Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 5/31/25

Whoa... last day of May.  Where's the time going this year?  

Last week, I stopped at the thrift store and picked up 4 books for a dollar - mystery, suspense, fantasy, and NF.  The NF was Trees of Missouri, and it's awesome.  It didn't even look like it had been opened, but the spine is light like it's been sitting in the sun.  Hubs was very impressed that it was only a quarter.  No new ebooks this week.

Books Read: 

22) You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming (5/29/25) - action/hard-boiled crime - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Got this for a quarter at a thrift store.
No Review.
Extra note: This is the last of the Bond paperbacks I picked up.  I probably won't be reading more of these unless I happen across some at a thrift store.

21) On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming (5/24/25) - action/hard-boiled crime - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Got this for a quarter at a thrift store.
Review: "I really should take a star away for what Fleming did at the end of the book, but I can't. This is an awesome story, so well written and thrilling. Lucky for me, I have #12 sitting right here to start, so I can find out if James really does exact some justice."

No DNFs.

Currently reading... a SF/dystopian ebook.  So far, it's pretty interesting.  As long as it stays that way, I'll finish it.  If not, into the DNF bin it goes.

What's been on your reading list this week?

Thursday This n That

Obviously, I have no idea what day it is.

Gah, busy week.  I'm not used to it being busy anymore.  

I went to town this week to get my plates and driver's license renewed.  Of course, I left it to almost the last minute and made it even more fun.  The people waiting to use the license office were cluttered in the hall of the court building.  (It's a really small office in a corner of the court building.  Three places to help people and only one of them can do driver's licenses, so we happy few had to wait longer.)  It wasn't really that bad... except for the lady who wanted to tell her life story to all of her trapped listeners.  And for the really hard benches we had to wait on.  And the fact they were painting the inside of the building... with a sprayer that sounded like rayguns from an old SF movie.  I laughed to myself through most of it.  I got it done and then went for Chinese takeout.  Yay.

My new license photo makes me look really old.  I mean, I'm old, but that thing makes me look REALLY old.  I blame the fluorescent lights.  Those thing highlight every gray hair.  Blech.

Lumpy's baby is really tiny.  We saw it again yesterday.  So cute!  It looks healthy, though.  It's just tiny.  I think it's less than a week old.  I want to snuggle it up so bad.  Of course, Lumpy would kick my ass if I tried, so I won't.

Today, I get to go pick up Hubs' prescriptions.  Yay.  No seriously.  My best thrift store is across the street from the pharmacy.  I'll get the scripts and then get to some thrifting.  I hope they have some more old crime novels, like last time.  Then I'll hit the grocery store and snag some ice cream (because I forgot it when I went to Wallyworld and I'm almost out.)  Oh, and I have to hit the building supply place because they carry suet and those birds are gorging themselves lately on suet.  They went through a brick in just over a day.  Greedy buggers.  They must have a lot of babies out there somewhere.  

Anyway, life is good.  How are things for you?

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is for remembering and honoring military members who died in the line of duty.  I used to think it was for any military members who were gone.  Nope.  Line of duty only.  Okay, so I don't really know any of those personally.  

I've had a lot of my family that were in the service in one branch or another.  Many of them are gone.  Dad... Great Uncle Ray... Uncle Barney... Great Uncle Franny.  None of those died in the service.  (Although Mom says one cousin died shortly after he came home from Vietnam due to his exposure to Agent Orange, which ought to count, imo.)  

Then I remembered Orville*.  Orville was the nephew of one of my great grandfathers.  

He was missing in action/lost at sea in the Pacific Theatre in July of 1945.  His bomber group was flying missions out of Alaska and it seems like he might've been lost during a bombing run over some islands where the planes somehow ended up in the USSR.  That's about all I can find out about him this morning, other than he's got a grave marker in Arlington and his name's on the site for MIA military in Honolulu.  

Anyway, this is a day for remembering those who gave up their lives to defend our country.  Like they say 'we don't know them all, but we owe them all'.  We Americans owe them, and so do a lot of people in a lot of other countries that we defended over the years.  

So, as you're out there today, having a barbeque or doing whatever it is people do on this holiday, take a moment and think about those men and women who made it possible for you to do what you're doing.  No guilt attached.  Really.  I don't think they would want that.  Enjoy your lives, but remember.  And remember to do everything in your power to make sure it never happens again.

*his last name is blurred out for reasons and account of because.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 21

 I missed last week, which messed me all up, but I'm pretty sure last week was week 21.  Anyway, here goes...

I did some writing.  Not much, so don't get yourself too excited.  Still, it was better than nothing.  I also did some marketing.  Woot.  

Loads of reading, but not many books finished to show for it.  Hey, I did remember to do a Reading Wrap-up yesterday, so go look at that.  I finished a book yesterday, but that'll be on this week's wrap-up.

Last Sunday, I made pizza.  Yesterday, I made pulled BBQ pork.  Woot.  Other than that, nothing exciting to speak of in the baking/cooking category.  I really need to get off my butt and make cookies for Hubs.  He's earned them.

On the activity front, I walked three times for 3.2 miles worth (20.10 YTD), I gardened some, and did a bit of cleaning.  Weight: 172.4, down 1.2 from last week, so whatever I'm doing is working.  Increase activity, decrease food intake.

Gardening... Well, I've been working on cleaning up the rock path in front of the front flower bed.  That's slow going.  Lots of shoveling to turn the rocks over and then bending to pick out the weeds, then smoothing it down and tamping it down.  Patch by patch, so it's still walkable between exertions.  (I can't do the whole path at once anymore.)  Week before last, I repotted a bunch of the little trees into bigger pots.  They seem happy.  My tomatoes are getting big.  I'm seeing some new growth on most of the little trees.  And yesterday, I planted green peppers seeds from the green peppers I used to make deconstructed stuff peppers.  If they grow, they grow.  If not, not much time or money wasted.  

Yesterday, we saw our first fawn of the year.  It was Lumpy's!  Yay!  Then later, when I went for my evening walk, I heard a fawn beeping and looked for it, and there it was with what had to be Sissy.  (She's so tame, it had to be her.)  Double yay.  They had to have been born within the last couple of days.  Aww.  Unfortunately, it's been raining.  And raining.  And raining.  I'm a little worried about those little babies.  They're so tiny. 

Also, we had a HUGE raccoon on our porch the other night.  That hasn't happened in a while.  And we had bobcats tussling in the backyard one night.  Spooky, but cool. 

Okay, I think that's it for me.  I'm sure other stuff happened.  (Like I turned 55 in there somewhere and we had an anniversary.  Oh, and I got TTW's print version approved and up for sale.)  I'll try to be better about posting this week.  I hope you have a happy rest of the weekend and a nice Memorial Day.  :hugs:

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 5/24/25

Sorry I missed last week, but here we are today.  Unfortunately, it's not going to be the most exciting of wrap-ups, even given that it's two weeks worth.

I got a new book in the mail yesterday - Blade Runner (or Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep) by Phillip K Dick.  I hope it's the actual Dick story and not a rewrite based off the movie.  We'll see.  I also snagged a bunch of free ebooks (4 to be exact) - All in the crime genres.  And I bought a copy of my new release - in ebook and in paperback.  I'm up to 37 books acquired this year and $40.53 spent.  Woot.

Books Read:

20) The Singing Stones by Phyllis A. Whitney (5/17/25) - romantic suspense - 4 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Picked this one up at the thrift store for $2.
Review: "The writing and the story were pretty good. I enjoyed the characters and most of the premise. She got a little 'woo-woo' in this one with the spiritual stuff for my liking, though."

19) Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (5/15/25) - mystery - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  I got this one from the thrift store for $1.
Review: "I bought this not realizing I'd read it before (and already had the exact same copy). I didn't catch the mistake until I was about a third of the way through. It was even better the second time around, even if I did know who did it."

No DNFs.

Currently Reading... On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming.  I'd hoped to have it finished last night, but sleep called.

What have you been reading lately?

Wow, Where Did the Week Go?

I didn't notice until just now that I haven't posted since Monday.  Wow, where did the week go?  I wasn't doing anything important.  Hell, I wasn't doing much of anything at all.  :shrug:  I guess what I'm saying is don't expect an exciting Sunday Update this week.

Things are happening in the world, of course.  Some good, some bad, some exceptionally bad.  I don't want to talk about that.  For every happy YAY spot, there are a dozen depressing BOO spots.  

We had a murder not too far from here, near one of the places I used to fish (but stopped because I wasn't catching anything there and I'd heard it's a popular spot for the junkies... needles laying around and stuff.)  That's only the second murder in close proximity since we moved here.  A little farther afield and you can add maybe a half dozen more.  Still, a pretty safe place to be, especially considering elsewhere in the country and the world.  No clue why this recent dude was murdered.  They caught the guy.  There were holes from a shotgun blast on the outside of his truck and the deceased was killed with a shotgun.  My theory is the dead guy tried to make off with the shooter's truck, so the shooter blasted at him.  Deceased jumped out and tried to run away, and got blasted.  Or he was hit inside the truck and the shooter dragged him out and left him beside the road, where his body was found.  Ah, life in the Ozarks.

We also had a drowning.  Some 14 year old kid graduated from 8th grade and ended up in water that was either too deep or too fast for him, or both.  Sad.  They're having a big gathering for him up in town tonight.  (Or last night.  I wasn't paying that close of attention.)

Personally, I've been laying low. I'm supposed to go up and get my driver's license renewed and new tags for my car sometime before the end of the month.  tick tick tick.  But I need to get the car inspected and the inspection place I used to use stopped doing that, so I have to find a new place.  Unfortunately, it's Memorial Day weekend and this is the Ozarks, so answering phones and returning calls is a low priority around here.  I'll try harder next week.  (I have to because it's all I have left of the month.)

Anyway... Sorry I was so absent this week.  Just one of those things, I guess.  I hope you all had a great week and that you have a wonderful weekend.  :hugs:

Monday Update (Week 20) and Marketing Monday

 Sorry I went dark over the weekend.  I didn't really do anything special, as you will see from the update...

No writing, no editing.  Well, I did get TTW into print form and finished other necessary tasks associated with that, so that's done. Woot.  I marketed RHI to try and whip up some interest.  It went okay and I did sell a couple copies of TTW, so yay.  I'm supposed to be marketing Early Grave even as I type. I even got myself out of bed to do exactly that, but I am unmotivated.  

I read some stuff.  Not a lot of stuff, though, so I decided to save it for this Saturday.

Yesterday, I made pizza.  It turned out really good.  I think I've made enough pizzas now that it's rote. 2 tsps of yeast into 1/4 c of warm water, stir and set aside.  2 1/4 c AP flour into a large bowl, add in a tsp of salt and a Tbsp of sugar. Stir to combine.  Make a well in the center.  Add yeasty water, 1/2 c more of warm water, 2 Tbsp of EVOO.  Stir from the center out with your fingers until it all comes together.  Knead for 7 minutes.  (Use more flour, a little at a time, to keep it from sticking to your hands and everything else.)  Lightly coat the bowl and the ball of dough with more olive oil.  Cover and set somewhere warm to rise for an hour.  Punch it to deflate, set it in the middle of a pizza pan coated with cooking spray, coax out toward the edges in circles until you have the size you want or you reach the edges of your pan.  Top with sauce, cheese, and yummies.  Bake at 475F for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  (I just typed that all from memory, so there ya go.)

It was a semi-active week.  I walked three times for a total of 2.55 miles.  And I got some gardening done.  Then the weather turned crappy.  :sad trombone noise:  Weight: 173.6

Ah, gardening... I planted more volunteer trees into pots.  I now have 6 redbuds, 6 cedars, 5 dogwoods, an oak, a black walnut, and a hickory.  Plus my 6 tomato plants.  Finger crossed they all thrive.  I'm not sure that 5th dogwood will make it.  It was the last of my seeds that sprouted in the fridge and it kinda spent way too much time in the fridge.  It's in a pot in the garage right now, acclimating to not being cold.  :shrug:

I'm sure other stuff went on last week, but I can't think of any of it right now.  Yeah, the annibirthiversary occurred, but it was all quiet and nice and after all the years, there's no need for fireworks for either one.  

Okay, time to get motivated and do marketing stuff, even if I'm starting later than I planned.  To that end...

Starting today, EARLY GRAVE is free until Friday.  (Always free with KU.)  Get your copy of this taut hunt for a serial killer today.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CGYBSST

You're never too old to die.

Thursday This n That

 Rumor Has It is at #5 in free Noir crime.

I get so many spammy comments on my marketing posts, if I ever got a sincere one I wouldn't know it.

I need to replant some of my little trees into larger pots.  Yay.

This weekend is my annibirthiversary.  Say that three times fast.

No, we aren't doing anything special.  I might make pizza, but that's not anything special.

We had a big, fat bunny in the yard a couple days ago.  

It's getting hot here.  May in the Ozarks.  Woot.

That was a sarcastic woot.

The summer tanagers are back.  I call them all either Teddy or Gloria, depending on gender. (Long story that I don't even remember most of anymore.)  And yes, Gloria is usually said in the tone of Edith Bunker from All in the Family.

It's almost time to call Mom.  Which is fine because I've run out of things to say.  

Have a great day!

What a Chore

It's been so long since I release a book, I'd almost forgotten what a chore it all is.  Oof.  The writing really is the easiest part for me, even if it takes a while.  Editing seems to take forever.  Then there's the formatting.  And all the little things - like adding it to the blogs and posting announcements, etc.  :falls over:

Editing... Thicker Than Water went through 6 drafts, 7 if you count the final one. 8 if you count the other final one for print publication.  Which I guess you should.  I mean, you did the work, count it, right?

So, you get the book out into the world and you job is done... umm... If you think that, you're missing something.  What is it?  Oh, yeah, marketing.  That's a job that's never done.  Not unless you want to never sell your books.  And if you're not interested is selling books, what did you publish it for?  Jus' sayin'.

So yeah, I've been busy.  This morning, I've already posted scads of marketing things to get RHI seen by thousands, so I can sell maybe a few copies of TTW.  Yesterday, I did the marketing things, plus I formatted TTW for print and went through that process with Amazon.  It looks pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself, but the real proof will come when I get the... umm... proof.  Which should be in a week or so.  

One thing I realized while I was doing the print formatting and uploading thing was that I had missed fixing the scene breaks in both the epub and the print versions.  If you bought a copy of TTW and already downloaded it to your Kindle, the scene breaks are *** and they should be --∞----∞----∞--.  It's fixed and uploaded now, but like I said, early copies have the old placemarkers.  

So many little things to check and change and fix, I may be a little nuts this week.  Good thing Hubs is used to me and I don't associate with anyone else.  I keep my nuts at home.  :gigglesnort:

Anyway, I do have plans to get back to writing this week.  We'll see if that happens.  It should.  I'm ready to resume being a writer again.  Woot.

Marketing Monday - Rumor Has It

Hello!  Welcome to another installment of Marketing Monday.  Today, I'm pretty excited because not only do I have a free book to offer you, but for the first time in three years, I have a new release!!  

First, the free book...

To celebrate the release of its sequel, RUMOR HAS IT (Duke Noble, P.I. #1) is free today through Friday. (Always free with KU.) Pick up your copy today!

Hearken back to the gritty, 1950s crime novel with Duke Noble. Duke's a guy ready to tackle anything the world throws at him, but this time, he's facing something much harder to dodge than bullets and fists… His past.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZNXQKPC

Then, if you hadn't already heard, THICKER THAN WATER hit the Amazon 'shelves' on Saturday.  WOOT!  It's $3.99 and available wherever Amazon sells ebooks, plus through Kindle Unlimited.  

So basically, you'll get both books for the price of one this week!  Double woot.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 19

First off, Happy Mother's Day.  

Next, I didn't get any writing done this week, but I did get a boatload of editing done.  And a cover made.  Then formatting, etc.  Thus, as of last night, THICKER THAN WATER is live on Amazon.  Here it is in all its glory:

Family ties and blood… Duke Noble’s had more than enough of both.  When he receives a frantic call from his mother, Duke’s not the kind of man who can simply ignore her pleas.  But discovering a body in his brother’s apartment wasn’t at all what he expected.  Wondering whether the body belongs to Harry means there’s no turning back.   He’ll have to work his way through both secrets and lies to get to the facts.  Even if it means digging up truths better left in the dirt.

Which brings me around to marketing...

Starting tomorrow Rumor Has It will be free for 5 days.  I'll be marketing that.  Last week, I marketed Song of Storm and Shroud.  Here's hoping RHI does better than that did.  I could use some sales this month.

Today, I'll be formatting TTW for print and getting that process underway.  This week, I'll get back to working on Duke Noble #3.

Now back to my regularly scheduled updatey stuff...

Reading - check out yesterday afternoon's post.  It was a good week for reading, and I'm now only 6 books behind on my reading goal.  Woot.  

No baking this week.  I'm trying to cut back on the breaded products for a while.  Not sure how long that will last.  I do love me my baked goods.  Not baked, but I did make a lovely beefy-rice dish that I'm jokingly referring to as Beef Risotto.  I also made a vat of turkey/chicken noodle soup that was quite yummy.  And a pulled pork that was so good, I was walking around going 'mmm...meat candy'.  

On the activity front, I was an animal.  There was only 1 day that I didn't do anything active.  I walked, I gardened, I did yard work, I moved some furniture around.  I walked 3.8 miles last week. Whoa.  Weight: 173.2 - you'd think it would be lower, but meh.

Gardening... my little trees are doing well.  The baby redbuds are about 4-5 inches tall and have several leaves now.  The dogwoods are about 3 inches and have about 4 leaves each.  The oak is looking good, but only 2 leaves so far.  The cedars are thriving, of course.  The tree seeds I planted last week aren't doing anything yet.  Yesterday, on the way home from Wallyworld, I stopped at the feed store and bought a flat of Roma tomatoes.  Those went in pots when I got home, so hopefully one or two of the six will flower and fruit, giving me yummy treats.

Well, I think there's probably more to update you on, but that's probably enough out of me for now.  Look for a marketing post tomorrow.  Have a great rest of your day and if you're a mom, I hope you get to spend time with the kids today.  :hugs:

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 5/10/25

 Hey, I know it's late, but I have an excuse.... well, several of them really... and it IS still Saturday.  

This week, I didn't get any new books, unless you count the fact that I just ordered a copy of my brand-new, never before seen or published book THICKER THAN WATER.  Yep, that's one of my excuses.  I've been working on getting the book published.  Another excuse was groceries.  A third excuse was planting my new tomatoes... but that's neither here nor there.  Let's just get on with it...

Books Read: 

18) Bill and the Last Cup of Coffee by Lance Lassen (5/8/25) - dystopian action/humor* (I read the ebook, but this is the link to the paperback. In the time between now and when I downloaded the book, the ebook page has been removed and the paperback was set to 'out of print'. :sadface:) - 5 stars.  New to me and so underappreciated it's not even available anymore.  I got this for free off of one of Amazon's top 100 lists.
Review: "I read this book in the e-version and it had a different cover, but I can't find it on Amazon anymore, so I'm leaving a review here. Not sure what happened there. I hope the author puts it back up because this is an amazing book.

I found it on one of Amazon's 'top 100 free' lists and gave it a try. I'm so glad I did. It's an amazing story. Sure, the humor doesn't stay amped up throughout the book, but that's probably a good thing because sustained giggling can be bad for your complexion. Anyway, this is so much more poignant. I loved the characters, I loved the premise, and I loved the ending. The plot was unique, the pacing was spot-on, and the writing was solid. I inhaled this, ignoring my husband and both cats, and stayed up late to finish. (Which was a bad idea because even after I closed the book, I couldn't stop thinking about it.)

Please, Mr. Lassen, if you're seeing this, bring the book back into print. And thank you for letting me read it."

17) Goldfinger by Ian Fleming (5/5/25) - action/hard boiled crime - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  I got this from a thrift store for 25c.
Review: "All the twisty-turny action you can expect from a James Bond novel. I loved it."

16) In Plain Sight by Dan Willis (4/27/25) - magical hard-boiled crime* - 5 stars.  New to me but not underappreciated.  I got this for free off my Amazon wishlist - placed there after a friend recommended it on FB.
Review: "This is a most excellent and brilliant story with an interesting little treat at the end. A well-written novel with awesome characters and an intelligent plot. I inhaled it. I only wish I'd read it when it was first recommended to me and I put it on my wish list. Better late than never, I guess. It's definitely worthy of 5 stars and every glowing recommendation I can give it to anyone who'll listen."

DNFs:

5/5/25 - free SF - this was supposed to be a hard-boiled crime in outer space, so I was super jazzed to read it.  Unfortunately, the formatting was SOOOO bad, I couldn't get past the first chapter.  I'm not sure what the author was thinking, but every page (assume Word pages) had 'Chapter 1 Continued' and then the chapter's title.  I'd read like 4-5 paragraphs and BLAMMO I'd get hit with that again.  Plus, the author left extra spaces between every paragraph.  It was most disconcerting.  I hope he gets it fixed for future readers, but I never go back to check once I DNF an ebook. =o(

Currently reading... an Agatha Christie I picked up at the thrift store.  So much yummy Poirot goodness.  Squee.

What was on your reading list this week?

Not a Banner Night

Last night was not a banner night for sleeping.  First, I made the mistake of staying up a little late to finish a book.  It was a really good book.  Of course, once I went to bed, I couldn't stop thinking about it, so there was that keeping me up.  And I couldn't get comfortable.  And I was too hot.  And I was also thinking about TTW's impending publication and all the things that need doing before I can push it out into the world...

Like I said, not a banner night for sleeping.  At one point, I gave up and got up.  Turned the computer back on and worked on my blurb.  Whether it's any good remains to be seen.  I haven't opened the file and looked at it since I woke up.  I finally went back to bed and fell asleep around 1 a.m., and woke at 7.  A solid 6 hours of sleep isn't bad, I guess, but I think my gumption is still comatose.

At least it wasn't the cats keeping me up this time.  Nope, they were being good boys.  Figures.

Today, I'm supposed to go grocery shopping.  This may or may not happen.  There's always tomorrow.  I've also got to start working on formatting this novel into ebook and print formats.  I had played with the idea of setting this to pre-order, but that never seems to work out for me, so I'll probably just push it into the world.  We'll see.

Anyway... look for my review of the 'really good book' tomorrow.  And look for THICKER THAN WATER to come out sometime before the 20th.  I should get a post out with the cover and blurb sometime this coming week.  Stay tuned.  

As for me... :wanders off in search of more coffee:

Thursday This n That

I'm about halfway through the edit suggestions for Thicker Than Water now.  And the cover has been created.  (Looks pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.)  I'll post it when I get the blurb done, which will probably be this weekend, so look for it Monday or Tuesday.

Speaking of covers, I took what feels like a gazillion pictures.  First, I did the set up in my bedroom - where I did the cover for Rumor Has It.  Those pics were okay, but not quite it, if you know what I mean.  Then I got an idea and ran with it.  I set everything up in the sunroom and started snapping pics.  The first ones were okay.  I re-set some things and snapped more pics.  Those were pretty good, but I realized I forgot to set up the drink.  Hasten to the kitchen, get the glass I bought for just this occasion, drop in some ice cubes, and pour in the 'whiskey'.  I don't drink, so I had to be creative.  It's actually apple juice with soy sauce mixed in until it got the right color.  I think I nailed it.  (Yes, it got dumped down the drain afterward, and no, I didn't taste it.  Eww.)

Here's one of the pics I took in the bedroom.  All rights reserved and all that jazz.  (Don't steal my work. I'm too pathetic to steal from.)  It's too bright, if you ask me, and the lamp is turned wrong, and the cig has the wrong end lit, but you get the gist.  I did much better with the second set in the sunroom.  

Here's the cover for Rumor Has It for comparison:

Anyway, I'm pretty excited.  I'm going to try to have the book out by the 20th.  We'll see how that goes.

And I think that's it for me this morning.  Not much of a This n That, but that's how it goes sometimes.  Have a great day!

The Sixth of May

Every year on the sixth of May, at some point I remember and it hits me all over again...

My father died on the 6th of May.  Years later, Hubs' best friend's funeral was on the 6th of May.  Needless to say, it's not a good day for me.  

Dad's been gone for 20+ years now.  It wasn't a shock.  We knew he was going.  He chose to go, in his own way, and he let us know his decision ahead of time, so we were prepared.  He didn't kill himself.  He simply chose to refuse dialysis after over a decade of dialyzing.  We understood and supported his decision.  He was tired and he had earned a rest.  He missed one dialysis and he was gone that night.  

Cancer got Phil.  It wasn't expected, but it wasn't a shock either.  We'd hoped he would beat it.  He didn't. Damn him. He was the best friend Hubs had and a good friend of mine, too. When things got bad for Hubs at work, I'd drop into Phil's office and talk it out with him - something I couldn't do with anyone else.  Phil understood.  Phil would be just as pissed as I was and we'd commiserate.  Then he was gone.  I don't remember the exact date he died, but I remember the date of his funeral because it was the anniversary of Dad's death.  I swear Phil did that on purpose so I would cry at his funeral.  He was that kind of guy.  A real troublemaker and a hoot to be around.  He was such a card.  

Anyway, the pain of their passing has boiled down so it only really hurts when I poke at it.  Like now.  

I expect Dad and Phil are somewhere today, drowning worms and drinking beer, and spinning yarns.  They'd both tell me to get over myself and get on with life.

So that's what I'm going to do.

Marketing Monday - Song of Storm and Shroud

This week, SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD is free.  It's a YA epic fantasy and I'm pretty pleased with it.  There is an intention to write sequels to this, but they aren't here yet.  Sorry about that.  Still, it stands by itself.  No cliffhangers to speak of.  Just a few threads that can be woven into other stories.

Anyway, pick up your copy today and enjoy all the magical, dragony, thrilling fun of SSS.

Starting today, SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD is absolutely free.  (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)  Get your copy now!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09W745M6P

Our only hope lies with the mages.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 18

 Sorry... I overslept.  Now that we're here, though, let's jump right into the weekly update.

I didn't write or edit anything.  Big surprise there, eh?  I did do some marketing for UWC and moved 117 copies of that and a few copies of WIOH.  Not sure what I'll be marketing this week.

I did some reading.  See yesterday's post.

No baking either.  Wait, I take that back.  I made pizza on Sunday.  It was my best pizza yet, so I'm not sure how I could've forgotten it, however briefly.  I'm trying to cut back on baked goods, though, so don't expect to see much about baking for a while.

On the activity front, I've been pretty busy.  I did some cleaning, took a couple walks (for a total of 1.6 miles), reorganized my desk area, got groceries, and did some yard work.  Weight: 173.6

The yard's starting to get back to looking like I give a shit about it.  Things are growing where I want them to grow and things are ceasing to grow where I don't want them.  I spent a chunk of yesterday pulling weeds and making things tidy.  Hubs is helping by mowing the lawn.  It looks nice, if I do say so myself.  

My baby trees are doing well.  Fingers crossed.

Hubs just told me the phone's out again.  It was out last week for a day or so, too.  This is an ongoing battle and I'm this close > < to telling Brightspeed to pound sand and just use my cellphone from here on out.  But I hate talking on my cell phone.  My hand falls asleep and I drop the phone, plus the reception sucks and Mom has a tough time hearing me.  On the upside, every time I call BS, I tell them to take days off my bill.  Pretty soon, they'll owe me.  :snort:

The deer are getting fat pregnant.  Soon, we'll have fawns.  Lumpy is chugging along, but her lump must've burst at some point and she's got nasty stuff hanging off her jaw.  Poor dear.  I don't have great hopes for her or her unborn baby this year.  =o(

I can't think of anything else that happened this week... not anything worth mentioning, anyway... so I'll let you go on about your life.  Have a great day!

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 5/3/25

Well, here we are again at the Saturday Reading Wrap-up, and I actually remembered to post.  Yay.

I picked up two old hardcopies this week - an Agatha Christie in paperback and a Phyllis Whitney hardcover.  No new ebooks this week.

Books Read: 

16) In Plain Sight by Dan Willis (4/27/25) - magical hard-boiled crime* - 5 stars.  New to me but not underappreciated.  Picked up for free off my Amazon Wishlist and put on there after the recommendation of a friend.
Review: "This is a most excellent and brilliant story with an interesting little treat at the end. A well-written novel with awesome characters and an intelligent plot. I inhaled it. I only wish I'd read it when it was first recommended to me and I put it on my wish list. Better late than never, I guess. It's definitely worthy of 5 stars and every glowing recommendation I can give it to anyone who'll listen."

15) Dr. No by Ian Fleming (4/26/25) - action/hard boiled crime - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Got this one from a thrift store for 25c.
Review: "Excellent story!"

No DNFs.

Currently reading... Goldfinger by Ian Fleming.  It's pretty good. But I wouldn't have expected anything less.

What was on your reading list this week?

Thursday This n That

May day!  May day!  (Heh, I like doing that every May 1st, but I'm weird.)

Reposted from yesterday's FB status update: So, I just got back from the thrift store.  I picked out two books to buy - a paperback and a hardcover.  When I get to the register, the chick there tries to tell me the paperback is $5. When I balked at that, she said 'well, it was printed in the '40s, so it's vintage.  I told her no and that was the original print date.  She tried to tell me it was the only print date in there, so I opened it to the copyright page, scanned it briefly, and then pointed to where it said 20th printing 1975.  She backed down and only charged me $1, but she was kinda snotty about it.  Kids these days.  She's probably never opened a damn book in her life.  

It's bad enough that this thrift store jacked the prices of their books up from 5 for $1 to 4 for $1 to $1 each for paperbacks, from 50c to $2 for hardcovers, and $5 for anything older than 1970 (vintage to them).  The other two nearby stores charges 25c ea for paperbacks.  Last time I get books at today's place, lemme tell ya.  I can handle the price, but dealing with snotty little twits just ruins the experience for me.  =o\

This morning, Hubs looked out the window and saw what he thought were several deer, then he realized one of them was actually the neighbor's dog, Copper.  (He's an old red-bone coonhound, so deer colored and about the same size.)  Well, ol' Copper was just sniffing around he own yard and the deer were standing there watching him - no more than 10-12 feet away.  They'd advance a step and then back up a step while Copper continued sniffing and not paying attention to them.  Finally, he wandered over to sniff another part of the yard and the deer walked away.  It was pretty funny, but I guess you had to be there.

I want cinnamon rolls, but I'm too lazy and I'm trying to cut back on the baked goods anyway.

Right now, there are all sorts of birds twittering away in the trees every morning.  I'm pretty good at identifying birds by their songs usually, but I'm hearing some stuff I've never heard before.  Fun.

We had a big ol' rat snake in the yard the other day.  Hubs and I went out to encourage it to leave, and it was going pretty well until the snake decided to turn and confront us.  I took the rake and got the tines up under it and flung it into the woods.  It was last seen headed down the hill and away from the yard.  No snakes were harmed in that encounter.  It better not come back, though.  Our courtesy only extends so far with snakes - harmless or not.  

Okay, that's about it for me.  Have a great day, wherever you are.  :hugs: