The End is Near

LOL, just the end of 2024... it's not the end of the world.  Well, not that I know of.  Anyway, all weirdness aside, I think today's a good day to wrap up the year.

Let's see... When 2024 started, I was working a full-time job as a office grunt.  It was a good job.  It certainly wasn't one where I was bored.  Okay, sometimes in the afternoon when the craziness of the morning toned down, I'd find myself at loose ends.  But I'd always find something work related to do.  A lot of those times were spent doing training to make myself better at my job.  I 'retired' from there at the beginning of June.  So, basically, those first five months were a blur and not really noteworthy.

The real year began when I stopped working.  Of course, I realized that two years of sitting at a desk, answering phones and putting out fires had left me with both body and creativity atrophied.  I spent a lot of time this year trying to rebuild my stamina.  I'd get it going and then something would happen and I'd backslide, but all in all, I'm better now than I was then, so yay.

One thing that happened was in July, Silver James and I challenged each other in a kind of NaNoWriMo type thing.  We vowed to each other and ourselves that we would do something writerly every day, just to get some kind of prime on our pumps.  And it worked.  She's over there busting her hump.  She got the book - MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON - she'd been working on out into the world.  I wrote the next book in the Duke Noble series.  (Coming soon, I hope.)  Okay, so after I finished the first draft of that, I got a crisis of confidence... code for I was a toad... and didn't really accomplish much in the writerly department.  I'm working on that for the year ahead.  No promises, but I'd like to write at least a couple books this year and get them published.  Which means getting off my ass.  START TODAY!

Another thing that happened was being home all day with access to food and without the stress and activity of work meant I gained 13 lbs this year.  Oops.  I'll be working on that this year, too.  Or, at  least, if I don't lose weight I'll keep it from gaining.

In happy news, all of our family - both his and mine - are alive and mostly well.  The cats are thriving.  Hubs and I are well, and our love is as strong as ever.  Stronger maybe.  Despite the trials that come with being a non-'payjob'-working individuals, everything is good.  Roof over our heads, food in our bellies, working vehicles, satellite TV and now Starlink internet.  Life is good.

Nothing much else to talk about.  I said it was a year.  I didn't promise it was exciting.  ;o)

Here's to a happy and productive, non-stressful year for us all.  I know I certainly have more optimism at the start of 2025 than I had at the beginning of 2024.  Yay.  Have a great New Year's Eve, everyone.  If you join in the revelry, stay safe.  If not, enjoy your quiet night at home like I will be.  

Happy New Year!

Marketing Monday - a Year-End Wrap-up

Since I'm not marketing anything at the moment, I thought today would be a good time to wrap-up what went on with this year's marketing.

Obviously, with the day-job for the first five months, no marketing was accomplished.  I sold 9 books January thru May, which is better than nothing but not by much.  Once I 'retired' again, I got to work.  Okay, so I didn't 'get to work' per se.  I started doing stuff to see if I could generate some sales.  Thus June and July were still pretty slow.

Here's how the last 7 months of 2024 played out...

June and July... I gave away 134 books and sold 4 for a whopping $9.42.

August went way better.  I gave away 179 books and sold 13.01, pulling in $13.29 for that one month.

September wasn't that great.  I gave away 169, but only sold 7.51 and made $6.21.

October was a bust for actually making money, but I moved a lot of books.  247 given away, but only 2.56 sold for $3.89.  November was pretty much the same - loads moved but less than $3 earned.

December, on the other hand, has been better.  I gave away more books - a whopping 284, as a matter of fact - but I'm seeing pages reads and purchases from my previous marketing efforts.  Of course, it's not much in the scheme of things and the actual sales side.  I've sold about 12 books for just under $18.  

All in all, I've sold almost twice as many books this year as last year for nearly three times as much money.  Woot.  Okay, so the money didn't even reach $100, but you have to take whatever wins comes your way sometimes, eh? 

And all of that without spending a dime on advertising, which makes it all pure profit.  Woot.  Sure, I gave away 1250 books in 2024.  Of course that hurts my capitalist heart.  But sometimes you have to give a little to get a little.  

I don't know what this next year will bring with regard to sales and marketing.  More of the same?  Keep whipping out the freebies and pimping the books in FB posts, plus some paid ads?  Time will tell.  I also hope to publish more books and get those sales going again.  To that end, I'm getting closer to having the second Duke Noble book published by the end of January / early February.  Then I'll work on the third.  Or maybe I'll take a break and work on the next Shroudlands book.  We'll see.

Anyway, I hope you found this post interesting.  If you have any questions about the actual marketing, feel free to ask.  Or if you're not sure about asking, search the blog for the term 'marketing' and read all the posts I've done on that subject.  

Have a great day.  And remember... START TODAY.

Sunday Update - Week Last One of 2024

Okay, so it was the last full week of 2024 and things happened...

First off, per Friday's post, I did the whole Start Today thing.  To that end, I edited every day for the past three days and got 13 more pages edited.  Considering I went 22 days since the last time I edited, it's a win.  I still have about 50 pages to get through.  The manuscript is now at 55461 words - up about 8000 since I finished the first draft.

No new words or marketing this week.  I'll do more marketing after the first of the year.  And I'll definitely do some more writing.  Yay.

I'm also pretty much set on the number of books finished in 2024.  I finished at 36, which isn't bad considering.  Next year, I'll set a goal of reading 5 books per month.  Easy and totally not overwhelming.  If I need to up the goal later in the year, I will.  

Last week, I baked a pumpkin cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, and a loaded lasagna.  The only thing left is cinnamon rolls.  We decimated the rest.

Activity is another area where I'm hitting the Start Today thing.  I walked Friday and Saturday with Hubs.  We did about 1.8 miles.  It's a start.  Do something active every day... starting today.  I haven't weighed myself since 12/21 but then I was at 174.0.  Not great, but I'm not whipping myself over it either.  

Oh yeah, Christmas was this past week...  Well, we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary except eat lasagna, pumpkin cheesecake, and cinnamon rolls.  We don't get each other gifts, per se.  This year's gift was Starlink for both of us.  It's totally worth it.  The tree still looks pretty as seen on my Christmas post.  We have loads of cards underneath it.  I'll take it down after 1/1/25.  

I think that's probably about it.  I'll do some kind of wrap-up posts for the year or something in the coming days.  Until then, enjoy the last few days of 2024 and get ready for a bright and shiny 2025.

How was your last week of '24?

I almost forgot.  We weighed the cats for their 2-year birthdays.  Sawyer was at 17 pounds 6 ounces.  Finn was at 13 pounds 1 ounce.  Neither of them are fat cats.  I mean, Sawyer's a moose, but he's not chubby.  Finn's thin by comparison but he's also tall.  Who would've thunk that they'd be this huge when they were just little bitty kitties?  

Saturday Reading Wrap-up 12/28/24

It's the last wrap-up of the year.  Sorry it is more exciting.

No new books this week.

Books Read: 

I didn't finish any books this week.

DNFs: 

12/21/24 - cozy mystery old paperback - no, not the same one I had on the DNF list last week.  I DNF'd that one early in the day and this one late in the day.  I wanted to like it, but sadly, I couldn't make it past the first few pages.  Bleh and meh and a little derp.

Currently reading... I've been reading CHILD STAR - the autobiography of Shirley Temple Black.  It's not a fast read, but it is an interesting one.  I expect this book to carry me through into next year.

What's been on your reading list for this past week?

Start Today

Start today.  Whatever it is.  Whatever you want.  Start today working toward your goal.  You don't have to wait until the New Year.  You don't have to wait until Monday.  You don't have to wait until the beginning or the ending of anything.  If you want it, start today.

Personally, I've been slacking on my work.  If you've followed along on my Sunday Update posts, you'll see that I have done much of anything (except marketing) for a while now.  My book notes have been sitting here next to me all that time, untouched and ignored.  I started last night.  I sat down here after dinner and opened the manuscript.  I read a little bit of it to get back in the groove and then I got back to work.  

Start today.  Every day.  So what if I started last night?  I'll start today, too.  Every new day is an opportunity to start again.  Last night, I started back to editing.  Today, I'll start making this two days in a row.  Tomorrow, I'll start making it a habit.  

I also need to start exercising again.  I'll get back to my 'do something active everyday' starting today.  Even if I just ride the bike for 5 minutes, it'll be a start.  

There's nothing stopping you.  Or me.  Or any of us.  

What are you starting today?

Thursday This n That

I hope y'all had a lovely Christmas and got all the goodies you were wanting.  

You know those little cups you get with a bottle of cough syrup?  I have a bunch of those, so I gave two to the cats.  Apparently, best Christmas gift ever.  Yes, I am a wee bit of a hoarder.  Which is why I have a stack of like ten cough syrup cups in my medicine cabinet.  Hey, if I think it could come in useful one day, I keep it.  Lo and behold, these came in useful because they are now entertaining the cats.  Those two disappear or get chewed, I'll throw them out and get two more.  Tada.

My Christmas Lasagna turned out awesome.  Layers of sauce, noodles, a ricotta/cottage cheese/parm mixture, a ground beef & pork mixture, Portobello mushrooms... All topped with mozzarella and baked to a golden brown.  Mmmm.  And it's even better as leftovers - which is good because we have a LOT of leftovers.  Not your typical Christmas fare, but it worked for us.

Last night's Call the Midwife Christmas special was awesome.  There's just something about that show that gives me a happy.

I know it's Thursday, but it feels like Monday.

We have this new-to-me channel - Blossom.  It's a little bit eco-freako, but it has a couple good shows on it.  One that I've become a little addicted to is Space Invaders.  It's a cross between a renovation show and Hoarders.  They take a family with a clutter problem, take all of their stuff to a warehouse and while the family is going through all their stuff to get rid of what they don't need, the show renovates their home to make it more livable.  And it's all in Australia, which is cool for me, too.  Another show that I can't quite remember the title of is about people building their dream homes in the country.  In the UK.  Also, cool.

Yes, I have a problem with frittering my time away on TV shows when I should be doing something productive.  I need a self-intervention.  Maybe I'll work on that for the next week and see if I can't start the New Year with a better attitude.  That'd be good.  Right?

Okay, enough about me.  What's up with you?

Merry Christmas

From my house to yours, I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas...

and a Happy Hanukkah, too.  Or Happy whatever you celebrate that makes you happy and brings peace into your world.  

It's quiet at the Sanderson household this morning.  Well, quiet other than Finn playing with the packing paper and his 'rolling ball on a track' thing.  Sawyer's sleeping.  I hope all is quiet and peaceful at your homes today, too.  :hugs:

Randomosity

I didn't do a Sunday update because not much happened last week.  Not much exciting is happening this week either, so don't be surprised if there isn't one this Sunday either.

Screamin' fast internet.  It's deep and it's real, man.

Yeah, I just remembered... Happy Christmas Eve.  I'm making a loaded lasagna tomorrow. Loads of meat.  Loads of cheese.  Loads of sauce.  A layer of Portobello mushrooms.  Olives. I have to put a pan under it to keep it from dripping all over the bottom of the stove.  It'll be pretty epic.  Today, I need to make the sauce so it's ready for tomorrow build.  ;o)

I bought a new day planner for 2025.  They didn't have the kind I wanted, so I bought a different one.  I don't like it, but I've already written in it, so I can't return it.  Derp.

I'm trying to keep Christmas in my heart this week.  The world is not making it easy.  I won't go into the specifics here because I don't want to harsh anyone else's day.  If you've been paying attention to the news, you'll know without my saying.  

I sent my sister a birthday card back on the 6th.  Last time we talked, she still hadn't received it.  She did get the Christmas card I sent, which was mailed after the b-day card.  The USPS is drunk.

The other day I saw two bald eagles flying circles around each other and then chasing each other.  It was pretty awesome.

Yesterday, I made pecan raisin cinnamon rolls.  They're so huge I had to use two pans - a 9x13" and a 9" round.  I ended up with 19 rolls.  Gah.  Unfortunately, I did not put enough goo inside them, so they're pretty blah.  Thank goodness I bought cream cheese frosting in a can so we can slather them up.  Yum.

The Boyz already got their Christmas prezzies.  I found a chicken and a pig - they're round and flat with some padding and crinkly stuff and a squeaker in each.  They are each too cute for words.  Anyway, the cats are mildly amused with them, but they aren't as much of a sensation as their ducks.  :shrug:  They'd rather chase baby crickets.

Speaking of which, for some reason, there's been a baby cricket hatch in the house.  It's keeping the cats occupied.  They both play with them but when the crickets are no longer fun (i.e. no longer moving), Finn is the only one who eats them.  I guess Sawyer has different tastes.

Okay, I'm done.  Go forth and have an awesome day.  And if I don't see you tomorrow, have a very Merry Christmas.  :HUGS:

Saturday Reading Wrap-up 12/21/24

 Oops.  I nearly forgot about today's post.  It's still Saturday.  It's even still morning, so no loss.  LOL

Anyway...

No new books this week.

Books Read:

36) The Lost Girls by Allison Brennan (12/18/24) - Romantic Suspense - 5 stars. Not new to me or underappreciated.  Another thrift store find - 12.5c.
Review: "I hadn't had the chance to read one of Allison's books in a while. This was just as amazing as I remember. I love Lucy Kincaid and Sean Rogan. I love the suspense. I love the romance. I love how Allison handles the tough subjects, even if they sometimes make me squirmy. Books should always make you feel something, so I'm totally on board.

35) Three Witnesses by Rex Stout (12/15/24) - Hard-boiled crime - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  Picked this up at the thrift store buy 1 for 25c get one free, so 12.5c.
Review: "There's just something I love about Nero Wolfe. This is no exception."

DNFs:

12/21/24 - thrift paperback on sale, so 12.5c - cozy mystery.  Eh, I tried it.  Something about it was irritating me, so I tossed it on the 'to donate' pile.

12/16/24 - free - SF.  Sadly, this had a good premise and the writing had promise, but it needed SO much editing that I gave up.

Currently reading... I haven't picked out which book to read next after DNF'ing that mystery.  It'll be a surprised to us both.  ;o)

What have you been reading lately?

Thursday This n That

 I keep having to stop myself from doing all the little things I used to have to do when the internet was slow - like closing tabs all the time and expecting long wait times.  It's glorious and I'm still giddy.  (Probably won't be as giddy when I see the CC bill for all this, but... :shrug: It'll be worth it in the long run.)  Yesterday, after we aligned the dish, we were pulling over 300mbps.  WOOT.  If any of you friends of mine want an invite to Starlink, shoot me an email.  (If I don't know you, sorry, but I'm not inviting strangers all higgledy-piggledy.)  If you use an invite from me, you get a month free and so do I.

I'm still humpin' and stumpin' on the marketing thing.  Accidental Death is my best moving book so far this year.  With two days still left on this freebie offering, I've already moved 145.49 copies.  Woot.  Would that they were all pay sales and not freebies, but hey, beggars can't afford to be choosy.

Yeah, I've been distracted and depressed and under the weather, which are all awesome excuses for not getting any work done.  I need to cut that shit out.  Pull up my big girl britches and get back to work.

Finn is being a bad boy and getting on the kitchen counter - something he hasn't done since he was a kitten.  I need to put the fear of god into him, but he always looks so offended when I scold him and he's so cute, it's hard to do.  I think he knows this and that's like carte blanche to be naughty.  I swear these cats are like Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs.  (If you don't know who that is, here's a link to their theme song.)  Finn is, of course, the Brain.  A criminal mastermind if ever there was one.  I know he's the one who knocked the cough-syrup cup off the counter, even if Sawyer was the one playing with it when I woke up.

Off-brand Delsym tastes like crap.  Orange, my ass.  

I need a new day planner for 2025.  I just keep forgetting to get one.  Derp.

Okay, I think that's about it for today.  Have a great one out there wherever you are!

This Damn Internet Thing, Pt 2

Yesterday, we went through the process of getting the damn Starlink connected.  Everything said it was supposed to be easy.  Find an open spot with the best chance of connecting a satellite, point the thing at it, and whoosh, it works.  Well...  There's a step in there where the modem is supposed to get a solid white light on it that says it has found the satellite.  The last time we tried this, no solid white light.  In fact, we didn't have a white light at all, we had a flashing yellow-orange light. So, we gave up, put everything away and vowed to try again.  We were, in fact, on the verge of sending everything back for a refund.  But we, being more than a little mulish, decided to try one more time.

The first time Hubs went up on the roof with the smartphone we purchased for just this app, he did everything they said to do.  And the damn thing wasn't getting past 2% complete.  We posited that was because the cell signal here blows as bad as the internet, so no matter how we tried to connect the app with anything, it was bad.  I even deleted and reloaded the app.  No avail there.  

We made the decision to just put the Starlink up there, in a spot where we felt we had a good view of the sky, and hope the flashing light went away.  He put it here. Waited.  Nope.  Put it there.  Waited.  Nope.  Finally, he put it in a spot and came off the roof for a break.  While he was breaking, I was screwing around with the smartphone, trying to put it back to wifi from mobile.  I noticed the wifi choices were showing a new thing... STARLINK.  I tapped on that and it connected.  

Now, says I, if I can connect to the Starlink wifi, it must be talking to the satellite.  Right?  So, I walk right over to the old modem, pull the cable that leads to my computer and plug that thing into the back of the Starlink modem.  And HUZZAH!  I have internet on my computer.  

But the light's still flashing.  Hubs is wracking his brain trying to figure out why it's working when the flashy light thing means it's searching for the satellite.  Personally, I didn't care.  I was walking around saying 'let that motherflipper flash'  and 'flash bitch flash' and 'flash all you want, lady, we have internet'.

Hubs went back on the roof and completed the install.  We even found the stud on the first try, despite the stud finder not being able to find anything through the shingles.  He drilled guide holes, put the super-sturdy whatchamathingies in and bolted the mount to the roof.  (Yes, we bought a mount. No they don't come included.  Yes, we also bought an extra long able just in case.  It comes with 50', but we weren't sure that would be enough.)

By this time, it's getting dark and we're both starving.  Thank goodness I started the pork roast in the crock pot hours before.  After standing outside for hours, and running back and forth from here by the modem to out there, I was not in the mood to cook.  

Later, the modem was still flashing, but it was flashing purple - which supposedly means it needs a factory reset.  But the internet was working and so I was still taunting the modem, calling her a bitch and other unsavory things.  We went to bed.

Sometime last night, we lost power.  Must've had a storm that I slept through.  Anyway, I come in here to boot the 'putes and there's no light at all on the modem.  :gasp:  Then I remember that the solid white light is supposed to turn off after an hour.  I boot the 'putes and once they're up, they both say that they have internet, so life is good.

You have no idea what a relief it is to have this thing that's been hanging over our heads for weeks (and bad internet for YEARS) finally come to an end.

We'll wait for a couple weeks to make sure everything is kosher with the new SL, then we'll tell Brightspeed to pound sand.  (We already paid this month's BS bill, so no worries there.)

Today, I need to use the app to finish setting everything up and we still have some clean-up work to do.  Tidy the cables, etc.  

Yes, all of this would've been easier if I was as technologically savvy as I used to be... back in the 90s... but time and tech has passed me by.  It also would've been easier if we lived on a house that wasn't surrounded by trees (which presented less of an issue than we feared).  But hey, it's done and it feels like a weight has been lifted off us both.  Fingers crossed it all stays this way.

Monday Marketing

It's actually Monday this time, so yay!  Today, ACCIDENTAL DEATH starts its own 5-day freebie offering.

FREE today through Friday - ACCIDENTAL DEATH - a small-town, hard-boiled crime novel.

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

Not the most exciting of marketing copy, but it's Monday and I've been up since 4.  Lucky for me, I did the graphic last night.  And it's still not my best work.  :shrug:  Here's hoping it sparks enough people to make a difference, and get me some sales / page reads.  

Sunday Update 12/15/24

T minus 16 for launch on 2025.  I repeat... T minus 16 for launch.

Finn's in my lap and making it difficult to type, but we'll see if I can't get this post out anyway. 

Actually, I don't have that much to talk about this week.  I didn't write or edit or market.  I take that last part back.  I did some marketing early in the week as I wrapped up my Song of Storm and Shroud freebie offering.  I ended up moving 87 copies and saw a some KU action for this and previous freebies.  Woot.  I need to figure out a plan for the rest of the year.  Your guess is as good as mine.  On the bright side... we'll all be surprised.

I did some reading, which you can find out about by looking at yesterday's post.  I'm one book away from reaching my reading goal for the year.  

In cooking news, I made more Rolo pretzel turtles.  I also did a vat of chili yesterday.  Hubs is still working on last week's blondies, but I plan on making more stuff.  I have the fixin's for chocolate cake cookies with the mint patties in the middle, so there's that.  Also, I'll do more blondies using a different recipe.  The last ones were good, but not spectacular.  We're searching for spectacular here, folks.

No activity worth talking about.  I did weigh myself, though, and I'm sitting at 174.4.  No real change in the old fat level despite being a toad, so I got that going for me. 

We're still working on putting the Starlink up.  We'd planned on getting outside with it yesterday, but it rained all morning and then the roof was a wet mess.  We'll see what today brings.  The clock is ticking on our 30 day return window, but we still have plenty of time.

When I first woke up this morning, it looked pretty clear out there in the woods, but as I sat there smoking, the fog slowly rolled in.  Within ten minutes, the woods were filled with a thin fog.  Now, about a half hour later, it's pea soup.  Pretty creepy, man.  And kinda cool.

Okay, that's about it for me and my boring life.  What's up with you?

 

Saturday Reading Wrap-up 12/14/24

 Hello.  My name is Inigo Mon... Oops, wrong #.  You know who I am and what this is, so let's go for it.

Yesterday, I stopped at the thrift store and picked up 8 new books for a buck.  Woot.  I got an autobiography, a compilation of prose and poetry, a Nero Wolfe, a suspense, two cozy mysteries, and two political thrillers.  No new ebooks yet.  Maybe today I'll take some time to do that.

Books Read:

34) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (12/9/24) - Mystery - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  I've had this book for years and I have read it before (and I'll read it again).  I think I got it for like $1 at a library sale while I was still in CO.
Review: "Every time I read this, it's as awesome as it was before."

No DNFs this week.  Yay.

Currently reading... I'm still working my way through the big book o' HG Wells stories.   I knocked out two of them this week, but since I haven't finished the book, they don't count.  Yesterday, I started that Nero Wolfe - if I read it right, it's three stories in one paperback, and I'm still on the first story.  So much yum.

What was on your reading wrap-up this week?

This Damn Internet Thing

It seems like the entirety of my brain power has been allocated to thinking about this damn internet thing.  We're having a speedy morning with Brightspeed pulling a .33 rather than its usual .1 to .18 (it's supposed to be like at 10 and yes, those are decimal points in our actual speed).  

This makes Starlink extremely necessary.  Hubs works online and if he can't pull his materials, he can't make any monies.  I work online, too, but people buy my books whether I'm around to see it or not.  The only time this slow stuff would harsh my day is when I'm trying to upload manuscripts and covers, so not right now.  

So, we have Starlink... Well, we have the equipment anyway.  In order to install the equipment, you have to use an app on a smartphone.  So, I went out and bought a smartphone from Tracfone as well as a 1G/30 day card for data.  We tried the app.  It isn't getting us past 2% completion.  Either the app is crap or the phone is.  And since everyone else is getting their apps to work, I suspect it's the phone.  It could also be the fact that, like the internet, cell phone signal sucks here and it's not actually connecting to anything long enough to be successful.

Hubs has been climbing all over the roof.  He's also been watching every video our current internet allows him to watch (with frequent pauses and clocking and stuttering... I'm surprised he hasn't gone insane).  We even reached out to someone in the hopes that they could help us, but in the end, we opted to keep forging ahead on our own.  It's out problem and we will solve it.  Or we won't and we'll ship all the Starlink stuff back.

Part of me is afraid the only way any of this will work is if we cut the tops off all our trees, but everything we've read and watched and heard says we have enough clear sky to make this work at least a little bit.  Perhaps not as great as someone with no trees, but still better than Brightspeed.

If this doesn't work, I'm not sure what we'll do.  I guess it's all part of living in the sticks, this not having good or reliable internet.  I thought about HughesNet.  Then I spoke to a gal not far from me who has it and she says it sucks.  I thought about getting a mobile hotspot, but the ones I've looked at are problematic for what we require.  It's all a huge pain in the ass.  I guess what I'm saying is that if this doesn't work, we'll muddle through as best we can with what we already have.  =o\

Don't mind me.  I'm just venting.  I'm looking forward to being done with this so I can focus on writing and editing again.  At least that's the hope.  For all I know, this is just the latest distraction my brain has latched onto to rationalize not working.  Or maybe it more like... "Why am I depressed?  Because the internet sucks... definitely not because I'm wondering if I suck."

2024 Books Read

Yeah, yeah... this is way later in the year than I would've started one of these lists, but I was working and not reading up until recently, which meant I didn't actually finish many books before now, so I didn't see the point.  However, I'm reading again, so I thought I'd make a reading goals thing on Goodreads.  And this post.  If you've been here before you know the drill...

(psst... * means ebook, # means underappreciated)

36) The Lost Girls by Allison Brennan (12/18/24) - Romantic Suspense

35) Three Witnesses by Rex Stout (12/15/24) - Hard-boiled crime

34) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (12/9/24) - Mystery

33) Dragon-Eyed Dream by L. Darby Gibbs (12/6/24) - Fantasy*#

32) Natural Selection by Janna Ruth (12/2/24) - UF*#

31) Death at Rosewood Manor by Eva Bernard (11/30/24) - Cozy Mystery*#

30) Zombie Math by J. Sharpe (11/25/24) - Zombie Apocalypse*#

29) SLAN by A.E. Van Vogt (11/22/24) - SF

28) Caesar Now Be Still by Frank Schildiner (11/19/24) - Hard-boiled Crime*#

27) The Raff Memorandum by Nick Webster (11/17/24) - Suspense*#

26) The Border Legion by Zane Grey (11/9/24) - Western

25) The Case of the Waylaid Wolf / The Case of the Restless Redhead by Erle Stanley Gardner (11/2/24) - Mystery

24) Love Blooms by Jennifer Faye (10/31/24) - Romance*

23) Moonstruck Mafia: Boston by Silver James (10/27/24) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*#

22) Biker Funeral by Jamie Mason (8/31/24)  - Hard-boiled Crime*#

21) James Herriot's Dog Stories by James Herriot (8/30/24) - Literature

20) Brother Assassin by Fred Saberhagen (8/24/24) - SF

19) The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife by Erle Stanley Gardner (8/12/24) - mystery

18) Oblivion's Cloak by Dylan McFadyen (8/9/24) - epic SF*

17) The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie (8/4/24) - mystery

16) The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (8/2/24) - fantasy

15) The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (7/24/24) - mystery

14) Cinder by Marissa Meyer (7/21/24) - SF dystopian

13) Mystery of the Haunted Pool by Phyllis A. Whitney (7/19/24) - YA mystery

12) The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (7/15/24) - mystery

11) Sweet Smell of Revenge by Pam Clifford (7/10/24) - mystery*

10) The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brook (7/8/24) - fantasy

9) Midnight Clear by Silver James (7/1/24) - SF holiday romance*

8) Hercule Poirot's Casebook by Agatha Christie (6/30/24) - mystery

7) Perfect Pending by Lucia Ashta (6/25/24) - paranormal romance*

6) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (6/14/24) - mystery

5) The Case of the Mythical Monkeys / The Case of the Angry Mourner by Erle Stanley Gardner - mystery

4) The Goggle-Eyed Pirates by Lee Falk - adventure/mystery

3) The Case of the Green-Eyes Sister / The Case of the Spurious Spinster by Erle Stanley Gardner - mystery

2) The Case of the Darling Divorcee / The Case of the Runaway Corpse by Erle Stanley Gardner - mystery

1) Award Science Fiction by Various - science fiction

0) Rumor Has It (Duke Noble, Private Investigator #1) by B.E. Sanderson - hard-boiled crime

Thursday This n That

I know there have been a lot of random posts lately.  Here's another one.

I've been spending a lot of my limited online time blocking morons on social media.  There's this one on FB who uses some variant of Ellen Degenerate to keep making new profiles because so many people are blocking and/or reporting them.  Feh.  My FB block list has to be  huge.  ROFL

There seems to be a huge amount of stupidity in the world these days.  If only there were a cure... Oh, wait, there is.  Knowledge.  It's readily accessible and has no side effects.  You can even operate machinery after taking it.  ;o)

I need to go grocery shopping.  I don't want to.  But it either has to be today or tomorrow because we're down to our last can of cat food.  The Boyz will be testy if they don't get their daily can for lunch.  (They split a can.)  Anyway, it's cold and I'm unmotivated.

It's too damn cold to be outside without a jacket.  Then again, at least it's not as cold as Michigan.

Finn's so funny.  He knocked his bed off the table where it sits and it fell upside down over the heat vent.  So he was laying on the bottom of it, enjoying the heat.  I moved it off the register and he didn't want to lay on it anymore.  After he walked into the bedroom, I moved the bed back onto the table and he came running across the house, bounced up onto the table, and right into the bed.  Of course, he didn't stay there because he's got the zoomies.  Silly kitty.

Okay, Hubs is trying to get online, so it's time for me to get off.  Someone's supposed to come help us with the Starlink this afternoon.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Randomosity

Two weeks 'til Christmas.  I ordered my mom's gift (actually 4 things, but one gift) and it was supposed to be there on the 16th.  It showed up at her apartment yesterday.  I told her to go ahead and open it, mainly because there was something in there I was afraid would pop open and get all over everything else.  (It happened with liquid soap for the office once.  What a mess.)  Thankfully, everything was fine.  Now she can enjoy her prezzies two weeks ahead of time.  Mom-in-law's gift is supposed to be to her house on Saturday.  Fingers crossed.  Eh, better early than late when it comes to prezzies.

We got our Starlink stuff.  Yesterday, Hubs was up on the rooftop... click click click... and I don't know if we're not doing the locator app thing right or there are just too many trees, but the first attempt to find a place to install the dish was a bust.  I may have to pay someone to come out here and do that for us.  We need the Starlink.  Hubs just tried to run an internet speed test and after a minute, that was still clocking.  We're so slow, we can't even see how slow we are.  Like watching grass grow.  You know it's growing, but it's too slow to see.  Let me put it this way... I can't be online doing anything while Hubs is online doing anything or neither of us can pull up a freakin' site.  And he needs to be online so much more than I do, so I walk away.  If you haven't seen me online much lately, this is why.  I've been using what little internet time I have to market books and/or work on spreadsheety stuff.  Gots to prioritize, doncha know.

I'm beginning to wonder if I even am a writer anymore.  But I go through these phases from time to time.

The other day while I was on the phone with Mom, an ambulance pulled into our driveway.  Hubs stepped out to ask what they needed and they said they were just turning around.  They went to the neighbor's house.  I hope everyone is okay over there.  But we don't get in each other's business, so it wouldn't be seemly to call and ask.  There's a fine line between being a friendly neighbor and being a nosy one.  I'm erring on the side of caution.  (Which is why it usually takes about a year before we learn of someone in the neighborhood passing away.)

For some reason, we've been seeing a lot of baby crickets in the house lately.  Well, let me amend that... The CATS have been finding a lot of baby crickets and that's how we even know we have them.  They chase them around, bat at them, etc., then Finn eats them.  They are NOT on Sawyer's menu, apparently.  He just plays with them and when they stop moving, he's no longer interested, which is when Finn swoops in for the snack.  I know... eww.

I only have one book left to read to reach my reading goal for the year.  I'll probably read more than one, but I'm not upping my goal this late in the game.  Which book it'll be is anyone's guess.  

Okay, Hubs is about finished with his chores, so my time online is coming to an end.  Have a great day and we'll see ya when we see ya.  Keep your fingers crossed for me and my internet.  Thanks.  

Sunday Update 12/8/24

There aren't that many weeks left to 2024 and I'm okay with that.  Next year, I'll go back to doing week #s on these posts.

This was another week of being a toad.  I started out pretty good and then went downhill from there.  I did manage to get 28 pages edited, though.  Woot.

In marketing news, I started a freebie thing on Friday and I've been hitting that every morning.  As of this morning, I've moved 56 copies of SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD.  Also woot.

I read a lot this week.  See yesterday's post.  Since that post, I've started The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (re-read) and I'm about halfway through.  

Also, I baked.  I made a batch of blondies and then I made Rolo Pretzel Turtles.  It's not baking, but I made a vat of turkey soup this week, too.  

On the activity front, I cleaned the kitchen and then wandered around the woods.  I also went grocery shopping.  Still not getting on the scale.

Yesterday, I put the Christmas tree up.  It counts as an activity, especially since I was pretty tired by the time I was done.  It's on the top of the bookshelf again, because I still can't trust the cats to leave it alone.  Of course, to get it up there, I first had to move all the books that I'd put up there since last Christmas.  Anyway, it's a pretty little tree and it already has two Christmas cards under it.  (We don't do prezzies, so it's a nice place to put the cards.)

Today, I'm going to do Christmas cards.  If you were on my list last year, you're on it again this year.  If you changed your address since then, your card will be going to the old address unless you tell me otherwise.  Email me before tomorrow morning.

I got Mom's Christmas gifts ordered.  My middle-sis gave me some hints and I ran with them.  I think I ended up getting 4 different things, none of which are really Christmassy, but they're things she needs, so hopefully she gets the spirit, even if they aren't wrapped or imbued with the ho-ho-ho.  We need to tackle Mom-in-law's gift today, so it can be ordered, shipped, and arrive before the big day.

Okay, I think that's it.  Now, I need to go get started on the rest of my to-do list for today.  Have a great day wherever you are, and feel free to drop a comment before you go.  =o)

Saturday Reading Wrap-up 12/7/24

Well hello there.  I hope you're all doing well today and that your brain got lots of reading material to feed it this week.  I know mine did.

I didn't pick up any new books this week.  That'll have to change as I only have one unread ebook left.

Books Read:

33) Dragon-Eyed Dream by L. Darby Gibbs (12/6/24) - Fantasy*# - 5 stars.  New to me and underappreciated.  I picked this one free off the Amazon Top 100 Free Dragons & Myths list.
Review: "This is an excellent read. I thoroughly enjoyed the premise, the plot, and the setting, but the characters really pulled the whole thing together to make it great. The story is thrilling and interesting with little spots of humor and a smidgen of heartache. And it ended all too soon."

32) Natural Selection by Janna Ruth (12/2/24) - UF*# - 5 stars.  New to me and underappreciated.  I picked this one free off the Amazon Top 100 Free Dragons & Myths list.
Review: "Okay, I'll admit it... the present tense thing tripped me up a bit and I usually DNF present tense books for that very reason, but this one hooked me and kept me reading. If a book can do that, it's definitely a 5-star read for me."

31) Death at Rosewood Manor by Eva Bernard (11/30/24) - Cozy Mystery*# - 4 stars.  New to me and underappreciated.  I got this free off Amazon's Top 100 Free Books list.
Review: "A nice, fun and light cozy mystery with plenty of quirky characters, plus pets!"

DNFs:

12/1/24 - free - SF/dystopian.  This book was really confusing.  It started in the future and then jumped back to the past but the main character from the future was an old man in the past.  It was harshing my brain and the past bit wasn't nearly as intriguing as the future bit, so I stopped.

Currently reading... I finished the dragon book last night and then went to bed.  I'm not sure what I'll read next.  It'll either be that unread ebook (a SF, by the way) or I'll snag a paperback off my shelves.  Tune in next week to find out! Heh.

What was on your reading radar last week?

Marketing Monday... err, Friday?

It's Monday and that means Marketing. (Okay, I realized long after this posted that it is NOT, in fact, Monday.  Oops)  Today, I'm talking about SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD.

Free for the first time - SONG OF STORM AND SHROUD - an epic fantasy for teens and teens-at-heart. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)

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

Recruited for his magic potential and torn from his twin, an unwilling Aryl finds himself at the Academy training alongside mages no older than himself. When a dragon brings destruction to his homeland, the choice of whether he wants to be a mage is no longer in his hands.

It's a pretty darn good story, if I do say so myself.  I published this, then a few months later, I had to get a job, so I didn't really get much time to give this the marketing and attention is deserves. 

Yeah, it's intended to be the first book in a series that I haven't written anything else in.  The plan is still there, but the timeline for it?  Well, I don't know.  All I can say is there is a second book in the works.

Anyway, if you enjoy fantasy, give this one a whirl.  Thanks!

What's Worthy?

Recently, in a FB post on a crime fiction readers group, someone asked the question of whether any of us felt bad that what we were reading wasn't perceived as 'worthy'.  

Honestly, I'm not sure whether the intent was an honest answer because they were themselves struggling with a way to justify reading 'fluff'* or if their intent was merely to get a boatload of attention.  They certainly got the latter.  Dozens of comments - everything from blasting the original poster to defending their own choices.  The most reasonable comments suggested what I ultimately also suggested - read what you like and don't worry about what other people think of your choices.

That's actually a good idea across the board.  Don't worry about what other people think of your choices.  

As for reading crime fiction, there's actually quite a bit of value to be found in those pages.  Heroic stuff goes on in between the covers of a good crime novel.  Things that make you think without making you feel like you were forced to think.  There's also a fair amount of escapism in there.  And a little bit of wish fulfilment.  Seeing justice where justice is due.  Simple entertainment.  Hell, there are a lot of reasons to read crime fiction, which is what makes any fiction 'worthy'.

The person who posed the question pointed to War and Peace, Ulysses, and something else as examples of 'worthy' literature.  Feh.  I might agree with W&P... but I've never read it.  Still, I haven't heard it's crap, so there ya go on that one.  Ulysses, on the other hand, is crap.  Even JJ admitted he wrote that as crap intentionally.  (I read that ages ago, so don't ask me for the source.)  I did try to read that one.  Big nope.  If the choice for what is worthy is crime fiction or Ulysses, give me crime fiction every day and twice on Sundays.  

I'm not sure why so many people are so worried about what other people think of their reading choices.  Who determines what you should or shouldn't read?  Why do you care?  At one time or another, so many different genres have been viewed as 'unworthy' by the powers that be, whoever the hell they are.  Romance... Science Fiction... Fantasy... Mystery... I read them all.  I don't read erotica.  It's just not for me.  But I don't walk around blasting people who do.  I don't call into question their choice.  You do you, baby.  

So, next time someone calls into question your choices - reading or otherwise - consider the source and whether they are 'worthy' of your attention.  ;o)

*their word, not mine.  

Randomosity

Forgetting to blog + super-slow internet which makes blogging a pain in the ass = a dearth of posts.  

Sawyer is finally on his way to becoming a lap cat.  Sometimes this is a good thing.  Sometimes it's not so much.  He's a moose, for one thing.  For another, when he decides he's done being a lap cat, he doesn't just get down.  He rolls over and wants to play rough (i.e. he bites).  Be careful what you wish for.

This morning, I saw a video of a chick saying how happy she was to be 42 and able to go to a bar on Thanksgiving without having to worry about getting a babysitter. She finished with some nonsense about the right hating that.  Trust me, honey.  The right loves the fact that you aren't breeding.  The same thing goes for all the women who have declared their celibacy in the face of T winning.  More power to ya, gals.  Oh, and the same goes for all the people who are declaring their intent to leave the country.  Buh-bye.  :waves:

It's freakin' cold.  Sure, it's December, but I'm still not ready for freakin' cold.  

Once again, I missed fall fishing.  It was too hot to fish, then it rained a bunch, now it's too cold.  

I need to start working on Christmas cards.  And put up the tree.  And find gifts for the moms.  I'm so not ready for Christmas. I say we put it off until February.

If you're looking for something yummy and easy to make for the holidays, go to Silver's blog for today.

There's some kind of big bird in our woods that I can't identify.  I've only seen glimpses of it as it flies away.  What I have seen is gray.  And big.  Did I mention big?  About redtail size or larger.  It could be an owl, but those are darker.  It might be a goshawk, but those aren't supposed to be this far south.  I'll keep watching and try to get a better look at it.  Right now, though, it's just a ghost.

And that's it for me today.  Time to call Mom.  Have a great day wherever you are.  :hugs:

Sunday Update 12/1/24

Okay, truth time... it was Thanksgiving week and I was a toad.  

I did manage to get two days of editing done.  Which puts me at 93 pages edited.

I also did some marketing.  Three days worth out of five free days.  During that time, I moved 85 books and had 49 pages read.  Woot.  Fingers crossed that whoever was reading pages finishes the book.  

One thing I did do was read.  I finished two books last week and DNF'd three.  

On the baking front, I made pumpkin cheesecake.  It didn't turn out exactly like I wanted, but it was still firm and tasty.  Hubs made a most wonderful turkey with yummy stuffing.  We finished the cheesecake yesterday.  And the stuffing.  We did not finish the turkey.  It was 13.5 pounds for pitysakes.  We have LOADS of leftover turkey.

As for activity, I raked leaves one day (last Sunday) and I vacuumed and dusted yesterday.  I haven't weighed myself this week.  Who weighs themselves after Thanksgiving???

Other than that, we have free-movie weekend so I've been spending a lot of time watching those.  Some new, some old.  Some good, some not-so.  Nothing new-to-me that really makes me say 'wow'.  I did watch a really creepy suspense I can't stop thinking about starring David Hyde Pierce (Niles from the show Frasier).  I don't know that I'd actually recommend it, though.  I mean, he's brilliant in it, but it was REALLY CREEPY.  :shrug:  I'm looking for something awesome like Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris or Ordinary Angels.  

I think that's about it for me for the week.  This week, I'll try to get some more housework done and maybe some more raking.  I'll also definitely get back to editing. :whipcrack:  

What were you up to last week?  What's on your plate for the week ahead... besides leftover turkey?