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!

Scatterbrained

Sorry I've been absent a lot from the interwebs lately.  I have a decided lack of gumption and I think my bookstraps are broke.  

In happier news, Elon Musk did it.  He bought Twitter.  Now, I'm not an Elon Musk fan, per se, because he's been a little free with the government subsidies over the years, but if he can turn this wholesale censorship thing around, I might revise my opinion.  Let's say I'm guardedly optimistic.  I might be able to dust off the old Twitter password and give it a whirl in the coming days.  It's probably been 4-5 years since I was on there. (My FB page posts to Twitter automatically, but I haven't actually been in there.)

I peopled too much yesterday.  First there was a flurry of emails with the pay-job.  Then after dinner, I noticed the neighbor out in their yard and I needed to chat with them about the possibility of rehoming some of my scads of irises.  They'll be happy to take them.  Yay.  But yeah, all that stuff is tiring to a hermit.

I keep forgetting that the people who moved into the new house next door have actually lived here longer than I have, so I have a tendency to offer bits of 'wisdom' about the neighborhood.  (The dude actually grew up here in the house behind ours.  And this house once belonged to his grandparents.  Derp.)  And then afterwards, I feel like a stoop.  Hopefully, they take it with the good-intent it is offered and don't think I think they're idiots.  I'm just a social retard.  I'll settle for 'that weird but nice old lady next door'.

The other day, a name from my past popped into my head.  He was the neuro-psychologist assigned to my case.  I wonder if he'd appreciate an email.  I never did thank him for all the work he did.

I might splurge today and buy dirt.  It's a little late to start a container garden, but I could try.  It was a lot of work last year for very little in the way of edible fruits of my labor.  Still, it gave me something to do and the illusion of productivity.  Sometimes it's all about the illusion, baby.  I'm also playing with the idea of putting veggies in my flower garden.  About the only things that survived the move are the peonies.  And, of course, irises.  Scads, I tell you.

Well, time to toddle off.  Feel free to drop anything from your own scattered brain in the comments.

Sunday... err... Monday Update? Week 12

Wow, I totally brainfarted out there yesterday, didn't I?  Last night, I was sitting here playing poker when something flashed in my head like a mental meteorite strike...  "It's Sunday, isn't it?" So, here we are on Monday with the Sunday Update.  Sorry about that.  For some reason, I thought yesterday was Monday.  Don't ask.

Anyway, I have finished all but the formatting and uploading of Rumor Has It.  And I still need to do a Goodreads listing.  I had planned to do all of that yesterday, but yesterday didn't go as planned.  Obviously.  I was so totally not in a place to do anything that required thought.  I printed off my formatting checklist in hopes that eventually my brain would turn over, but like a sad car, it just kept doing that rrr rrr rrr noise.  Of course, as soon as my head hit the pillow the old brain was all like 'Hey!  Hi!  Remember when you did that one thing in 1982... 1975... 1999...?  Let's revisit those events from every possible angle!  And plan a garden!  A think about the cat!  And decide what to do about dinner! Did you remember to do that spreadsheet?  I want a puppy!"

Anyway... the plan is to drink loads of coffee and get to work today.  Except I have to run out for smokes at some point.  My brain, having been up all night, is ready for a nap, so I'd better get this post done before it falls asleep again.

Those of you who are anxiously waiting for Duke, have pity on me.

As for the rest of the week... 

I read a couple pretty good books.  And I'm in the last half of reading another good one.  

I made apple bread again.  

On the activity front, I've started working in the gardens again.  Getting the leaves removed and weeding.  I also took a couple walks.  Weight: 184.6 - down a pound.  

As for gardening, I bought a new peony and planted it yesterday.  I also bought some more hollyhocks which will go in as soon as I clean out the garage bed.  And I bought three packs of vegetable seeds and a bag of dirt to start my container garden.  Hubs went into the garage and found a boatload of old containers I'd kept from all the plants I've planted over the last eight years.  So we're good to go on that.  To start, we'll have a go at tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots.  I'm also going to try planting zucchini in the rosebed.  I'll talk about the plans more tomorrow or something.

During said yardwork, I torqued my wrist or something.  I have craptastic wrists, so it's not surprising or even concerning.  It is however, hard to do anything with my hands when my wrists are being stupid.  I spent a lot of yesterday with my old friends, Aspercreme and Aleve.  I also trotted out my really old friend Ace Bandage.  It's better today.  

I'm sure there are other things that happened, but it's Monday, and I really need to get going today.  (Which is why I generally write this posts on Sunday.  Derp.)  Have a good one.  And if you're inclined, leave a comment.  =o)

  

Got Stuck in a Time Warp or Something

Wow, I totally brainfarted out yesterday.  This morning, I was all like 'time to write the Tuesday post'.  Except it's not Tuesday.  What happened to Tuesday???  Seriously.  It was like I got caught in a time warp or something because Tuesday is totally lost.

How the hell are all of you?

Oh, and I have a sale starting today.  Wish in One Hand is free and all the other genie books are 99c for the next 5 days.  If you were looking for something fun to give someone, there ya go.  Loads of fun without a load of expense.  Cuz, lord knows, we don't need any more expenses right now.  Am I right?

Tuesday Yatters

It's Tuesday.  I only say that because sometimes I need a reminder of what day it is.  Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday.

The bird on my calendar today is the Northern Saw-whet Owl.  So cute.

My mouse is dying.  Right now, I'm at the point where it's still more of a pain in the ass to change the mouse than the mouse is itself.  When the scales tip*, I'll chuck this one for the new one I have in the storage closet.  Always have a backup mouse.  Trust me on that one.  Lucky for me, my new computer came with a new mouse and a new keyboard.  Yay.

I haven't been writing.  Well, today's the day to kick myself in the ass again.  September Get Off Your Ass and Write?  Silver came up with something, but I don't remember what it was and I'm too lazy to go search her blog.  SeeMeWriMo, maybe?  See Me Write More? Maybe she'll drop by later and tell me.

Also, I need to edit Cinder Ugly.  I did start that on Saturday.  But I didn't note it anywhere but in my activity log.

Ah, the activity log.  It's actually called the 2020 Weight Activity Log.  I started it at the beginning of the year to keep track of my weight and exercise.  And then I added columns for writing and editing, so everything I do is all in one place.  Now it's easy to scroll up and down and see where I'm at.  Kicks me in the ass to actually do stuff, because days with nothing on them are just sad.

Speaking of spreadsheets, sales have been so sucky that I haven't even worked on the September stuff for those.  =o\

What to do for dinner... chicken or fish...  We had hotdogs last night and fish the night before.  Chicken, it is.

I'm really craving a big fat juicy cheeseburger, but I only have enough for one more burger meal before the next Wallyworld trip, which'll be next week.  Burgers now or burgers later?  Oh, the quandaries.

The wind blew so hard here the other day that it took a sheet of roofing stuff (white stuff, says Lowes... not sure what it's called) off the neighbor's new build and hung it from a tree.  There's probably 20-30 feet of it hanging up there.  It's quite a sight.

Okay, I've yattered at you enough for now.  What's up in your worlds?  Yatter away.

*Just after I posted this, the scales tipped and I got out the new mouse.  It's smaller and louder with the clicking and scrolling, but it'll do.

Ramblings on a Braindead Tuesday Morning

I am slightly braindead today.  Shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.  Some mornings are better than others.  This is not one of the better ones.  More coffee!  STAT!

In computer news, I figured out what the hell is up with my image software.  It's a long story I won't bore you with.  Suffice it to say, it should be fixed later this morning.  I also discovered that I need to transfer my Outlook data - even though we're not using Outlook at the office anymore - because I have old emails in there that I still need.

After not having written for quite some time, I'm writing again and discovering that the writing muscles in my hands and arms have atrophied.  I cranked out a thousand words last night and oh, ow.  If not for the hand cramps, etc., I probably could've written at least another thou.  Stupid atrophy.

You know when someone says something and you can't think of an appropriate response right then, but later you think of all the things you could've said only now it's too late?  I'm like that all the time.  I'm still finishing arguments in my head that occurred years ago.

I was out in the world yesterday.  I only encountered one couple with masks on, and they were sufficiently old that I could understand why they felt the need.  They weren't wearing them right, but if it makes them feel better, more power to them.  I still haven't worn a mask and I won't unless I'm backed into a corner.

I'm not sure what's up with the half-shaved head craze, but I don't think it looks good on anyone.  It's like they're prepping for Thunderdome.  Of course, I'm also not thrilled with oddly-colored hair.  Blue?  Seriously?  It's reminds me of that scene in Jumpin' Jack Flash where Terry is hopped up on truth serum and she runs into a punk couple... "Oh, look!  A tropical fish and its mate!"  Then again, I still want to yell 'Fleet's in!' when I see someone with tattoos.  Yeah, I'm an old fuddy-duddy.

Speaking of Whoopie, she's totally ruined her movies for me.  Which sucks because I really loved Jumpin' Jack Flash.  Stupid celebrities and their shitty opinions.  Can't watch Lethal Weapon anymore.  Can't watch Silence of the Lambs anymore.  Can't watch a lot of things anymore.  I can't divorce the actor from the character long enough to just enjoy the movies.  Wish I could... can't.  Bleh.  And don't get me started on The Simpsons. 

And that's more than enough out of me this morning.  Hopefully I'll think of something less random to talk about tomorrow.

Scatterbrained Again

I'm still pretty scatterbrained again.  It's an editing / writing thing with me.  The more my brain is fixated on writing or editing, the less I'm able to focus my efforts into a longer thought stream about non-writing related things.

Another thing that happens when I've been editing is the urge to edit everything.  Stuff I'm writing, stuff I'm reading, stuff I'm saying, stuff other people are writing or saying (which includes newspapers, ads, tv shows, news, and commercials) - nothing can escape my editbrain.  Luckily most of the corrections I make stay in my head.  And otherwise, Hubs is the only one to hear it and he's used to it.  The cat don't care.

Speaking of the cat, we've settled into a nice 5-6 hour litterbox schedule now.  As long as I wake up around 2-3am and take her to the litterbox, life is good.  And we haven't had any accidents since I started this. 

We heard an owl last night.  It was a great-horned.  They're so cool.

I broke my vow yesterday and bought ice cream.  And I ate a bowl as soon as I got home.  Almost made it two months without ice cream.  Actually today would've been two months.  I picked up something called Candybar Crunch- which I've had before.  It's not as good as I remembered.  I should've just gone with chocolate or vanilla, but if I was going to break my streak, it was going to be with something special.  Oh well. 

Last night, I wrote almost 2900 words.  I just sat down and started writing, without thinking about where it was going or what I was going to do.  Woo, getting all those words out was a relief and I really like where I headed.  Whether any of it makes sense in the whole scheme of the story will be decided in edits.

Why do I keep thinking it's Wednesday???  Argh.

How's your brain these days?  Scattered?  Walking the straight and narrow?  Gone?  Talk to me, people.  Give me the skinny.

Thursday This n That

Sitting here, smoking a cigarette and drinking my coffee, wondering why I'm not seeing the usual Wednesday posts at the top of my blogroll when a thought suddenly occurs to me... Oh!  It's Thursday.  Well, crap.  And this was after I knew it was Thursday enough to send my timesheet in to the office.  Derp.

The little gray cells they are wonderful things.  And also sometimes a little stupid.  (Yes, I have been reading Hercule Poirot.)

Yesterday, I was out and about.  While I was at the feed store, I used the last check in my checkbook, so I did what I always do - I scribbled a circle on my left hand to remind me to put new checks in the checkbook when I get home.  My friend who works there gave me a look - cuz like scribbling on one's hand is a bit nuts - so I explained what I was doing.  She thought that was a pretty good idea and I told her it was one of the little tricks I use because I'm brain damaged.  She laughed, because it is a pretty good joke, but then I told her the truth of it.  I don't know why I still feel the need to do that.  25 years is a long time and I should probably let that shit go.

It worked, btw.  I have new checks in my checkbook now.

The SCIU sale is underway.  My ad should be out sometime this morning.  :fingers crossed:

I know we saw our first fawn on the 10th, but a couple days ago, another fawn came scampering into the yard.  (It's mom was already here.)  So tiny.  So cute.  Still, didn't get a pic.  I didn't even think to grab the camera.  Then it and mom were gone.  We were pretty excited.

I never realized how much these blue candles smell like fabric softener sheets until this morning when I couldn't figure out why I was smelling dryer sheets when Hubs wasn't doing laundry and neither of us were wearing fresh out of the drawer clothes.  Derp.  At least it's nice to know the candles are working.

My eat an elephant thing seems to be working.  Or it was until yesterday when instead of eating any of either elephant, I did grocery shopping and marketing, then I read and watched Live PD.  Oh, well, today is another day.

How are the this n thats in your world?

Oh. It's Tuesday...

I slept late today, which means I didn't get up until quarter after five instead of quarter after four.  And I'm kind of brain dead this morning.  As in, it took me a bit of time to remember it was Tuesday.

As in sitting here wondering where the post I wrote yesterday didn't post this morning.  Umm, because I didn't write it.  I wrote some stuff for Saturday's reading wrap-up, but not an actual whole post.

As in discovering we had another thunderstorm last night.  Apparently it was a humdinger.  Totally missed it.  Thankfully, Hubs was monitoring it, so no worries about getting sucked up and dropped into Oz.

As in brainfarting out that I have a sale starting today.  I need to get started on marketing for that sometime soon.  After more coffee.

Thank goodness Hubs made me coffee or this morning would be a total wash.

In my defense, I took a forced-march walk after dinner last night.  One mile, twenty-two minutes. Probably tired me out enough to sleep like a rock and fog up my head.  Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.  Now I need to find a way to lift the fog. 

The coffee must be working because I just remembered I have a spreadsheet I need to do this morning.  I'm slowly getting there... and I just remembered I can't complete said spreadsheet because some data got left out and I need that before I can finish the darn thing.

Brain fog.  It's real, man.

Need more coffee.

Scatterbrained

So I woke up at around quarter after five and my first thought was 'it's Friday'.  My second thought was 'good thing I woke up early because I have the rest of that book to edit before I send it to my editor'.  I was out here sitting at the computer through a cup of coffee and a cigarette before I realized that it is, in fact, Thursday.  So now I have two days to get my work done.  Yay.

Yes, a writer has to edit their books before they send them to an editor.  Look at it as tidying up the house before the cleaning crew arrives.  Sure, they're coming to clean, but there are things you'd rather have tucked away before they get there.  (Not that I've ever paid anyone to clean my house, but I certainly wouldn't want my scanties laying on the bedroom floor, dirty dishes in the sink, or my piles of papers scattered around where they might be mistaken for garbage.)  So I'm cleaning before I send the manuscript off to the person who will look into the cracks and crevices - rooting out writerly dust bunnies and wiping down smudgy prose. 

Speaking of house cleaning, it still looks like a disaster area in here.  I'm cleaning a little at a time.  Which probably means that once I get to the end of the cleaning, I'll have to start over.  But that's all I have time for right now.  And Hubs has been furiously sanding every non-precipitating day he can.

To that end, here are pics of his work:

By the end of today, he'll have all the orange gone from that last picture, too.  Then all that's left is the back of the house and cleanup work.

I spent some time this morning researching book review sites here at The Indie Book Reviewer.  Most of the ones I looked at don't do suspense, but I'll keep going.  If I ever get a book review, I'll let ya know.

And now, I really need to get my scattered brain on track.  This book won't edit itself. 

What things have you scattered lately?