Sunday Update - 2025 Week 23

The first week of June went by... whoosh.  And today is already whoosh.  Of course, I got up late, so part of that can be excused.  The rest?  No Excuses.  I'm not really sure how much reading the minutiae of my life interests anyone else, but these posts help me, so there you are.

Anyway, there hasn't been much in the way of writing or editing lately.  Sorry about that, too.  As for marketing... Well... FB, in its infinite wisdom, decided to limit the amount of posts I can do in a row.  I can get 5 out before it tells me that in order to avoid 'spam', it won't let me post anymore for a while.  Not clue as to what amount of time that is.  An hour later, I might be able to get another post or two out, but not always.  The next day I can rinse and repeat with the same or worse outcomes.  Still, I managed to get posts to most of the groups I belong to and Friday, Project Hermes took off - moving 121 that day alone.  Still, with the other drab days added in, I gave away 161 books.  I'll try again tomorrow with Wish Hits the Fan.

Reading went okay, I guess.  I DNF'd more that I would've liked.  See yesterday, but also stay tuned for next Saturday's Wrap Up.

I made oatmeal raisin cookies this week.  Woot.  They turned out a little dry this time around, which sucks and is weird because it's the same damn recipe I've been using since I was a kid.  I also did a round of pulled pork.  Yummers.  I might make pizza today.  Or Cuban sandwiches.

On the activity front, I did three walks for a total of 2.7 miles (27.6 miles for the year so far).  I also moved some plastic tubs around and went grocery shopping.  (And if you don't think shopping is exercise, you're not doing it right.  Or I'm doing it wrong.)  Weight: 173.8

The deer are all getting un-pregnant, although we've only seen babies with Sissy and Lumpy so far.  They'll come around eventually.

I think a couple of my tomato plants might have buds.  Other than that, they're growing big.  Nice plants, but make with the fruiting already. Sheesh.  One of the pepper seeds I planted has germinated and is about an inch tall.  I think it has a friend that is trying to peek through.  Two plants producing green peppers would work for me.  The trees are doing well.  I lost one dogwood to what I assume was a squirrel digging in my pots on the deck.  It also got a cedar tree.  It dug in my walnut and my hickory, but those are fine.  Stupid squirrel.  I have weeding I need to get to this week, which I should've started doing last week.  I'm blaming the rain.

Speaking of rain, we've gotten about 2.5 inches in the past 7 days, with more on the way this week.  Enough already.  Sheesh.

And that's about it for me for now.  I'm sure there's more, but I'm about done sitting at the computer for this morning.  Time to start the day whether I want to or not.  Have a great day!  And feel free to tell me all the minutiae of your week.  =o)

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?

 

Sunday Update 8/24/24

Well, hello there.  Thanks for stopping by for my weekly update.  In case this is your first time here, I'm a pretty boring person.  All the exciting in my life is fictional.  

Day before yesterday, I finished the WIP.  It'll become my 18th published novel.  It's Duke Noble, book 2 - tentatively called Thicker Than Water.  (Not sure I love that title.  We'll see.)  It ended up being 47269 words for the first draft.  I really like how it ended.  There's a lot I have to go back and fix - continuity issues, gaps, a dearth of description... the usual.  I'll probably start that next week.  With my brain, I don't really need too much time to step out of the story so I can look at it objectively.  

So, with finishing that sucker, I wrote 6657 words last week.  I'm hoping to start writing again on something else sometime this week, then write at night and edit TTW during the day once I get to editing again.  I've done this in the past, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.  I do wonder whether I still have the chops to write one book while editing another, though.

This past week, I ran a sale on the Once Upon a Djinn books.  I ended up moving 106 copies of WIOH (free), two copies of IDW, and one copy each of UWC and WHTF (99c ea).  On the bright side, the rankings thing on Amazon is finally moving again, so here's hoping it equates to residual sales and page reads in KU.  WIOH reached #91 in free urban fantasy, so yay.  That usually helps.  :shrug:

I didn't post a Reading Wrap-up yesterday because, frankly, I forgot.  Honestly, though, I didn't really have anything to talk about.  I didn't finish a book last week - just DNF'd one, which was annoying.  Then I picked up a SF and finished that last night.  I'll talk about it all next Saturday.

In baking news, I made a batch of Peanut Butter & Cocoa Oatmeal Cookies.  Hubs was jones'n for something chocolate, so tada.  

On the activity front, I walked 3 days for 2.55 miles worth, then yesterday, I cut down my lilac bush with this nifty new hand saw thingie I bought.  (Poor Linus.  He up and died this year, all but one lonely trunk and 3-4 suckers.  I left all that, hoping to resurrect him.)  It was quite the upper body workout and I'm feeling it today.  I haven't weighed myself.  I don't need that kind of negativity... LOL.

I can't think of anything else from this past week worth talking about, so feel free to go on about your day.  And if you want to, drop a comment and tell me about your week.  I hope it was a good one.  If not, we can commiserate. :hugs:

Sunday Update 8/11/24

 Well, wouldja look at that... it's Sunday again.  Let's get started.

I didn't have the best writing week and it's all on me.  I got a little lazy.  Even so, I did manage to get 3452 words out.  The WIP is now at 33507.  I still have no idea where I'm going, but I'm forging ahead with the great hope that this will all get figured out in edits.

Dying Embers and the other SCIU books were on sale this week.  DE was free and the other two were 99c.  I moved 75 books - 73 free and one each of the others.  Not quite as good as the last sale.  :shrug:  I discovered mid-sale that the Amazon rankings were messed up and not moving at all, which probably screwed me for residual sales based off those rankings.  I had a great first day which probably would've put DE in the top 100 free suspense category.  Then :sad trombone noise:  Hopefully they get it fixed before I run another sale.  All of this is hard enough with glitches in the system.

This past week, I made Raisin Applesauce cake, which was awesome.  Then later in the week, I made a big batch of PB&C Oatmeal Cookies.  What are those, you ask?  Peanut butter and chocolate oatmeal cookies. Total yumminess. I posted the recipe to my FB page.  If you don't have FB or don't follow me and want it, let me know. (And if you don't follow me, please do.)  I also made pizza yesterday.  I got the dough all done and raised.  I cut it in half for two small pizza and got half of it on the pan.  Then I went to get out the toppings and discovered I was out of shredded cheese.  Derp.  All I had in the way of cheese was cheddar slices and American slices.  Not really pizza cheese and I wanted pizza.  So, I hopped in the car, drove ten minutes out to the Dollar General.  I got the last 2 packs of mozzarella they had and I also bought a brick of cheddar to make tacos today.  Anyway, the pizza got made, but while I was gone, the dough on the pan continued to rise (naturally), and the pizza actually turned out better.  I plan to do this on purpose from now on - let the dough rise on the pan for 20-30 minutes.  

On the activity front, I got in three walks for 2.7 miles, not counting walking while I grocery shop.  I also did some cleaning.  I haven't lost any weight, but with all those yummy baked goods to eat, it's no wonder.  

The day I went grocery shopping, I stopped in at the old office.  I got big hugs from my two guys who were in at the time.  Yay.  I do miss my guys.  I crapped out on seeing one of my other guys by 30 minutes, which kinda sucks, but stuff happens.  The place hasn't burned down or imploded since I left, which is good.  I really don't wish them ill, I had just had enough and it was time for me to get back to being me again.  

Other than that, not much else going on.  The baby deers are getting big.  The baby kitties are doing fine.  So is Hubs.  And the rest of my family.  Tomorrow Owl turns 31.  (How am I old enough to have a kid who's 31??)

How are things in your world?

Thursday This n That

I swear to god whoever's sneaking into our house at night and beating us in our sleep needs to stop. (This is not really happening.  It just feels like it.)

I taught Hubs how to make cake cookies last night.  He had a sweet tooth thing going on and I told him to go make cookies.  I ended up doing most of the work (which is not much work anyway), but now he knows how for future reference.  (Considering the fact that I am a total control-freak in the kitchen, this was a bigger deal than you think.)  I made them BIG because it was necessary.  And as soon as they were cool enough for the chocolate chips to not burn our mouths, we ate some.  Yay.  Warm chocolate chip cookies are da bomb.  

I'm also a control-freak in my car.  His car? Nope.  My car?  I'm in control, baby.

It might snow today.  And that's just about enough of that already.  Sheesh.

We've had a red-shouldered hawk hanging out around the yard lately.  I've named him Rufus.  Yesterday, I saw Beauregard in the woods.  (He's our resident broad-winged hawk.)  Luckily, I think they have different prey.  Unfortunately, I fear Beau might be prey in Rufus's eyes.  Hope not, but nature's a witch sometimes.

Did I tell you someone hit a beaver on the highway the other day?  There's a wet-weather creek right there leading to the lake, about 3/4 of a mile away, and for some reason the beavers cross the highway at that point.  No clue why.  I just know this is the second beaver that's been hit right there since we moved here.

My brother traps beavers in Michigan.  He provides a service for people whose land is being ruined by the pesky buggers and he takes the skinned carcasses to a raptor rehabilitator.  He also makes maple syrup.  This is probably a busy time for the maple thing and according to this, nearing the end of beaver season.  Plus, he works a 'full-time and then some' job.  Bro's a busy dude.  If more people had his drive, this world would be a better place all the way around.

We're a pretty industrious family.  Stop laughing.  I can be industrious.  =op  (I'm not, but I can be.)

I quit watching Grey's Anatomy cold turkey.  I'm not even sure why I liked it.  Don't even get me started on the dysfunctional relationships it regularly portrays as normal and good.  It's certainly addictive, though, which is why I had to stop cold turkey.  Like football.  I'm not a 'wean myself off' kind of person.  It's really hard to not walk in the living room right now and turn on the TV to watch it.  But I'm pushing through.

Speaking of dysfunctional relationships, I have had more than my fair share.  I was talking to Mom about it yesterday.  One in particular was especially nasty and I was telling her I still have nightmares.  They're only about once a year now, but they're always bad.  And no, he never hit me.  He just tormented me mentally and emotionally to the point where I thought about killing myself to get away from him.  And THAT was the point at which I realized I needed to get the hell away from him.  And I still tried to stay.  It took one more week of being treated like crap to put some starch in my spine and I was outta there.  Whew.  Did I learn?  Nope.  Fell into a similar relationship about 2 years later.  Eventually, I did learn, though, and I'm with Hubs.  Who is awesome, by the way.  

Wow, I was a little wordy there, wasn't I?  Got anything to share with me this morning?

Sunday Update - Week 52

Time for the update on the last week of 2021.  Yay.  But I've been up since 2:30a, so bear with me.

I worked on editing five days out of seven this week.  That got me 65 more pages edited.  As of last night, I'm on page 181 of 355.  Over halfway!  Yay!

I finally got Dying Embers loaded to Draft 2 Digital.  Just a few minutes ago.  Links will be updated once a few distributors are on board and I can get a customized link.  I set it at 99c.  I also went back and changed the price of Wish in One Hand to 99c, too.  Loss leaders for the rest of the series and all that.  Trying to drum up sales, doncha know.  (I'll do a sales wrap-up sometime this coming week.)

In reading news, I had an okay week, but I missed my yearly goal by 5 books.  Derp.  Ditto on the wrap-up thing here, too.

On the baking front, I made more cookies.  Heh, like I need more cookies.  And I made more granola bars for Hubs.

Speaking of not needing cookies, I didn't hardly do anything active last week.  One day cutting limbs into firewood and two days messing around with the dirt in the front bed.  The good-ish news is that I haven't really gained too much weight.  Starting this year with 182.2 pounds.  Only .6 pounds more than I started last year with.  Woohoo.

Hmm, what else... Oh, I created 2022 versions of all my spreadsheets.  I have some formulas to add for the big one, but the rest are ready to input data to.  Yay.

Ancestry.com had a free week of searching through birth, marriage, and death records, so I did some of that.  Discovered my cousin Gerald died last year.  (Don't worry, we weren't close.  My uncle got divorced from his mom and they were estranged.  So I only saw him a couple times at the family reunion when I was a teen.  Nice guy, though.)  And that my poor little cousin William, who would've been older than my dad, only lived 13 days.  Oh, and that my great-great uncle Cecil may have been a prisoner of war in WWII.  Interesting stuffs.  I also got farther up the tree in a couple spots where the family was still in Europe and those records were translated - like to a Great-great-great grandma whose maiden name was Grodzyski.  (Already found one whose maiden name was Pruzinski.)

Oh, and I saw a big, beautiful bald eagle not far from the house.  So pretty.

Anyway, not a lot of exciting stuff for the end of 2021.  Pretty par for the course on that year.  How did your last week of the year go?

Super Easy Christmas Cookies

Want a super-easy Christmas cookie to make?

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
enough small mint patty candies* to equal the number of cookies you're making

Preheat oven to 350F.  Dump the first 3 ingredients into a medium size mixing bowl.  Stir until well combined.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with foil, leaving about an inch or so between to allow for spreadage.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until not gooey in the center**.  Remove from oven and immediately press a patty into the middle of each cookie.  Let cool for a couple minutes then remove to your cooling-down location of choice.  (I use paper towels.)  Do NOT touch the patty part until it cools completely.  Repeat until all the batter is used.  Should make around 25-35 cookies, depending on how much batter you drop in each spoonful.  

Note: You can also use Hersey kisses or little peanut butter cups instead of patties, if you're anti-mint.  I'd recommend turning the peanut butter cups top down before you plant them in the cookies, but that's me.

*Not the big York ones.  I use cheap Zachary brand ones I get at the Dollar General.  They're about an inch in diameter, so perfect for the center of a cookie.  And you get a couple dozen in a box, for like a buck, so win win.

** if you've made cookies before you probably know when that is.  If you haven't, you might want to start with yellow cake mix and cook until lightly browned on the edges.  At least until you get your cookie legs under you.  Chocolate cake doesn't show the browning very well, doncha know.