Marketing Monday - Project Hermes

It's Marketing Monday again, and today thru Friday PROJECT HERMES is free.  

Starting today, PROJECT HERMES is absolutely free for a limited time. (Always free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription, but this is so everyone else can enjoy it, too.) Get your copy of this delicious medical, political thriller now!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Y6G0EW

But I think Marketing Monday probably should also be about you, so if you have any book(s) to market today, drop it in the comments.  Or if you know of an awesome book you didn't write that's on sale or new release or something, drop that, too.  If it's not too out there, I'll let the comment go through.  No spammers, please.  (My blog, my rules, doncha know.)

Have a great day and read loads of books!  (Starting with mine... lol)

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 5

Happy Groundhog Day!  (also known around here as Hubs' emancipation day and Ayn Rand's birthday)

Okay, so the weekly update goes something like this...

I am up to 83% of the book on edit notes.  I expect to finish the notes today and start inputting them.  I do not expect to have this ready to publish by the 14th like I hoped, but stranger things have happened. All in all, though, I worked on the notes every day and went from 34% to 83%, so that's a win.

I didn't do any marketing this week.  I do have a freebie starting tomorrow, though.  PROJECT HERMES is next up on the rotation.  Then, DYING EMBERS will be free the week after, in celebration of its 10th anniversary of being a published novel.  Woot.

No reading yet.  I'm just not feeling it at this time.  

In baking news, I was busy.  I did cinnamon rolls and pizza.  Talk about an arm workout.  I also did a vat of pulled pork, which gave me the opportunity to do Cuban sandwiches.  

As for activity, it went better this week.  Not great, but every journey begins with a single step and all that.  I got out of the house and wandered the yard one day.  Yesterday, I did some tree maintenance - cutting some pesky limbs and snipping others.  I also took out the last lilac stalk and pruned the rose bush in the side yard.  Then I went into the woods and threw some logs, after which I wandered around in the woods for a while.  All good exercise.  I haven't weighed myself lately, so... :shrug:

Ah, the lilac... Here's hoping it grows new shoots.  If not, it's outta there.  I'll replace it with something else bushlike or I'll just let the irises take over that spot.  We'll see.

I'm pretty sure we got the wren out of the garage.  Yay.

I did some genealogy research that I didn't have to pay for, so I could answer a question for Mom.  She was wondering if her grandmother ever became a citizen.  I don't have proof positive, but on the 1930s census, under Citizenship, it's marked YES.  So, we've got that going for us.  I've got the naturalization papers for Dad's dad and his grandpa.  I just need to find and download the papers for the others.  (No reason.  And nothing to do with the current panic about deportations.  Just for our own edification.)

Other that that, it's pretty tame around here.  How are things going in your world?

Thursday This n That

 I only just now remembered it was Thursday.  Derp.

The world is certainly an interesting place.  Like I said before, I have hope.  I'm also disgusted by some of the things I'm seeing and hearing in the news - both here and abroad.  Don't get me started.

It's raining today.  Which is good, I guess.  It has been a while.

The wren in the garage may be out now.  We opened the windows and the door to the deck for a few hours, and we haven't heard it since.  We'll keep checking, though.  

Yesterday, I stepped out onto the smoking porch just in time to see a big, black and white beast come trotting up out of our woods.  My first thought was COW.  Nope, too skinny to be a cow.  As it got closer, identification became clear.  GREAT DANE.  I believe that black and white coloring is called Harlequin.  Anyway, it was wearing a collar and dragging a leash.  Shortly after, we saw someone walking who appeared to be looking for something and then staring into the woods in the direction we last saw the Dane.  I hope they were reunited.  I don't want to have to worry about a stray moose-dog.

I'm thinking about making cinnamon rolls.  They're a huge PITA, but I do love them so.

I think I've said this before, but I cheat at crossword puzzles.  I mean, I try to do them without cheating, but if I'm stumped, I have no qualms about looking at the answer key.  I look up one clue only and then try to figure out things for myself again.  Some days are better than others.

Okay, I think that's about enough out of me.  Enjoy your day wherever you are.  

Enabler!

I'd really like to be able to provide you with daily content on this blog, but I'm only a super-distracted meat puppet these days.  I really need to find a way to focus.  It's probably ADHD, but I've always been like this - more so after the brain damage, but not that much more.  Anyway, I didn't slap a label on it before, so why bother with one now?

A lot of times, I know exactly what I should be doing, but I just don't want to do it.  I can actually hear myself debating the issue in my head.  I used to let a lot of things slide.  When I dropped something on the floor, I'd let it lay there.  I'd take off my clothes and leave them on the floor.  I'd walk past a sink full of dishes.  Moving past any of that only took a concerted effort on my part to change my behavior.  This isn't any different.  

I need to give myself a good talking to.  Oh, and the voice in my head is not quiet or kind.  It's more like 'Get up off your ass, you lazy bitch.'  Yeah, yeah, they say you're supposed to be kind to yourself.  Kindness doesn't motivate me.  I've gotta be a drill sergeant to myself if I want to see any improvement.  Otherwise, I turn into my own enabler.  

Which is probably where I'm at right now - being my own enabler.  'I'm too tired.'  'I'm too sore.'  'I'm distracted.' 'I'm depressed.'  Wah.  Get over it.  Get over ALL of it.  Edit the damn book.  Write the next book.  Get up off your ass and go for a damn walk before you turn into some sick lovechild of The Blob and Jabba the Hutt, you big baby.  

Eh, your mileage may vary, but this is the way I have to do this.  I have to get tough with me.  Slap myself around a little.  Scream in my own face.  No excuses, just results.  

Until tomorrow when I'll most likely have to remind myself AGAIN.  :shrug:  

Gah!

:points finger at my reflection:  ENABLER!

January Marketing Wrap-up

I'm taking the rest of the month off on marketing, so I can try to focus on editing.  So, since I don't have any sales or freebies going on, I thought I'd wrap up the month today.  Here's how January's marketing efforts played out:

I had four freebie sessions and gave away 517 books.

In Deep Wish - 148 
Fertile Ground - 153
Unequal - 97
Ugly and the Beast - 119

From the giveaways, I also netted 21.36 in sales ($21.12 worth).  And right now, I have two different books being read in KU.  I hope to see at least a little bit more in the sales totals before it rolls over to February.  (For the record, I hate when a new month starts and all the metrics zero out.  It's quite depressing.)

I haven't checked the rankings, ratings and reviews on everything yet, but there's hope I'll see some improvement when I do.  This year, I started keeping track of that and have seen a bit of an uptick in rankings, if not one in ratings and reviews.  There's always hope.  

Next month will be my 10th anniversary of being a published author.  I published DYING EMBERS on 2/13/15.  I'll probably do something to celebrate.  Maybe offer a signed paperback to... I don't know who because I don't have many people actually following anything I do anymore.  I'll definitely make DE free for that week or something.  Stay tuned.  

Okay, that's about it for me.  Any questions?  

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 4

HELLO!  Yep, I've been lax again.  No reason.  Just a toad.

Nope, no writing.  I've been making edit notes, but those aren't going as fast as I'd like them.  I know I'm picking nits, but if I want this to be the best I can make it, I have to.  Pages and pages of little word changes and big ones, grammar, punctuation, typo fixes, etc.  I'm not sure if I'll make the 2/14 deadline, but I'm trying.  (It'd probably help if I got off my ass more often, but as I said... toad.)

I did marketing this week.  UNEQUAL was free.  I moved 97 copies.  I'm also seeing some page reads and sales from previous marketing efforts, so yay.  I've sold over 20 books this month (which is nearly as many books as I sold the entire year in 2023.)

No reading this week.

I made chocolate oil cake with chocolate frosting earlier this week.  Yesterday, I made pizza.

Let's not mention activity, eh?  But I lost a pound.  Weight: 173.2.  I think it's because I cut way back on snacks throughout the day.  Grazing doesn't do anyone any good.

The little bird is still in the garage.  It's eating suet nuggets, so it's all good.  We'll try to get it out sometime this coming week, when the temps will be in the 50s.

The cats are doing well.  Hubs is doing well.  Family's doing well as far as I know.

I'm so boring, I can't think of anything else to tell y'all about my week.  Here's hoping I get more interesting soon.  Until then, feel free to drop a line about your week so I can live vicariously through your interestingness.  

Peace out.

Thursday This n That

First off... I heard about an author who's having some medical issues and could use some financial assistance. No word on donations, but book sales can help. Let's all do the gal a favor and buy her book. (And if you can't swing the $$, then feel free to share this post to encourage others to help.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJLBZTM1

Second... sorry, I'm late today.  I got distracted.  Somedays my whole life is like... SQUIRREL!

Red Baron personal deep dish pizzas are da bomb.

Watching shows about decluttering makes me want to go through my storage closet and my junk drawer.  Then I get better.

Finn is feeling much better.

Sawyer is a moose.

One good thing about winter... SAPSUCKERS!  They're so dang cute.  

Also cute, but here year-round, nuthatches.

And that's it for me.  Like I said, I'm running late and I really need to go sit my ass down and get some edit notes done.  Have a great day!

Humpday Optimism

It's been a week and it's only Wednesday.  Nothing really to point at, but there it is.  :shrug:

I've been spending a lot of time reading the news and, for the first time in 5 years, I'm feeling optimistic about the present.  (I write dystopian, so it's hard for me to get optimistic about the future.  So many things can go wrong between here and there.)  

It seems like people have finally gotten a clue.  Maybe that's one thing the whole Kung Flu thing did for us - it taught people that not everything you hear or see from the supposed experts is right or true.  Especially those that point at things as being dire.  People are learning to laugh at it rather than take any of it seriously.  At least I hope that's what I'm seeing.  

Oh, I'm still seeing crap.  Yesterday, Turner Classic Movies did a whole run of Nazi movies.  I don't think January 21st was a day of note regarding WWII or the Holocaust, so I couldn't see a reason there until my conspiracy senses started tingling and I wondered if it was some kind of backhanded stab at our newly inaugurated president.  Or Elon.  (He wasn't giving a Nazi salute, by the way.  Watch the video.  He was throwing his heart to the people.)

Anyway, like I said, I'm feeling optimistic.  The big T is already doing awesome things with more to come.  If he can push a majority of the crap into the dump truck and hold the line for the next 4 years, AND JDV is the man I think he is, which will make him worthy of the 8 years after that, then we might avoid living the dystopian nightmares I have written about.  

Speaking of which, UNEQUAL is free until Friday.  I wish I could say I planned to make this book free because of the above, but it was just a happy coincidence.  I'm not that smart a planner.

Read that one.  Then read BLINK OF AN I.  Then let out a sigh of relief that we no longer appear to be headed in those directions.  Jus' sayin'.  

Marketing Monday - UNEQUAL

 Okay, so I'm up late again and totally uninspired about marketing.  Stuff happens, eh?  

Today begins a five-day freebie for UNEQUAL.  I didn't make any graphics for it.  Luckily, I have a previous one that was made by a friend of mine.

I'll post that today.

And I have this one I made...

which I'll post tomorrow.

We'll see how it goes.  The freebie thing for Ugly and the Beast went pretty well last week, considering I only posted 3 out of the 5 days.  I moved 119 copies of that and sold 4.  Fingers crossed for KU page reads in the near future.

Anyway, I'm running late, so I'll let y'all go.  Have a great day and stay warm out there.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 3

 Well, here we are after the end of the third week.  And as usually happens around this time, I kind of fell down on my goals for the year.  Derp.  Anyway...

You know the drill... no writing because I'm editing.  As for editing, I was plugging along nicely on my second round of edit notes and made it to like 20-something %, then I took Friday off... which led to me taking Saturday off.  I'll redouble my efforts today.  I have to or I won't hit my self-imposed goal of having this in your hot little hands by Valentine's Day. 

I did do a bunch of marketing... well, some marketing... for Ugly and the Beast.  I moved 119 free copies and sold 4 copies (3 SU and 1 CU).  We'll see if I get subsequent sales.  Tomorrow, Unequal goes on freebie.  I need to put together some marketing stuff today.

No reading at the moment and thus, no Saturday Reading Wrap-up.  Sorry about that.  

In baking news, I made pretzel turtles and quickie pizza using hard sandwich rolls.  :yawn:

The big news of the week, in case you missed it, was Finn's medical issue.  Turns out he has a staph infection in his bladder.  And before you ask, we have no clue how he got that.  Stress?  Not that we can tell.  Cleanliness?  We aren't super anal about cleaning, but the litter box is scooped several times a day.  So, we shrugged and went on with out lives.  We switched the cats to purified water and urinary tract health IAMS, just in case.  Finn's on meds and the issue appears to be clearing up.  The vet was pleased with his progress, but he wants him back on Tuesday for a follow up shot of bladder meds.  

Now I'm watching Sawyer like a hawk for signs he picked up this infection.  

Anyway, it's all very tiring and I need a nap, even though I haven't actually been up that long.  

What's been up in your life?

Thursday This n That (Yeah, It's Friday.)

I had every intention of posting yesterday, but then I forgot.  

Finn's still not 100% but he's on the road to recovery.  He doesn't like the new purified water.  In an effort to get him to drink more, I'm giving him water on the end of a drinking straw, which is great fun.  Put one end in the water, stop the other end with my thumb, lift it to his mouth, release the water.  Now Sawyer wants to get water that way, too.  So I've got both cats on the bathroom counter, jockeying for position as to who gets the next drops.  Except Sawyer hasn't got the concept down, so he makes a face when I present him with the straw and arches away.  Most of his water ends up dribbled down his chest.  But if I don't give him water, he bats at my hand until I include him the ritual.  When I do manage to get any in his mouth, he appears to be super happy about it, but it ain't easy.  Crazy cats.

I'm supposed to be marketing right now, but I lost the will.  I'll get to it.  

There are some crazy things going on in the news right now, which is making me want to go back to the time when I wasn't paying any attention to the news.  Derp.  

3 days.  And no, I don't think everything will flip to sane after the 20th, but at least there'll be a fighting chance we'll be heading in the right direction.  

I feel lame today.  

For a few years, we've been watching a show called Miss Scarlet and the Duke on PBS Masterpiece Mystery.  Well, this season, they ditched the Duke, which is really too bad because he was a hottie.  I also liked the character, though, so I'm not sad just for the loss of beefcake.  The new guy is okay, I guess.  We'll see.

We heard two barred owls this morning.  First time in a long time, so we were pretty excited.

And that's it for me.  What's up with you?

The Saga of Finn (Or A Trip to the Vet was not Finn-tastic)

It's been a fun week and it's only Wednesday.  And, in case you didn't figure it out, fun in this context means 'not fun'.  It started out with me waking up on Monday morning to Hubs saying that Finn was having trouble peeing.  Sure enough, the poor little dude was going in the litter box, leaving a few drips, and getting back out only to return a few minutes later.  I changed out his water dish and he drank a lot, and later in the day, after a good long nap, he produced a better flow, but it still wasn't right.  And when he wasn't sleeping, he was walking around the house meowing.  I was up until 11pm with him until he finally went to sleep.

Yesterday, he woke me up at 3.  Hubs got up with him, but by 4, I gave up on sleeping.  At 8am, I called the vet and they told me to bring him right in.  They couldn't guarantee when they'd look at him, but I didn't care.  I got dressed and dragged my sorry ass to the car with Finn safely ensconced in his carrier.  He meowed all the way there.  (Except for when a Pink Floyd song came on the radio.  He was either enjoying it and shut up, or he hated it so much he didn't have words.)  

Anyway, they got Finn right in.  I made a pitstop in the restroom and by the time I came out, the vet had already examined him.  He wasn't blocked, but they didn't know why he wasn't peeing, so they kept him for observation and said they'd call sometime after 2:30 to let me know I could pick him up.  I left my Findaloo there and wandered home.  

I did make a quick stop at Wallyworld on my way back.  I picked up several gallons of purified water and a bag of 'urinary tract health' catfood.  

Sawyer was confused as to why I took Finn without him and more confused about why I didn't bring Finn back with me.  

Long story made slightly shorter, when the vet called at 2:30, he went through a whole series of questions about Finn's homelife.  Apparently, he couldn't find a cause for Finn's issues.  Had anything changed here that would make Finn stressed? No.  Was Sawyer bullying him or preventing him from using the litter box they share? No and no.  How often do we change the water?  At least twice a day.  Anyway, I answered all his questions and there's still no clear reason why Finn's got an irritated bladder.  They took a culture and they're sending it to the lab.  I should know in a couple days what the results are.  They gave him two shots - antibiotics and something to calm his bladder - and sent him home.  

On the way home, I picked up KFC, so I wouldn't have to fix dinner.  It was okay, but not awesome like I hoped.  Meh.  

Anyway, Finn's still not peeing like a champion and we still have to watch he doesn't get blocked.  Fingers crossed he gets better soon.  I feel bad for the poor little bugger.  Plus, I really need sleep.

On a weird note, Sawyer is completely freaked out by Finn right now.  Finn came home smelling like someone else's perfume - a vet tech's, I assume.  Sawyer keeps looking at him like 'you look right, but you smell all wrong... who ARE you?'  Poor little dudes.

Marketing Monday

 Yes, it's Marketing Monday again.  Yes, I have a book on freebie this week - Ugly and the Beast.  No, I don't have anything planned or set up.  I had intended to get up and get it all done this morning.  Life intervened.  Let this be a lesson to procrastinators like me - do it ahead of time, so if stuff gets in the way, you can still accomplish something.  Formal marketing begins tomorrow morning, good lord willin' and the crick don't fail.  

Oh, and I lowered the price on Sleeping Ugly.  It's 99c now and for the foreseeable future.

Yes, I could still get something done today, but since I can only market to each FB group once every 24 hours, starting late today puts me even later tomorrow, and later in the day doesn't garner nearly as many downloads as first thing.  I'd rather put off 'til tomorrow what wouldn't do me much good today.  If you catch my drift.  

Now back to life.  

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 2

2025 Week 2... or the first full week of the year.  Woot.

By now you're probably sick of me saying I haven't written.  That's okay, I'm pretty sick of not writing myself.  On a brighter note, I finally finished inputting the first round of edit notes and I have begun making another set of edit notes.  This is the process.  I'm shooting to have this done and published before Valentine's Day.  We'll see if that actually happens.  It would be a good thing, especially since 2/13 is my 10th anniversary of being a published author.  

I spent a boatload of time on marketing this week.  I finished the freebie thing for Fertile Ground and did the whole freebie thing for In Deep Wish.  I moved over 315 books, some of them for actual $$ (okay, 301 were free).  As sad as that sounds, this is already my third best January since I started selling books and it's only the 12th of the month.  Monday starts a freebie thing for Ugly and the Beast.  I need to get to work on some graphics for that.

Earlier this week, I actually finished reading a book.  I haven't started a new one because... Well, I'm lazy.

Speaking of lazy, I haven't gotten any exercise this week.  Unless you count shining the red dot for the kitties.  Or stirring ingredients for baking.

Ah, baking... I made a chocolate oil cake covered in raspberry jam and vanilla frosting last Sunday.  Yesterday, I did a batch of cinnamon rolls.  Much stirring was involved, so I guess that's exercise. Heh.  I might do pizza today.  We'll see.

In weather news, we got about 5 inches of snow.  And some freakin' cold temps.  The temps are up a little, so the snow's melting.  We lost satellite TV for a few hours.  We lost satellite internet for... Oh, wait.  We DIDN'T lose internet.  At all.  It didn't even slow down.  Elon Musk is my hero.  On the bright side, it's supposed to be bright and sunny for the next week or so.  Fingers crossed it melts all the crap still on the roof.  And on the roads... because no one has bothered to come down these 'publicly maintained' roads with a plow yet.  

I think that's it.  I'm a pretty boring person.  All the interesting things go into my fiction and everything else is blah.

Have a great day today, wherever you are.  And feel free to drop a comment, if you so desire.

Saturday Reading Wrap-up 1/11/24

Time for the first Reading Wrap-up of the new year.  :muppetflail:  Okay, so maybe not that exciting, but still... yay.

I didn't pick up any new books since the last time I did one of these.  I need to rectify that, but right now my Kindle is occupied with the second round of edit notes.  

Books Read:

1) Child Star by Shirley Temple Black (1/8/25) - autobiography - 5 stars.  New to me, but not underappreciated.  I picked this up at the thrift store during their 2 for 25c sale.
Review: "A very interesting book, if a bit gossipy. This follows Shirley from her earliest memories to 1955, leaving off the later parts of her life. All told in a matter-of-fact way. I really enjoyed it."

No DNFs.

Currently reading... I haven't picked up a new book yet.  Maybe today.  We'll see.

What's on your reading list for the week?

Thursday This n That

My thoughts go out to all my friends in CA.  It's a horrible, horrible thing out there.

In Deep Wish is free right now.  Here's today's graphic:

We're under a Winter Storm Warning effective from today at 5pm to tomorrow at 6pm.  I'll be headed off to the grocery store as soon as I get off my morning call with Mom.  It's not 'storm supply' buying.  It's my weekly trip.  But I can almost guarantee there'll be a run on milk, bread, and toilet paper.  Fingers crossed I can get the things I need so I can hole up here in the house without any hardships.

Sorry... I got distracted.  On the upside, my new smartphone is good for another 90 days.  I refilled my coffee and other necessaries.  

Having faster internet allows me to block people at a higher rate.  Unfortunately, I'm also able to encounter more idiots who require blocking.  The scammers on all the marketing groups give me a whole crop of boobs to block, but if I sat here blocking them all, I'd never get anything else done.

Speaking of getting other things done, I finished the first edit pass of TTW last night.  Woot.

I think I need cake for breakfast.  I won't do it, but I could.  Cuz I'm an adult and junk.

Okay, it's time to call Mom.  I've screwed around enough for now.  Have a great day, y'all.

2025 Books Read

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing Monday... Err, Tuesday

Sorry I missed yesterday.  I woke up late and then had marketing stuff to do, and the morning just got away from me.  By the time I thought about blogging, it was too late.  Yeah, yeah, I know I can post at whatever time I like, but let's face it, people expect blog posts in the morning.  Am I right?

I'm trying something different, kinda.  I put Fertile Ground up for free Thursday through Monday and then starting today, In Deep Wish is free through Saturday.  Back to back book twos for free.  Might do Ugly and the Beast starting Monday.  (To give myself a day off, doncha know.)

It's a lot of work, doing this marketing every morning.  Well, not a LOT of work.  If I set this stuff up and got everything together the night before, it wouldn't be such a slog.  But I don't, so it is, and there ya are.  I actually only spend about 20 minutes posting the actual posts.  If I have to make a graphic, add another half hour or so.  (Choose a background, tweak the background.  Insert cover art.  Insert text.  Tweak it all.  Voila.)  Sometimes I get lazy and just post the cover.  Or really lazy and just post the link which makes FB and X pull up the cover image anyway.  People seem to be more inclined to follow the link if I have a nifty graphic, though.  :shrug:  

It's not intuitive.  If it was, just a link would do - because it's the easiest way to get someone where they want to go.  :shrug:  People like the graphics and don't seem to mind having to find and click the link.  Although, you need the link to be before the 'SEE MORE...' thing on FB.

I did not make a graphic for IDW this morning.  I posted the cover and a simple 'get this free' thing.  We'll see how that goes.  It was either that or end up with delayed postings while I did the work, and frankly, I was too tired first thing this morning to make anything that looked snazzy enough to encourage people.  C'est la vie, eh?

Anyway, I've sold 9 books already this month, so something must be working.  Actual sales, not giveaways.  I've given away 160 books.  And I've had 601 Page Reads which works out to money in my pocket and the rough equivalent of 1.55 books.  

Yeah, I'm not burning up the 'best seller' lists, but compared to this time last year, when I sold nada, it's a win.

As always, if you have any questions, let me know.  Have a great day wherever you are. 

Peace out.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 1

It's the first Sunday Update of the year and, of course, I'm getting a late start.  I woke up late and then I had marketing to do.  So here we are...

I'm still not writing, but the editing is zooming along at a turtle's pace.  Last week, I edited every day but one, for a total of 39 pages edited.  I'm at page 173 now out of a current 191 pages.  The manuscript is at 58016 words.  When I started this edit round I had around 47K words and 133 pages, so you can see why this might be taking me a while to finish.  Every time I think I'm getting ahead, I wind up with the same amount of pages left to do.  But I'm adding words and making it awesome, so it's all good.

I'm also in the middle of a freebie thing for FERTILE GROUND so I'm marketing a lot.  It's going okay.  Books are moving and people are reading pages.  It's all good.  Oh, and starting Tuesday, IN DEEP WISH will be free.  I need to jump on that and make some marketing materials.  Speaking of which, this is the thing I made for FG this morning:

creepy, huh?

No Saturday Reading Wrap-up yesterday because I am still reading the same book - Child Star by Shirley Temple Black.  I crossed the halfway mark yesterday.  Woot.

In cooking news, I made a thing that I'm calling Italian Spaghetti Bake.  And yesterday, I made a vat of Turkey Noodle Soup.  Today, I'm hoping to do a chocolate oil cake with raspberry jam and vanilla frosting.  Either that or cinnamon rolls.  Maybe I'll get crazy and do both.  

On the activity front, I did something active 5 out of 7 days.  Sure, some of the stuff I'm counting isn't super-active, but hey, whatever it was, it got me out of my chair and my blood pumping.  I weighed myself to start the year: 174.2 - which is up 13.2 pounds from 1/1/24.  :shrug:  I was working and stressed then.  Now I'm home, relaxed, and back to grazing. 

This creeping crud thing that Hubs and I have just won't die.  Neither of us feel too bad, but it's a lingering thing that's just annoying.  I'm going to firebomb it with meds & vitamins today and see if I can't kick its ass.  By the way, Rikola Honey Herb cough drops are the bomb.  Rikola Honey Lemon Echinacea cough drops are GROSS.  They taste like weeds and lemon rind.  Blech.

Okay, I suppose I'd better get doing something, even if it's wrong.  Have a great day and drop a comment about how your week went.

Thursday This n That

Welcome to 2025, day two.  It's early, but the coffee is hot and it is strong.

I cancelled the Brightspeed internet.  Yay and squee.  Man, that was almost as bad as dial-up and that was on a good day.  No wonder its initials are BS.  Then again, so are mine. :gigglesnort:

I started playing poker again.  My old account is still valid and so's all the money I still had in there.  It's like 96 million.  None of it real, of course.  If I had 96 million for realsies, I would probably be doing something else right now.  Like sleeping on a pile of dollar bills or something.  Hey, it could happen.  Not to me, but it could happen.

Oh, before I forget, FERTILE GROUND starts its freebie thing today.  I probably should do something about marketing for that.  After the coffee kicks in.

ETA: Here's the marketing post for FG

FREE now through Tuesday, 1/6 - FERTILE GROUND. Get your copy today! (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FOPNE9Y

Sawyer's doing this thing where he comes in at 3am and is obnoxious.  Which is why I'm up at the buttcrack of early.  Scratch that.  He was being obnoxious at 2:30 and I shut him in the office.  Then Finn was obnoxious at 3 and after about 10 minutes of trying to wrangle him into the office, I gave up and got up.  By the way, they're both sleeping now.  They're turds, but I love them.

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I was doing this post and got distracted for a half hour.  Derp.  It's still early, but not quite as early, and now I need more coffee. 

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Okay, I'm easily distracted, so I'll let you go.  Have a great day, wherever you are.  And if you feel the urge, drop some this n that stuff in the comments.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to...

May this be an amazing year for us all.  :HUGS: