think that's it.  I got up late, and the coffee isn't kicking in quite like it should yet.  What was up with you last week?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/24/20

Well hello there.  Sorry I'm late.  I meant to set this up last night and then totally brainfarted.  Anyway... It was a pretty good reading week, despite having two DNFs.  

I picked up two new ebooks - a romance and a paranormal romantic suspense.  I already read the latter and I started the last unread ebook I had from earlier in the month - a dark UF.  Guess I'd better start looking for some new ebooks.  No new hardcopies this week, but I am chock full of unread hardcopies right now anyway.

Books Read:

69) Night Wish (Nightriders MC #5) by Silver James (10/22/20) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*. 5 stars.  Not new to me, but underappreciated because it's a new release.  I hope it doesn't stay underappreciated for long.  It seriously rocked. I paid full price at the time of release: $2.99.
Review: "That... was... Amazing. I love Gen. I love Wizard. Okay, so maybe I wanted to poke Wizard in the eye a couple of times. Men, even Wolves, can be so dense sometimes. But it all works out. Good guys win. Bad guys die. All in a day's work for these Wolves. The only missing thing I would've wanted in this story was for that one chick to get a punch in the nose. Humpfh, maybe next time.

Warning, this book isn't for the faint of heart or the tender of sensibilities. There's sex. And swearing. And blood. So much awesome, though. If you can handle it, wade on in. Totally worth it."

68) Hook, Line and Murder by Thom Elkjer (10/20/20) - Mystery#.  5 stars.  New to me and underappreciated.  25c from the thrift store.
Review: "It started slow and I wasn't sure I was going to keep reading, but I forged ahead. It turned into quite the thrilling mystery. Enjoyable premise. Interesting characters. Satisfying resolution. Good stuff all the way around."

67) Mandrake and a Murder by Ruby Loren/Silver Nord (10/19/20) - Paranormal Mystery*. 5 stars.  New to me but not underappreciated.  Free off the ENT newsletter.
Review: "A fun little paranormal mystery."

DNFs:

10/23/20 - political thriller by one of my favorite authors in that genre.  50c at the thrift store.  Got a few pages in and discovered I just wasn't in the mood.  I set this one back on the shelf to read later.

10/21/20 - paranormal suspense.  25c at the thrift store.  Umm... I picked up the book because the cover hinted at a nice quirky paranormal.  As I read it, though, the beginning of the book had me wondering if perhaps the publisher had accidentally put a different manuscript between the covers.  (That happened to me once.)  I mean, the beginning was total suspense.  But I flipped through and the character names matched the blurb on the back, so I went with it.  Then it got to the paranormal part and it was just jarring against the initial set up.  No flow.  =o(

Currently reading... a dark urban fantasy ebook.  So far, so good.  

What was on your reading plate last week?

Thursday This n That

They have nicotine patches, which begs the question...  Why aren't there caffeine patches?  Man, I could really use one of those this morning.  Okay, several of those.  Don't judge.

Which reminds me of a funny I saw on FB yesterday... 'The idea of a domestic housewife implies that there are feral housewives.'  :gigglesnort:

The zucchini bread is almost gone for another year.  :sadface:  

Last night, Hubs and I watched Trump's rally in Gastonia, NC.  Wow.  The positive energy was palpable.  And it kind of restored my own positive energy - especially when there's so much negativity around these days.  If you haven't seen one, I'd totally recommend it.  Here, Newsmax was covering it. Not sure if anyone else was.

Years ago, a comedian (not sure which one... Carlin?  Williams?  Wright?) pointed out that the word politics comes from POLI - meaning many - and TICKS - meaning blood sucking organisms.  :gigglesnort:

Speaking of comedians, I've been watching reruns of Deal or No Deal.  I'm not sure what it is about that show that's so enthralling.  Part of it is the host, I'm, sure.  I love Howie Mandel, always have.  He was a hilarious stand-up comic.  He was a good actor on St. Elsewhere.  He's pretty good at the game show host thing, too.  Otherwise, it's just people picking cases and making decisions about whether to take the 'deal' or keep on picking cases in order to find out if the million is in their case.  Not much too it, really.  But yeah, enthralling.

I've also been watching Match Game a lot.  And of course, Perry Mason.  Last night's Perry Mason had a gal I see on Match Game a lot.  Too funny.  Oh, and Perry Mason has had Leonard Nimoy on it and DeForest Kelley.  (For people not in the Star Trek know, that's Spock and Bones.)  I wonder if Shatner ever did Perry Mason.  I know he did Match Game.  And I saw Scotty on Hazel the other day.  ROFL.

Okay, I've yattered enough this morning.  Got anything to yatter about?

Randomosity

 It's Tuesday.  How did it get to be Tuesday again already?  Not that there's anything special about Tuesday.  It's just that I feel like we just had a Tuesday and here it is again.  Where the hell did Monday go?

Sunday I reached down to do something behind my recliner and wasn't paying attention to where the back of the chair was in relation to my head.  Boink.  I'm sure it left a mark, but it's above the hairline.  

Yesterday, it rained off and on.  During one of the off periods, Hubs figured it was a good time to walk up to the mailbox to mail a couple birthday cards out.  Halfway there, the rain decided to turn on again.  Sploosh.

I have all my proofer notes ready to go, but the will to work isn't ready for anything.  On the upside, the proofers seemed to enjoy the story and reports are that the notes aren't that bad.  So what's the problem there, Mr. Gumption, eh?

Today's bird of the day is a tufted titmouse. If you have a bunch of them is it titmice or titmouses?  Spellcheck says titmice is correct (no red squiggle).  Titmouses sounds more fun to me.  Especially is you say it like a German psychiatrist.  Tit mouwziz.  Okay, maybe that's just me.

I went to bed last night with like 10 pages left to read in this book.  I was right in the middle of the climax when the cat started meowing that she needed to use the litterbox.  I tried to ignore her long enough to finish the book, but it became apparent that she was getting irritated.  I set the book aside, took her to the litterbox, and then got ready for bed.  Then I couldn't sleep because the book wasn't finished and I didn't know what happened and I was amped up from the thrill of the story.  I should've just finished the damn book.  With only about 10 pages left, he'd better get cracking on wrapping this thing up satisfactorily.  =o\  I'll finish it as soon as I finish this post.

Speaking of which, that's probably more than enough yattering out of me today.  How's things with you?

Sunday Update - Week 42

Week 42... know what that means?  Only 10 weeks left of 2020.  Of course, that doesn't mean doodle if we don't all work to make next year better than this year.  It'll be all 2021... Son of 2020.  And who wants that?

Anyway...

Last Sunday, I finished the edit round I was working on and sent CU off to proofers.  Then I did pretty much nothing writerly for several days.  I finally did muster some will and set up a sale for the genie books for the last week of October.  And I worked on the blurb.  Thanks for the help, you know who you are.  Here's the final version:

This could get ugly.

After a curse turned supermodel Jeni Braxxon into a gal so gruesome she'd freak out Quasimodo, she's sure her craptastic life couldn't get any worse. Her modeling career is toast, she's being evicted, and everyone she gives a damn about has either left or been taken away, but she ain't seen nothin' yet.

The Society for Sorcerous Activity has plans to snatch her birthright, brainwash her nieces and nephews, and force her into bankruptcy. Oh, and there's a lunatic sorcerer bent on world domination running amok.

But Jeni won't take any of this lying down. Not for long anyway. She needs to kick some ass, rescue the kids, and save the world. Big tasks for a vapid, superficial gal who's always gotten by on her looks. It's time for everyone, including Jeni, to realize there's more to her than meets the eye.

Once I get this puppy out into the world, I don't know what I'll be tackling next.  I've been pondering several different stories, but nothing's blowing my skirt up yet.

In other news, I had a pretty good reading week.  

On the activity front, I did something active every day.  Not majorly active, but I'm counting it all.  Let's not talk about weight.  I never should've bought those Hostess breakfast rolls.  Ugh.  So yummy.  So 'straight to my belly fat'.  Evil.

Hubs reports that Arthur's face is looking good.  (Hubs uses the binoculars to get a good look.)  The gnarly dead skin has sloughed off entirely and the wound beneath is healing nicely.  Also, one of LJ's twins is definitely a buck fawn and his little antler buttons are so cute.  The other is definitely a doe fawn - no buttons.  

No baking this week.  We still have plenty of zucchini bread and granola bars, but Hubs ate the last cookie yesterday, so I'd better get crackin' today.

Nothing else of major note going on around here.  What's up in your worlds?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/17/20

 Hey there!  It's another Saturday and I actually have some things to talk about.  Yay!

Okay, so I didn't get any new books this week.  But that's okay, because I'm full up on reading material right now.  

Books Read: 

 66) Poinciana by Phyllis A. Whitney (10/15/20) - Romantic Suspense - 5 stars.  Not new to me or underappreciated.  Got this one for 25c at the thrift store for my collection.
No Review.  I read this decades ago but didn't remember much of it when I read it this time.  Isn't that the best? 

65) Sit...Stay...Beg (Dogfather #1) by Roxanne St. Claire (10/13/20) - Romance* - 5 stars.  Not a new to me author, but I usually read her romantic suspense.  Free from seeing it posted as free on her FB page.
Review: "Sweet story. Fun romance. Great characters. And DOGS!"

 64) The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (10/12/20) - Mystery - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Picked it up for 25c from the thrift store.?
No Review.

DNFS:

10/16/20 - YA Paranormal - free.  Tragically awful dialogue.  Stilted, wooden, 'as you know, bob' kind of stuff.  OMG, nobody talks that way.  Seriously.

10/12/20 - UF - free.  Meh.  It just wasn't blowing my skirt up.  

Currently reading...  a paranormal mystery.  Another one where the witch doesn't know she's a witch.  With a talking cat.  Of course.  So far, it's okay.  Not great.  We'll see if I finish it.

That's it for me for the week.  What was your reading week like?

Thursday This n That

I just saw a marketing post from an author who said they never planned to make money from their book, so it's free on Kindle Unlimited.  Umm...  Authors get paid for every page read in KU.  Don't let liars like this fool you.  I blocked the chick.  Disingenuous turd.

I'm trying out Blue Emu on my squonky shoulder.  It's a pain relief cream my mom swears by.  The jury's still out on whether it works for me.  I slathered some on last night and I think it worked okay, but I was sleeping.  Maybe that was the test - whether it lessened the pain enough for me to sleep.  Next up on the pain relief test - Salonpas patches.  I'll let you know.  If neither of them work better than Aspercreme, I'm going back to Aspercreme.  It's way cheaper.

By the way, aspirins still work better than most other NSAIDs, even if I have to take them more often.  (And I have taken just about every kind of NSAID on the market - over the counter and prescription.)  I think the only reason aspirin fell out of favor was the marketing done by Tylenol and the pain relievers that came after.  

Also by the way, I was squonky even before my car accident - bursitis in both knees at 17 - but the accident went a long way toward further squonkitude.  I could let it stop me, but that's not in my nature.  Besides, the more I sit around because it hurts to move, the more it hurts to move.  It's a wicked cycle, man.

I set up a sale on the genie books.  They'll all be 99c the 26th through the 2nd.  Just in time for Halloween.  Yay.  I'm surprised at how many people who read the first three haven't read the fourth.  They're missing the big finale!  And I really kind of proud of the finale.  =o\

Arthur's gnarly face is healing nicely.  The flap of dead skin either fell off or he rubbed it off.  He's a scarred hero now.  The does should be flocking to him this season.  Chicks dig scars.

Okay, I can't think of anything else to say this morning, but I've probably said enough anyway.  Have a great day out there in the world.  And feel free to leave your own this-n-thats in the comments.  I may not always reply, but I do read and enjoy all of your comments.  =o)

To-Dos or 'The Guilt of Taking a Day Off is Killing Me'

I didn't accomplish anything yesterday, which, I guess, was the point.  I said I was taking a day off, and I did it.  Today can't be like yesterday, though.  

I mean, I had to do two days worth of dishes last night because they were driving me crazy. (I ran the dishwasher this morning so I didn't have to listen to the damn thing, but it was totally loaded.)  My to-do list is staring at me accusingly, reminding of things I should've already had done.

-vacuum
-dust
-cobwebs
-sunroom floor
-sales spreadsheet

It's good to take a day off after you've been busting your butt, I guess, but I always feel guilty.  So, today's going to see those things done.  And I need to work on a blurb for Cinder Ugly.  

And take a shower... cuz, ew.

And the weeding needs to get finished.  And raking.  And the windows.  And I probably should clean out the junk drawer and wash those glasses we never use...

Being an adult means having a lot of stuffs to do.  Whether I'll get everything done this week is anyone's guess.  But hey, at least I'm not bored.

Heh, does anyone else remember being told "if you don't have something to do, I'll find you something to do'?  Hell, I've said heard it and I've said it.  It's a mom thing.

Anyway, time to get my day going.  What's on your to-do list? 

Sunday Update - Week 41

Not sure where the week went, but here we are again at another Sunday.

Okay, so most of the week disappeared into edit hell.  Lucky for me, edit hell is not pink*.  I am this close to having this edit pass done.  Like 177 pgs out of 189**.  I worked on it every day, but it wasn't a quick process.  I hope to have those last twelve pages done today.  Right now, the book is at 63390 words.  I don't expect that to change too much.  Unless the proofers tell me they hate the beginning.  

I'm thinking about doing a sale on the genie books next week.  I need to stop thinking about it and make it happen.  I'll schedule a sale for the model books once I know when I'll have this last one published.

Alas, with all the editing going on, reading fell by the wayside.  I didn't finish any books.  I am making progress on an Agatha Christie short story paperback, though.

In baking news, I made chocolate chip cookies and granola bars and zucchini bread.  We're full up on baked goods right now.  Yay.

On the activity front, I did manage to get something active done 6 out of 7 days.  Okay, some of the activities weren't super active, but they weren't 'sitting on my ass in front of the computer', so they count.  Weight:179.4.

The trees are starting to turn here.  And the bucks are starting to come around.  We seen three now.  The main one, Arthur, was looking kind of puffy faced on the right side last week.  This week, we know why.  He must've had an abscess.  And it burst.  He's kind of gnarly looking right now, but he's healing and it's not affecting his ability to eat.  Other than the gnarly face, he looks beautiful.

I have some spreadsheet work to do today - both my own and payjob stuff.  I also have a blurb to work on for a friend and one to work on for myself.  Then there's dusting and vacuuming and I probably should get a walk in there somewhere.

I think that's about it.  What about you?  How did your week go last week?

*You'd understand the pink thing if you read Ugly and the Beast.
**The number of manuscript pages does not reflect the number of published pages.

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/10/20

Wow, that week just flew right by there, didn't it?

I picked up a bunch of new books this week.  Three new ebooks - paranormal mystery, YA paranormal, and urban fantasy.  Also I got 12 new-to-me hardcopies at the thrift store - eight paperbacks and four hardcovers - in various genres.  

Unfortunately, I've been so deep into edits for Cinder Ugly, I haven't taken a lot of time for reading.  

No Books Read this week.

No DNFs either.

Currently reading... The Regatta Mystery by Agatha Christie.  One of my thrift store finds of the past week.  It's short stories, but I think that's what I need right now.  Read a story, get back to editing, read another story... you get the gist.

What did your reading week look like?  Anything new and interesting?

Thursday This n That

Carrots wait for no one, so I pick them now, before they are eaten by some slobby cow.  If you sang it in your head, your childhood was awesome.  (It's Bugs Bunny, by the way.)

I stopped by the thrift store on Tuesday.  Snagged 12 books for $4 - 8 paperbacks and 4 hardcovers.  Yay.  I got an Alastair MacLean I didn't have.  And an Agatha Christie I needed.  I found a Michael Crichton I hadn't even heard of.  Oh, and a Phyllis Whitney for the collection.  I picked up a couple new-to-me authors and some old favorites, too.  I love thrift store day.  I also got the third book in a trilogy where I already own the second book.  The hunt for the first book is ongoing.  When I have them all, I'll read them.  Yes, I could just order the damn first book, but that's not the point.

To date, I have acquired 103 books this year and spent $22.70.  (The majority of which were free ebooks, by the way.)  Thus proving you don't have to spend a lot of money to read.  Ahem, yes, there are libraries, but I don't use them.  I don't like returning books.  I also don't like the fact that our libraries have become more internet cafes (minus the beverage) and daycare centers than actual places to revel in books.  But that's me.  If I want to read a book, I'll own the damn book.  If I like it, I get to keep it.  If I don't, I donate it to one of the local thrift stores so someone else can enjoy it. 

The mulching and bagging of leaves was a success.  Hubs plans to continue it throughout the leaf season.

This new blogger thingy is a pain in my ass.  It automatically puts a line between paragraphs, so I have to now adjust myself and stop putting in a line.  Which also means when I'm typing stuff elsewhere I have to adjust to put the line IN after I've typed something here where I don't have to put a line in.  Stupid.  Gah, why won't people just leave shit alone?

By the way, I still put two spaces between sentences in my writing.  Period, space space.  It's how I type.  Changing back to one space now would be a serious pain in my ass.  I fix this in my writing by having Word find the double space and change it to one space (Find: space space, Replace With: space) when I'm formatting my books for publication.  

We had another buck in the yard yesterday.  A spike.  I missed seeing him, but Hubs told me all about it.  Apparently, his spikes go straight up.  Pokey head.

Today's the last day for wearing my favorite t-shirt.  It's become so ratty, it needs to retire.  =o(  Sad how just when a shirt becomes the most comfortable, it's time to shift it to the dustrag bag.  

Okay, your turn.  This n that to your heart's content.

Don't I Know You?

Hubs and I were watching a new show - Flesh and Blood on Masterpiece - Sunday night and several of the cast members looked familiar.  So, as I often do, I went to IMDB to figure out where we might have seen them.

The creepy next door neighbor played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies.  

The mom played Paul Atreides mother in the original movie of Dune.

The mom's boyfriend played the good cop in V is for Vendetta.

And each time I discovered who they were, I was all like 'OH!! That's where I know them from.'  

I do this all the time.  Especially watching old shows like Perry Mason.  There's a lot of 'hey, that guy looks familiar' on there. And during commercials or after the show, I hit the internet.  I hate not knowing where I know someone from.  It's a thing.

Sometimes I know where I know them from.  "Hey, it's the little guy from The Big Sleep." Or "Oh, man, I just saw him.  He's plays the neighbor on Hazel."  

A couple weeks ago, we were watching something else on Masterpiece - Van der Valk - and the main character looked totally familiar, but I kept picturing him as much younger.  Sure enough, he played Blythe on Band of Brothers.  (Don't get me started on Band of Brothers and searching for where I knew all of those actors from.  There were a lot of actors in that one that I knew I knew from somewhere else.)

Thank goodness for the internet.  This stuff used to drive me nuts.  Now I can look any actor up at any time and satisfy my neurotic need to know.

If only there were an internet database of everyone I've ever met, so I can figure out who all those people are that I run into and wonder 'don't I know you from somewhere?' ;o)

Perspective and Weight

For those of you stressing and obsessing about weight loss, here's a thing for you to consider... I weighed myself this morning and discovered I gained three pounds in a week after getting plenty of exercise and eating normally.  Which tells me one thing* - weight fluctuates.  And there really isn't much rhyme or reason to the little fluctuations.

In the past week, I stopped eating nuts - my staple snack.  And chips, too.  (Because we're out of them and the grocery trip isn't scheduled until today.)  I'm also rationing the ice cream to make it last, so I haven't been eating as much of that as I usually do.  Less calories going in, less salt to hold water in my cells... and I still gained weight.  :shrug:  (Yes, I have cake in the house.  I almost always have cake or cookies or something in the house.)

The fourteen pounds I lost in 2018 are staying off.  Which is good.  I feel better without them - with my gimpy legs and other sundry craptastic parts, the lower the weight, the less stress on the joints the better.  

Sure, I'd like to lose another twenty pounds, but hey, I'm 50 years old and I'm lazy, so I don't realistically see that happening.  In an ideal plane, I'd get back down to the 135 I was for years.  (When I was 20 and could eat whatever I wanted and still be a hottie with a naughty body.)  This is not an ideal plane.  If I can maintain at around 180, I'm good with it.  If I can get down to the 172 I was in March when I was totally stressed out - without actually being stressed out - I'll be ecstatic.  

I guess what I'm saying is...

If you're healthy** and happy with the rest of your life, don't let the numbers on the scale harsh your day.  I'm in better shape than I've been for like thirty years, which is especially awesome considering I also weigh like 45 pounds more than I did thirty years ago.  I can lift and carry 50lb bags of corn and I can walk a mile and a half at 3.2 miles an hour without falling apart.  I get my heart rate up and it comes back down like it's supposed to.  That's all a win in my book.

It's all about perspective and what you want out of life.

*Well, two things... my scale cannot be trusted.  ;o)

** As in 'not feeling sick', not the 'health guidelines mandated by the government' that say simply being over the number they've set is unhealthy. Bah and feh.

Sunday Update - Week 40

 Okay, according to the internet, I was wrong about last week being Week 38, so this update is for week 40.  :shrug:  I must've mis-numbered a week somewhere along the way.

Anyhoo...

In writerly stuffs, I finished inputting the first round of edit notes and began the next round of edits.  In this round, I do a page of notes and then I enter them, instead of waiting until I've noted the whole book.  So, as of last night, I've created 4 pages worth of notes and entered three of them, which brings the finished part of the book to 23 pages.  Not sure where the fourth page of notes will bring me to today or how many more pages I'll get done today, but it'll be something.  Slow going, but necessary.

I actually finished reading two books last week.  Yay.  

On the activity front, I managed 5 out of 7 days.  Walking, cleaning, and yard work.  Weight was 178 as of Wednesday.

In baking news, I made a cheater cake this week.  Betty Crocker - yellow cake and chocolate frosting.  I might've also made cookies, but I can't remember if I did those this week or the week before.  And I did a baked spaghetti dish - cooked the noodles, heated the sauce, cooked chicken patties then layered it all in a 8x10 pan and covered it with mozzarella.  Baked it at 375F for 30 minutes until the cheese was bubbly and starting to brown.  I think we'll be having the leftovers for dinner tonight.

It's fall, so you know what that means... Leaves.  Lots and lots of leaves.  We're trying something different this year - using the mower to suck them all up.  It's a lot of emptying the bag into the wheelbarrow and dumping the wheelbarrow, but Hubs says it's easier than raking them all up, so we're going with that.  We'll see how it goes.  I was weeding and did one wheelbarrow dump - basically three bag-dumps worth. It's definitely easier on my shoulders than raking, but he's the one doing most of this work, so if it works for him, it works for me.

As for weeding, I only have two places left to weed - the garden paths - and I'll be done with that until Spring.  Yay.

That one buck has been stopping by on a regular basis now.  Checking out the ladies and since the ladies all stop here to eat, he's stopping here, too.  The neighbors are starting to talk about him - as in 'hey, have you seen that buck?'  Shhh.  If you talk about him, people will want to come shoot him.  He isn't here, he was never here, and I don't know what you're talking about.  =op

Okay, I think that's about all I have to say about last week.  How was your last week?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/3/20

 Hello again.  It's Saturday, in case you're like me and can't tell what day it is, and time for the reading wrap-up.  Let's jump right into it.

No new books of any kind this week.  I'm at 2 unread ebooks, though, so I'd better get going.

Books Read:

63) The Scarlet Ruse by John D. MacDonald (10/2/20) - Hard-boiled crime - 3 stars.  Not new to me or underappreciated.  I've had this one for years.
Review: "Good suspense, I guess. The end was a tad confusing, like MacDonald was told to end the damn novel already and instead of writing out the thrilling climax, he told about it in retrospect which took the thrill out of it. Also, this story had some issues earlier Travis McGee novels didn't have, but then again earlier novels in a series like this are often best. :shrug:"

Note: Unfortunately, the above was my last unread old crime novel.  Now I haz a sad.

62) In Dog We Trust by Neil Plakcy (9/26/20) - Mystery* - 4 stars.  New to me but enough reviews to not meet the criteria.  Free off the Book Doggy newsletter.
Review: " Pretty good story. Interesting characters, intriguing premise, solid writing. Too much backstory for my tastes, but your mileage may vary."

DNFs:

9/26/20 - suspense.  25c at the thrift store.  I got a few pages in and was like 'meh'.  I keep trying this author based on the recommendation of a friend, but so far, he's not blowing my skirt up.  This was my third try and will probably be my last.   

Currently reading... after the crime novel, I didn't start anything new.  Partly because I never thought I'd get to the end of the unread crime novels and I haz a sad.  No worries, though, I still have plenty of unread hardcopies to get into.  I'm just not sure what's next.

What did your reading week look like?

Thursday This n That

 I'm in the process of scouring Cinder Ugly for flaws, problems, typos, boo-boos, etc.  It ain't pretty.  This is the part where I read and make notes, then as I get a page of notes, I come in here to fix them.  One page of notes yesterday fixed three pages of manuscript.  Of course, the top third of the notes was all in the beginning paragraphs, so I'm hoping it won't be a 1:3 ratio across the board or I'm going to need another notebook.

Yesterday on Outside the Box, I talked about finding the right time to edit and that first thing in the morning is bad for me.  First thing yesterday, the beginning of CU looked horrible.  By the time I sat down to actually edit, it wasn't bad and only needed some tweaks to make it right.  We'll see what the proofers think of it.

Speaking of editing, I'm using my old Kindle for this pass. It gives me a different perspective.  Of course, I keep tapping the screen to change the pages, which isn't how this one works.  I have to press the little button.  Eh, it keeps me on my toes and reminds me that I'm reading to edit and not for pleasure.

Eagle watch is underway.  The baldies should be arriving soon, so every big, dark bird in the sky needs to be carefully looked at to see if it's an eagle or just a vulture.  They sometimes fly together, so it's hard to tell who's who.  Gotta look for the white head and tail.  Unfortunately, bald eagles don't get their white feathers for like the first three years of their adulthood.  Then you have to judge by the way they fly and the tips of their wings.

Gah, I just lit the wrong end of my cigarette.  Nasty.  That's what I get for setting it down and then not looking when I picked it back up.  

If you ever watched FRIENDS, there's an episode where Chandler has to teach Joey (the actor) how to smoke so he looks believable as a smoker for a part.  Chandler says something like "Don't think of it as a cigarette.  Thank of it as the thing that has been missing from your hand."  And then he takes a puff and such bliss comes over his face.  Ahhh, good times.

We had a buck come into the yard the other day.  I got some really great shots of him.  Unfortunately for you, we decided years ago that I wouldn't post picks of the bucks online.  Not that I really think any of you could find me, but no one needs to know where the bucks are.  Think of it as my own witness protection program.  An Antlered Protection Program if you will.  

I made a cheater cake yesterday.  Box mix and tub frosting.  Sometimes a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.  The point is I have cake!  

Okay, that's about enough out of me today.  Got anything on your this-n-that list today?