Monday Update - Week 16

 Since yesterday was a holiday, here's a Monday Update...

No writing or editing.  Yes, I have been thinking about writing, but that's usually only when I'm trying to get some sleep.  I did some marketing for SLEEPING UGLY, which was free last week, but I didn't move as many as I would've liked.  :shrug:  I forgot to set anything up for this week.  We'll see if that changes.

I did some reading, but I forgot to post my Saturday Reading Wrap-up.  I'll do a two-weeker this Saturday.

No baking this week.  Yeah, I meant to make a cake for Easter, but that didn't get done.  I did make some awesome stuffed chicken breasts for dinner yesterday, which went into the oven, I maybe that counts. Or maybe that just counts for next Sunday's update.  Derp.

On the activity front, I started the week gangbusters, but then dropped to nada.  So, yeah, 4 days of activity - mostly weeding gardens and stuff like that.  I did one hard target walk, which brings my total mileage for the year to 6.55 miles.  That's kinda pathetic, but I'm not whipping myself over it.  I'm doing other active things.  And my gardens are starting to look good, so yay.

Speaking of gardens, I got the shade bed and the cedar bed weeded.  (Okay, Hubs did most of the cedar bed, but it's weed-free now.)  Then I planted the seeds I had intended for the cedar bed.  I also bought some more seeds to go in there, which I'll try and get to today.  If the rain is actually finished.  

Speaking of plants, I have 4 viable dogwood trees in pots.  They're only about 3 inches tall, but they've each got two leaves beyond the seed leaves and one of them is working on a second set of leaves.  Also the two cedar trees - Cecile and Clyde - are doing well, with plenty of new growth.  

And the rain... Oh holy crap did it rain.  Sploosherama big time.  The dogwoods and the cedars are currently hanging out in the sunroom.  I didn't want them to drown, poor things.  

Okay, I think that's it for the news of last week.  I need to get motivated this morning, but my gumption won't turn over.  It sputters and dies every time I try it.  ;o)

Have a great day and if you're motivated, feel free to drop a comment.  

Happy Easter

Happy Easter for those who celebrate.  For those who don't, Happy Bunny Day.  Enjoy whatever fits your chosen faith today.  Us?  We're chilling out and hiding from storms.  We'll eat something fun later - either French Dip sandwiches or stuffed chicken breast.  I haven't decided and Hubs' doesn't care.  

Anyway, here's a pic I snapped of the Easter Bunny taking a break after a long night of hiding eggs and chocolate treats*.  As you can tell, he's bushed, but satisfied.

Let's give him a hand for all his hard work. YAY!

*Not rabbit raisins. 

2025 Books Read

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday This n That

:yawn: :stretch:  Good mornin'.  I actually woke up early today, but I couldn't get to sleep last night, so I'm draggin'.  :slurp coffee:

And now Finn wants lots of attentions, so I'm petting and trying to type. With a tail in my way. rofl

Finn's really no small cat by anyone else's standard. He's 13-14 pounds of sleek feline, but next to Sawyer, he's my widdle bebe.  It's not his fault his adopted brother is a moose.

Our phone is out again.  Stupid BS.  Their supposed to be out to fix it again on Friday.  I harangued the phone girl to make sure they actually fix it this time instead of slapping a bandaid on it.  We'll see.  It's going out like every other day.  Then it comes back, then it goes out, then it comes back.  The other day it went out in the middle of a call to Mom.  It's a bit ludicrous that in this day and age we can't get reliable phone service.

Anyway... I saw a news story yesterday about a toddler that had wandered away from his (her?) home in the Grand Canyon area of AZ.  He was found about 7 miles away by a rancher's dog, who led the kid back to its place.  That rancher was out and saw his dog coming home with a kid in tow.  Wild.  Anyway, the tot's fine and the dog is being hailed as a hero.  Not sure how a toddler gets out and wanders 7 miles, but there it is.

I cut my hair yesterday.  Whacked it short because it was irritating me.  I butchered the holy hell out of it.  But I didn't notice until after it dried.  I think I can fix it.  If not, it'll grow out.  Thankfully, I didn't cut it so short it looks like mange.  ROFL

Every morning for the past week or so, I've seen a weird 'star' rising in the east.  When I first saw it, it was about 6am, but it's rising earlier every day.  This morning, I saw it peeking through the trees at 5:27.  I searched online to see if I could figure out what it is, but no luck.  It's not the space station.  It might be like Venus and a couple other planets rising in a line so they look like one big bright light, but that doesn't make sense to my brain.  :shrug:  

Okay, with distractions, it's taken me over 30 minutes to write this and I really need to get my morning marketing done.  Have a great day wherever you are and if you feel inclined, drop a comment about whatever little things are sparking you today.

Marketing Monday - Sleeping Ugly

 Sleeping Ugly... I resemble that title this morning. Blerg.  You might've already heard the story of how this book came to be, but for those who haven't...  Way back when I was a teenager, I stumbled out of my bedroom one morning and there was my middle brother, who was home on leave from the USAF.  He took one look at me and, without even a 'how do you do' said "You're not Sleeping Beauty, you're Sleeping Ugly."  Ah, brothers.  Flash forward a few decades and that memory floated to the surface followed by the idea for this book.  

Anyway, Sleeping Ugly is on freebie starting today and going through Friday.  You know the drill. 

Now through Friday, get SLEEPING UGLY absolutely free.  (It's always free with KU. This is for non-subscribers.)  Get all the snarky goodness of this paranormal mystery today!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 15

 Wow, it's Sunday again.  Whoda thunk it?

Anyway... It was a week.  No writing or editing again this week.  I did the marketing thing because DE was on freebie, but I only did marketing M-W-F. Tuesday and Thursday were neglected.  Derp.  Tomorrow, Sleeping Ugly goes on freebie.  I need to prepare for that, I guess.  I'm unmotivated.

I did a boatload of reading last week.  4 books finished.  Woot.

In baking news... well, there isn't any.  Which is probably good for my lard butt.  I had planned on making a pizza, but then I lazed out and did french bread pizza instead.  

Despite being a toad in every other aspect of my life, I did do some active things this week.  There was only one day where I didn't really do much of anything.  The other days, I walked, gardened, sawed, or cleaned.  I walked 2.4 miles this week, which is my best week this year for walking.  After stepping on the scale this morning, I'm glad I decided to get back on the walking regimen.  Weight: 176.6.... ooph.

Speaking of gardening, I finally cleared out my shade bed.  Three astilbes survived the neglect and I still have one lily of the valley in there.  Everything else died over the two years of not really weeding in there.  :sadface:  Today, I tackle the cedar bed - which hasn't had anything planted in it for years, but I have plans to rectify that.  As for the already planted stuff, I have 4 glads coming up.  Also 4 of the dogwood seedlings look like they might make it :fingers crossed:.  The potted cedars are looking fine and both have plenty of new growth.  None of the other tree/shrub seeds are doing anything.  I think I might have a couple of volunteer redbuds in the yard, so I'll try to transplant those into pots.  I know I have volunteer elms and cedars.  I'm loathe to try and grow elms after The Tragedy of Elmer (wherein the deer ate him as soon as I put him in the yard).

In other news, there is no other news.  Life is rolling along and I'm rolling with it.  What's up with you?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 4/12/25

Hello again.  This was a banner week for reading.  I don't think I've read this many books in one week in years.  Yay.  And reading this much means I'm now only 7 books behind schedule.  Woot.

No new books acquired. I'm out of unread ebooks, though, so I need to rectify that.

Books Read:

12) Islands in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke (4/11/25) -  science fiction - 4 stars.  New to me - I don't think I've read anything by Clarke before - but not underappreciated. Picked this one up at the thrift store for 25c.
Review: "This was an interesting enough story, but there was no real plot. It's just the tale of a 16-yr old boy's short time at a space station of the future. Things happen and he reacts to things. I was expecting something a little more exciting, I guess. All in all, I did enjoy the story, though."

11) Murder by the Script by Lisa Pevey (4/8/25) - cozy mystery* - 5 stars.  Not new to me, since this is the fourth book of this series I've read in the past few weeks.  I got this one for free, which prompted me to buy the first three books.
Review: "Another fun installment of this series. I really enjoyed it. The characters are all just as awesome and quirky as they were at the start. I loved the plot. It's just good, clean fun all the way around."

10) Festive Fonts and Fowl Murder by Lisa Pevey (4/7/25) - cozy mystery* - 5 stars.  Not new to me or underappreciated, but I'm sure it could always use more readers.  I picked this one up at full price with the first two after getting the 4th one for free.
Review: "Another fun installment of this series. I'm really enjoying reading them all. In this one, the stakes are higher because Buck's in trouble, which makes it fun. And like all good cozies, it all works out in the end. Yay."

9) The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett (4/6/25) - suspense - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  I mean, it's Ken Follett, after all.  I got this one from a thrift store for 25c.
Review: "I wasn't sure this was going to be all that great a book when I first started it, but man, was I ever wrong. It's not the kind of work most people know Ken Follett for, but it's pretty brilliant. The final twist really sealed the deal on this being a five-star read for me. Like I said... brilliant."

No DNFs.

Currently reading... I finished the SF last night with minutes to spare before bedtime, so I didn't start anything else.  I don't know what's next.  I have tons of unread books to chose from, though.  

What was on your reading list this week?

Friday This n That

 Yeah, yesterday got busy first thing and while I did mean to post, it was later by the time I remembered.  Sorry about that.

One of the things I was busy with was Wallyworld.  Man, was it busy in there yesterday morning.  It's usually pretty quiet on a weekday morning, so not sure what was up with that.  Some old dude clipped my elbow with his cart and didn't even say excuse me or sorry or anything.  As I said on FB, I hope all of his Depends have a manufacturing defect.  Anyway, I loaded my cart with groceries - including all kinds of meat - and made it out of there for just over $200.  I take that as a good sign.  There aren't any specific prices I can point to - other than whole turkey breasts for 97c a pound, which could be due to Easter's approach - to show that things are getting better, but I'm optimistic.

The weather's gotten nice here.  I'm trying to walk every day.  2 days in a row so far.  Woot.

We were without phones again.  On the third day, I finally called the phone company - because apparently no one else does that but me.  They said it wouldn't be fixed until the 14th.  As I was headed out yesterday, I crossed paths with a Brightspeed truck coming into the neighborhood and the phone was fixed by the time I got home.  Dial tone!  Yay.

The birds are being really LOUD this morning.  Looking for love and all that.  It's like a big, avian single's bar out there right now. Bow chicka bow bow.

Speaking of love, Hubs saw a baby squirrel yesterday.  Yep, it's about that time when mama squirrels kick their babies out of the hole.  Which ought to remind one that after bow-chicka-bow-bow comes waa-waa-waa, so if you want the first and not the second, there are things that prevent that from happening.  Use one or several.

DYING EMBERS is still free, but only through the end of today.

And that's it for me today.  What kinds of this n that things are it for you?

Freakin' Wednesday?

 Oh my gah... it's freakin' Wednesday?  Where did Monday and Tuesday go?  Holy crap.  

Okay, so Monday... Dying Embers went on freebie.  Go snag a copy.  

And Tuesday...?  We voted. 2 tax increases, a property tax cessation for old people thing, and some dude was running unopposed for commissioner of something.  I voted no on the tax increases - natch - yes on the property tax thing, and I didn't bother voting for the dude I didn't know.  As of this morning, one tax increase passed, one failed, the cessation thing was approved, and the dude probably got elected but I wasn't paying attention to him.

So, now it's Wednesday and we're all caught up, I guess.

Today, I am thoroughly unmotivated to do any marketing.  I need a shower.  The cats... okay, just Sawyer... were spastic last night so I didn't get much sleep.  What sleep I did get was sometime this morning, so I got out of bed late which is part of the unmotivational problem.  And I have about a half hour before my morning call to Mom.  (Yes, I call my mommy almost every morning.  She's 84, so there are a finite number of days left to call her, and plus, I like talking to her.)

Sometime around 11 last night, whilst Sawyer was trying to dig his way through Hubs dresser... pat pat pat pat ad infinitum... I snapped and threw my pillow at him. Scored a direct hit, scared the holy hell out of him, and sent him running for under the bed.  I felt really really bad about it.  He spent quite a while under there and once I ascertained that he was physically unharmed, I got some sleep.  Until about 1-ish when he decided it would be a good time to play with a jingly ball.  He batted that sucker all over the house, running after it and jumping on it... jingling all the way.  Oh what fun it is to... nevermind. That went on for a couple hours.   

Today, I'm supposed to do more marketing, as I previously indicated.  I'm also supposed to go grocery shopping.  I'm not sure either of those things are going to happen, and if they do, there won't be much zip in any of it.  :yawn: :stretch: :blah:

And I just remembered our phone is out again and I forgot to call the damn phone company.  !@#$%!

I need a coffee IV.  Just stick the needle in a vein and let the coffee drain in.

What are you up to today?  Hopefully, y'all have more oomph than I do.

:wander off in search of gumption:

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 14

 Yeah, yeah... I woke up late.  And yes, I've said before that I need to write these things ahead of time and get them scheduled, but we both know I'm not going to do that, so here we are.

Anyway, it was a week.  No writing, no editing.  I did think about writing, so that's a step in the right direction, but no actual words on paper yet. 

Last week's marketing effort was sorta blasé.  Thus, I only moved 28 copies of UNEQUAL.  Starting tomorrow, Dying Embers is on the freebie rotation.  I'll try to do better marketing that and see if I can't generate some interest.  Something's working because I am seeing a smattering of sales for books marketed previously.  Nothing spectacular, but better than nothing, and I appreciate every page read.  (Reviews would be nice, too, but beggars can't exactly be picky.)

Oh, yeah, I started working on a cover for the new book.  It's not horrible.  I don't hate it.  Then again, I don't love it either, so I have more work to do.  Personally, I think it turned out too bright and soft, like a chick lit cover instead of a gritty crime novel.  I really need to set everything up again and take another round of pics while it's still super-gloomy outside.  It might be the lightbulb.  I think it's a soft-white instead of a bright white.  :scuttles off to change bulbs:

Anyhoo... I did read a bunch last week.  I finished 3 books and made it halfway through another book.  I should finish that one today.  Right now, though, I've only finished 8 books this year, which leaves me 10 books behind schedule.  :shrug:  I'll either make that up or I won't.  

No baking this week.  It's not like my Ever-Widening Ass™ needs baked goods.

Speaking of the EWA™, my activity level sucked this week. I only got in a couple days where I did anything other than sit on said body part.  One day I did some woods work and the other day I went for a walk.  :throws confetti:  Weight: 174.8

One reason my activity sucked was the weather.  We've had some torrential rain crap move through in waves.  I think we've gotten about 6-7 inches of rain over the last 3 days.  And today we're supposed to get SNOW.  How is that even possible???  Stupid weather.  I moved all my baby trees inside for the duration.  Here's hoping Wrenegade leaves them alone.  

Yes, we still have that silly bird in the garage.  Although, maybe not so silly considering the rain and the cold.  He's a helluva lot better off than his free range counterparts right now.

Okay, I think that's it for me today.  I need more coffee and another cigarette.  Have a great day wherever you are.  :hugs:

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 4/5/25

 Oops.  I plum forgot it was Saturday and that I had a post to do until just now.  I'm addle-headed lately.  Anyway, here goes...

No new books this week, but I have a boatload of previously acquired books to read, so it's all good.  

Books Read:

8) A Murder in Cursive by Lisa Pevey (4/3/25) - cozy mystery* - 5 stars.  This is book two, so no new to me, even if it could be better appreciated. Picked this up at full price with books one and three after snagging book 4 for free.
Review: "This second book was even better than the awesome first book of the series. A fun and twisty cozy mystery with enjoyable characters, an interesting plot, and a satisfying end. Yay!"

7) The Ebony Swan by Phyllis Whitney (4/1/25) - romantic suspense - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Snagged this hardcover edition from the thrift store for $2.  I didn't realize at the time that I already had a paperback copy of this I'd read 10 years ago.
Review: "Phyllis Whitney is a comfort read for me. I read as many of her books as I could get my hands on as a teenager in a rural community. Somehow I missed this one. It's as good as all the others I remember. She nailed romantic suspense early in its inception. The tortured hero, the strong - but uncertain - heroine, the tangled web of lies and deceit and mystery. All culminating in a satisfying resolution and a happily ever after. :happy sigh:

Second reading... I guess after almost 10 years, I'd forgotten I read this, so I read it again as if I'd never read it before. I still agree with everything I said then."

6) The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip (3/29/25) - fantasy - 4 stars.  This title was new to me, but I loved the author as a teen.  Picked this up at a thrift store for 25c.
Review: "When I picked this up at a thrift store, I had no clue it was the first of three. (It's not on the cover, but it is on the back. I should've looked closer.) It's an awesome book full of magic and mystery and adventure... and of course, riddles... but it ends without anything really getting solved. Which is frustrating. Now I have to hunt down the other two books if I want to see what happens. =op"

DNFs:

No DNFs this week.  Yay!

Currently reading... an old suspense by Ken Follett.  It must be one of his earlier works - first published in the 1970s - and it's okay.  Nothing to write home about, but I'll finish it and let y'all know.

What's on your reading list for this week?

Labor of Love

What happened to Tuesday?  :shrug:  

Anyway, it's Wednesday.  There's really not much going on in my life right now.  I did spend a couple hours yesterday setting up for cover photos and then taking a bunch.  And then doing a mock-up of a cover.  They're pretty good pics, but I'm still not 100% in love with them.  I'll try something else today.  

Being self-published means wearing a lot of hats.  Not only am I a writer, I'm also an editor, a marketer, a cover artist, PR... chief cook and bottle washer.  It's kind of tiring sometimes.  Ya know?  And all of this for a paycheck that would make a mouse starve.  It's a labor of love, I guess.  

One really big upside to this is I don't answer to anyone else.  (Good thing, too, because if I was working for someone and not making money at it, I'd quit or they'd fire me.)  The cover choices?  Mine.  Wording?  Mine.  Ideas?  Mine.  Stand or fall, it's all on me.  It's kind of freeing.  I don't have anyone breathing down my neck pushing for me to get the book out.  Okay, so that's both a negative and a positive sometimes, but on the whole, this is a pretty good gig.

I mean, seriously.  I work when I want.  I write what I want.  I don't have to pay anyone a percentage of anything.  If I want to hire someone to do cover art or marketing or editing for me, I have that option and I still have creative control... mostly.  

Of course, working for myself by myself means I don't often have the scratch to hire someone to do anything for me.  I mean, I made $25 last month, and I was excited about it, but that don't put food on the proverbial table. $25... I spent that much on stuff at the thrift store to make the cover I'm working on.  Oh well. :shrug:  Labor... of... love.  Damn it.  ;o)

That being said, I'm not sure if I'd recommend this vocation to anyone.  Of course, if you're inclined to be a writer, you won't need recommendations and cautionary tales won't stop your drive to write.  If you're inclined to be a PUBLISHED writer, you'll make it happen, no matter the hurdles.  You do you.  

I do me - all the time.  

Marketing Monday - UNEQUAL

It's Marketing Monday and even though I'm a little late, I did remember!  Yay!  

Starting today UNEQUAL is absolutely free. (Always free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.) Get this action-packed dystopian novel today. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LDVFWBS

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 13

Thirteen weeks into 2025 and I'm feeling pretty good about life in general.  Sales are up, soon I'll publish my 18th novel (the first published since 2022), and life is good.  As for the past week, here's what went on...

No editing or writing.  Once my edit notes come back, there will be a flurry of stuff to do, though, so I'm not kicking myself too hard.  I did some marketing this week.  This is looking to be my best month of the last few years.  Which still isn't going to get me into any higher tax bracket, but I'm hopeful.  I need to figure out today what I'm going to do for this week's sale.  I'll be as surprised as you are tomorrow. ;o)

The main writerly-type thing I'm focused on is driving ahead on cover art.  I even spent a couple hours wandering the local thrift store to see what sparked my creativity.  I picked up a couple tablecloths, a fake plant arrangement, and a lamp.  Now I just need to make that and some stuff we already have here into something that will sell books.  It's all percolating in my head.  I'll probably get the camera out and start playing today.  

I spent a lot of time reading this week, although it doesn't seem like much when you look at the reading wrap up from yesterday.  I did finish that book I said I'd finish, though, and I started another one.  Yay.

In baking news, I made another batch of cinnamon rolls and I also did a pizza.  So yummy.  My ever-widening ass is telling me I need to cut back on the baking, but I doubt I'll listen to it.

Speaking of the old ever-widening ass, I was pretty active this week.  I did something active every day - from gardening to tromping through the woods to just wandering.  I also did some cleaning. No update on the weight this week.  I feel slimmer, but I'm not going to promise myself any fewer pounds.

Speaking of gardening, I have now potted all the dogwoods that were germinating in the fridge.  The ones I potted previously... Well, some of them died.  On the upside, I have 4-5 that look like they might make it and even have real leaves - 2 each.  Nothing is coming up in the redbud pots or the spicebush pots.  I think the over-winter neglect killed those seeds.  Better luck this fall.  I also potted all the buckthorn seeds I could find.  Note to self: do not put black seeds in black dirt in the fall.  You'll have a tough time finding them come spring.  Cecil and Clyde... the cedars... are both doing well and both have lots of new growth.  Yay.  As for my gardens, I'm not seeing the glads or the lilies coming up yet.  Fingers crossed.

On the woods work front, I got a lot of dead limbs off the cedars and the area is looking really nice - at least from the road.  Now that it's getting warmer, I'll have to stay out of the woods, so the rest of the work in there will have to wait.  

This week, I plan on finishing the clean-out of the last two garden beds that need cleaning - the cedar bed and the shade bed.  There's nothing in the cedar bed but weeds, which I hope to change this year.  As for the shade bed, I'm not holding out hope that anything I planted is still alive in there.  If it's all gone, I'll order up some replacement astilbes and coral bells, and maybe some more lilies of the valley.  We'll see.  I also plan on knocking some other stuff off the to-do list I posted on Friday.  Time and gumption allowing.

And I think that's it for me.  What have you been up to lately?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 3/29/25

Woot, I remembered to post today!  

This week, I added 3 new books to my big list of new-to-me books that I get to read whenever I want because they're MINE.  I picked up a Phyllis Whitney I've never read and two Tarzan's (a new collectible for me).  Yay!

Books Read:

5) Murder by the Letter by Lisa Pevey (3/27/25) - cozy mystery* - 5 stars.  New to me but not underappreciated by my measure of more than 50 reviews.  (I was the 50th on Goodreads, as a matter of fact.)  After seeing this advertised on one of the FB groups I follow (posted by her husband Seth Pevey, a writer whose books I love), I paid full price for this one after snagging the 4th book in the series for free. I also snagged the 2nd and 3rd. 
Review: "What a fun story! I really enjoyed getting to know Mila, Cherie, and Auntie Roma. And, of course, I loved Serif! I also enjoyed the glimpse into the backwoods of Louisiana and the Cajun way to life. This is a fun romp through that world and an interesting mystery to boot."

4) Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout (3/26/25) - noir crime - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Snagged this from the thrift store for 25c.
Review: "Excellent story! I love Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. It does start off a little slow, but it more than made up for it."

DNFs:

3/26/25 - SF - $4.99 - if you know me at all, you know I hate DNF'ing any book I paid full price for.  Hell, I hate paying for books if there's any chance I might DNF it.  Anyway, I bought this book because the author was in need.  I really REALLY wanted to like it enough to leave a glowing review for it. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far before I realized that wasn't going to happen.  :shrug:  I feel bad I can't leave a review, but at least the sale might help this person out of a jam.  

Currently reading... a fantasy called The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip.  I'd hoped to finish this last night, but it was late and I was tired.  I'll finish it today.  

What kind of reading fun have you been up to this week?

It's on the List, Man

I have so much to do and it seems like every time I turn around there's another thing to do, so I've begun saying "It's on the list, man."  It's not a written-down list.  It's an in-my-head list, but this is it...

- finish potting the tree seeds
- clean out the cedar bed
- clean out the shade bed
- plant the wildflower and the marigold seeds I bought for the cedar bed
- order plants to put into the shade bed because I think everything nice in there has died
- finish cutting dead limbs off the cedars by the road
- finish replanting the irises bulbs that the critters had moved over the winter
- vacuum the hard floors
- wash the hard floors
- dust
- wash windows
- clean the kitchen
- clean my bathroom
- clean the smoking porch / sunroom
- redo the irises by the big rock (which may have to wait until after the blooming season)
- take furniture polish to the kitchen cabinets
- tidy up the spare room
- clean the fridge
- create a cover for my new book (which includes setting up stuff for a pic and taking said pic)
- hit the thrift store to find something to use for the above pic
- finish editing my new book
- format my new book
- create next week's sale
- sort my books to decide what stays and what goes so I have room for my unshelved new books
- tidy up the storage closet
- shred old paperwork I've tidied out of the storage
- create a donate box of everything I've picked to go
- go to a thrift store and donate the stuff (which should coincide with going to find pic stuff, but probably won't)
- hammer in all the loose nails on the deck
- work on getting Wrenegade out of the garage
- clean bird poop off the garage floor
- clip the cats' claws

There is a longer list Hubs and I have together, by the way.  Stuff that requires money as well as time.  That one includes things like repairing the deck, fixing the roof, and putting in a wood stove.  One day, I'd like to remodel the kitchen by turning the wall between the kitchen and the living room into a pony wall, so I can get some natural light into the kitchen, but that is so far down any list that I doubt it'll ever happen.  Maybe if I win the lottery... ROFL

Since I started typing this out, I added about a half-dozen things I need to do that I had forgotten.  You see what I mean about 'things keep getting added'.  Just thinking about it all makes me tired.  I need a nap.  Too bad, naps aren't on the list.  ;o)

What's on your list to get done today?

(I might come back here and put a line through stuff as it gets done, but then again, I might not because seeing stuff NOT getting checked off over time will depress the hell out of me.)

Thursday This n That

My arms look like I've been attacked by an itty bitty swordsman.  Only a tiny portion of the damage is cat related.  The rest of it is thorns and woods work.  I didn't even feel most of it when it was happening and only noticed it later.  Eh, it's visual proof I've been working.  And the yard is looking quite nice, if I do say so myself.  

Oh, and the spot on the back of my middle finger?  That's a burn I got while making dinner.  I'd show you, but I don't want to flip you off.  ;o)

By the way, 100% pure aloe will take care of minor burns for you.  Slather that crap on as soon as you can after you've burned yourself and it'll be unpainful in no time.  Works for sunburns, too.  And dry skin patches.  And sometimes bug bites. (Depends on what bit you.)  I use Fruit of the Earth.  And I get mine from Wallyworld.  

I'm having a sale.  I'm not being good about marketing, though.  I missed it on Monday and today's not looking good either.  Still moving books, though, so yay.

We've now located 4 redbud trees on our property.  And I found a honey locust yesterday.  Thankfully, I didn't find it the hard way.  Those things have nasty spikes on them.  I hacked all the spikes off the trunk up to Hubs' height, so either of us can walk around the damn thing without getting speared.  I also spent some major time removing dead limbs from the cedars.  

Yep, I hurt today.  90 minutes of sawing can do that to a gal.

Okay, I'm running late, so that's it for me for now.  Have a great day out there!

Marketing Tuesday?

Okay, so I woke up late yesterday and I was a total toad, so I didn't get to my marketing. :shrug:  Which means that we get Marketing Tuesday instead of Marketing Monday.  

To that end, both of the books in the Dennis Haggarty Mystery series are up for marketing. 

For a limited time, get both books in the Dennis Haggarty Mystery series for the low price of only 99c. (Both are always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Now thru Friday, ACCIDENTAL DEATH is free and NATURAL CAUSES has been reduced to 99c. Pick up both today!

Accidental Death: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XM6VJ9U

Natural Causes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y44BXTM

Enjoy!

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 12

Well, howdy there.  It's Sunday and I'm feeling pretty good, so let's get started with the week...

I did no writing, editing, or marketing.  Yep, I had a week off of all things writerly.  Woot.  There's not much for me to do with editing until I get my notes back from the beta readers.  And I don't really write while I'm in the throes of getting a book ready to publish.  (I could, I guess, but I don't.)

This coming week, Accidental Death will be free and Natural Causes will be 99c.  Look for marketing here tomorrow on those and throughout the week on social media.

I read some stuff.  See yesterday's post.  Yep, I actually did a Reading Wrap-up.  

This past week, I made carrot cake... which is almost gone, so I need to think about the next bake... and I made chocolate oatmeal cookies.  Yum.

The big deal this week has to do with activity.  You see, Hubs and I have started working on our land to the south.  It's about an acre of forest we haven't had a chance to touch yet.  So we're touching it.  Mostly moving deadfall and cutting vines.  Gah, so many vines.  Oh, and cutting dead limbs off the freakin' cedars.  So many dead limbs. It feels like every time I turned around in there, I was at risk for putting an eye out or getting skewered.  That will change.  Unfortunately, it's getting a little late in the season to spend too many more hours in the woods.  Ticks and snakes... :shudder:  On the upside, we found a redbud tree we didn't even know was there.  Yay.  Weight: 174.8

Speaking of trees, my little dogwoods are doing okay.  Some are doing better than others, but if I get 3-4 trees out of this experiment, life is good.  Nothing else is showing any signs of growing yet.  Except for the cedars.  They're awesome.  Cecil has new growth and Clyde is starting to green up now that he's in a pot instead of dirt under the deck.  I might take today and do some more potting.  I have a few more dogwoods to get in dirt.  All of the buckthorns need potting.  And I have a few more volunteer cedars that can be transferred to their unwanted spots into pots.  

I think that's it for me for the week.  What have you been up to lately?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 3/22/25

Hello.  I know it's been a long time since I did one of these. Sorry about that.  I got so far away from doing it that I don't THINK about doing one until it's too late.  Okay, so let's see what's happened since the last time...

I picked up a boatload of books - both ebook and hardcopy.  Since my last installment, I got 16 books from the thrift store - mostly hard-boiled crime and mystery, but some SF and romance, too.  I also downloaded 6 ebooks - 4 of which are from an author I love who wrote this series under his wife's name.  Suffice it to say, I have a lot to read and I'm working on it.  At this point, though, I've only finished 3 books this year.  

Books Read:

3) Moonstruck: Retribution by Silver James (3/20/25) - paranormal romantic suspense* - 5 stars. Silver's books are definitely not new to me, but they sure are underappreciated.  I paid full price for this - $4.99.
Review: "I'm sorry this took so long for me to get around to, because it was AWESOME. I love the Wolves and their mates, and all their stories, so much. This was no exception. All the action, all the thrills, all the suspense... all the LOVE. And, of course, all the satisfying ends. Good guys win and bad guys die. That's my kind of happy ending. Woot!"

2) President Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (3/14/25) - noir crime - 5 stars.  Not new to me but this one only has 20 reviews.  Sad that more people don't pick up Sax Rohmer novels.  I got this for 25c at the thrift store.  Woot.
Review: "Ooo, this is a good one! Evil Dr. Fu Manchu is trying to take over the United States by putting his own man in the White House - but as dictator, not president - and it's up to Sir Denis Nyland-Smith to stop him. The twists and turns are as awesome as always. Mr. Rohmer knew his stuff, lemme tell ya."

DNFs:

3/20/25 - romance 25c - I picked up this '80s romance because I loved the author once upon a time, and I had collected the entirety of this series (which I sold at a thrift store in FL because I needed the money).  Unfortunately, this particular installment of the series was lame.  The heroine was a whiny, snotty kid and I couldn't envision how the older hero would EVER want to get to know her, let alone fall in love with her.

Currently reading... Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout.  I love Nero Wolfe stories.  I'm not loving this one yet, but there's hope.  :shrug:  I could be his one dud.  We'll see.

Okay, that's it for me.  I'll try to do these EVERY Saturday like I'm supposed to.  How's your reading been?

I Need Some Good News Baby

 Wow, the world has definitely gone crazypants lately.  I mean, have you seen it?  I can't seem to get away from it when I'm online.  WTF is wrong with people?    

Anyway, here's a song that kind of speaks to me today...

https://youtu.be/TX9ODx2_Vqk?si=a-PcrBVqo0Loe1_x

Other than that, I just don't have words...

Thursday This n That

Well, that super secret good news thing I talked about a while back is now in the books.  I still don't want to talk about it publicly.  Suffice it to say, it's a happy thing.  And no, I'm not pregnant.  ROFL.

Speaking of being paranoid, have you seen the news about the conservatives getting SWATted?  Horrible, nasty bastards are putting in fake calls to the police and getting the police to show up at innocent people's homes ready for an armed standoff.  In the middle of the night.  I saw one poor guy (a conservative pundit, if I recall correctly) captured on his own doorbell cam, standing on his own sidewalk in nothing but his boxers with his hands on his head.  This was after the image of 3-4 armed officers in tactical gear standing in the same spot to get into his home.  That's one of dozens of similar occurrences.  Seriously, if you think any of this is good or right or funny, just don't bother associating with me anymore.  Shoo shoo.

So, anyway... Hubs and I went to town yesterday.  It was REALLY WINDY.  And the temperature was dropping, so it was COLD.  We started the day at 62.  By the time we passed the bank near here on the way home, it was 51.  Derp.  But we saw some stuff and did some things, so it's all good.  

The tree butchers are at it again.  This time on the really nice and pretty drive up to the town we went to.  They were, in fact, in the middle of cutting, so we had to stop going and coming.  It's kind of gross looking now.  All those hacked tree limbs.  Ewww.  Yeah, in the long run, it'll probably help keep the road safer, but right now it's just nasty.

Oops... I started this first thing this morning and just now noticed that it was still sitting here.  At 7, I called Mom.  We talked for an hour like usual, and then I went outside to play in the woods on what might be our last cold morning until fall.  Sorry about the delay.  Have a great rest of your day!

Excuses, Excuses

 I wish I had a legitimate answer for why I'm such a toad, but it all comes off as excuses.  

1) DN2 is out of my hands right now and I'm taking some time away from the computer.

2) With everything going on in the world, I need time away from the screen to preserve my sanity.

3) I have so much to do around the house that I don't have much time to spend at my keyboard.

4) Cats

5) I got blasted with a special project at the pay-job and all my computer time was being shunted over to that. And now, even though I'm done with that project, I have all my regularly scheduled work coming in that needs doing.

6) It's gardening time.

7) Those yummy treats aren't going to bake themselves.

So, you see, I've got a lot going on over here.  And I'm a toad.  The long and the short of it is that if I wasn't a toad, I could find time to do what needs doing.  Sometimes I have ever intention of doing stuff and then I forget.  (Brain damage... could've put that on the list of excuses, too, but that's a REALLY old excuse.)

And on that note, I really do have some spreadsheets that I need to get done before the start of the workday in Michigan.  

:wanders off in search of coffee, wishing she could still smoke at her desk:

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 11

Well, hello again.  I almost forgot it's Sunday and time for my weekly update.  (Yes, I did forget yesterday was Saturday and even though I did have stuff for a Reading Wrap-up, I didn't post one.  Oops.)

So, this past week, I finally finished the edits for Duke Noble #2 (Thicker Than Water... Secrets and Lies... Whatever Title I Think is Better Than Those Two).  It's been sent out to readers.  If you did not receive a copy and you were expecting one, email me.  Right now, it's just about 63000 words.  I don't expect that to change overly much.  That's about 2K less than the first book, but it is what it is.  I could shove more words into it but they'd just be filler.  :shrug:

I did marketing for Cinder Ugly.  Not great turnout, but I didn't push it nearly as much as I should've, so I only have myself to blame.  I need to figure out which book is up for marketing this week.  Stay tuned for that.  It'll be a surprise for tomorrow's Marketing Monday post.

I finally read another book.  Woot.  I'm also about halfway through a third book. Also woot.

In baking news, I made pizza this past week.  It turned out really yummy, so yay.  The plan today is to make carrot cake again.  I still have loads of carrots left and why the hell not?  LOL

On the activity front, I did something active on 4 days, but two of those days had multiple activities.  It was mostly outside/gardening stuff.  No weight update.  I'm chunky and I'm okay with it.

Ah, gardening... I finished the south bed that runs along the garage and 1) put all the irises and lilies back, 2) planted new gladiolas.  Then I worked on cleaning up the other beds for Spring.  On a happy note, not all of my grape hyacinths died in the neglectful times.  They're not blooming, but also not dead.  I still have a lot of work to do to bring my gardens back to nice, but I'll get there.  Oh, another thing I did this past week was pot the dogwoods that germinated in my fridge over the winter.  I ran out of pots, though, so I didn't plant them all.  Now I have new pots, so I'll be planting the remainder of the dogwoods this week, along with the buckthorns.  Everything I planted previously - redbuds and spicebushes - have been watered.  I think this was the week where I also potted a volunteer cedar.  I've named him Clyde.  Fingers crossed everything survives and thrives.

We had weather go through, but it was mostly wind.  No storms and no swirlies.  We lost some dead branches.  Nothing major and nothing damaging to anything else.  We barely got any rain.

I think that's it.  Oh crap, I just remembered a project I was supposed to be working on for the pay-job.  One that I said I'd have ready for them on Monday. Guess what I'll be doing today?  :shrug:  I'll make cake tomorrow.  

Anyway, have a great day.  Peace out.

Thursday This n That

 I started this an hour ago and then got distracted by social media.  There are some really interesting things out there.  And some really awful things.  Some days I can't handle wading through the awful to get to the interesting.  There are also a boatload of ludicrous things.  I was also supposed to do marketing and I woke up in plenty of time, but the time I have left before I call Mom is running out.  I guess I'll market after I talk to Mom.

Yes, I call my mom almost every morning.  She gets Friday and Sunday off from me.  We talk about everything... and nothing.  Sometimes we talk about the same things over and over.  Sometimes we gripe about stuff over and over.  I don't care.  She's not getting any younger and eventually there will come a day when I can't talk to her ever again, so I'm grateful for every word now.  

I need to cut Hubs' hair again.  It's been a while and he's starting to look shaggy.  Plus, it's driving him nuts.  Maybe this afternoon I'll finally get 'er done.  I would've done it yesterday, but my wrist was giving me trouble after Tuesday's pizza kneading.  

I love making pizza, but it's hell on the wrists.  Oo, that reminds me... I'm out of cinnamon rolls.  Lucky for me, those don't require a lot of kneading.  

Oh, I finished the 5th draft of my manuscript last night.  And I sent it off to my first reader.  I need to contact others to see if they're still willing and able to read for me.  I'm still torn about the title, so for ease's sake, let's just call it DN2.  Now that it's off to be read, I need to work on cover art.  And maybe get back to writing again.  But not today.  Today is a day of rest.  And reading other people's books.

Tra la la.

Okay, I need to go use the little writer's room, fill my coffee mug, and get ready to call Ma.  Have a great day out there, folks.  And leave a comment if you're so inclined.  Thanks!

Tree Seeds Update

 Okay, so back in late October, I gathered a bunch of seeds to try my hand at germinating and growing native trees and shrubs.  Here's where we are right now...

The dogwood seeds that have been in the fridge after being soaked in boiling water are germinating.  Yesterday, I started putting them in pots.  I didn't count how many I planted, but I ran out of small pots and gumption, so there are at least 3 more in the bag, which I put back in the fridge.

The redbud seeds that I put directly into pots after soaking have spent the winter in the garage.  I may have forgotten to water them regularly and of course, Woodstock the Garage Wren may have been playing in their dirt.  I watered them all yesterday and left them outside on the deck.  Fingers crossed some of them live.

The spicebush seeds spent the winter in pots on the deck.  Those also didn't see much watering. We'll see.

The buckthorn seeds are still in the fridge in a bag.  I didn't notice any germination yet.  As soon as I acquire more little pots, I'll try planting them and see what happens.

Like the spicebush seeds, the acorns I planted spent the winter outside in a pot.  If they don't germinate, I'll give that up and find some volunteer seedlings.  We're always getting at least one or two acorns growing in our flower beds.  I wanted to grow them from acorns so I knew what variety I was planting.  Getting a seedlings out of the garden is a crap shoot.

Speaking of volunteers, I dug up and potted another cedar tree.  I named this one Clyde.  He's kinda funky and didn't start his life out straight, but he's about 6" tall.  We'll see if I got enough of his root base to keep him alive.  He couldn't stay where he was, growing under the deck, so he would've died anyway.  This way at least he gets a chance.  We have several other volunteer cedars I may try to grow.  The problem with cedars is they are slow growing.  Cecil is about 4 years old, I think, and he's only about 2' tall.  Of course, he's been growing in a pot.  Maybe he'd be taller if I put him in the ground.  

Anyway, the idea here is put all of these in the ground at some point.  Hubs will build cages around them to keep the deer from doing what they did to poor Elmer (i.e. munching them to the ground).  That's a long way off, though.  Fingers crossed we get at least a few of each of the varieties to grow large enough to have to worry about it.  If we get more than a few, I may need to find homes for them.  We'll see.

Next fall, I may try germinating persimmons.  We have a big persimmon tree that drops loads of fruit.  I just have to snag some fruits before the critters get to them.  

What about you?  Have you ever tried growing trees?  

Marketing Monday

Welcome to another installment of Marketing Monday.  First off, I did it right this time!  It's Monday and the book I want to be free is actually free, so yay.

Starting today, CINDER UGLY is free worldwide.  (It's always free with Kindle Unlimited. This is for the other folk.)  Get loads of snark, suspense, and paranormal awesomeness with this story, but reader beware - this series comes with a healthy helping of profanity.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LW3ZB5Y

------

Also, in case you missed it, my friend Silver James has a new book out - Moonstruck: Retribution.  

Pick up your copy today. (My copy's waiting for me to get done using my Kindle for editing, which is taking way longer than I'd like. Gah.)

Sunday Update - 2025 - Week 10

It's like 7:30 and I'm just now getting around to posting because it's NOT actually 7:30 to all the little grey cells and other parts of my being.  Damn time change.

Anyway, I've been motoring along on Edit Notes - Round 4.  (Which I just now realized I've also listed as round 3 and round 5, depending on the day and how tired I was when I backed up the files.  But I actually think it's round 4.  :shrug:)  As of last night, I passed the 50% mark in notes.  Yeah, I thought this would go quicker, but it's not.  I keep finding stuff I missed and finding places where I said something early that I didn't explain later.  Derp.  Anyway, I've made progress, which is always good.  It'll be published when it's published.  Oh, and I think I have the title... Duke Noble P.I.: Secrets & Lies - how does that grab ya?  It grabs me better than any of the dozen or so titles I've played with, so there's that.

I did my usual week of marketing.  Okay, so I didn't do as much marketing as I should've.  I still moved 306 copies of Wish in One Hand this week.  Time will tell if that equates into sales later.  The freebie I had for DE last month has gained me some sales this month, so I'll keep doing it.  To that end, I'll be starting another freebie tomorrow.  I think one of the Ugly books.  We'll see.  Update: CINDER UGLY will be free starting tomorrow and going through Friday night.

I actually started reading a book this past week.  It's my new-to-me old copy of a Sax Rohmer novel.  I meant to do a Reading Wrap-up yesterday, but I forgot.  Maybe this coming Saturday, I'll remember.

In baking news, I made another batch of cinnamon rolls.  I think I nailed the inner goo.  (Embrace your inner goo.)  I also did beef stew one day and chili another.  Yummers.

On the activity front, I spent about 4 hours over three days digging up the south garden.  Another hour should see that bit finished.  Also, we spent about 45 minutes walking around in the woods.  And I did a massive grocery trip.  Unfortunately, despite the actual activity, I gained 2 pounds somewhere along the way.  Weight: 175.2 - damn cinnamon rolls.  LOL

Gardening... Well, I've dug up the whole south garden bed to a depth of about 12-18 inches, thrown all the weeds out, and shifted all the irises.  Somehow, I ended up with a pile of dirt in the middle, so I'll be moving all the irises out of the east side, spreading the dirt around, and replacing the irises today.  (I've already done this with the west side.)  I'll be using the middle of the bed for my new gladiolas and my old lilies.  Once I get this done, I really need to start potting the tree seeds I started last fall.  I've also found two volunteer cedars that need to be potted or pulled.  They can't be allowed to continue growing where they are.  One of them is under the deck, for petesakes.  Oh, and I need to start cleaning out all the other beds. One thing at a time, eh?

In other news, Woodstock, the wren, is still in the garage.  Despite our best half-assed efforts, he will not be moved from his new home.  :shrug:  He's in there singing right now.  The cats are fine.  Hubs is fine.  I'm fine.  

How are things in your world?

Thursday This n That

A few minutes ago, Hubs and I were out in the smoking room, which overlooks the woods.  The sun is just coming up here and what do we see silhouetted against the dawn?  Vultures.  The trees are filled with vultures.  I counted 85 and that was just what we could see from those windows.  I expect if I had opened the door out onto the deck, the count would've been well over 100.  As I said on FB, "I'm not dead yet. Go away."  It's kinda creepy out there, but also cool.  

I made cinnamon rolls again yesterday.  It's getting kinda easy to make them now, after all the batches I've done in recent months.  And I think I have the filling down now.  So yay.  I'll try to remember to post the recipe sometime soon.

If you make a cinnamon roll filling that's spreadable, it oozes out when you cut them.  If you do the filling so it's sprinkle-able, your rolls are dry.  So, I devised one that is just short of spreadable and has to be crumbled by hand.  It's messy as hell and you end up with gooey hands, but it's worth it.

I just dribbled coffee on my keyboard and my desk.  Derp.  So wasteful.

WISH IN ONE HAND is free right now.  And it's moving nicely this time.  Without too much help from me, which is good in a way because I've been a toad this week.

There's a lot of craziness on the internet right now.  For the most part, I'm avoiding it.  I block at least a dozen people every day.  These aren't friends, per se, but strangers who've commented on a friend's post - spewing idiocy, etc.  Some of the stuff I'm seeing is really quite shocking, to use an antique turn of phrase.  :shudder:  TDS is high.  Antisemitism is off the charts.  I'm not sure what this world got itself into while I was working, but GAH.

I need coffee.  And I'm about out of things to say, so I'll leave you at that.  Go forth, drink coffee, and try to stay sane out there.

Marketing Tuesday?

Okay, so this morning's marketing went off without a hitch.  Yay.  The book actually is free right now and should be free through Saturday, barring Amazon glitches and what-have-you.

Starting today... as in not yesterday... and running through Saturday, WISH IN ONE HAND is totally free. (It's always free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. This is so everyone else can play, too.) Don't wait to get the snarky genie goodness that started the series!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013RVEF0Y

I hope it gets a lot of attention, but we'll see.  And no, I did not use my time yesterday to create marketing graphics - which is why you just see the cover here.  I'm not promising anything creative today either, as I am this close > < to being ready to send Duke Noble #2 off to readers and I really want to focus on that. 

I'm just over here trying to juggle selling books and writing books.  Fingers crossed I don't drop anything.  :cue circus music:

Marketing Monday - Oops

It's kinda hard to have a Marketing Monday when you forget to actually set up the friggin' sale, doncha know.  So, there I am doing my marketing posts when it occurs to me that I didn't actually check to make sure the book was free.  Umm... yeah... it's not.  

Cue me going back to all the pages where I had already posted that it was free and deleting the posts.  Derp.

So anywayyyy...

It'll be free tomorrow through Saturday instead.  Not a huge deal in the scheme of things.  I've just learned that a Monday through Friday push gets me more attention than a Tuesday through Saturday push.  Plus is leaves my Saturday mornings free.  :shrug:  

Ah, well.  Now I'll have time to work on some marketing graphics before tomorrow's big freebie.  Woot.

Always look on the bright side of life... :whistles:

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 9

 It's Sunday?  Well, yeah, I guess it is.  I have no clue what happened this past week, but I'll try to rebuild it somehow.

No writing,  but I did editing work every day, and thus, my 4th draft is complete as of last night.  I'm thinking it needs one more re-through and notes before I send it off to my readers.  I could just be being nitpicky though.  This is the first book I've brought to publishing in 3 years, so I have reason to be cautious, but there's a fine line between cautious and anal.

I didn't do any marketing this week for reasons and because of because.  I have WISH IN ONE HAND going on the freebie starting tonight at midnight, though.  

I started reading a book last night after I got done with editing.  YAY!  

In baking news for the week, I did a pizza last Sunday, and another carrot cake.  I also made a vat of BBQ ribs in the crockpot.  Yum.

I also got kinda active.  I started turning over my garden beds in prep for planting.  Three days I did that, for a total of 2.75 hours.  It doesn't sound like much, but it's about all I can do until my stamina improves.  I'm old, I'm tired, and I'm flabby.  I'm also counting the day I shredded carrots for the cake.  That's a workout, lemme tell ya.  Unfortunately, my weight went up a freakin' pound.  Weight: 173.2  Now that the weather is changing for the warmer, I hope to turn that around and head it back to a reasonable tonnage.

Speaking of gardening, I bought a bag of gladiola bulbs, so I'm turning over the south garden bed in prep for those.  Right now, that bed is mostly weeds, but there are some not-weeds in there.  Lilies, for one.  I've already found 4 lily bulbs, so yay.  And irises, of course.  Scads of those.  Also years ago, I put anemones in there.  I thought those were all dead by now, but I found like 3-4 still alive.  They look pathetic, but I'll try to resurrect them.  Anyway, I'm about half done with the turnover.  I did the middle part that had nothing in it first and now I'm working on the end that had lilies and irises.  Then I'll work on the other end with it's irises and anemones.  THEN I can put it all back together again.  I'm tired just thinking about it.

In other garden news, I uncovered my daffodils and my hyacinths.  I can't wait for them to bloom.  :fingers crossed:  I love spring so much.

Other than that, not much going on.  What's up in your world?

:Heavy Sigh:

I was contacted yesterday by someone who is related to someone who knows someone I am related to asking for assistance with a publishing situation.  I don't want to shame the poor guy.  Lord knows, he's gone through enough, but it makes me want to shout from the rooftops yet again...

MONEY FLOWS TO THE AUTHOR NOT AWAY FROM THE AUTHOR

If you have several books published by several different publishing companies, and you have never seen any royalties, you may have been scammed.  I suggested that this author contact a publishing attorney because from what I understand, he's being contacted again to ask for more money.  

Poor dude.  Like I told him, real publishers never ask for money. Never.  EVER.  If they're asking for money, they might not be a scam.  They could be vanity.  But from what I understand, authentic vanity publishers are upfront about who they are and what they do and the costs involved.  Anything else is shady.  

Especially if they initiate contact.  If someone emails you out of the blue, wanting to publish your work, RUN.  Mark them as spam.  Block their email accounts.  Whatever you have to do to make sure they never contact you again... mainly because it's annoying.  But do not... I repeat, do NOT ever give them money.  

Shit, I've been in this game for over 20 years.  I started out doing every bit of research I could to make sure I was as informed as I could be.  And then I started sending queries out to reputable agents.  And to a few reputable small publishers.  None of them wanted me, so after 11 years of beating my head against those walls, I did it my own damn self.  And by the way, I'm still getting scammy emails from time to time.  The last one wanted me to contact him because he wanted to make one of my books into a movie.  Feh.  Yah, right.  (And by the way, even if were a real offer, I'm totally not interested in any of my books being subjected to the tender mercies of Hollyweird - no matter how much money it might bring me.  My soul is priced higher than they can afford to pay.)

A former friend of mine, knowing I was writing and trying to publish sent me a link to this great place that would publish my books for only a penny - or some such shit.  I'd already heard about this place from authors I developed an acquaintance with and I told him he'd sent me a link to a scam.  He was disgusted... with me for even suggesting that this place wasn't on the up-and-up.  :shrug:  (Not the only reason he's a former friend, but it didn't help.)  

The point is, there are a SHITLOAD of people anxious to separate you from your money.  They will promise you the moon and the stars and whole galaxies of awesome, but their promises are nothing but smoke and mirrors.  Oh, you send them a bunch of money and you might see your book on Amazon, but you won't see any sales unless you are out there stumping and pumping to make sales for yourself.  And you will probably never recoup the money you gave them.  Lord knows, this poor dude likely hasn't.  (We didn't discuss what he might've paid, and I don't want to know.)

Anyway, if you find yourself in the same position, talk to an attorney.  I could be wrong and they've done for you exactly what they promised they would - which is to 'publish' your book and the rest is up to you.  But I could be right.  Either way, only an attorney can help you now.

Thursday This n That

Well, hello there.  One more day left of February.  Woot.  

Okay, so yesterday, I started working in the gardens again.  Lemme back up a smidgen... I went shopping yesterday and before I did the groceries, I picked up 4 bags of dirt and a packet of 16 gladiola bulbs.  This prompted me to get my ass moving on the gardening.  Thus, I spent 45 minutes digging and weeding in the bed where I intend to put the glads.  I stopped when I was tired.  This morning, I am definitely paying for it.  Oh, holy night, am I paying for it.  This should pass once I've spent some time moving around and getting those muscles limber.  I have a lot of work to do and I ain't got time for this achy crap.

My daffodils are about 2 inches high and so are my hyacinths.  I removed the leaves off those.  They're all yellow from being hidden, but they're not warped and retarded, so that's a win.  They'll green up in no time.

The 4 bags of dirt are for planting the tree seeds.

I need to do more shopping today.  I forgot some things.  Derp.  Lucky for me, I have to go pick up Hubs' prescriptions and I have to hit the bank anyway, so it's not really an extra trip.  

By the way, honey from the Dollar General is way better than honey from Wallyworld. Bigger container for about the same price and it tastes better.

I've been doing pretty good about not thinking about the old job, but I have to drive by there to get to pretty much everywhere, and when I drive by, I start thinking about it again.  Also, I saw something yesterday that they're hiring again, which got my brain working.  I hope they didn't lose anyone I know, that business is good for them which means more techs, and that they've just learned they probably did need to replace me instead of deleting the position.  It's neither here nor there, but it's on my mind.

Finn doesn't want me to finish this blog post.  He's in my lap demanding attention, and it's hard to type with 13 pounds of cat in my lap wanting pets and scritches and loves.  He's such a sweetie.

And on that note, I'm outta here.  Have a great day!

Meet Duke

I've been inside Duke's head so much lately.  If you don't know Duke, let me fill you in...

Howard Ellington Noble, given the nickname Duke by his grandfather, is a private investigator.  Some people call him Hank, and that's okay with him, but he's Duke.  He's in his 50s and his hair is shot with gray.  He has an eye for the ladies, and they have an eye for him, but he's single and always has been.  He smokes.  He drinks. He drives nice cars.  He's loaded, partly because of an inheritance and partly because he does his job exceptionally well.  He's attractive and fit, even if he's not a young buck anymore.   

He was expected to take over the family business - Ellis Industries - when he completed his degree in business, but he stepped aside to start his private investigations.  His brother, Harry (or Harrison Farnsworth Noble), took over the business when their dad passed away.  He's okay with that, although sometimes his family isn't - even after all these years.

Basically, he's a good guy.  Basically, he's a law-abiding citizen.  Of course, he's willing to be a bad guy if the situation warrants it, and he's not afraid to break a law here or there if he needs to.  He has a healthy respect for police officers, treats people like he wants to be treated, and doesn't suffer fools.  

Intelligent, but not a brain.  Rich, but not a fop.  He'd rather eat at a diner than a 5-star restaurant.  He enjoys poker, but he's not a gambler.  

And he loves his mother, Bernice, even if she irritates him and makes him a little crazy from time to time. 

As an aside, Bernice is named after one of my own great-whatever grandmothers, so no, it's not misspelled. And it's pronounced Ber-niss in my head because that's how Mom pronounces it, but readers can pronounce it however they want in theirs.  I'm not picky.  No clue if the personality of the real Bernice is similar to the fictional one.  My Bernice died before I was born.  I don't think she'd be mad at the portrayal, though.  By the way, Bernice Noble named her sons, so that ought to give you some insight into her.  She didn't figure in RUMOR HAS IT, but she's pivotal to this new book.

The rest of Duke?  Well, you'll just have to read the book... soon to be books... and fill in the picture for yourself.  ;o)

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 8

Woke up late, got distracted, and here we are...

I finished inputting the second round of edit notes this past week, and I started making the next batch of notes.  This batch is the one where I make notes and then go enter them, so I'm done with about 61 pages worth of manuscript now.  Woot.

Marketing this week was focused on Blink on an I.  I only moved 50 copies.  :sad trombone:  I don't have anything set for this coming week because the majority of my books are set to renew their 90 days in KDP on Tuesday.  The only book that isn't with the others is SSS and I'm not sure I'm up to another week of lackluster downloads.  I'll probably wait and hit the genies books starting in March.

Still no reading.

In baking/cooking news, I made some awesome soup that I've now decided to call Chicken Cheddar Chowder.  Say that three times fast.  With that, I whipped together some biscuits.  Yum.  And later in the week, I did Parmesan-crusted pork chops.  Mmm.

On the activity front, I cleaned the dishwasher.  (If you don't think that's an active thing, you try getting in there and scrubbing the inside of your dishwasher.)  I also went grocery shopping - also an active thing if you do it right.  And yesterday, I went into the woods.  Walking up and down the hill in melting snow with mushy ground underneath will certainly get you using muscles you didn't know you had.  I'm feeling it this morning, lemme tell ya.  No stepping on the scale this week, though.  It's too cold to get naked unless it's for a shower and I'm not showering first thing in the morning until the temps rise.  

Speaking of temps, this past week gave us here at Sanderson Inc. LLC a low point of MINUS 5.  (Which was about on par with my mom in Michigan, but way too cold for SW MO.)  We also got like 6 inches of snow.  On the upside, we're supposed to hit the upper 60s sometime this coming week, so most if not all of the snow will disappear.  The robins I saw this week will certainly appreciate that.

Oh, the reason I went into the woods was to see if I could locate tracks near the hole where I suspect some critter has taken up residence.  Well, if they have, they've been inside since the snow fell because I didn't find any tracks near there that I couldn't identify as deer.  Coming back up the hill, I did see fox tracks, though, so yay.

Well... I think that's about it.  Sorry I was late today.  Have a great rest of your day, wherever you are.

Saturday Reading Wrap-up 2/22/25

Umm... welp... I'm still not reading other people's writing yet.  I am, however, reading my own.  Right now, I'm reading the third draft of the second Duke Noble novel.  In the process of reading that, I'm jotting down notes of things that need fixing, and once I get a page of notes, I'm walking over to my computer and entering the changes in the manuscript.  As if last night, I'm through page 61 or roughly 30%.  It seems to be really shaping up.  FWIW, I'm pleased with it. 

Okay, now you talk about what you've been reading. 

Thursday This n That

That's right, it's Thursday... Derp.

It's freakin' COLD here.  Last time I checked it was -5.  Negative five.  37 degrees below freezing.  Blerg.

The wren in our garage is fat and happy and warm.  I've named him Woodstock.  He's not yellow, but he is a funny little bird.  We're leaving suet nuggets on top of the Jeep for him.  And there's a shallow pan with water.  And, of course, the space heater is keeping it above 40F in there.  (So the pipes don't freeze, not for him, but he gets the benefit of it.)

The news coming out of Israel is pissing me off royally.  If you support Hamas or the P'stinians, please stop coming by here.  I stand with the Jews.  How any person can stand alongside the people who are celebrating the murders of babies escapes me.  It must be some kind of insanity.

Anyway...

I got my first page of edit notes for this round done and entered into the manuscript.  This is the phase where I do that... make a page of notes, enter the notes, lather-rinse-repeat throughout the day.  One page of notes = 3 pages of manuscript.  I hope to make more progress today.  Might as well, I can't go outside or anything.

Last night, we sat down to watch a new series.  I had great hopes for it, but the series opener was unimpressive.  It had a couple spots that made me LOL, but not enough to sustain my interest.  :shrug:  Hubs and I looked at each other and said 'well, we did that'.  For those interested, it was Good Cop / Bad Cop.  Your mileage may vary, but it's not for us.  Still loving High Potential, but the season ender was last week, so we'll have to wait to see how they resolve the mystery next season.  

I made awesome soup the other day.  I'm calling it Chicken-Cheddar-Bacon-Potato Chowder.  I had defrosted a chicken breast and it's cold, so I got the idea for soup, did some recipe scanning, and then just starting throwing things in the pot.  Like I said, it was awesome.  We'll be having leftovers of it tonight for dinner.  Yum.

Speaking of food, now I'm hungry.  Have a great day.  Stay warm.  Eat something yummy.

Sheer Stupidity

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

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

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

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

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

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

:endrant:

Marketing Monday - Blink of an I

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

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

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

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

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

Run out right now and download a copy.  

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 7

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

This week was a slug week.  

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

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

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

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

No reading.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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