Sunday, August 30, 2015

Sunday Update - Week 34

Not a whole lot going on in my world this past week, but I'll see what I can come up with.

I finished the edit round of Bloodflow and then went back to read for content and clarity.  This, of course, turned into another editing round.  I'm at 30% with today and tomorrow left before the end of August.  I might miss my self-appointed deadline of 9/1 by a day or two, depending on how freaknasty the other 70% looks.

A wrinkle in the editing process: Yesterday, my sinuses were acting up so it felt like a large, angry person was pushing on the right side of my face, trying to collapse my eye.  Kind of crapped out reading and thus, editing.  I took an Aleve and by nighttime I was better, which is how I got to 30%.

The other day, I went shopping.  As I drove out, I noticed someone had hit a gray squirrel just downhill from our house, and figured I'd move it when I got home.  When I drove home, however, the vultures had found the squirrel and were having brunch - thereby rendering a perfectly whole squirrel into a large mess.  Three vultures on one squirrel seems a bit much.  The passing of my vehicle made said vultures fly into a tree in my yard.  Pretty cool having them sitting there.  A while later, Hubs looks out the front window to find another vulture stopping by the water pan for a drink.  (I know it was a different vultures because the first three were obviously black vultures and this was a turkey vulture.)  It must've missed the buffet.  Anyway, I got pics:
Damn ugly birds, but they do a necessary job, so they can stop by for a drink anytime.

Speaking of critters being welcome, or not, we have squirrels.  Tons of squirrels.  Mostly gray, but some fox.  I don't mind them for the most part.  As long as they stay out of the house.  And I'd like them a ton better if they weren't eating all the birdseed.  I have tried everything to keep them off the crook that holds the feeder, but they're wily buggers.  (Okay, I haven't tried hot pepper powder or flakes - that just seems mean.)  My latest invention is a baffle made of a plastic gallon jug, held onto the pole by a wad of duct tape and a mylar cat toy.  They're still getting on the feeder, but it's making it more difficult for them and it's also amusing the hell out of Hubs and I. For the first time in months, we had food in the feeder for longer than a day, so even if it isn't a total win, I'm counting it as a one.

The first two weeks' worth of sales for Wish in One Hand have been disappointing thus far.  But it's early yet.  Once I get some more reviews, I'll run a sale and an ad.  The two reviews I do have - one at Amazon and one at Amazon UK with both of those also at Goodreads - are amazing.  Thanks!  Again, I'll talk more about sales and junk tomorrow at Outside the Box.

What's the update in your world?

8 comments:

  1. I need to pimp you on my author page. I did on my personal page. I'll get on that in a minute. It'll hit at least 20-30 more people. *rolls eyes* FB is such a marketing fail for the most part but people are there so....

    Vultures are interesting to watch when they fly/soar. Don't often catch them on the ground here but that's suburbia. We get kites of them overhead but don't catch them on roadkill much. Crows? Scads of them. Silly tricksters.

    You'll get the editing done. I've got to work on "lectures" for an on-line class Lawyer Guy and I are teaching for the Kiss of Death RWA chapter on "Letters of the Law." It's about courts, attorneys, trials, and stuffs like that there. It goes the entire month of September so fun and games.

    I also need to get to work. I have way too many books to write between now and the first of the year. *headdesk* Have a good week!

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    1. Thank you for your pimpage, Silver! Yeah, we don't get vultures in the yard much here either. That was the first time we had one on the ground. A couple other times we had them in the trees. We have crows galore here, too.

      Yeah, i'm about 2/3rds thru on the editing, so no worries. You'll get the lecture series done. I hope you get a good turn out and have fun doing it. =o)

      Go forth and work. You'll get it all done because you're a rockstar that way. Have a good week, too!

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  2. Hugs on the sinus headache. They can drop me flat, too.

    I love vultures - from a distance. They're quite graceful in the air, and on the ground they're an essential clean-up crew.

    I saw two more roadrunners this week. Very surprised, especially since we were making a lot of noise. (My walking partner talks nonstop.)

    Only three more chapters to rewrite, and I'll finish the first run-through of 3C. I hope to finish them this week. (Every time I set a goal, the world explodes and no writing gets done. No goals, fewer problems. ;-) )

    I'd planned to release 1C when 3C was finished, but I've read marketing blogs advising not to release a series until the whole thing is complete (it's a 7 book series). That way readers are more inclined to buy the next book in the series, instead of forgetting about it by the time the new installment comes out.
    They also said release each book one month apart. 8-/

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    1. Thanks for the hugs. It went away. I think it hit me because there's so much mold spores in the air. I like vultures for the same reasons. Cool birds. Just gross up close. Yay for your roadrunners.

      You can get this done! LOL about the goals. Sneak 'em in so the universe doesn't notice. ;o) Interesting about the marketing suggestions. I guess it would make sense to have the books all done before you released the first, but I think if you have the first ones done and know you will do the others, I'd go ahead and start releasing them before you have all 7 done. I have no idea how many books will be in the genie series, so I'm just shooting them out when I can. I didn't even plan on Dennis Haggarty being a series, but it will be one. Do what works for you and if it doesn't jibe with what some site says, oh well. Your readers will be there. People ask me if there'll be a sequel and I tell them yes and when I'm planning on releasing it. They seem fine with the dates I'm giving.

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  3. I don't claim points on my bird feeder. The original owner put that in, but those squirrels can't climb or jump on it for love or money. The pole is smooth stainless steel and the dome is so wide they fall off before they can reach the seeds. All they get is what gets dropped.

    In the winter I'll put out trays of toasted bread smeared with peanut butter for the crows. I like crows.

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    1. Yay for a squirrel resistant feeder, Maria! If we could keep them off the feeder, we might consider some on the ground as a consolation prize, but they're such pigs.

      Our crows are suet thieves, but they also enjoy the bread our neighbor puts out. They bring it over to our yard and dunk it in the water pan. Silly things.

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  4. Yay for edits! But boo to sinus issues. It's a peak time for allergies and such. I will try to get my review of Wish up soon!

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    1. Thanks, Alexia! Yeah, my allergies peak when the trees bloom in the Spring and when the mold spores are high in the fall. Wee. And thanks for any review you post. You rock!

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