Sunday Update - 2026 Week :shrug:

 Hey all.  I just got back inside from tending to the greenhouse and now I'm sweaty, dirty, and tired.  I'll take a shower in a minute, don't rush me.  That pretty much sapped my motivation for the day.

Writing went pretty well this week.  7665 words during 5 days where I wrote.  Not great, but not bad.  Those two off days were necessary to my existence.  Anyway, OM is up to 23331 words as of last night.  I'm pleased with where I am and where it's going, so yay.

No marketing.  No sales.  Blerg.  Okay, fine, I'll so something markety this week.  Maybe.  We'll see.

I was baking this week.  So was Hubs.  I made pizza and a loaf of banana raisin bread.  Hubs made cake cookies.  Considering the impending furnace, I doubt I'll bake this week.  But hey, it was like 99F when I made the BR bread, so take that stupid heat.

Activity?  Well... it's hot.  Mostly, I tended the greenhouse by watering every other day.  I did some grocery shopping.  I vacuumed.  But I haven't weighed myself, so meh.  Again, it's hot and I am unmotivated.

As for gardening, like I said, I water everything every two days.  Today, I also harvest potatoes - mostly to get them out of my way.  I came up with about a half-dozen fingerlings, which is better than nothing.  And I replanted about 4 tiny potatoes that had started to grow roots themselves.  I'm hoping for a fall harvest.  The peppers are doing good.  A couple of the tomatoes are, against all odds and the heat, flowering.  Fingers crossed for those.  

Other than that, I mostly laid around in the AC.  Hell, the day I went grocery shopping was the coolest day and I still got it done early so I wouldn't broil.  Bake, yes; broil, no.  

The deer and the fawns are mostly doing well.  There's a dead doe about a quarter mile down the road.  I stopped the car and got out to see if I could recognize her.  I couldn't.  I know it's not Lumpy - she was here in the yard later that day.  It might be Lily.  Or it was that one skinny doe I saw last week.  I don't know if she was hit by a car or died because she was sick or the heat got to her.  Her body had already been fairly wrecked by the vultures, so no real clue.  Nature really is a bitch sometimes.

Anyway, I need to pour some more coffee down my gullet, have a smoke, and then take a shower.  Have a great day and stay cool*.  Peace out.

*That reminds me of when I was in middle school and everyone seemed to write 'stay cool' in everyone else's yearbooks.  Heh.

Friday This n That

 Yeah, I'm a day late.  I had intended to type up a post yesterday, but I was running late and then I got distracted, and well, you know what my father always said... "Intentions are for shit."  So, here I am on Friday again.  And I was doing so well last week.

I just saw a post on FB coming from someone who works at a university.  He recently received a letter from a university administrator, telling him that keeping books on his shelves is 'the unnecessary storing of combustible material.'  Think about that for a second  You can't keep books on your shelves AT A UNIVERSITY.  I'm seriously losing hope for this world.

Last night, I went to bed on time.  I've been really good about staying up to write every night, but last night I was tired.  So tired.  And guess what?  I still rolled around in bed like a damn gas station hotdog for hours.  Hubs keeps trying to fix my insomnia by giving me suggestions, bless his heart.  You know the ones - past a certain hour, stay away from the sugar (check) and the caffeine (check), cut down on the TV before bed (well, I'm writing before bed, so there's that).  I've tried listening to gentle music, nope.  It gets added to the mental jukebox that plays every song I've ever heard while I'm trying to sleep.  Mom has suggestions, too, and I've tried those.  I don't know what to think about it all.  Maybe my brain is just overly active lately.  I am writing a new book, after all, and the neurons are firing like Independence Day up there due to that.  Of course, the heat doesn't help.  If I could just get cool, I could get comfortable, and if I was comfortable, I could shut my brain up.  Maybe.  Eh, it's a theory.

I need to go grocery shopping while it's still cool.  It's supposed to get ungodly hot next week.  Problem is, I don't want to go grocery shopping today.  Meh.  I probably will, but I'd like it on record that I went under protest.

We have two yearling bucks hanging around the yard.  One is Scout, which is Sissy's fawn from last year.  The other we have named Ranger.  

Okay, I think that's it.  It's after 8 and I need to get my ass in gear.  Have a great day wherever you are and whatever you do.  :hugs:

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 29?

 I think it's Week 29, but I'm too lazy to check.  Anyway...

I wrote 8379 words this week.  That's writing 6 out of 7 days.  Woot.  I skipped Wednesday because I was frickin' tired.  I was frickin' tired Friday night, too, but I made myself sit down here and at least try, and I got 875 words down, so yay.  Old Magic is now up to 15666 words.  :muppetflail:  Last night, my brain decided to shift the title to a series title and try thinking up other titles.  I amused myself by remembering an old Bugs Bunny cartoon where he mixes magic words up... ABRACA-POCUS!  HOCUS-CADABRA!  So maybe I'll use one of those.  Teehee.

Marketing... Meh.  I did it, but it didn't result in too much movement.  Only 17 copies of WIOH went out the door, which sucks.  WIOH usually moves more copies than that.  :shrug:  This month, sales started out really well and went downhill fast.  I don't think I'm going to market anything this week.  I'll focus on writing instead.  Let's see if I can't get over 10K words out this week.

In baking news, I made a loaf of Banana-Raisin Bread.  Yum!  I also did another batch of OCCC.  And I did a vat of pulled pork.  Life is good.

On the activity front, I wasn't really all that active - mostly watering the greenhouse garden - then I did some cleaning yesterday and I moved some furniture.  I haven't weighed myself.

On the subject of moving furniture, basically, I rearrange the dining area.  I like what I did, except for the artwork.  When I moved the table, the big painting over it didn't look right anymore, so I put a couple smaller pieces up there, but it still looked wrong. Today, I might rearrange the living room.  We'll see.  

As for the greenhouse, it's still doing okay.  I'm watering every other day to keep everything happy.  The heat means I'm not currently getting produce, but the plants themselves are green, so that's a win.  We'll see what happens when the weather starts to cool again.  Last year, I got my best output from the tomatoes after it shifted toward fall.  Fingers crossed.  Oh, and I moved my last few redbud trees back out onto the deck.  They didn't enjoy being in the garage - mostly because I kept forgetting to water them.  They seem happier outside again, the rat is leaving them alone, and they're growing new leaves.  Yay.

The fawns are getting bigger.  Lumpy still has her adopted kid, which is still weird.  But it seems to continue to thrive, so :shrug:  Our little foxes are still coming around.  They're so funny.  We'll look out the window and one of them will just be sitting there in the yard, staring at nothing or scratching, and then it'll wander off.  It's so cool that they're comfortable here.

This morning, I clipped Sawyer's claws.  He was being a turd and trying to push me out of my chair.  Well, I usually let him do that, so I can't complain, but this morning I didn't want to give up my chair.  I grabbed him up and went to put him on the floor when something startled him.  He ended up perforating one of my boobs and an arm.  I swore a great deal and bled a little.  After I applied anti-bacterial cream, I wrangled him up and clipped those stilettos of his.  Later, I'll do Finn.  Ah, the joys of cat ownership.

Okay, I think that's all I've got on my hit parade.  How's things in your world?

Thursday This n That

 I've woken up after six every morning since I started writing again - even after the nights I don't write.  This isn't doing my marketing any good, but... :shrug:  I'd like to say it means I'm sleeping better, but it doesn't.  For instance, I didn't write last night.  9 o'clock hit and I was TIRED, so I went to bed with Hubs.  And I laid there, and I rolled around like a gas-station hot dog, and I got up several times to 1) take an Aleve, 2) use the bathroom, 3) get an antacid.  The last time was like 12:30 - then I slept 'til 6.  Anyway, by the time I'm alert enough to do anything, it's almost time to call Mom.  I could call her later or skip it, but then she'd worry.  She says she doesn't worry, but when I call later than usual, she always picks up and is all like 'what happened?', and then I feel guilty, so I don't call late.

Hel-LO, rambling paragraph.  

Sawyer's bugging me for treats.  He gets treats at 7, but he starts pestering around 6:15.

Coffee is awesome.

I have a pile of sticky notes for my WIP.  When I write whatever it is they're reminding me about, I toss them, but I've got notes for closer to the end that will sit here until I get there.  Underneath those are notes for Shroudlands #2.  I really should get organized, but I'm lazy.

My greenhouse has become a mosquito sanctuary.  I unzip the door and bzzzzzzz.  And those suckers are HUNGRY.  It takes me about ten minutes to water everything inside and in that time, I get at least a half-dozen bites.  I mean, at least they're not oak mites, but still.  They get inside through the slats in the deck and then I think they're too stupid to get out, so they wait and while they wait, they don't eat, which makes them ravenous by the time I walk in to water the plants.  I need to bug bomb the place, but I don't want to bug bomb plants that will eventually make food.

I'm constantly amazed at how stupid people are on the internet.  I shouldn't be, but I am.  Not that I'm not occasionally stupid, but I usually keep my stupidity to myself.  Or I treat Hubs with it.  I try not to broadcast it for the world to see.  Remember folks, just because you CAN say something doesn't mean you NEED TO.  Comments aren't always necessary.  Of course, if you're here and you'd like to make a comment, go for it.  If you accidentally say something stupid, I'll make sure it doesn't make it out to the world.  ;o)

Okay, I'd better get this cat a treat before he shreds my legs trying to get me to notice him.  Have a great day.  Peace out.

Marketing Monday - Wish in One Hand

 It's Monday, which means marketing, but I woke up late to find that one of the cats had puked all over the office floor.  Hubs cleaned it up some, but it needs my attention.  And it's almost time to call Mom.  Monday is being Monday, I guess.

Anyway, Wish in One Hand is free through Friday.  Go for it.  I'll stop back by later and put in a link and a graphic.  Right now, I gotta go.  

I'm back.  Here's today's copy and graphic:

Woke up late, posting later than I like to, but I didn't want to miss out on telling you that, starting today, WISH IN ONE HAND is free. Grab your copy now! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013RVEF0Y

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 28

 Well, it's morning.  I feel like someone beat me with a stick, and I didn't even really do anything yesterday.  =op

This was a banner week for writing.  I got an idea, I ran with it, wrote for 4 days straight and ended up with 7287 words I didn't have before and a brand new story.  I'm feeling pretty good about it.  Last night, I hit a wall physically and, instead of writing at 9pm, I went straight to bed.  I have been writing from like 9-10 or 11.  It's good work, but this gal is not used to staying up late. That first day, I also did two writing sessions during the day, which is weird for me, so I didn't do any other day sessions.  Night time is the right time... or the write time, I guess.  ;o)

Marketing this week didn't not go well.  Since I was staying up late every night, I wasn't getting up early and early marketing is the best kind.  Thus, I only moved 13 copies of Accidental Death.  :sad trombone:  Not sure what I'll do for marketing this week, if anything.  :shrug:

Let's forget about reading for the time being.

In baking news, I made another batch of OC³ (Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies) and one night I did stuffed chicken breast for dinner.  Yummers.  I'm thinking about teaching Hubs to make the cookies so I don't have to, but I'm a control freak in the kitchen, so probably not.

Not hugely active this week.  It's too hot for too much activity.  I did work in the greenhouse three days, but that's not really that active.  I also vacuumed the office, which involved moving furniture.  And I grocery shopped.  Weight: 179.0

In the garden, I've been trying to water at least every other day.  I repotted some stuff and moved some stuff around.  This isn't the right time of year for exciting gardening news.  It's too damn hot for anything spectacular to happen.  I've been watching a lot of gardening videos lately, and I have plans for a fall harvest, but that planting should be done at the end of July, so not yet.  I'm also thinking ahead to next year.  We'll see.  

The fawns are starting to come to the yard more often and they're getting more independent.  We know for sure we have four fawns, because we saw them all together.  Other than that, I think we might have at least a couple others.  If I were motivated, I'd take pictures of every fawn I see and compare spot patterns.  I am not motivated for that.

Other than that, not much going on.  The cats are well.  Hubs is well.  I'm well... well, other than being fat and achy.  :shrug:  This too shall pass.  Have a great day wherever you are.  Peace out.

Teensy-Weensy, Itty-Bitty Problem

 

Okay, so I'm typing along with wild abandon... or as wild an abandon as my ouchie hands will allow... and not really paying attention to the plot.  This morning, first cup of coffee in one hand and first cigarette in the other, when it occurs to me that I have now written stuff that ought to be so far ahead in the novel that I'm basically painting myself in a corner.

It's a problem, but an teensy-weensy, itty-bitty one.

I could go back, snip off all that and stick it in a file to use later.  I could just forge ahead and see what happens next.  

You know what I say about painting myself into a corner... build a window and climb out that.  Or a door.  Basically another means of egress.  Yah.

I haven't decided how I'm going to approach this yet.  I'll probably just say 'fuck it' and keep writing.  You know me.  I'm a linear writer, so I'll probably just forge ahead.  ONWARD!  When I left my intrepid heroine last night, she'd just gotten a shock and passed out at the end of a chapter.  I started the next chapter with her waking up, but I might change that a bit.  We'll see how it goes.

I'm doing a lot of brainstorming when I ought to be sleeping, but most of that seems to be sticking, so I remember it the next day.  I think I have a familiar for Lynette - a magpie.  She'll probably show up once Lynette (don't call her Lynnie, she hates that) gets home.  

Anyway, I'm still going.  Not as much progress last night, due to hand achies and junk, but I'm at 5630 words, so yay.