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?

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 40?

 I think it's week 40, but these days, who knows?  :shrug:

Earlier in the week, I was doing pretty good at doing something writerly every day.  It lasted 3 days.  I'll try to start that up again today.  START TODAY*.  Okay, so those three days, I added words to the end of DN3 and then I got stuck because I haven't touched the damn book in weeks, so I went back to the beginning and I'm reading through it all to get back into the story.  I'm up to page 49 and hit a spot where I either have to write a new scene or go back and delete the paragraph where I hint about the maid needing to talk to Duke privately.  We'll see what happens.

I did some marketing this week.  Ugly and the Beast was free and I moved 64 copies of that, and one copy of Sleeping Ugly.  (I also sold a copy of Dying Embers (print copy... woot).)  Starting tomorrow, Project Hermes will be free for five days.

I didn't do a Reading Wrap-up this week because I didn't finish anything.  I am in the middle of reading a Phyllis Whitney that I suspect I may have read before.  :shrug"

In baking news, I make a chocolate oil cake with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream.  It's yummy.  Friday, I made chili and to go with it, cornbread.  Yay.  

On the activity front, I didn't do a lot of very active things, but I did things.  One day I walked.  I did some limb cutting and I cut down a nuisance tree.  I vacuumed and brushed the kitchen rug, which yielded me enough cat hair to build a third cat, if I wanted.  And I did Wallyworld, which is always a workout.  Let's not talk about weight, eh?  I'm going to call what I just saw on the scale an anomaly.  Derp.

The deck garden is still producing tomatoes, so yay.  I get one ripe one at a time, which is perfect for burgers or sandwiches.  As long as the warm holds out, I should still be getting 'maters.  Of course, as long as the warm holds out, it delays my ability to plant trees, so there's that.  (Heat, bugs, etc.)

I'm finally getting over the jetlag from my trip.  Funny how the change of just an hour can really mess a body up.  And I get to do it again next month... change times not travel.  Stupid timechanges.  Blerg.

Nothing else really going on around here.  Hubs and I have some projects we're talking about doing, but we haven't firmed anything up yet, so they don't bear talking about at this time.  

Anyway... see ya next time.  Have a great day!  And if you're so inclined, leave a comment.  I enjoy comments.

*'Start today' was supposed to be my mantra for the year.  We all know how that has gone so far.

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?  

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?

Reminiscing About Awesome Food

Hubs and I were talking about donuts and I got to reminiscing about the best donuts I ever had.  They came from a place called Superior Donuts on Fenton Road in Flint, MI.  They made the best peanut butter frosted Persians known to man, where the frosting was about a half inch thick and so yummy it could make you swear off any other kind of frosting for the rest of your life.  I've been trying to replicate that frosting for more than 20 years.  And the on top of the frosting on those donuts was a drizzle of chocolate.  Oh.My.God.

Which lead me to thinking about some of the other 'best foods I've ever eaten' in a kind of wistful way.

For instance, Spring Break 1992... some friends and I took a roadtrip to New Orleans and along the way we stopped at a place called Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood in St. Louis.  I don't remember much about the dinner, but the dessert was to die for.  Caramel apple upside down pie.  The apples were cut in perfect rectangles and layered with caramel and gooey goodness, then baked in the flakiest, most appetizing pie crust I've ever had.  

In Marquette, Michigan there was a restaurant called Entre Amigos.  They made something called an Awesome Wet Burrito.  The damn thing was so huge I could never eat it in one sitting, so I always had leftovers and the leftovers were as amazing as the fresh burrito.  Filled with meat and covered with cheese and sauce.  :drools a little:

Also in Marquette was a sub shop called Togo's.  Not 'to go', but TOGO like pogo... as in pogo stick.  They made a steak and cheese sub I can still taste in my memories today, where the steak is sliced thin enough so you could bite through it without pulling the whole damn slice out and it was cooked to perfection.  The seasonings were just yum.  They'd slap the steak on the flattop and you could listen to it sizzle while you waited. Then they'd layer American cheese on it so it got all melty, then they'd slide the whole pile onto a freshly baked roll.  You know the kind... soft and tasty in the middle but crunchy crusted on the outside. I'd get mine with mushrooms - which were sautéed in a butter and liberally sprinkled with garlic.  Then I'd put ketchup on the whole damn thing, because I am a heathen and I liked it best that way.

At the mouth of the Appalachicola River where it meets the Gulf of Mexico (in Appalachicola, FL), there was a restaurant... I forget its name... where you could get the most amazing seafood.  I never had better scallops than there and I am a scallop addict.  They also made Amber Jack that came out like a dream.  A-mazing.

Not too long ago, Hubs and I had a layover in Atlanta that was long enough to get dinner.  We lucked out.  There's a steak joint in there that served some of the best steak I'd had in YEARS.  We still talk about that and we both wish we could find a restaurant around here that would live up to that expectation.  Alas, we haven't reached it yet.  (And we aren't likely to, since most of the restaurants around here can't stay out of the monthly health department report.  Blech.)

These are the flavors I will spend my life trying to achieve again.  I doubt I ever will, but it's good to have a goal. LOL

What are some foods and places to eat that you can't forget?

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo Begins

Welcome to Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo... and no, I don't know what it stands for other than 'we're doing a writing thing this month'.  Join in if you want to.  If you don't want to, feel free to stop by and watch the progress here and at Silver's blog.  

Right now, the plan for me is to work on the next Duke Noble book - which, right now, is called Thicker than Water.  If I catch my stride, I may be able to get pretty far along in a first draft.  I'm not promising anything at this point, though.  

This month is all about no pressure, no expectations - for me.  You do you.  The only thing we're pushing each other toward is 'write or edit every day', and even then I don't think we're going to be too hard on each other if we stumble.  Might shake a stern finger over the internet.  :shrug:

Okay, so starting out... Thicker Than Water is at 4564 words and page 14.  Since I generally write in the evenings between dinner and bed time, I'll post my progress the following mornings - probably at the end of whatever else I'm posting for the day.  Then we'll see what I have accomplished on August 1st.  Woohoo.

I'm finding it hard to be all excited, but it's early and I need more coffee.  :half-heartedly waves pompoms:  Good luck!

Wednesday

It's Wednesday.  In my recent-past life, Wednesday was meeting day.  Not for me, but for everyone else in the office.  I got a bye to not attend because someone had to answer the phones.  Yay.  I hate meetings anyway, so it was all good, baby.

In my other job - the spreadsheety thing I've been doing for like 20 years for the family business (aka pay-job) - Wednesdays are the days I have to get my timesheet to the office so they can mail me a check on Thursday morning.  Yay.  (Don't get too excited. It's not enough to live on. LOL)

Otherwise, Wednesdays don't have a purpose that's any different from any other day.  I'd like to change that.  (See yesterday's post.)  

Maybe Wednesday is a good day to talk about writing...

First off, I'm probably not the first person anyone should come to for writing advice.  Any advice I give take with a grain of salt.  If it seems sound and it works for you, take it.  If not, that's fine, too.  After all, it's not like I'm flashing my Bestselling Author card.  I don't have one.  I only have the 'been in the trenches for twenty years' pin.  It's around here somewhere... probably hiding underneath a pile of unfinished manuscripts.  

But enough about that.  It's all sound and fury signifying nothing.  I write books.  Sometimes I dabble in short stories, but that's rare.  My brain isn't wired for short.  I always have something more I want to say or another twist to throw at my characters.  To paraphrase Sir Mix-a-lot, I write big books and I cannot lie. A thing my readers can't deny. When a book pops into my little bitty head with a round plot in my face, I get sprung.  (All apologies for that. I couldn't help myself.)

I write big books.  You may right short stories.  You could write limericks on the subway wall for all I care.  Are you writing?  Awesome.  If you've got words burning in your head to get out, then let's do this.  To that end, Silver and I are pushing each other next month.  We're calling it Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo and basically we are going to write something every day.  Word counts are optional.  We'll probably tell each other the amounts, but it won't really matter as long as we can say 'I wrote today', we'll win.  Feel free to join along.

This has been somewhat of a rambling post.  Sorry about that.  My brain still needs some rewiring after a couple years of shunting my focus elsewhere.  Give me time.  

What say you?  If you're a writer, what do you write?  If you're a reader, what's your go-to thing to read?  If you're neither, feel free to pull up a chair and watch the weirdness.  

Sunday Update 6/2/24

It's been a while since I did one of these.  Don't expect me to catch up. LOL

Almost two years ago, I went and got me one of those payin' job things.  Last Tuesday, I gave my two-weeks notice - which basically amounted to nine days worth of work.  Friday the 7th is my last day. Think of it as me retiring again.  Think of it as me shrugging, if you're so inclined.  In reality, it's just time for me to come home and get back to being me again - writer, fisherman, gardener, kitty mommy, housewife - without day-job distractions.  (I was going to say without any outside distractions, but the world being what it is means plenty of outside distractions.  Blerg.)

The first thing I need to do, which I'm already starting to do, is get back into a writerly mindset.  This means taking care of the business side of writing, refilling the well by reading, and then actually sitting my ass down in this chair and writing.  For the business side, I delisted all my books from Draft 2 Digital and am taking them back to Kindle Select so I can drum up some page reads.  As single novels or series are marked as delisted, I'm enrolling them in KDP.  I did this a while ago with Song of Storm and Shroud.  Last week, I did it for Blink of an I and for the SCIU series.  I'll be doing some marketing for those in the coming days/weeks, as time and money allow. 

I've also been reading.  I finally set a Goodreads goal for 2024 - 35 books.  I think I can do that in the next seven months.  I've already read 4, so I'm off to a good start.  

The actual sitting down and writing will come.  I'll make it happen starting later this month.  The plan is to start small.  In the beginning, I'll be in my chair with a pen and my notebook, jotting down ideas and writing little sentences and paragraphs about nothing in particular.  I'd like to do some kind of JulNoWriMo - July Novel Writing Month - wherein I set myself a goal and write toward that end on a single novel.  I don't think I'll be able to do 50K in a month yet, so I'm not even going to try.  Maybe 30K.  Maybe only 15K.  The point will be to write every day so that the atrophied writing muscles get back into shape.  I'll talk more about that as the time approaches.

In non-writing, I have 6 tomato plants I'll be nurturing and all of my gardens need care after two years of neglect, I have a lake full of fish waiting to ignore my worm, and Sawyer needs a motherly influence to curb his less-than-stellar behavior.  

I'm ready to begin.  5 more days of the day-job to weather through and then I'm home.  I feel good.  I feel strong.  I'm ready to pass out lollipop, kick ass, and write books... and I'm ALL out of lollipops.  ;o)

How are things in your world lately?  

The Long Trek Back

:tap tap tap: Is anyone still out there?

So, anyway I did a thing.  Last week, I delisted Song of Storm and Shroud from everywhere but Amazon.  Last night I checked to make sure it was delisted everywhere and I put SSS back into Kindle Select.  For the first time, people can now read it with Kindle Unlimited.  If you have a KU subscription, you can read it for free.  I hope you'll give it a whirl.  

It's not much, but it's a start.  Regardless of the day job, I need to start doing writerly things and feeling like a writer again.  It's been too long.  There has to be more to life than work, eat, sleep, repeat.  Basically, I need to claw my way back to writing again.  I don't have the time, but I'll make the time.  

In the course of taking care of SSS on Amazon, I remembered that Silver had told me I needed to go into all my listings and let Amazon know that my books weren't created using AI.  So I did that.  34 times - 17 ebooks and 17 paperbacks worth.  

There's a bunch of writerly stuff I've let slide.  I'm not going to get it all done expeditiously.  It'll take time.  I'll probably slack off.  Some days the day job will be too much for me to even think about the writerly things.  :shrug:  

We'll see how it goes.  

How are things going with you?

2023 - Books Read

It's that time again.  If you didn't already know it, I log every book I read throughout the year.  I've beem doing it since 2007. This is that post for 2023.  I start it when I finish the first book of the year and I keep moving it as I go along.  And there are links to all of these posts on the left side, underneath the books I've written.  

* = ebook
# = new to me and underappreciated (which means I haven't read this author before and it has less than 50 reviews on Goodreads)
if there's a number there, it's the book's place in a series (I do this if I remember, but I usually don't)

The book list is newest first, but they're numbered, so you can kinda guess that.  Last year, I had a goal of 75 books and I only got to 72.  This year, I'm going with a 50 book goal (because I'm now working full time.)  Feel free to play along.

Anyway, let's get this party started...

16) In Too Deep by Tracy Alvarez (5/21/23) - Romance*
15) Dead Set by Martin Shannon (5/15/23) - UF*
14) Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow by Dr. Jan Pol / David Fisher (5/11/23) - NF
13) The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt (4/30/23) - Historical Romantic Suspense
12) The Wrong Victim by Allison Brennan (4/4/23) - Romantic Suspense
11) Cloudy with a Chance of Witchcraft by Mandy M. Roth (3/31/23) - Paranormal Romance*
10) Rainbow in the Mist by Phyllis A. Whitney (3/28/23) - Romantic Suspense
9) Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sontag & Drew (3/24/23) - NF
8) The Road to Paradise Island by Victoria Holt (2/6/23) - Historical Romantic Suspense
7) Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams (1/31/23) - Cozy Mystery
6) Three Men Out (Nero Wolfe) by Rex Stout (1/20/23) - Crime
5) Domino by Phyllis A. Whitney (1/17/23) - Romantic Suspense
4) Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh (1/14/23) - Mystery
3) Kill Shot by Vince Flynn (1/8/23) - Political Thriller
2) What Lies Beneath by Adam Croft (1/2/23) - Suspense*
1) Snowflakes and Sparks by Sophia-Leigh Robbins (1/1/23) - Romance*
0) The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Silver James (1/1/23) - Holiday Paranormal*

2022 - A Year in Review

 Yep, 2022 is over. Time to go over what happened. And yes, I still have a flair for stating the obvious, so that didn't change with the new year. LOL

Let's see... 

I started out 2022 working on getting my 17th book ready for publication.  Song of Storm and Shroud hit the electronic shelves on 3/21/22 to a chorus of crickets.  Huge thanks to the 3 people who bought a copy.  

In all of 2022, I sold 30 books in 2022 for a whopping $54.  I would've sold more if I'd had the money for advertising, but I had no money. Which leads me to...

The big news of the year, of course, was the fact that I went back to work full time after an 18 year hiatus.  I am an office grunt.  I answer phones, file stuff, provide general backup for people whose jobs are more important than mine, etc.  The rented mule. The corporate mushroom. A busy bee.  The job is accomplishing it's intended purpose and that's all that matters.  I like it about 90% of the time, which is more than I've liked several other jobs I've had in the past.  

I had hoped that once I settled into my job, I'd have time to write.  I didn't count on the fact that once I get home, I don't have the energy or the will to write in the couple hours I'm home before bedtime.  My brain has entirely shifted away from anything creative.  I still hope to write again, but I wouldn't hold my breath while waiting on another book if I were you.  You'll turn blue and fall over.

In weight and activity news, I started the year at 182.2 pounds and ended the year at 165.2 - 17 pounds lost.  I wish I could say that was due to being active and eating less, but it's due to stress and eating less. I'm not home to graze.  I eat lunch - usually yogurt, a cheese stick, some ham chunks, and grapes - and then dinner and a bowl of ice cream.  I keep a bag of mixed nuts and a bag of Hershey's minis in my desk, and munch on those from time to time.  (I hand out candy bars to co-workers more than I eat them, though.)  I did have this great idea that I would walk on my lunch break (30 minutes), but I've only done that once.  Thus, my walking for the entire year was only 33.65 miles.  No biking at all.  My biggest activity these days is cleaning the office at work, once a month-ish.  I really need to up my activity level for 2023 so I don't turn into an atrophied lump of meat.

Tomorrow, work is having a big in-house thang wherein they go over the year before and address ways to improve and goals for the year ahead.  I had to fill out a sheet on my goals, etc.  I'm a grunt.  I have no goals except to do the best job I can do with the limited resources and control a grunt tends to have.  I mean, I'm 52 years old and post-retired.  What goals am I supposed to have?  Try not to fuck anything up too bad so I can keep my job.  (No, I did not put that on the form, but my bosses knows where my blog is at, so they're probably reading this anyway.  :waves:  Hi, guys.  Don't worry, no one around here reads this blog except you.)  I think I wrote 'continued improvement in all aspects of my work' - or if I didn't write that, I should've.  

Okay, I think that's it.  Not a whole lot of action in my year.  As for the year ahead?  Well, I don't have any goals or resolutions for the new year.  Keep working.  Keep breathing in and out.  Keep progressing toward Hubs' and my combined goals. I think we're thinking we can put in a wood stove by the end of the year.  

How was your 2022?  Do you have goals for 2023?  

Sunday Update - Week 30

Well, July is officially in the can and good riddance to it.  Yuck, what a month.  Hello, August!  You'd better be better than your predecessor, lemme tell ya. 

On a distinctly positive note, yesterday I started what I'm calling AugNoWriMo, wherein I will attempt to write every day.  (Technically, I started Friday night by laying down over 1300 words and then threw down almost 1500 last night.)  By the end of this, Cinder Ugly will be done, and maybe another book will be worked on.  We'll see.  The point here is to write every day - however much I can, but hoping to get at least 1000 words out a day.  Feel free to join in if you're so inclined.  No pressure.

I'm also going to get off my dead ass and keep this damn house cleaner than I did in July.  Oh, it's not a pigsty or anything.  I was still tidying.  But things like dusting and vacuuming and scrubbing got left behind.  To that end, I vacuumed on Friday and dusted on Saturday.  Go me.

Reading, unfortunately, got left behind as well last month.  I'm still ahead on my yearly goal by 16 books, but I'm going to try to read more in August.  Which also means I need to spend some time going through the book newsletters and finding new books to read.

Umm, exercise?  Well, as with everything else, I was a toad.  Only 7 days where I was active out of the whole damn month.  On the upside, I lost over a pound somewhere.  Weight 177.0.  Now that the weather has slackened off on the heat a little, I need to start walking every day again. 

No baking this past week.  No fishing either.  Bleh.

Okay, so there's a lot of 'need tos' up there and still only the same 24 hours a day in which to get it all done.  Not a problem, really, just an adjustment to my TV viewing and my poker playing.  Less of both, I'd say.  Although, in the poker, I'm up to 1.6 million in play money now.  None of it purchased. (You can pay real money to buy play money, which I refuse to do.)

So, what's been up with you lately?  How was your July?  Got any goals for August?  

2020 - Books Read

Hello!  It's that time again.  What time?  Time to start a new Books Read post for the new year!

In case you haven't seen one of my other years, this is how it works.  I list the books I've read as I read them (so they're in reverse order).  The titles are linked to the book's Goodreads page.  Ebooks are noted with an asterisk.  'New to me and underappreciated' books are noted with a pound sign (hashtag for you youngin's).  If it's an underappreciated second or third book I'll put a number.  If it's got none of that, it's a hardcopy - paperback more often than not.

As of right now, the goal for the year is to read 70 books.  It's a lot lower than last year's 120 books, but I'd like to think I'll be writing enough that I won't have as much time for reading.  Time will tell.  I'm not going to give 'new to me and underappreciated' a numerical goal this year, because I blew last year's goal out of the water, but I'll most likely read a lot of those kinds of books.  I like doing it.  It makes me feel like I'm doing something to help indie authors like myself.

Reviews or more information about said books will be posted on Saturdays.

And now, here we go... 

Update 10/24/20: Raised the goal to 80 books.
Update 11/30/20: Raised the goal to 85 books.
Update 12/19/20: Raised the goal to 90 books.

88) The East Witch by Cedar Sanderson (12/31/20) - Paranormal Fantasy*
NA) Christmas Moon by Silver James (12/29/20) - Paranormal Romance*
87) Double Down on Demons by Annabel Chase (12/26/20) - UF*#
86) Decker and Joy by Elle Rush (12/20/20) - Paranormal Romantic Holiday Mystery*
85) Gloria by Jessica Lynch (12/19/20) - Romance*#
84) A Case of Need by Michael Crichton (Jeffery Hudson) (12/17/20) - Medical Suspense
83) The Conspiracy (DC Jake Tanner #1) by Jack Probyn (12/13/20) - Suspense*#
82) Drop Dead, Gorgeous by Mike Jastrzebski (12/6/20) - Supernatural Mystery*#
81) Cherry Pie or Die by CeeCee James (12/3/20) - Cozy Mystery*
80) Two Hearts Home for Christmas by Tamara Ferguson (12/2/20) - Romance*#
79) A Litter of Bones (DCI Logan #1) by JD Kirk (12/1/20) - Thriller*
78) The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Harry Bosch #19) by Michael Connelly (11/28/20) - Suspense
77) A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau (11/27/20) - Romantic Comedy*
76) The Edge by Dick Francis (11/16/20) - Mystery
75) Savaged Devotion by Jennifer Lyon (11/14/20) - Romantic Suspense*
74) Flintelf (Exili's Excellent Elucidation Services, #1) by Victoria Bastedo (11/12/20) - Fantasy Mystery*#
73) Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March 1994, Double issue by Various (11/4/20) Mystery shorts
72) Rafe (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #1) by Kathy Ivan (11/1/20) - Romance*
71) Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs (10/30/20) - Suspense
70) Groundskeeper: Raking Up the Dead (10/24/20) - Paranormal Mystery*
69) Night Wish (Nightriders MC #5) by Silver James (10/22/20) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
68) Hook, Line and Murder by Thom Elkjer (10/20/20) - Mystery#
67) Mandrake and a Murder by Ruby Loren/Silver Nord (10/19/20) - Paranormal Mystery*
66) Poinciana by Phyllis A. Whitney (10/15/20) - Romantic Suspense
65) Sit...Stay...Beg (Dogfather #1) by Roxanne St. Claire (10/13/20) - Romance*
64) The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (10/12/20) - Mystery
63) The Scarlet Ruse by John D. MacDonald (10/2/20) - Hard-boiled crime
62) In Dog We Trust by Neil Plakcy (9/26/20) - Mystery*
61) Sphere by Michael Crichton (8/29/20) - Technothriller
60) High Stakes by Dick Francis (8/23/20) - Mystery
59) Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass (8/19/20) - Cozy Mystery*
58) Dream of Orchids by Phyllis A. Whitney (8/16/20) - Romantic Suspense
57) Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie (8/7/20) - Mystery
56) Casket Girls by Seth Pevey (7/23/20) - Suspense*3
55) Pixie Me Up by Willow Mason (7/2/20) - Paranormal Cozy Mystery*
54) Hide by Lisa Gardner (6/30/20) - Suspense
53) Live Fae or Die Trying by Jenna Wolfhart (6/27/20) - UF*
52) The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (6/25/20) - Literature
51) Steeped in Suspicion by Eryn Scott (6/20/20) - Cozy Supernatural Mystery*#
50) Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas (6/17/20) - UF*
49) Moonstruck: Betrayal by Silver James (6/14/20) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
48) The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper by John MacDonald (6/12/20) - Hard-boiled Crime
47) Pricked by Scott Mooney (6/6/20) - Paranormal Mystery*#
46) The Surrey Stalker by BL Pearce (6/1/20) - Suspense*
45) The Wild Hunt by Ron C Nieto (5/24/20) - UF*
44) The Body Lovers by Mickey Spillane (5/23/20) - Hard-boiled crime
43) To Kill a Labrador by Kassandra Lamb (5/19/20) - Cozy Mystery*
42) Flea Market Magic by Bella Falls (5/16/20) - Paranormal Cozy Mystery*
41) Tender Trap by Lisa Jackson (5/9/20) - Romance
40) SALEM: Blood to Drink (Jason Crane #4) by Richard Gleaves (5/7/20) - Paranormal Suspense*
39) The Judas Cypher by Greg Dragon (4/24/20) - Hard-boiled Crime/Dystopian*#
38) Walking Sam by Deanna Lynn Sletten (4/22/20) - Romance*#
37) Blood Money by Chris Underwood (4/18/20) - Urban Fantasy*#
36) The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned) by Anne Rice (4/18/20) - Paranormal Romance
35) Greed (DI Scott Baker #1) by Jay Nadal (4/12/20) - Suspense*#
34) Catatonic (Tails of Talisman) by TM Stark (4/11/20) - Paranormal Something*#
33) Memorial Day by Vince Flynn (4/10/20) - Political Thriller
32) Pushing Daisy by Scott Baron (4/3/20) - SF*
31) Daisy's Run by Scott Baron (4/2/20) - SF*
30) Love You Still by Kat Bammer (3/27/20) - Romantic Suspense*#
29) Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie (3/27/20) - Mystery
28) Apprentice Fool by Aldred Chase (3/24/20) - YA Fantasy*#
27) Grave Games by Skylar Finn (3/19/20) - Suspense*#
26) Fire Me Up by Alicia Street (3/17/20) - Romance*#
25) Nemesis by Agatha Christie (3/16/20) - Mystery
24) Pancakes and Pleas by Gretchen Allen (3/14/20) - Cozy Mystery*#
23) Finny's Star by Sam Bartram (3/13/20) - MG Adventure/Mystery*#
22) Retribution: Lucky's Mercs #1 by Joshua James (3/9/20) - SF*#
21) The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot (3/4/20) - Memoir
20) Love & Order by Elsie Davis (2/23/20) - Romance*#
19) The Twisted Thing by Mickey Spillane (2/22/20) - Hard-boiled Crime
18) Death on the Danube by Jennifer Alderson (2/20/20) - Mystery*#
17) Fighting for Elena by Silver James (2/19/20) - Romantic Suspense*
16) Never Date a Siren by Byrd Nash (2/15/20) - Paranormal*#
15) The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie (2/13/20) - Mystery Short Stories
14) The Hungry Gun by Steve Thurman (2/8/20) - Western#
13) Blood in the Sand by Kelly Clayton (2/6/20) - Mystery*#
12) The Christmas Cookie Shop by Ginny Baird (2/3/20) - Romance*
11) Legally Undead by Margo Bond Collins (1/31/20) - UF*
10) The Integral Trees by Larry Niven (1/27/20) - SF
9) Sins of the Angels by Lydia M. Hawke (1/25/20) - Supernatural Suspense*
8) Jeopardy in January by Camilla Chafer (1/19/20) - Mystery*
7) Demonic Indemnity by Craig McLay (1/18/20) - UF*#
6) A Few Good Men by Sarah A. Hoyt (1/17/20) - SF
5) Fatal Justice by John Etzil (1/12/20) - Hard-boiled Crime*
4) Curtain by Agatha Christie (1/10/20) - Mystery
3) Cicada Summer by Jeff Dosser (1/9/20) - Supernatural Suspense*#
2) Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine - December 1979 by Various (1/7/20) - Short Stories Mystery
1) All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot (1/3/20) - Literature

What's your reading goal for this year?

Sunday Update - Week 52

That's it.  The last full week of 2019.  We just have to make it through three more days and slide into 2020.  Not that I really think it simply becoming 2020 will make everything magically better.  But it's a good starting point - new year and all that.  It's a place to try.  It's a hope for better things.

Laying in bed last night, I thought of some writerly things, enough so that I had to write the ideas down to get them out of my head.  I have a sort of plan for this week.  Not talking about it until it's set in cement, though.  I think talking about it could be part of what's harshing my groove, man.

I've been doing some online marketing this week.  Dying Embers was free Wed-Sat.  Fertile Ground and Early Grave are 99c still through tomorrow night.  No paid advertising, of course, so the numbers are low, but I did move some copies.

There was Christmas, of course.  It ended up being pretty much like any other day except for the turkey.  Copious amounts of turkey.  I made baked turkey subs last night.  So good.

Except for the subs, no baking.  I have to make granola bars today, though, because Hubs is out.

The day after Christmas, I drove up north to get license plates for the Jeep.  I'm not a fan of driving north.  It's all hills and curves going that way.  Anyway, before I hit the DMV, I had to hit the assessor's office because you can't get plates until the personal property taxes are paid on the vehicle you wish to have plates for.  Just as well.  They're due by the end of the year anyway.  Unfortunately, a lot of people were there paying their property taxes, so I got to stand in line.  Paid them, then stood in a shorter line at the DMV.  Luckily, they're in the same building.  Just a walk across the hall and then down a hall.  So, that's done for another two years.  Yay.

While I was up north, I stopped at McDonalds.  Not an odd thing in most people's lives, but I haven't been to a McDonalds in years, and I haven't been inside one in easily a decade.  And of course, their coffee was gross.   So I spent Friday recovering from that.  Got a lot of reading done.

Speaking of reading, I did a lot of it last week.  And as of last night, I am this close to meeting my reading goal.  One book to go and I'm 60% through that.  And it's a really good one.  Yay for finishing the year on a good book!

Spent some time working on spreadsheets for the new year.  Everything should be in place so that when I need them after Wednesday, they'll be ready.  With a few minor adjustments, of course.  Always there are adjustments.

Let's not talk about exercise and weight, eh?  We'll hit that again in the new year. 

I also spent time last week working on a wrap-up post for my reading in 2019.  You'll see that on Thursday instead of my usual this n that.  I need to work on some other wrap-up things.  Put 2019 to bed and all that.

Okay, that's it for my Week 52.  How were things for you last week?

There Was a Point There Somewhere

I took a hard-target walk yesterday evening.  (Hard-target walk wherein I set a pace and keep it for the entire walk, regardless of incline.)  I did roughly 1.6 miles in about 30 minutes.  So, approximately 3.2 miles an hour on average. 

I'm a little stiff this morning.  I pushed it and I knew I was pushing it, so I'm not really surprised.  I got about .6 miles into the walk and almost stopped.  I stood there next to the power pole I figure is .6 out and looked up the hill toward the farm wondering if I shouldn't just turn for home.  And then I started walking again. 

At the .8 mile mark is an old farm house.  I stop in the driveway before turning back and heading for home.  No one lives there, so I can take all the time I need.  But I didn't need that much time.  In the past, I would've been huffing and puffing at the top of that hill.  Not anymore.  My legs were tired, but the ol' cardio was chugging along fine. 

Walking out is mostly uphill, so walking back is mostly easier.  The hardest part is the last bit where I have to walk a steep stretch to get to the house.  Yesterday, the steep stretch was broken by encountering a neighbor right in the middle.  It was the new guy from in the woods across the street and his bloodhound puppy.  (7 months old and so damn cute I wanted to snuggle her up.)  By the time we got done chatting, that last bit of the walk was easy-peasy.

Anyway, I had a point I was going for there somewhere, but as with last night, I got distracted by the puppy.  All floppy ears and loose skin and big soulful eyes.  And her name was Gertrude, which seemed to fit.  I mean, who could resist?

Ahem... the point...

Goals?  Determination?  Fighting through the pain to get where you want to go? 

I could hop into the Wayback Machine and remind myself that there was a time when I was told I would never walk right again.  I still have my cane in the corner of the bedroom.  But it's covered in dust now because I never need it and I don't remember it's there long enough to run a rag over it.  And that's where thoughts of my bad leg belong - in the corner, covered in dust.  Right now, the cane's best purpose is self-defense.  I could conceivably grab it and swing for the fences at any intruder.  (The handle is specially molded to be wide and spread any weight over a greater area of my hand.  Imagine getting whacked upside the head with that sucker.) 

Maybe that's the point... not hitting an intruder with a cane, but the idea that despite what we are told we cannot do, we need to move forward and do it anyway.  Screw the naysayers.  Even when the biggest naysayer is that little voice inside ourselves.

Goals for the New Year

Yeah, I don't do resolutions, so here are some goals I'm setting for myself this year:

1)  Read 90 books.  I read 95 last year with a hard publishing schedule, so I should be able to do at least 90 this year.

2)  Do something active at least 4 days a week.

3)  Publish at least two books.  I did four last year and two the year before, so somewhere between those should be doable.  :knocks on wood:

4)  Take more pictures.  I kind of got out of the habit of taking pictures last year.

5)  Read at least 12 new-to-me authors again, BUT also read at least 6 sequels to books I've already enjoyed and review those, too.  Sequels always have so many fewer reviews, but they need some lovin' too.

I think that pretty much covers the major goals for the year.  I had some weight loss on there, but since losing weight isn't the point of this, I dropped it.  If I lose weight, awesome.  If not, as long as I feel good and stay active, it's a win.

I also thought about putting some sales goals out there.  Umm, I don't have a lot of control over that, so why set myself up for failure?  I might still put something over at Outside the Box - publishing goals, etc.  We'll see.  I'm being leery this year about setting a publication schedule.  :shrug:

What are some goals you have for the year?

2019 - Books Read

First day of the new year and first book finished.  Yay.  Much better than last year when I didn't finish a book until February.  Ugh.

My goal this year is to read 90 books.  I set my goal last year at 70, then had to up it to 80, then up it to 90, then up it to 95.  I hit that, but just barely.  So, 90 this year it is.  :fingers crossed:

As always, the books are listed in reverse date order with the newest first and the oldest last.  An * means ebook.  A # means 'new to me and underappreciated' - same goal there as last year, one a month.  This year, I'm also going to try to read and review at least six 'Book 2s', because the second book almost never gets the same lovin' as its older sibling.  I'll mark those with a 2.

And now, without further ado, here's the list.  (It's short now.  Give it time.)

Update:  September - Increased my goal to 120 books.
Update to update: Didn't consider that November I'd be writing.  Probably will miss the new goal.

120) To Hell and Gone in Texas by Russ Hall (12/29/19) - Hard-Boiled Crime*#
119) Resolution by Linda Winstead Jones (12/28/19) - Romance*#
118) The Secret of Seaside by Agatha Ball (12/27/19) - Mystery*
117) Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie (12/27/19) - Mystery
116) The InBetween by Dick Wybrow (12/25/19) - Urban Fantasy*#
115) Adam (Farraday Country #1) by Chris Keniston (12/22/19) - Romance*
114) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (12/21/19) - Literature
113) Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie (12/18/19) - Mystery Short Stories
112) The Bug Hunter by Ken Davenport (12/17/19) - Technothriller*#
111) Black Candle by HP Bayne (12/12/19) - Paranormal Suspense*#
110) The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (12/10/19) - Mystery
109) Bad Boy: Invertary #5  by Janet Elizabeth Henderson (12/9/19) - Romance*
108) Chancy by Louis L'Amour (12/7/19) - Western
107) All the Snake Handlers I Know Are Dead by Dennis Danvers (12/4/19) - Paranormal Romance*#
106) Past Due by Richard Stockford (12/2/19) - Mystery*#
105) The Flaw in All Magic by Ben S. Dobson (12/1/19) - Fantasy Mystery*
104) Separation of Power by Vince Flynn (11/29/19) - Political Thriller
103) The Witness Tree by Seth Pevey (11/21/19) - Noir Mystery*#3
102) Murder, Mayhem, and Bliss by LouLou Harrington (11/14/19) - Mystery*
101) Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean (11/11/19) - Action
100) Epitaph by Karla Brandenburg (11/9/19) - Romantic Suspense*#
99) Trail of the Hana K'ilo by Channing Whitaker (11/5/19) - Mystery*#2
98) One Night in Drake Mansion by Channing Whitaker (10/25/19) - Mystery*
97) The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren (10/18/19) - Cozy Paranormal Mystery*
96) The Assassin by Stephen Coonts (10/15/19) - Political Thriller
95) Billy Blacksmith: The Demonslayer by Ben Ireland (10/10/19) - MG UF*#
94) Sea Siege by Andre Norton (10/8/19) - SF/Post Apocalyptic
93) Sad Cypress by Agatha Christire (10/6/19) - Mystery
92) Corruption of Identity by Jonathan Small (10/5/19) - Paranormal Suspense?*#
91) Last Call for Peregrine Walpole by Steven Elvy (9/30/19) - Mystery*#
90) Kalanon's Rising by Darian Smith (9/22/19) - Fantasy Mystery*#
89) Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (9/20/19) - Mystery
88) Death in Nostalgia City by Mark S. Bacon (9/18/19) - Mystery *#
87) Accidental Archaeologist by Kathryn Wells (9/14/19) - YA Fantasy*#2
86) Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes (9/10/19) - Suspense
85) How to Flunk Magic by Elena Bryce/Stella Wilkinson (9/6/19) - YA Paranormal Romance*
84) The Tetradome Run by Spencer Baum (9/3/19) - Dystopian*
83) From This Moment On by Debra Clopton (9/1/19) - Romance*
82) I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen (8/30/19) - Suspense
81) A Holiday for Murder by Agatha Christie (8/27/19) - Mystery
80) Demon in a Jazz Bar by Christopher A. Gray (8/25/19) - Urban Fantasy?*#
79) Lost Magic by Alexandria Clarke (8/25/19) - Paranormal Mystery*#
78) The Third Option by Vince Flynn (8/24/19) - Political Thriller
77) Curtains for Romeo by Jessa Archer (8/19/19) - Cozy Mystery *#
76) Magic Harvest (Fairy Trafficking #1) by Mary Karlik (8/16/19) - Paranormal Suspense*#
75) Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (8/10/19) - Mystery
74) For Fox Sake by Emma Dean (8/8/19) - Paranormal Romance/UF*
73) Curiosity Killed the Cat by TH Hunter (8/5/19) - Paranormal Mystery*#
72) Omega Games (Stardoc #8) by SL Viehl (8/3/19) - SF
71) Maggie's Run (Outback Brides #1) by Kelly Hunter (8/3/19) - Romance*
70) A Hopeless Murder by Daniel Carson (8/1/19) - Cozy Mystery*#
69) All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot (7/31/19) - Memoir
68) Fairy Tales Can Come True by Silver James (7/21/19) - Romance*
67) Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie (7/19/19) - Mystery
66) Epitaph: The Necromancer Thanotography #2 by Shane Simmons (7/18/19) - UF*#2
65) Necropolis: The Necromancer Thanotography #1 by Shane Simmons (7/15/19) - UF*#
64) Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag (7/12/19) - Suspense
63) Tentacles and Teeth by Ariele Sieling (7/4/19) - YA Post-apocalyptic F*#
62) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (7/1/19) - Literature
61) Hostile Witness by Rebecca Forster (6/30/19) - Courtroom Thriller*
60) The Predator and the Prey by KC Sivils(6/26/19) - SF Suspense*#
59) The Snake by Mickey Spillane (6/23/19) - Hard-boiled Crime
58) Murder in the Forbidden City by Amanda Roberts (6/22/19) - Mystery*
57) Forceful Intent (Porter #1) by RA McGee (6/21/19) - Suspense*
56) The Big Four by Agatha Christie (6/14/19) - Mystery
55) Birthright (Cog Chronicles #1) by PM Cole (6/16/19) - Steampunk Paranormal*#
54) Possum Creek Massacre by Cedar Sanderson (6/11/19) - Paranormal Suspense*
53) Too Far Gone by Allison Brennan (6/9/19) - Suspense
52) Mildred in Disguise With Diamonds by Toni Kief (6/7/19) - Mystery*#
51) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (6/6/19) - Mystery
50) A Treasury of Great Science Fiction: Vol 1 by Various (6/3/19) - SF
49) Storm Breather by Arthur King (6/3/19) - Fantasy *#
48) Death Report by Erik Racker (6/1/19) - Suspense*#
47) The Passage of Kings by Anant V. Goswami (5/26/19) - Fantasy*#
46) Ghost of a Chance (Maggie Mulgrew #1) by Cate Dean (5/23/19) - Mystery*
45) Neither Five Nor Three by Helen MacInnes (5/22/19) - Suspense
44) Twice Shy by Mona Ingram (5/18/19) - Romance*#
43) Crescent Calling by Nicole R. Taylor (5/18/19) - Paranormal Romance*
42) Silversword by Phyllis Whitney (5/16/19) - Romantic Suspense
41) Husk by D.P. Prior (5/15/19) - Western SF/UF*#
40) Crash & Burn by Silver James (5/10/19) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
39) Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh (5/9/19) - Mystery
38) The Devil's Pets by Alex Siegel (5/5/19) - UF*#
37) By Dawn's Early Light by Jason Fuesting (5/3/19) - SF*#
36) Flaming Tree by Phyllis A Whitney (5/1/19) - Romantic Suspense
35) Ronin (Col Sec Thriller #1) by Jan Domagala (4/29/19) - SF*#
34) My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara (4/23/19) - MG Coming of Age
33) Blues, Butterflies, and Murder by LouLou Harrington (4/20/19) - Cozy Mystery*#
32) Gardenias and a Grave Mistake by Ruby Loren (4/14/19) - Cozy Mystery*
31) Ready to Were (Shift Happens #1) by Robyn Peterman (4/13/19) - Paranormal Romance*
30) The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (4/13/19) - Mystery
29) Lights, Camera, Action by Heather Silvio (4/10/19) - Paranormal Mystery/Romance*#
28) Timothy Williams Demon Hunter by Iestyn Long (4/8/19) - MG UF*#
27) Roots of Misfortune by Seth Pevey (4/1/19) - Suspense - Suspense*2
26) Dig Two Graves (Solomon Gray #1) by Keith Nixon (3/31/19) - Suspense*
25) Life with Father / Life with Mother by Clarence Day (3/27/19) - Memoir
24) All Those Lies by Emmy Ellis (3/21/19) - Suspense*#
23) Taken (Rune Witch #1) by Victoria DeLuis (3/21/19) - Urban Fantasy*
22) Valley of the Butterflies by Anne Shore (3/15/19) - Romance
21) Death on Tyneside by Eileen Thorton (3/10/19) - Mystery*2
20) Empire's Scion by BC Kellogg (3/8/19) - SF*#
19) Billionaire Country by Silver James (3/8/19) - Romance
18) The Holly House Mystery (Inspector Chance #1.5) by John Bainbridge (3/1/19) - Mystery*2
17) The Glass Flame by Phyllis Whitney (2/28/19) - Romantic Suspense
16) Target: Mike Shayne by Brett Halliday (2/19/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
15) The Horrendous Imaginings: Theft of Sapphire by Joseph Daniel (2/16/19) - MG Fantasy*#
14) Mind of a Killer by Dan Padavona (2/14/19) - Suspense*#
13) Evonne and Vraag: Bounty Hunters by Jeremy Hayes (2/10/19) - Fantasy*#
12) Dial P for Poison by Zara Keane (2/8/19) - Cozy Mystery*
11) Agent of Enchantment (Dark Fae FBI #1) by CN Crawford (2/7/19) - Paranormal Suspense*
10) The Seafront Corpse (Inspector Chance #1) by John Bainbridge (2/2/19) - Historical Mystery*#
9) Unofficial Detective by Kathryn Wells (1/28/19) - Magical Mystery*
8) All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (1/25/19) - Memoir
7) Shoot to Kill by Brett Halliday (1/17/19) - - Hard-boiled Crime
6) House Party Murder Rap by Sonia Parin (1/16/19) - Historical Mystery*#
5) A Tiger's Gift by Ariel Marie (1/13/19) - Paranormal Romance*
4) Thieves' Honor by David Combs (1/13/19) - Fantasy*#
3) Code Onyx by Val St. Crowe (1/8/19) - Urban Fantasy*#
2) Bottling It by A.A. Albright (1/6/19) - Paranormal Mystery*
1) Alfred Hitchcock's Daring Detectives by Various (1/1/19) - Mystery Anthology

What are your reading goals for the year?  Did you reach yours last year?

Sunday Update - Week 52

It's the last Update of the year. End of week, end of month, end of year.  Ugh.

Not much went on.  Not much ever goes on in the last week of the year.  Maybe some frantic dashes to get the year wrapped up, but I was pretty on the ball earlier in the month, so no frenzy for me.  Just coasting.

I did have a sale this past week.  It ends tonight at midnight.  Dying Embers, Fertile Ground, and Early Grave all went on sale.  Between the paid ads and the FB group posts, I've had some good movement.  The ads haven't paid for themselves yet, but I expect page reads to take care of that over the next week or so.  Suffice it to say, the sale made this the best December I've had yet for sales.

I've written wrap-up posts for both The Writing Spectacle and Outside the Box for tomorrow.

I only finished one book before the wrap-up and finished another book on Saturday. They were both kind of long. Interesting but not fast reads.

There was, of course, Christmas.  Which was pretty much like any other day here.  Except for the Christmas music/movies and the food.  The London Broil turned out okay.  It was much better as leftovers.  The twice-baked potatoes were awesome.  As was the Black Forest cake.

I made a pork roast on Friday that was to die for.  And Saturday was vat of spaghetti day.  Always a fan favorite.  Today, we eat leftovers.

Plans for the week ahead?  I have some spreadsheet work to do.  And some more wrap-up stuff.  And I really need to sit down and make some goals for 2019 - both personally and professionally.  I know I plan to get back on track with my exercise/activity goal.  Maybe lose some more poundage.

And hey, yesterday, Dying Embers went over 1000 copies sold!   That's over 4 years, but it's still a win.

See ya next week for the first Update of 2019.

What was going on in your life for the last week of 2018?

Sunday Update - Week 11

I keep having to tell myself that this is, in fact, Sunday.  Some little part of my brain refuses to believe it.  But yeah, it's Sunday and here we are again.

I got some editing done.  Not nearly enough, but some.  I'm about halfway through this round now, and I contacted my editor for an extension because this was supposed to be back in her hands by the 16th.  Derp.  Anyway, I'm trying to get my gumption into gear.  Seriously, I am. 

I've been trying to catch up on some reading, too.  I finished 3 books last week.  DJ Salibury's book Sorcery's Child kicked butt.  Then I read one of Kristen Painter's Nocturne Falls books, Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case which rocked.  Finally, I inhaled a book yesterday that I bought on a whim - by a new to me, underappreciated author (first one of those this year).  Sherlock Holmes and the Cult of Cthulhu was totally enthralling.  Three for three on the good books.  Yay!

I've been playing around with some stuff self-publishing endeavor wise.  You'll learn more about that tomorrow on Outside the Box. 

Fishing finally happened.  Once.  And I caught one fish.  A female spotted bass about 13" long.  Under the limit, but man, was she ever fat n feisty.  Pre-spawn is in gear.  Here's hoping I can get out more this week, but I'm not holding my breath.  I have adulty stuff to do.

Last week, out of the blue, I got contacted by a distant cousin - my great-grandfather's brother's grandson.  He'd read a post I did back in 2012 about my grandparents and decided to touch base.  It's pretty cool.  He's already given me some info and pictures I didn't have.  And I'm returning the favor.  =o)

In the exercising realm, I hit the reset on my goal and I'm back to doing something active every day... Well, almost every day.  I hit 5 out of 7 days last week.  Some of those days I did more than one active thing, so it's all good.  Along the same lines, my diet is getting there.  I managed to get all the way through Walmart without buying ice cream.  I'm slowly weaning myself off Mtn. Dew.  (At home, at least.  I still need it when I drive.  It's a thing.)  We had ocean perch for dinner last night.  It was okay, but I still prefer my fresh caught fish or salmon.  Haven't lost any more weight, but that's okay.  I don't do this to lose weight, I do it to get off my dead ass.

Speaking of which, I should go do something this morning instead of writing blogs and hanging out.  Oh, but before I go, don't forget that Accidental Death is going to be free this week and Natural Causes is going to be on sale for 99c.  If you don't have copies, now would be the time to get them. 

Later days, dudes. 

2018 Books Read

Umm, yeah, this is way later than I usually do my 'books read' post, but that's because I chose a honker of a book to read first.  And I was also wrapped up in editing and publishing.

I have  had a goal to read 70 books this year.  Whether that'll happen after this behemoth of a book?  Time will tell.  As always * will mean ebook, # will mean new-to-me, underappreciated author.

New symbol: ? after the genre means I'm not sure what it was supposed to be so I guessed.

8/5/18 - Increased goal to 80 books.

9/9/18 - Increased goal to 90 books.

11/17/18 - Increased goal to 95 books

So, anyway, here's the list....

95) Fly Away Home by Genevieve Davis (12/29/18) - Romantic Suspense*#
94) Ebola Cell by RJ Spears and Scott Spears (12/26/18) - Thriller*#
93) Murder and the Wanton Bride by Brett Halliday (12/21/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
92) Blame the Mistletoe by Dani Collins (12/20/18) - Romance*
91) Hand in Glove (Roderick Alleyn #22) by Ngaio Marsh (12/18/18) - Mystery
90) The Stone Bull by Phyllis A. Whitney (12/9/18) - Romantic Suspense
89) Mr, Smith and the Roach by JJ DiBenedetto (12/6/18) - Hard-boiled SF Crime*#
88) Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn (12/5/18) - Political Thriller
87) High Profile (Jesse Stone #6) by Robert B. Parker (12/1/18) - Crime
86) A Matter of Love and Death by Caron Albright (11/30/18) - Historical Mystery*#
85) Purrfect Murder (Hazel Hart #1) by Louise Lynn (11/23/18) - Cozy Mystery*
84) The Affair of the Mutilated Mink by James Anderson (11/17/18) - Mystery
83) The Reckoning by Kerry Watts (11/16/18) - Suspense*#
82) Peril at End House by Agatha Christie (11/13/18) - Mystery
81) Discarded (Dumpstermancer #1) by Michael J. Allen (11/11/18) - UF*#
80) The Golden Unicorn by Phyllis A. Whitney (11/10/18) - Romantic Suspense
79) The Snow in Her Eyes by Cedar Sanderson (11/6/18) - UF*
78) The Opening Chase by Cap Daniels (11/6/18) - Suspense*
77) Meg & The Mystery Man by Elise Title (11/1/18) - Romance
76) When Eight Bells Toll by Alistair MacLean (10/14/18) - Action Thriller
75) Amazon Decoded: A Marketing Guide to the Kindle Store by David Gaughran (10/9/18) - NF*
74) Magic Born (Dragon Mage #1) - by Dylan Chick (10/8/18) - UF*
73) An Occupied Grave by AG Barnett (10/7/18) - Mystery*
72) Resurgence (Demon Spring #1) by S. Usher Evans (10/5/18) - Urban Fantasy*#
71) Crocodile Creek by Valerie Parv (10/3/18) - Romance
70) The Krewe by Seth Pevey (9/29/18) - Suspense*#
69) The By-Pass Control by Mickey Spillane (9/28/18) - Thriller
68) Mum's the Word for Murder by Brett Halliday (9/20/18) - Crime Novel
67) Outback Summer by Nancy John (9/15/18) - Romance
66) My Life Among the Serial Killers by Morrison and Goldberg (9/13/18) - NF
65) Rascal by Sterling North (9/9/18) - Memoir
64) Secret of the Lost Race by Andre Norton (9/8/18) - SF
63) Cambodia Clash (Mack Bolan Executioner #65) by Some Author (9/7/18) - Action/Adventure
62) Shade Chaser (City of Crows #2) by Clara Coulson (9/3/18) - Urban Fantasy*
61) Sabercat by TL Knighton (8/29/18) - SF*#
60) Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose (8/27/18) - History
/59) Suddenly Sorceress by Erica Lucke Dean (8/24/18) - Paranormal Romance*
58) A Scone to Die For by HY Hanna (8/23/18) - Cozy Mystery*
57) Under the Assassin's Moon by Silver James (8/22/18) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
56) Soul Breaker (City of Crows #1) by Clara Coulson (8/20/18) - Urban Fantasy*
55) Prince of Poison by J. Douglas (8/13/18) - Fantasy*#
54) The Haunting of Hattie Hastings: Part One by Audrey Davis (8/6/18) - Paranormal Chick Lit?*
53) M in the Demon Realm by Mark William Hammond (8/5/18) - Urban Fantasy*
52) Puppet on a Chain by Alistair MacLean (8/3/18) - Suspense
51) Murder Most Thorny (Myrtle Grove Garden Club #2) by LouLou Harrington (8/1/18) - Cozy Mystery*
50) Ghosts of Pinkerton: Vampire and The Frenchman by Andy DeJong (7/30/18) - Supernatural Adventure?*
49) The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton (7/29/18) - Technothriller
48) Dead Wizard's Loot by DJ Salisbury (7/26/18) - Fantasy*
47) Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (7/21/18)- Romantic Suspense
46) Term Limits by Vince Flynn (7/15/18) - Political Thriller
45) Off Leash (Freelance Familiars #1) by Daniel Potter and Marianne Fox (7/13/18) - Paranormal*
44) Die Like a Dog by Brett Halliday (7/11/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
43) Murder on Tyneside by Eileen Thornton (7/10/18) - Mystery*
42) Night Fall by Silver James (7/9/18) - Paranormal Romance*
41) Jade Star by Cedar Sanderson (7/8/18) - SF novella*
40) The Unknown Twin by Kathryn Shay (7/8/18) - Romance
39) Magic's Child by DJ Salisbury (7/7/18) - Fantasy*
38) The Shadow of the Lynx by Victoria Holt (7/4/18) - Historical Romantic Suspense
37) Wizard's Child by DJ Salisbury (6/30/18) - Fantasy*
36) No Shirt, No Shoes, No Spells by Rose Pressey (6/29/18) - Paranormal Romance*
35) State of the Union by Brad Thor (6/28/18) - Political Thriller
34) Trials of Rumpole by John Mortimer (6/25/18) - Mystery short stories
33) The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by CW Grafton (6/22/18) - Hard-Boiled Mystery#
32) The Blunt End of Oblivion by LJ Simpson (6/21/18) - SF*
31) Cleaver Square (DCI Morton #2) by Daniel Campbell & Sean Campbell (6/16/18) - Suspense*
30) The Secret Poison Garden by Maureen Klovers (6/15/18) - Mystery*#
29) Alchemy's Child by DJ Salisbury (6/14/18) - Fantasy*
28) Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (6/10/18) - Historical Mystery
27) That Ol' Black Magic by Silver James (6/8/18) - Urban Fantasy*
26) Drained by EH Reinhard (6/7/18) - Suspense*
25) His Cowboy Heart by Jennifer Ryan (6/6/18) - Romance
24) Panic by KR Griffiths (6/3/18) - Horror*
23) Dead on Demand (DCI Morton #1) by Daniel Campbell & Sean Campbell (6/2/18) - Suspense*
22) The Blunt End of the Service by LJ Simpson (5/28/18) - SF*#
21) A Grave Mistake by Alexander Tarler (5/26/18) - Fantasy*#
20) Where There's Smoke... by Laura Abbot (5/19/18) - Romance
19) Dragon's Child by DJ Salisbury (5/19/18) - Fantasy*
18) The Hitwoman in a Pickle by JB Lynn (5/17/18) - Mystery*
17) Deadly Welcome by John D. MacDonald (5/13/18) - Crime Novel
16) The Convenient Cadaver by Matt Ferraz (5/12/18) - Mystery*#
15) Too Friendly, Too Dead by Brett Halliday, Robert McGinnis (4/22/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
14) Murder on Aisle Three by Megan Rivers (4/21/18) - Mystery*#
13) Murder Over Cocktails by Nancy Skopin (4/20/18) - Mystery*
12) Ice Crown by Andre Norton (4/19/18) - SF/F
11) The Price of Murder by John D. MacDonald (4/15/18) - Crime Novel
10) The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore (4/14/18) - MG Adventure*
9) Montana Moon by Silver James (4/13/18) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
8) Serpent's Child by DJ Salisbury (3/27/18) - Fantasy*
7) Star Flight by Phyllis A. Whitney (3/22/18) - Romantic Suspense
6) Sherlock Holmes and the Cult of Cthulhu by James G. Boswell (3/17/18) - Mystery*#
5) Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case by Kristen Painter (3/16/18) - Paranormal Mystery*
4) Sorcery's Child by DJ Salisbury (3/13/18) - Fantasy*
3) The Big Kill by Mickey Spillane (3/4/18) - Hard-boiled Crime
2) The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin by L. Jagi Lamplighter (3/4/18) - YA Fantasy*
1) Shogun by James Clavell (2/25/18) - Epic Historical Adventure