The Last Day of 2025

So, here we are at the last day of 2025.  Time to wrap things up by looking back.  So here goes...

This year, I sold just over 130 books for a whopping total of just under $200. I gave away over 4000 books to get those sales.  

I published one book this year - Thicker Than Water (which is free right now).  That puts me at 18 published novels now.  Additionally, I'm like 95% done writing another book - Duke Noble #3.  If all goes well, I could finish writing it today.  Right now, it's at 45880 words - which is the number of words I've written this year, by the way.  Not a great amount, but it's better than several of the previous years, so yay.  

I read 35 books, which is way short of my original goal of 70 and a little short of my revised goal of 40.  (It doesn't help that I've DNF'd two books this week.)  I acquired 74 new to me books this year - about half ebooks and half hard copy.

Overall, I gained 2 pounds since 1/1/25.  :shrug:  There was some down poundage, of course, but I wiped that out over the last month or so.  Thanks a lot, holidays.  =op

Early in the year, we got the opportunity to add onto our land.  Our neighbor offered us a lot and we jumped on it.  We now have an additional acre, which gives us some nice padding between our house and the house next door (and makes it so no one can build on that piece, so yay).  Unfortunately, not long after we acquired it, the weather warmed up and we couldn't actually play on it until recently.  To that end, we got Hubs a chainsaw for Christmas and he's been busy turning our dead trees into firewood.  I've been busy with the smaller stuff and working on making our new woods pretty.

Sawyer and Finn turned 3 at the end of December.  They're good boy... mostly.

I did a deck garden this year.  It was mostly tomatoes and little trees.  I probably got a couple dozen tomatoes to eat, so not a total waste, and it was a good learning experience for my garden in the coming year.  The trees are doing well, hibernating in the garage until I can replant them in the spring.  I also have several pepper plants that are still hanging around out there in the garage, and two I've brought inside so they're like houseplants until Spring.  This coming year, I plan on doing tomatoes and peppers again, but also potatoes and carrots.  And maybe a tree or two, if the mood strikes me and I find seedlings growing in my gardens again.

In September, I visited my mother for her 85th birthday.  It was a nice trip and it's always fun hanging out with Ma.  She's a hoot.  

All in all, not a bad year.  Hubs and I are still going strong, and we didn't lose any family members this year.  I call that a win.  This coming year, I hope to write and publish more.  We should see Duke Noble 3 (still without a title) hit the online shelves sometime in the first quarter.  I also hope to exercise more, lose weight and not put it back on again, and keep the old bones from falling apart any faster than they already are.  

How was your 2025?  Any hopes for the new year?

Marketing Monday - Thicker than Water

I decided to end the year and start the new one with a bang, so I'm offering THICKER THAN WATER as a freebie for the next five days.  Woot.

For the first time ever, THICKER THAN WATER is free. (Always free with KU.) Don't miss your chance to snag this hard-boiled crime noir! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F88QQ2P4

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 51 or Whatever

 I figure since this coming week is the last of 2025, then last week must've been week 51.  Or whatever.  It was Christmas week and I'm short a few brain cells due to the timewarp that occurs this time of year.

I had a good writing week... well, a good beginning of a week and then the holiday hit and crickets.  Still, I managed to crank out 2236 words and I feel like I'm pretty close to THE END.  I mean, I could wrap it all up in no time and be done with it, but it feels flat, like it needs one more oomph to give it a real climax and then I can write the denouement.  So, I've been playing with how to make that happen over the last couple days.  Today, there will be writing.  I can still finish this by the end of the year, if I hunker down.

Marketing occurred.  Not a lot of marketing and thus, not a lot of movement.  Better than nothing, but not by much.  I'm like $2.50 away from clearing $200 this year.  Not sure if that'll happen, but a girl can hope.  I don't know what I'll put forth as a freebie to finish out the year and start next year.  Stay tuned.

I finished reading a book this week!  Woot.  That puts me at 35 for the year.  Still 5 short of my adjusted Goodreads goal, but I'm not flagellating myself over it.

On the activity front, we took three walks this week because the weather has been nice, and way too hot to play in the woods.  I also did some cleaning.  Eh, it's better than nothing, which is what my ever-widening ass wants to do.  Weight: 176.4

Baking happened.  I made a pumpkin pie bread pudding for Christmas dessert and it was pretty yummy.  (Recipe below.)  I also did a ham for Christmas dinner and it turned out awesome.  Total yummers there.

I've been busy getting ready for next year with my spreadsheets and crap.  Hard to believe Thursday will be a whole new year.  I do wrap-up posts and junk starting Friday.  Maybe.  If I remember.

Christmas happened.  We don't give each other gifts anymore, so no big whoop there.  We got ourselves a chainsaw and a deer dragging sled and a couple books (one of woodworking and the other on art).  Mom sent me card with a check in it, but that still hasn't arrived.  (Don't get me started on the USPS.)  MIL sent a card with a check in it, too.  That's the total of prezzies here.  The tree is still up and will be until Friday-ish.  We watched a boatload of movies - some of them Christmasy and some not.  Life is good.

Other than that, it was a quiet week.  Here's to a quiet end to 2025 and all that.  :hugs:

How was your week?  Did you get any good prezzies?

***

Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding

2/3 loaf of Italian Bread* (or about 8-10 oz worth)

2 ½ cups evaporated milk

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree

2 cups white sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp rum extract (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon

Dash ground cloves

Dash ground ginger

1 cup pecans (coarsely chopped)

1 cup raisins

¼ cup butter 

Cube bread (1-1 ½” cubes).  Preheat oven to 350F.  Put bread cubes into a large bowl.  In a separate large bowl, stir together pumpkin and evaporated milk.  Pour wet mixture over bread.  Fold together and let sit until bread absorbs wet (about 5 minutes).  Mix together sugar, eggs, vanilla, rum, and seasonings. Fold that into the bread/pumpkin mixture.  Put butter into 9x13” pan and put in the preheating oven.  When it’s melted, remove and set aside.  Fold pecans and raisins into batter.  Spoon mixture over the butter in the pan.  Bake 35-45 minutes until firm in the middle and edges are crisp.  You might need to put a separate cookie sheet on the rack below the bread pudding, in case the butter decides to escape over the edges.  Serve warm with ice cream or drizzle with caramel sauce, or both.

*I bought a 14oz loaf from Walmart and cubed about 2/3rds of it.  The original recipe called for an 8oz loaf of French bread, but I improvised.  

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.  (Updated: On 11/27/25, I changed my goal to 40 books.  I'm not sure if I'll eve hit that, but it's a goal.)

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

35) Stellar Ranger by Steve Perry (12/27/25) - SF/Western/Noir

34) The Martian by Andy Weir (11/25/25) - SF

33) Dream of Orchids by Phyllis A. Whitney (10/9/25) - romantic suspense

32) Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (9/18/25) - mystery

31) Tales from the 'White Hart' by Arthur C. Clarke (9/11/25) - SF

30) Primordial Threat by MA Rothman (8/28/25) - SF*

29) Five Complete Hercule Poirot Novels (8/18/25) - mystery

28) The Devil's Angel by Margaret Bernard (7/26/25) - UF*#

27) Space Academy Dropouts by Phipps & Suttkus (7/6/25) - SF humor*#

26) Sweet Harmony by Noel Bailey (6/25/25) - magical romance*#

25) The Danger by Dick Francis (6/15/25) - thriller

0) Novella by Name Withheld (6/9/25) - SF*

24) The Face in the Water by Kathleen Pennell (6/8/25) - mystery*#

23) Blade Runner (or Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep) by Philip K Dick (6/5/25) - dystopian

22) You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming (5/29/25) - action/hard-boiled crime

21) On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming (5/24/25) - action/hard-boiled crime

20) The Singing Stones by Phyllis A. Whitney (5/17/25) - romantic suspense

19) Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (5/15/25) - mystery

18) Bill and the Last Cup of Coffee by Lance Lassen (5/8/25) - dystopian action/humor* (I read the ebook, but this is the link to the paperback. In the time between now and when I downloaded the book, the ebook page has been removed and the paperback was set to 'out of print'. :sadface:)

17) Goldfinger by Ian Fleming (5/5/25) - action/hard boiled crime

16) In Plain Sight by Dan Willis (4/27/25) - magical hard-boiled crime*

15) Dr. No by Ian Fleming (4/26/25) - action/hard boiled crime

14) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (4/20/25) - dystopian

13) Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming (4/16/25) - action/hard boiled crime

12) Islands in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke (4/11/25) -  science fiction

11) Murder by the Script by Lisa Pevey (4/8/25) - cozy mystery*

10) Festive Fonts and Fowl Murder by Lisa Pevey (4/7/25) - cozy mystery*

9) The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett (4/6/25) - suspense

8) A Murder in Cursive by Lisa Pevey (4/3/25) - cozy mystery*

7) The Ebony Swan by Phyllis Whitney (4/1/25) - romantic suspense

6) The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip (3/29/25) - fantasy

5) Murder by the Letter by Lisa Pevey (3/27/25) - cozy mystery*

4) Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout (3/26/25) - noir crime

3) Moonstruck: Retribution by Silver James (3/20/25) - paranormal romantic suspense*

2) President Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (3/14/25) - noir crime

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.

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas to you and yours,  

from The Sandersons.

Marketing Monday - Wish in One Hand

Gah, I'm a horrible and forgetful person lately.  I forgot to do the Sunday Update yesterday and now I'm late for Marketing Monday.  Well, better late than never, so here goes...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013RVEF0Y When Jo Mayweather made it her mission to save her fellow djinn from slavery, she never dreamed she'd have to save them from a killer. This week only, WISH IN ONE HAND is totally free. (It's always free with KU. This is for everyone else.) Pick up your copy of this snarky and fun paranormal mystery today!

Friday This n That

I totally brainfarted out that yesterday was Thursday.  Thus, realizing that today was Friday, it occurred to me that I never posted my this n thats.  Derp and all that.

I'm not dead.  Not even close.  I am, however, in a stupid place.  You know the one where you're not doing anything and you're feeling guilty about not doing anything so you don't do anything?  Maybe that's just me.  :shrug:

The prezzies I bought for the neighbor kids are wrapped.  Now I just need to get the prezzies from here to next door.  I also have a tin of cookies for the across-the-street neighbors and I package of cookies for Mom that need to be mailed.  And yet, here I sit.  (Of course, right now it's too early to do anything... excuses excuses)

Sawyer decided that this morning was a good time to revisit his old vaudeville act wherein he pats rhythmically on the front of the dresser ad nauseum. This act was followed by a song routine of old favorites by his partner, Finn.  I thought we'd moved past this, but apparently not.  Silly cats.

I have a song stuck in my head.  (Not Finn's.)  So I looked it up, because I hear it on the radio a lot, but I have no idea who sings it or anything.  It's called Too Sweet and it's by Hozier... Hozier?  Really.  Okay, my brain is now channeling The Mackenzie Brothers, but whatever.  (Yes, I know... their word was hoser, but still...)  Apparently, it's the dude's last name and apparently he's some kind of social justice warrior.  Damn it.  This is why I don't go looking into celebrities.  

And now for something we hope you'll really like...  (If you don't know where that phrase comes from, I'm sorry.  Maybe if I start it out with 'Hey, Rocky... watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.'  :RAWR: 'Looks like I need a better hat.')

My hands hurt.  Unfortunately, not from writing.  Pulling a sled with logs on it used muscles I didn't know I had and there ya are.

Speaking of logs, Hubs and I were just joking around about what to do with the big trunks - especially the black cherry that's still standing.  It's beautiful wood and it would be a shame to cut it up for firewood, but it's so heavy, we'll never be able to move that stuff on our own.  So, we got the idea to carve it where it is.  I said something about doing a faun/satyr, then he said something about a tableau of woodland creatures.  Then we both said something about turning it into a totem.  With Trump's head on top.  Then Reagan, Lincoln, and Washington. :gigglesnort:  We're so funny.

Okay, that's probably about all I'm worth today.  I need to get back to marketing.  Last day for DYING EMBERS freebie and all that.  Have a great day wherever you are.  Hasta la bye-bye.

Marketing Monday - Dying Embers

Okay, so after the week of few freebies followed by the week of nothing, here we are slogging through the marketing again.  This time I'm hitting the book that's sold the most (partly because it's the oldest and partly because once upon a time I had money to throw at marketing this book) - DYING EMBERS.

Starting today, DYING EMBERS is absolutely free. (It's always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Pick up your copy now! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TEQK7OU

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 50

Two weeks left of 2025.  Hmm.  

I didn't do much writing this week.  I had one really good day where I whipped out 1300-ish words.  Then things happened and I couldn't pick up the thread again and excuses-excuses.  

No marketing.  As a result, no sales.  Zip, zilch, nada, bubkus.  I'll try and change that this week, but I'm pretty bummed about my chances.

I read some more of that Stellar Ranger novel.  It's still pretty good.

I did a boatload of baking.  3 batches of cookies and a batch of pretzel turtles were made.  I made devil's food cake cookies with peppermint bark kisses, yellow cake mix cookies with regular kisses, and coconut rum cookies.

Let's not talk about activity.  I did one day in the woods and then nada.  And due to that, we won't talk about weight either, eh?  It ain't good.

Christmas shopping was done - online only.  I ordered Mom's and MIL's prezzies.  MIL's was delivered Friday and Mom's will be delivered today.  Early, I know.  Damn Amazon efficiency.  But I'd rather have them show early than wait to shop and have the stuff I want for them to not be in stock.  I also ordered books for the kids next door.  Those will be here tomorrow.  Then I'll wrap them - because I bought wrapping paper for the first time in 13 years.  I also bought tissue paper, which I used to wrap one of my art pieces.  I hung it back on the wall and am using it to display Christmas cards we receive.  So far, it only has two cards on it, but it's pretty anyway.  I'll unwrap the print after the new year.  

In case you missed this, here's my other Christmas decorations...

That's Sawyer down front on the comforter I put on top of my new chest.

Other than that, it's been pretty blah here.  Hubs has been sawing away in the woods.  I've been a toad.  Today it's too cold to do much of anything outside, which is just as well because I have spreadsheets for 2026 that need to be done.  Ah well.  As my brother used to say 'Big whoppin' wee'.

What's been up in your lives this week?

Thursday This n That

 I have a 20 pound cat in my lap.  (Okay, he's probably closer to 18.  I'm rounding up.)  It's hard to type with a large cat in your lap, so bear with me.  And all mistakes are his fault.

I spent part of yesterday ordering Christmas prezzies, because like the nimrod I am, I forgot.  I still have to order for the Moms.  Their presents are picked out, but I didn't have the heart to add another charge to my account that day.  I'll do it today.  

Part of what I ordered was for the kids next door.  I've never bought them prezzies before.  I just wanted to.  They're good kids.  They're each getting a book and I found awesome books for under $10 each, so yay.  I hope they don't already have what I ordered for them.  And no, I don't get prezzies for my own kid anymore.  She's 32.  She can get her own prezzies.  She gets a card, like everyone else.  Maybe if I was rich, but I'm not, so there ya are.

I also ordered a book for myself.  I bet you're like super-surprised there.  What you might find surprising... or not as the case may be... is the book I ordered is on woodworking.  Yes, I have been talking about maybe starting my hand at woodworking for a while now.  The book might help with that.  Oh, and I got a book for the both of us on art - famous art masterpieces in a coffee table book.  Ho-ho-ho.

Speaking of Christmas, if you haven't seen the movie Fatman yet, you should probably do that.  It stars Mel Gibson as Kris Kringle (aka Santa) and a bratty, mean kid hires an assassin because Santa didn't bring him what he wanted.  And the hitman has something against Santa anyway.  This version of Santa is totally badass.  It's kinda gory there for a bit, but that's the kind of movie it is - an action flick for our times.

"No, Sawyer, you can't have my coffee, and get your tail out of my face."  For the longest time, I wished that Sawyer would be a lap cat.  I got my wish.  LOL

Okay, that's about it out of me right now.  I need more coffee.  :wanders off:

There's Work to be Done

 Hubs and I have been working in the woods, as you probably know if you've been here long enough.  Why not?  It's cold enough to fend off the ticks and the snakes.  Plus, it's awesome exercise that doesn't bore the hell out of me.  

Anyway, I took some pics of what exactly needs to be cleaned up out there, to give y'all an idea of what I'm talking about...

I call this one 'Crap to Clean Up':

Loads of downed cedar trees, limbs, and branches throughout that.  And this is the black cherry tree that fell back in May of 2024:

The main trunk on the left is still standing.  It's about 10 feet tall and the rest of it stretches away from there.  Here's the other end of it:

Then there's the sycamore that fell over about 3-4 months before the black cherry:

What you can't really see is the root ball behind me, which stand about 6-7 feet.  And the trunk on that sucker is about 2 feet across.  It's a monster.  Here's where the top is laying:

All that needs to be cleared out, plus the crap not pictured - fallen limbs and smaller trees, etc. - so we can walk around on our property.  I'm not sure how much we'll get done before it gets too warm to go in the woods again, but we'll do our best.  

We'll burn what we can and stack the rest.  The piles make good critter habitat.  Here's the most recent pile:

We have several of these on our original property and this is the third we've put on the new piece.  Bunnies and chipmunks really love these.  Birds, too.  And, unfortunately, the occasional skunk.  LOL, it's all good.  

Anyway, doing this makes me happy.  I love being in the woods.  

Getting Healthier

I follow a dude on FB who's something of a conservative pundit.  Good guy.  Anyway, I saw where he'd posted about his weight loss journey.  From April to now, he went from 217 to 170 - all by eating healthier and exercising.  Way to go, dude.

Anyway, I'm not going to talk about my weight loss journey.  There isn't one.  I don't care if I lose weight.  I do, however, want to be a healthier human being.  Cuz, let's face it, I ain't gettin' any younger and the old parts are starting to notice that their warranty has expired.

Every Sunday for the past whatever, I've tried to post about my activity level and with that, I put my weight.  Yeah, yeah, a lady is supposed to talk about her weight.  I think that's a silly taboo.  I'm not ashamed of being 177-ish pounds.  It is what it is.  (Ladies also aren't supposed to mention their age.  I'm 55.  I'm such a rebel.)

Time out... I was just searching to see what my ideal weight would be for my age.  Freakin' idjits have made it so you now have to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) and age doesn't factor into it (except whether you're a child (under 20) or an adult (over 20) which is stupid in my opinion).  Anyway, a person who's 5'7 and 177 pounds has a BMI of 27.72 according to the Forbes BMI calculator - and that means I'm 'overweight'.  Which is actually better than the last time I checked one of those and it told me I was obese.  According to them a healthy weight is between 118 and 159.  I tried another place that calculated using height and actual age to find my ideal weight (it came out in kilograms... damn metric people... which I then had to convert to pounds).  According to this place, my ideal weight is 138.

Okay... my ideal weight when I was 25 was 135, so I'm not sure what the hell they're talking about.  Oh, and I'm probably carrying around 10 pounds of boob which skews things.  Maybe I should delete 10 pounds so I can see what the rest of my body should weigh.  Me minus 10 pounds of boob is 167, which is only 8 pounds over what Forbes consider within healthy parameters.  I'm okay with that.

Actually, this wasn't supposed to be about weight, but I fell down that rabbit hole, so you get to enjoy reading about it.  

The point I was trying to make is that in order for ME to feel healthier, I need to up my activity level - regardless of calories and make-up of calories (you know... carbs versus proteins, and all that rot.)  I learned this about myself ages ago.  If I sit around, I end up feeling like shit.  My hips hurt, my legs hurt, walking to the mailbox makes me tired.  That's no way to live.  

When I'm a good girl, I do something active every day and that makes me feel better.  And for me, feel better = healthier.  When I'm a bad girl, I sit on my ass all day and feel like shit.  Simple stuff in my life, really.  

Right now, I'm getting more active.  It's cooler, for one thing, which means I can get out in the woods again.  I love woods work better than any other activity.  I'm sawing limbs and throwing logs.  I'm tramping over uneven terrain - uphill, downhill, sideways - over rocks and logs while maintaining my balance.  It all uses a lot of different muscle groups and gets the heart a-pumpin'.

I spent 6.25 hours in the woods last week, and I'm feeling pretty good.  Oh, sure, everything aches today, but thems good aches.  Joints feel better, heart feels better.  Better is good.

Now, I just need to find the gumption to be active when it's not fun.  (Outdoors = fun. Indoors = not fun.)  It's all a balance.

How are you feeling?  How's the balance in your life?  

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 49

I'm having a tough time with the concept that there are only three weeks left to 2025.  Where did November go???  Ack.  Okay, it's true, but yah.  Anyway...

The writing went pretty well last week.  I wrote 4 out of 7 days and ended up with about 4000 more words, which put DN3 over 40K.  Woot.  It's all coming together.  

The marketing?  Not so well.  Still, I moved 41 copies of CU, which is better than nothing.  Still no $$$ for December yet.  Which is depressing.  I'm not sure what I'll do this week, or if I'll even do anything. Not selling gets pretty depressing.  Tune in tomorrow for the answer.  If there's a Marketing Monday post, I did it.  If not, then nope.

I'm working my way through reading Stellar Ranger - a SF/Crime/Western mashup.  It's pretty interesting.

In baking news, I made another cheesecake - and I'm done with that for a while.  I also made a vat of Turkey Noodle Soup and another vat of chili.  I meant to make corn bread to go with the chili, but it didn't happen.  :shrug:

On the activity front, I was active every day but one.  Loads of woods-work and one day was groceries.  Unfortunately, today was the first time I weighed myself since before Thanksgiving and I'm up 3 pounds over the last weigh-in.  :shrug:  Maybe I was up 5 pounds and lost two in the woods.  In that case, yay.  Maybe yay?  Weight: 177.8.  

Speaking of woods work... Most of what I was doing out there was cleaning the areas around the big dead cherry to prep for chainsaw work and clearing the new property line.  Then Hubs and I took a line from one end of the property to the other and he tapped in stakes with pretty pink ribbon, so we know where we are when we're in the woods.  I took pics, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  The woods are still an unholy mess, but progress has begun.  Hubs took the chainsaw out on its maiden voyage yesterday, and for this, I christened it.  Our chainsaw is now named Buzz.

As for critters, we saw a bald eagle over our property.  Yay.  And Lumpy is still alive as of yesterday... not sure if yay is appropriate there.  She's pretty damn skinny, and her coat looks like shit, but she doesn't appear to be suffering, so I'm torn.  Not that there's anything we can do about it except wish for either a speedy recovery or a gentle end.  Speaking of ends, I found a deer skull, pelvis, long bone, and one vertebrae in the woods yesterday.  Not Lumpy.  They've all been out there a while and they seem small enough to be a 4-6 month fawn.  Nature's a bitch sometimes.

I can't think of anything else I did this week.  I'm lucky I could think of all the above with as sore as I am right now.  Throwing logs and walking around on lumpy, heavily-inclined hillsides is not for the faint of heart.  I think I need an Aspercreme bath and an Aleve drip.

How was your week?

Thursday This n That

I sometimes wonder what the people who gossip to me say about me when I'm not around.  I don't care.  I'm just curious.

Yesterday, I saw a coyote.  I was driving down the highway and it was standing in a field.  It actually looked quite majestic.  Coyotes are always the rangy, scaggy things they're portrayed to be, ya know.

It was an outstanding coyote.  It was out standing in a field.  ROFL

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers... Their bellies aren't really all that yellow and they don't actually suck sap, they lick it.  But vaguely-yellowish bellied saplicker doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning, wandering toward the bathroom, and stepping in cat puke.  Thankfully, I stepped in the smallest bit.  After I turned the lights on, there were several piles.  Not sure which cat urped all over the kitchen, but thankfully, he didn't urp on the carpet.

I keep receiving emails from scammers, trying to get me to buy their services for books that aren't even mine.  This morning alone, they wanted me to hire them to promote something called After Midnight and something else called Hurricane Secrets.  ROFL... what boobs.

And now I seem to be out of things to this-n-that.  Feel free to drop your own.  And have a great day!

Lumberjackin'

Yesterday, I was out in the woods, clearing piles of deadfall, etc. in preparation for the chainsaw work.  There's a lot of crap out there on the new property.  We've had several large trees fall over in the last few years and they're just laying there, clogging up the paths and generally retarding progress.  So, we bought a chainsaw to deal with them.

Except in order to get to them and work, we need to clear away all the limbs and sticks and little bushes.  We also need to clear all that crap so we can chart the property line.  The black cherry tree's upper branches are right across the line.  And there's a cedar fallen across the lower part of the line.  Plus there's a stand of spicebushes down there.  It's a mess.

In the middle, we have a huge sycamore that fell over during the storm of May 2024.  That definitely needs to be chopped up.  Walking around it to get from the top of the property to the bottom is a pain in the ass.

So, yeah, chainsaw.  

Now, I'm not an idiot.  Hubs will be working the chainsaw and I will be staying the hell out of the way.  I like my appendages and he's more skilled at that stuff anyway.  But if he's doing all the chainsaw, I'll be contributing by giving him access and then helping drag the logs up the hill.  That's why I bought the sled.  

What's any of this have to do with writing?  Not much.  Well, except for the fact that all the work I did yesterday made for really ouchie hands today.  Typing this is a symphony of ouch.  I need a bucket of Aspercreme and a pound of Aleve.

Still, it's stuff that's gotta be done and we're not getting any younger.  (Okay, it doesn't HAVE TO be done.  I want it done, so I'm doing it.  It'll be so pretty when we're finished.)  Chop it up, drag it up, stack it.  Plus, it's good exercise and it gets me out of the house.  Fresh air and all that.  And eventually, all that wood will be used to heat the house.

Marketing Monday... The Late Edition

 Okay, so somehow I totally brainfarted on my marketing post yesterday, so you get it today...

Now through Friday, CINDER UGLY is absolutely free. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Get your copy of this snarky paranormal romp today! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LW3ZB5Y

This is the third and final book of the A Model Curse series, where everything gets wrapped up.  The first in the series is only 99c and the second is $3.99, so you're basically getting the whole series for under $5 if you get it this week.  It's a fun series to read and it was fun to write.  Enjoy!