Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/31/20

Happy Halloween!  Now, on to the book stuff...

I only picked up one new ebook at the start of this week and I already read it.  Then last night, I picked up a couple more off of FB.  I have a romance left from before, and now I have a new mystery and a new UF to read.  Yay.  No new hardcopies this week, but I have tons of those on the shelves.

Books Read:

71) Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs (10/30/20) - Suspense - 5 stars.  Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  50c at the thrift store.
Review: "I'd never read this far back in the series before. If I hadn't picked this copy up at a thrift store, I probably would never have thought to go back this far. Now I need to find the first book in the series. Definitely thrilling. Also very interesting."

70) Groundskeeper: Raking Up the Dead (10/24/20) - Paranormal Mystery* - 5 stars.  The author isn't new to me, but as a new release, this is probably less appreciated than it should be. I follow the author on FB. When she said she had a new release, I scampered over to see what it was about and then one-clicked it at $1.99.
Review: "I inhaled it! This story was so much fun. I only wished there was more of it. I loved Chloe! And the whole idea of a cemetery caretaker actually taking care of the undead residents of the cemetery is brilliant. I hope the author writes more stories about this character.

DNFs:

10/27/20 - dark UF - free.  Meh.  I got about 18% in and decided I didn't really care enough about any of the characters to keep reading.  Which was too bad because the premise was pretty good and the world building was solid.  =o\

Currently reading... after I finished the suspense, I decided to spend the rest of the night watching TV and playing poker.  No clue what I'll pick up next to read.  Probably the one ebook I have left - a romance.

What was on your reading list this week?

Mental Meandering

 I'm brainfried this morning.  So let's do some mental meandering... or more this n that, if you will...

Yesterday at about 3:30 in the afternoon, the phone started blowing up with phone calls.  Nearly all of them leaving a message on my answering machine about a breach of my iCloud account and telling me I needed to talk to an Apple advisor.  And if I didn't want to press 1, then I could certainly call them at their toll-free number (315)232-8257.  1) I don't have an iCloud acct.  2) No Apple devices in this house.  3) 315 isn't toll-free.  It's an area code in NY state.  All the calls came from different 'local' numbers, so no exactly blockable.  I did some internet research and discovered this is an old scam.  And apparently the only way I can stop it is to order some blocking thing through my phone company.  We turned the ringer off.  From between 3:30 and 5, then again between 8 and 9p, we easily got 20 calls.  Add in the calls we're getting from what I assume are pollsters and telemarketers and Medicare enrollment hucksters, and it's a noisy house here.  Ring ring ring ring.... answering machine picks up and I get to hear my lovely voice telling people what number they've reached and to please leave a message... followed by the message if there is one or the dial tone if they've hung up.  Yay.  Not.

By the way, I've shifted most of my internet searching to Duck Duck Go.  They're okay.  A little slower than the behemoth G.  But they work for basic internet searches.  I still use the G every rare once in a while, when I need to know things like definitions because G puts them right there at the top.

I'm about this close >< to staying away from social media until after the election.  Unfortunately, I'm working a sale right now for which I'm using FB as my main advertising outlet.  

People really have gone batshit crazy lately.  I can think of several politicians who should've already been brought up on charges of sedition and treason.  Then again, it seems like there are lot of crimes these days for which no one is punished.  =o\

I'm old school, what can I say?  

Goodness this coffee tastes yummy this morning.  Hubs made it.  Not sure why the coffee tastes better when he makes it, but it often does.  It's not like we're using different coffee or more/less than the other person.  

I haven't moved my car in over a week.  I should probably do that so it stays in good running shape.  I know when my mom doesn't run her car often enough, the battery goes squonky on her.  

I tried the Salonpas patch thing on my shoulder yesterday.  It worked pretty good, except it left a red rectangle, which, according to the package, means I should stop using it.  "If redness occurs..." that sort of thing.  I think it's the adhesive.  I have a problem with adhesives on my skin.  The Blue Emu isn't working nearly as well as I had hoped.  Back to Aspercreme.  I mean, you'd think that something that costs as much as Blue Emu would work better than something that costs like $5.  If I'm paying four times more, it should work four times better.  Right?

I could yatter more.  Apparently being brainfried does not equal having nothing to say.  But I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled lives.  Have a great day.

And feel free to drop some meanderings of your own in the comments.

Thursday This n That

 In case you missed it, I have a new book (Cinder Ugly) up for pre-order right now and a sale going on (Once Upon a Djinn).  

Amazon, in its infinite wisdom, isn't showing pre-orders.  It's been a long time since I did a pre-order, but I'm pretty sure they used to show how many pre-orders I had.  I should have at least one (cuz I pre-ordered it).  

Amazon has also not grouped my A Model Curse books into a series yet.  I have a request in to them.  We'll see if it gets done before CU goes live.  (They used to do this automatically.  At least, they've done it for my other series.  :shrug:)

I'm not sure if it's the 'rona or Halloween or the approaching election, but twice this week I've had people screw up the attachment thing on emails I need.  Once, there was no attachment.  The other time, the attachment was wrong.  From totally different people.  Blerg.

Sometimes I have to remind myself 'you can't know what you don't know' and not feel stupid about things people point out that I didn't know.  (I don't think they meant to make me feel stupid.)  I mean, maybe I should've known.  But I didn't know such a thing even existed, so how could I have known that I didn't know?  Ya know?

I've been feeling kinda low these past couple days.  No big deal.  I only mention it because I woke up this morning with 'High Hopes' stuck in my head.  A positive song out of nowhere.  Part of me is all like 'yay'.  Part of me wants to punch myself in the brain.  It's like facing a cheerful person before you've had enough coffee to deal with all that cheer.

It's raining raining raining here.  The lake's gone up a foot in the past day or so.  Not a problem since the lake was a 'normal level' which means it can go up another 15 feet without causing a major problem.  Still, all this rain is making my yard look like a waterfall and it's really mushy out there.  It's also harshing my ability to take walks.  

I saw the cutest kitten posted on one of the rescue sites I follow and I wanted it in the worst way.  It was killer cute.  Death by cuteness cute.  This is not the time to be taking on a new pet - especially a kitten or a puppy.  I don't have the time or the energy or the patience for a baby animal right now.  And then there's Kira.  The old lady doesn't need that kind of irritation.  She's gotta be... what... 86 or so in cat years?   She takes up a lot of time and energy and patience all on her own.  Throw a new pet into that?  Nope.

And that's enough out of me.  What's up with you?

Busy Busy Busy

Okay, so after much foot-dragging and toadness, Cinder Ugly is available for pre-order.  (I will explain my reasoning for pre-order versus actual order tomorrow on Outside the Box.)  Now that it's live and I have a linky-loo, I have loads of work to do.  As in my post-publication checklist... 

Goodreads listing – add ASIN before the book goes live
Add book to your Amazon author page.
Verify book is on Amazon UK author page.
Update FB header.
Add book to all blog sidebars.
Update internal links inside book to Amazon
Post to the blogs
Post to FB pages
Post to Pinterest
Post to MEWE
Add book to appropriate Outside the Box book page
Update links on book page – US, UK, CA, AU
Bookmark Amazon pages – US, UK, CA, AU
Update back matter of all other books
Post to FB groups
Fall apart.

(The last item is optional and can be inserted anywhere along the way.)

The crossed off items are done.  Other items have to be done today.  Some of the other items are partially done.  (7:42pm Updated to reflect what I've done since this posted.)

I'm questioning the wisdom of doing all this and having a sale going on at the same time.  Really, I am.  It's a little crazypants right now. (In my head.  All outward appearances show the usual calm and relaxedness of every day life here.)

Launching a new book is a bit frazzling.  Thank goodness I make lists or I'd never remember all the things I have to do.  And I still have to do print versions of Cinder Ugly and Ugly and the Beast - which a totally different list.  Ugh.

I know I said I'd have a sale on the first two A Model Curse books next week, but I hit a speedbump.  Sleeping Ugly's 90 days in Kindle Select is up on the 5th, which makes it hard to schedule a sale to overlap two 90 day windows.  So, the sale will begin after Sleeping Ugly renews for another 90 days and it allows me to schedule a Kindle Countdown Deal.  All the little variables.  Blerg.

I need a clone.  None of this is hard, it's just all so tedious.  Not a fan of tedium.  I'd rather hand this all off to someone and say 'do it' and then not have to worry about it.  

So anyway, I'm busy busy busy.  Like a little bee.  Or a beaver.  Personally, I feel more like a beaver - fat and waddling and ready to curl up in my den and sleep.  But I'll get it all done.  Hopefully before the book goes live live next week.

Sunday Update - Week 43

Blerg.  I'm running late today.  Again.  Anyway...

In writing news, I got all the proofer notes in and input.  Friday, I fixed the last few things and started the formatting.  Then I fell down (figuratively) and didn't get anything else done.  Today.  Today I really need to get ahold of myself and get stuff done.  

In marketing news, I have a sale starting tomorrow for all the genie books - 99c each.  Get all four for less than $4.  I haven't set up any advertising, so this will be all FB posts and stuff.  Fingers crossed.  In a perfect world, I'd have the CU stuff done so I could put links in the backs of all the genies books.  This is not a perfect world.

I had a good reading week last week.  Yay.

I did something active every day. Once again, not active active, but active is active, eh?  Weight: 180 even.

Yesterday, I went a little goofy and started the day making apple-cranberry bread.  Then I made beef stew.  Then I got a wild hair and made homemade drop biscuits to have with the stew.  All that mixing and chopping and stirring... my arms are kinda ouchy today.  On the upside, we have loads of homemade stuffs to eat.

Also, yesterday, I saw a golden-crowned kinglet.  So cute!  They're a winter visitor here and it's nice to see them back again.

A new buck came to the yard yesterday.  One of his ears is flopped over, so he'll be easy to identify in years to come.  Hubs named him Lear.  (Short for Left Ear, but it fits with the kingly names theme this year.)  Arthur is looking well and his face is healing nicely.  Lumpy and the twins are also fine - although one of the twins is getting independent and not always right with mom when she comes to feed.

I think that's it.  I got up late, and the coffee isn't kicking in quite like it should yet.  What was up with you last week?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 10/24/20

Well hello there.  Sorry I'm late.  I meant to set this up last night and then totally brainfarted.  Anyway... It was a pretty good reading week, despite having two DNFs.  

I picked up two new ebooks - a romance and a paranormal romantic suspense.  I already read the latter and I started the last unread ebook I had from earlier in the month - a dark UF.  Guess I'd better start looking for some new ebooks.  No new hardcopies this week, but I am chock full of unread hardcopies right now anyway.

Books Read:

69) Night Wish (Nightriders MC #5) by Silver James (10/22/20) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*. 5 stars.  Not new to me, but underappreciated because it's a new release.  I hope it doesn't stay underappreciated for long.  It seriously rocked. I paid full price at the time of release: $2.99.
Review: "That... was... Amazing. I love Gen. I love Wizard. Okay, so maybe I wanted to poke Wizard in the eye a couple of times. Men, even Wolves, can be so dense sometimes. But it all works out. Good guys win. Bad guys die. All in a day's work for these Wolves. The only missing thing I would've wanted in this story was for that one chick to get a punch in the nose. Humpfh, maybe next time.

Warning, this book isn't for the faint of heart or the tender of sensibilities. There's sex. And swearing. And blood. So much awesome, though. If you can handle it, wade on in. Totally worth it."

68) Hook, Line and Murder by Thom Elkjer (10/20/20) - Mystery#.  5 stars.  New to me and underappreciated.  25c from the thrift store.
Review: "It started slow and I wasn't sure I was going to keep reading, but I forged ahead. It turned into quite the thrilling mystery. Enjoyable premise. Interesting characters. Satisfying resolution. Good stuff all the way around."

67) Mandrake and a Murder by Ruby Loren/Silver Nord (10/19/20) - Paranormal Mystery*. 5 stars.  New to me but not underappreciated.  Free off the ENT newsletter.
Review: "A fun little paranormal mystery."

DNFs:

10/23/20 - political thriller by one of my favorite authors in that genre.  50c at the thrift store.  Got a few pages in and discovered I just wasn't in the mood.  I set this one back on the shelf to read later.

10/21/20 - paranormal suspense.  25c at the thrift store.  Umm... I picked up the book because the cover hinted at a nice quirky paranormal.  As I read it, though, the beginning of the book had me wondering if perhaps the publisher had accidentally put a different manuscript between the covers.  (That happened to me once.)  I mean, the beginning was total suspense.  But I flipped through and the character names matched the blurb on the back, so I went with it.  Then it got to the paranormal part and it was just jarring against the initial set up.  No flow.  =o(

Currently reading... a dark urban fantasy ebook.  So far, so good.  

What was on your reading plate last week?

Thursday This n That

They have nicotine patches, which begs the question...  Why aren't there caffeine patches?  Man, I could really use one of those this morning.  Okay, several of those.  Don't judge.

Which reminds me of a funny I saw on FB yesterday... 'The idea of a domestic housewife implies that there are feral housewives.'  :gigglesnort:

The zucchini bread is almost gone for another year.  :sadface:  

Last night, Hubs and I watched Trump's rally in Gastonia, NC.  Wow.  The positive energy was palpable.  And it kind of restored my own positive energy - especially when there's so much negativity around these days.  If you haven't seen one, I'd totally recommend it.  Here, Newsmax was covering it. Not sure if anyone else was.

Years ago, a comedian (not sure which one... Carlin?  Williams?  Wright?) pointed out that the word politics comes from POLI - meaning many - and TICKS - meaning blood sucking organisms.  :gigglesnort:

Speaking of comedians, I've been watching reruns of Deal or No Deal.  I'm not sure what it is about that show that's so enthralling.  Part of it is the host, I'm, sure.  I love Howie Mandel, always have.  He was a hilarious stand-up comic.  He was a good actor on St. Elsewhere.  He's pretty good at the game show host thing, too.  Otherwise, it's just people picking cases and making decisions about whether to take the 'deal' or keep on picking cases in order to find out if the million is in their case.  Not much too it, really.  But yeah, enthralling.

I've also been watching Match Game a lot.  And of course, Perry Mason.  Last night's Perry Mason had a gal I see on Match Game a lot.  Too funny.  Oh, and Perry Mason has had Leonard Nimoy on it and DeForest Kelley.  (For people not in the Star Trek know, that's Spock and Bones.)  I wonder if Shatner ever did Perry Mason.  I know he did Match Game.  And I saw Scotty on Hazel the other day.  ROFL.

Okay, I've yattered enough this morning.  Got anything to yatter about?