The Olympics

I get why some of you are boycotting the Olympics.  Really, I do.  I'm not doing it, but I get it.  

For me, all the reasons to boycott the Olympics as an organization are stacked up against the individual athletes and their accomplishments.  Those kids have worked their asses off to get where they are and I'm going to support them, even if it's just me in my home cheering where they can't hear me.  I don't want to punish them over actions they had no part in and no control over.  

In a rational world, the athletes would en masse raise their voices against the stuff the organization is doing.  But as I've said before, we're in a far from rational world.  They're stuck working with the Olympics and I'm going to give them my support.  I mean, where else would most of these kids get to show their talents on a national stage?  It's not like ESPN is jumping over themselves to televise badminton.  They occasionally show swimming or running, but only the die-hard fans watch.  Right now, in this venue, it's their one shot to get the accolades they deserve for all their hard work.

So, yeah, I'm watching.  If you're boycotting to the point where you don't even want to read about it, stop reading here...

OMG, the girl - Chloe Dygert - who was in the cycling race and fell?  That spill was awful, but the fact that she got up, got back on her bike, and raced her heart out to win bronze was freakin' amazing.  She was feeling the pain when she walked up for an interview, and no wonder she was on the verge of tears after that fall, but go her.  I felt really bad for her, though.  If she hadn't fallen, she could've easily taken gold.  I wanted to give her a big, ol' hug.

I'm not sure what's up with our gymnastics girls.  Okay, so they're in first, but they're still making me sad. Poor Jade got knocked out of her best event - floor exercises - because she missed the landing on one of her passes and fell.  Now she can't compete in the finals for that event.  And none of the other girls even went up and hugged her after that.  Sad.  The men's side is worse.  But the bright spot is Paul Juda.  Go, Paul.

I'm also cheering on people of other nations.  Israel particularly, but any one of these individuals who represents my values is gonna get a big WOOHOO from me.   Screw the lousy organizations and the horrible policies of the countries they're competing for.  You go, guys.  

2021 - Books Read

Another year has begun.  And I finished my first book of 2021, so it's time to start the Books Read post for the year.  Over there on the left, you'll see I've done one every year since 2007. 

If you haven't been here before, here's the deal - Every book I read and finish goes here with links to the Goodreads page for it.  Most recent at the top.  Then I put title, author, date finished.  I list the genre I think suits it best.  * means ebook.  # means 'new to me and underappreciated'.  If there's a number after the #, it's where the book fits in the series (if I remember to do it).  

This year, I set the goal for 75 books.  That may change later in the year if I'm reading more than I expected to.  I never set it to less.

Update:  Oh, and if you're just seeing this now, I originally posted this in early January.  I keep moving the date of this post so it's easier for me to find and update it.  My new browser isn't giving me the option to update directly from the post itself.  :grumble grumble:

Okay, let's get started...

70) The Reluctant Detective by Tom Fowler (12/31/21) - Noir Crime*
69) Mystic Pieces by Ada Bell (12/28/21) - Paranormal Mystery*
68) The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (12/26/21) - Crime Noir
67) The Guest us a Goner by Carly Winter (12/23/21) - Paranormal Cozy Mystery*#
66) Dhata Mays by Greg Dragon (12/22/21) - SF Crime Noir*#
65) The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (12/20/21) - Thriller
64) Anthem by Ayn Rand (12/18/19) - Literature Novella
63) North One by Darren Wearmouth (12/15/21) - SF*#
62) I, Angel by JC Andrijeski (12/14/21) - Urban Fantasy*#
61) The Daughter of a Magnate by Frank H. Spearman (12/9/21) - Historical#
60) Nevada by Zane Grey (12/1/21) - Western#
59) All Wands on Deck by Mara Webb (11/25/21) - Paranormal Mystery*
58) Duel of Fire by Jordan Rivet (11/18/21) - Fantasy*
57) The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams (11/15/21) - SF
56) Montana Moon by Silver James (11/13/21) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
55) Me & You Plus Two by Susan Coventry (11/2/21) - Romance*#
54) The French Fraud by Myrtle Morse, Ruby Loren (10/29/21) - Mystery*#
53) Centaur Aisle (Xanth #4) by Piers Anthony (10/26/21) - Fantasy
52) Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle (10/23/21) - Paranormal Romance*
51) A Brief Darkness (Alfred Hitchcock anthology) by various (10/21/21) - Mystery Short Stories
50) A Curse, A Key, and a Corkscrew by Anna McCluskey (8/8/21) - Paranormal Mystery*#
49) Never Came Home by CJ Grayson (7/23/21) - Suspense*2
48) Queen of Klutz by Samantha Garman (7/10/21) - Romantic Comedy*
47) Going All the Way by Cynthia Cooke (7/9/21) - Romance*
46) Smoke Rising by Craig Halloran (7/8/21) - UF*
45) Undiscovered by Anna Hackett (7/2/21) - Romantic Suspense*
44) Spirits, Pies, and Alibis by Nicole St. Claire (6/29/21) - Paranormal Mystery*#
43) The Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie (6/23/21) - Mystery
42) N or M? by Agatha Christie (6/13/21) - Mystery
41) Longshot by Blake & Truant (6/11/21) - SF*#
40) The Silent Speaker by Rex Stout (6/8/21) - Crime Noir
39) Ghosts & the Ancient Stones by Silver James (6/6/21) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
38) A Vow of Silence by Veronica Black (6/1/21) - Mystery*
27) Kiss Me Deadly by Jessie Thomas (5/28/21) - UF*#
26) The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (5/18/21) - Mystery
25) Dead Wrong (Cree Blue #1) by Kate Allenton (5/16/21) - Paranormal Mystery*
24) The Honeymoon Cottage by Barbara Cool Lee (5/15/21) - Romantic Mystery*
33) That Night by CJ Grayson (5/12/21) - Suspense*#
32) The Virginian by Owen Wister (5/9/21) - Western/Literature
31) Cracked: An Anthology of Eggsellent Chicken Stories by Various (5/3/21) - SF/F Shorts*
30) Curtains for Three by Rex Stout (4/29/21)
29) Equal is Unfair by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook (4/27/21) - NF*
28) Eye of the Monster by Andre Norton (4/26/21) - SF
27) The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (4/23/21) - Mystery
26) The Source of Magic (Xanth #2) by Piers Anthony (4/20/21) - Fantasy
25) The Sound of Murder by Rex Stout (4/11/21) - Hard-boiled crime
24) Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie (4/9/21) - Mystery
23) Ogre, Ogre (Xanth #5) by Piers Anthony (4/7/21) - Fantasy
22) The Case of the Perambulating Hatrack by Cedar Sanderson (4/3/21) - Paranormal Noir Mystery*
21) Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy (4/2/21) - Mystery/Suspense*
20) Northern Affair by DK Findlay (3/31/21) - Adventure
19) Hot Under the Collar by Roxanne St. Claire (3/28/21) - Romance*
18) Defending Free Speech By Simpson, et al (3/25/21) - NF Essays
17) Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (3/22/21) - MG Literature
16) Salt in the Wounds by Mark Richards (3/22/21) - Suspense*#
15) Savaged Illusions: The Complete Series by Jennifer Lyon (3/19/21) - Romance
14) Boulder Dam by Zane Grey (3/17/21) - Adventure
13) Uptown Blues: Herbert and Melacon #5 by Seth Pevey (3/10/21) - Suspense*
12) The Bullet Catch by John Gaspard (2/28/21) - Mystery*
11) The Ambitious Card by John Gaspard (2/26/21) - Mystery*
10) Fighting for Justice by Silver James (2/20/21) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
9) Pawsitively Poisonous by Melissa Erin Jackson (2/16/21) - Paranormal Mystery*
8) Dead at Third by Gregory Payette (2/12/21) - Mystery*#
7) Twice the Temptation by Silver James (2/9/21) - Romance*
6) Fear is the Key by Alistair MacLean (2/5/21) - Suspense
5) Horse Heaven Hill by Zane Grey (1/29/21) - Western
4) Just for Now by Rosalind James (1/18/21) - Romance*
3) Five Complete Miss Marple Novels by Agatha Christie (1/15/21) - Mystery
2) Peonies and Peril by Sue Hollowell (1/5/21) - Cozy Mystery*#
1) Wholesale Slaughter by Rick Partlow (1/4/21) - SF*#

What plans to do have for your reading year?

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.

Good News: The Kid

First off, I got the go ahead yesterday to talk about something on the blog.  The Kid was accepted to Eastern Michigan University for the fall semester.  SQUEE!  She's busier than a one-armed paper hanger getting everything set to move across the state and start classes at the end of this month, but she's getting it done.  We're very proud of how far she's come and the fact that she's brave enough and confident enough to tackle this college thing again.  I have every confidence she will kick ass.  Hell, she already kicked ass at community college, finishing up her courses there with a 3.3 GPA (I think), and doing it while she had work and adult stuff to contend with. 

Being the forgetful Mom I am, I can't remember exactly what her plans are for a major.  I think it's International Studies with a focus on Asia and a minor in Philosophy.  She's really into Asia stuff and has been teaching herself the main Asian languages in her spare time.  Reading, not speaking, if I remember right.  Because it's hard to teach yourself the spoken language if you're not in a place where you can hear it.  That'll change once she's in classes.

I believe her ultimate goal is to become a translator.  

I'm not sure how much I can let loose with on the blog, so I won't say much more.  Other than she's been working pro bono helping with cleaning up translations into English people can actually understand.  (You know how we all make fun of poorly translated stuff?  She's helping fix that.) 

Anyway, we're super proud of her.  Going back to school at 26 isn't for the faint of heart.  Lord knows I was never brave enough to do it. You go, girl.

I suppose at some point, I should stop calling her the Kid.  She's an independent individual now.  Then again, she'll always be my Kid. 

Love you bunches and bundles, Ki.  Go forth and kick some college ass.

25 Years

Well, if you've been around here long enough, you will have heard the tale of January 11th, 1994.  About noon, I ran a red light on my way to work and got t-boned.  Don't worry.  I was alone in the car and no one else got hurt. 

Not sure why I ran the red.  I don't remember anything between New Year's Eve 1993 and about January 28th of '94.  It was a route I took every day and I wasn't in any hurry.  No drinking.  No drugs.  It was so unlike me that for years after, my father insisted the witnesses were wrong about the light being red.  :shrug:  Months later, I went to the police station and read the reports.  It was red.  Might've been just barely red and the guy who hit me might've jumped the light.  It's neither here nor there.  Red is red.

The only thing I can figure is that I was distracted somehow.  And not by a cell phone.  It was 1994, people, and while there were cellphones, they were huge and I couldn't afford one.

I used to semi-joke that I'd love to find the bitch who caused that accident and beat the hell out of her for what she did to me.

The nitty-gritty of it is as follows: broken thigh, broken pelvis, broken collarbone, scars on my face and hands from the glass shards.  I have this really interesting semi-circle scar on my right wrist from where one of my long fingernails from the other hand impaled me.  I have another scar that I assume is from one of the carpet tacks my car's previous owner used to hold the ceiling cloth on.

They put pins and a plate into the thigh.  Everything else they left to heal on its own.  They thought they might have to drill a hole in my head, but the inter-cranial bleed stopped before they had to do it.

Oh, yeah, the brain injury.  Let's not forget the brain injury.  :cue laughter:  Out of all my injuries, it was the one I was least concerned about when I came back into my head and it's been the worst injury of all.  Broken shit and lacerations heal.  The brain doesn't heal.

The brain is an interesting thing.  Cells that die never grow back.  BUT... and it's a big but... the brain can find ways to work around an injury.  Takes a lot of time.  A LOT of time.   Over the years, I got a lot of the stuff back.  Still working on finding most of those childhood memories I lost, but hey, we can exist without those.  And every once in a while, I get glimpses of them out of the blue.  They're like little special surprises. 'Tada! You get to remember Halloween when you were four or five today!' Or 'Here's that time you and Middle Sis killed that garden snake with a lawn dart'.  It's kind of like a slot machine.  If all the wheels line up just right, you get a prize.

Today, most of the defects of both brain and body are negligible.  I don't think I forget stuff too much more than the average 48 year old woman.  It frustrates me more, maybe.  Forgetting anything irritates the crap out of me.  I don't limp.  Haven't used my cane in years.  Oh, sure, when the barometric pressure is just right, I can predict the weather using the various broken things.  And I never know which broken thing will act up at any given time.  (I really hate when the pelvis breaks decide it's their turn.  Feels like someone kicked me in the crotch.) 

Even though I don't remember the accident, I get a kind of PTSD reaction to seeing car accidents - in real life or depicted on TV.  Those Allstate commercials wreck me if I'm not expecting them.  A couple years after my accident, I rolled up on the aftermath of an accident in the same intersection.  I had to pull into a parking lot and wait for the storm to pass before I could get back on the road.  But that was a long time ago and I'm less shaky now.

I never got the 'afraid of driving', which some people asked me about afterwards.  I love driving.  Hell, I took a job in outside sales and it never bothered me.  Then again, I was bitten by a dog when I was small and never got a fear of dogs either.  :shrug:

I guess if you look at the sum total of the past 25 years, I did okay.  I'm about as normal as anyone.  I don't even really think about it that much anymore.  Except on this anniversary day.  Twenty-five years ago, my chances of surviving the day were less than 50/50.  And my chances of going on to live a normal life were almost nil.  Look at me now.  I've published 13 books - which kinda prove the ol' brain is okay*.  I walk, I throw logs, I clamber over rocks - which proves the body is okay. 

Took a lot of work to get here, but life is work.  And every day you wake up is a good one. ;o)


*For varying definitions of okay.  Some may doubt my sanity, but they can never doubt my thinking skills.  ;o)

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?

Sometimes Pain is Good

Yesterday afternoon, I was bored and feeling stifled, so I got the bright idea to do yard work.  Specifically, moving landscaping blocks from one side of the yard (the azalea beds) to the other side (the cedar bed) to make a wall against the water.  Kind of a precursor to the retaining wall I want to build on the other side of the bed. 

Hubs asked if I wanted the wheelbarrow, but I wanted the exercise, so I declined.  Ten blocks of about 5-10 pounds each.  I got those in and then adjusted them to look right, then dug a little trench for each one to seat it.

Then I needed to make a border for the azalea beds, so I carted about a dozen rocks from elsewhere on the property.  The biggest was about cantaloupe size and the smallest more like softball.  I still have about ten-twelve of those I have to find and place.

It looks really nice.

And I am really sore this morning. 

I have been lifting two pound weights during my exercise routine, but these were NOT two pounds each.  Oh, holy Mary mother of...  Yeah.  I didn't notice I was doing anything out of the ordinary until I stopped.  Took a nice shower.  Sat down... kersplat.  The Aleve I took seems to be keeping the ache at bay, but it's about to wear off. 

Probably should've taken Hubs up on the wheelbarrow.  But the exercise is good for me and the pain will pass.  And hey, if I'd tried this a few years ago... Hell, a few months ago... I would've been way more sore.  In fact, I probably would've been chugging like a freight train while I was doing it.  So it's all good.

And the moral of the story?  Sometimes you have to do things that hurt to achieve the outcome you want.  Whether it's lugging rocks to make a pretty yard or exercising to get healthier or typing until your fingers ache so you can create a novel or simply making the choice to trash a thousand words and start over.

That last one is what I did with the beginning of Sleeping Ugly 2.  I trashed what I'd written on Saturday because it was lame and it wasn't helping me get where I was going.  And my fresh start lit a fire under my muse.  I got 2600 words out last night, despite the ache and thanks to the Aleve.

Yep, sometimes pain is good.  Still sucks afterward, but I'll do it again and again and again to achieve my goals. 

What are you doing to achieve your goals?

Three Years

Three years ago today, Dying Embers was released into the world.  It's been a wild ride ever since, but I wouldn't trade this cuckoo trip for anything.

In the past three years, I've published 9 books.  (Shoulda been 12, if I'd kept to my original plan of 4 a year, but stuff happens.)  NINE. That's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.  I know Hubs is impressed.

Nine books.  Three cover artists (four if you include me), two editors, one author.  I like the cover artist and the editor I have now, so currently it's just one one one.  Which works for me.  And I'm pretty happy with how things are going in my little self-publishing empire.

In the past three years, here's what we did...

2015
Dying Embers
Accidental Death
Wish in One Hand
Blood Flow

2016
In Deep Wish
Fertile Ground
Up Wish Creek

2017
Natural Causes
Wish Hits the Fan

And a look ahead at 2018's tentative schedule is
Blink of an I (Feb)
Early Grave (May)
Sleeping Ugly (August)
Undetermined (either DH3 or Unequal) (November)

Anyway, I'm pretty tickled.  If I'd been paying attention, I might've done a sale or something today, but I wasn't, so instead of giving readers an inexpensive read or a free book, all I have to give you is my gratitude.  Thanks for reading my books.  You guys are awesome.

Thursday This n That

I finished the first draft of Sleeping Ugly last night.  I'm pretty sure I'll have to rewrite the ending.  In fact, I'm positive.  It's lame.  Lame lame lame.

Lame words are better than no words.  And done is better than not done.

By my calculations, if I keep working on my edit notes at the pace I set yesterday (which was when I still thought I had a book to finish writing), I should have the line by line stuff done in 7 days, which will leave me time to work on some notes and the eradication of crutch words. 

I was one hot mama yesterday.  I did the banking, mailed packages, hit Walmart for groceries, picked up critter feed, did the dishes, edited 29 pages while making semi-homemade spaghetti sauce, made dinner, and wrote 3K words.  Go me.

I'm really tired today.  Not sure how certain people :cough:Silver:cough: do what they do every day.  Must be drinking better coffee than I am.  ;o)

My hummingbirds are little assholes.  To each other.  They never bother me.  But you know those pictures of hummingbirds gathered a feeder eating together.  Not here.  They don't share food.  One will actually sit on a branch of the nearby redbud to guard her spot.  If any other hummingbird tries to drink, she attacks them.  Of course, while she's chasing one away, another will sneak in for a quick drink.  Sometimes it a male guarding the feeder, but usually it's a female.  Vicious little buggers.  Fun to watch, though.

Our wild rabbits like to lay in the food pan while they're eating.  It's pretty funny.  Yesterday, there was one laying in the pan when Hubs went down to feed the critters.  He was all like "You're gonna have to move if you don't want to be covered in corn."  It finally hopped away, but it was hilarious.

Well, that's it for me.  What's on tap for you today?

2015 Wrap Up

I said somewhere that I'd do a wrap up of 2015 this morning.  Okay, here goes...

I was totally going to do a month by month thing, but I got bored.  And if it's boring me, it's sure as hell gonna bore you. 

Here are the highlights:

I published four books in 2015, which means doing all the things that are required to get books up and available.  You know, cover art, editing, marketing, etc.  Lucky for me, all four of those books had already been written. 

Hubs sanded all the yucky orange paint off the house.  It looks so much nicer.

I did some landscaping and gardening, so the yard is pretty much the way I want it now. 

A lot of time and energy went into keeping Max as comfortable as possible with his recurring mouth infection.  In November, we lost the fight and decided Max had fought enough. 

Baen rejected Djinnocide, which gave me leave to publish it myself - as Wish in One Hand.

I ended the year with 1017 books sold in 2015. 

And that's about all.  What are some of the highlights from your 2015?

2016 - Books Read

Well, here we are at the start of a new year.  Of course, I haven't finished anything yet, but this will be the place I list all the books I will read in this coming year.  (Scroll down to see what I've read.)  My 2015 goal was 100 books.  I finished the year at 77.  So, this year, I'm going to try to be more realistic and set my goal for 70 books.  Not sure what the year will bring, but if I'm as busy as I was last year, that should be doable.

If you click the link to last year's list, you'll see I started the year with HP#1 and finished the year with HP#5.  I totally didn't plan that, but there it is.  I'll finish the other 2 of the HP series this year.  I'm currently reading a book by Phyllis Whitney.  I don't expect to finish 2016 with one of hers, but who knows.  She wrote enough books that I could make that happen if I was so inclined.

As always, * denotes ebooks, date is date finished, the books are in reverse order with most recent read on top, and genre is self-explanatory.  =o)

Update 10/6/16: Increased the reading goal to 90 because I was only 2 books away from hitting the goal of 70.

81. The Deep by Mickey Spillane (12/14/16) - Hard-Boiled Crime
80. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (12/12/16) - Literature
79. The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lillian Jackson Braun (12/7/16) - Mystery
78. The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lillian Jackson Braun (12/6/16) - Mystery
77. The Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (12/5/16) - Suspense
76. Rescue Moon by Silver James (12/2/16) - Paranormal Romance*
75. The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone by JB Lynn (11/18/16) - Mystery*
74. Savaged Surrender by Jennifer Lyon (10/29/16) - Romance*
73. Blood & Fire (Dallas Fire & Rescue) by Silver James (10/20/16) - Paranormal Romance*
72. The Black Shrike by Alistair MacLean (10/15/16) - Spy Novel
71. The Destroyer: Missing Link (Remo Williams #39) by Warren Murphy (10/11/16) - Crime Novel
70. The Removers (Matt Helm #3) by Donald Hamilton (10/9/16) - Crime Novel
69. The Widow Watchers by Frank Archer (10/08/16) - Crime Novel
68. Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman (10/6/16) - Mystery
67. Convenient Cowgirl Bride by Silver James (10/4/16) - Romance
66. Nero Wolfe: Three at Wolfe's Door by Rex Stout (10/1/16) - Crime Novel
65. Feda's Anchor by DJ Salisbury (9/28/16) - YA Fantasy*
64. Nero Wolfe: In the Best Families by Rex Stout (9/19/16) - Crime Novel
63. The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett (9/11/16) - Crime Novel
62. Illusion's Child by DJ Salisbury (9/2/16) - YA Fantasy*
61. Barefoot Bay: Double Trouble by Silver James (8/30/16) - Romantic Suspense*
60. Where Angels Fear by Kasey Mackenzie (8/24/16) - Paranormal Romance*
59. The Truth about Love and Murder by Edie Ramer (8/8/16) - Romantic Suspense*
58. Crooked House by Agatha Christie (8/5/16) - Mystery
57. Line of Fire by Donald Hamilton (8/2/16) - Crime Novel
56. A New Eden: Idolatry Book 2 by Quent Cordair (8/1/16) - Literary Fiction*
55. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis (7/24/16) - Literature
54. The Man Who Played Thief by Don Smith (7/23/16) - Suspense/Crime Novel
53. Witch Myth: A Yew Hollow Cozy Mystery by Alexandria Clarke (7/22/16) - Paranormal Mystery*
52. Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse by Harper Lin (7/21/16) - Cozy Mystery*
51. Whiteout by Laurel Heidtman (7/19/16) - Suspense*
50. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (7/15/16) - Literature
49. Eternity Row by SL Viehl (7/11/16) - SF
48. Killer Mine by Mickey Spillane (7/7/16) - Hard-boiled Mystery
47. Hit & Run Bride by Nana Malone & Misty Evans (7/4/16) Romance*
46. Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley (7/3/16) - Paranormal Romance*
45. Broken Faces by DM Carr (7/2/16) - Historical Romance*
44. The Second Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen (6/28/16) - Fantasy
43. A Charming Crime by Tonya Kappes (6/26/16) - Paranormal Mystery*
42. The Hitwoman Under Pressure by JB Lynn (6/19/16) - Mystery*
41. Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh (6/18/16) - Mystery
40. Assignment in Brittany by Helen MacInnes (6/14/16) - Historical Suspense
39. The Boss and his Cowgirl by Silver James (6/9/16) - Romance*
38. The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie (6/8/16) - Mystery
37. The Shadow of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (6/6/16) - Crime Novel
36. Profit Motive: The Destroyer #48 by Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir (6/5/16) - Crime/Adventure
35. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (6/3/16) - Fantasy
34. Night Moves by Silver James (5/28/16) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense*
33. Ten Days' Wonder by Ellery Queen (5/27/16) - Mystery
32. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (5/25/16) - Literature / Children's
31. Boys and Ghouls Together edited by Alfred Hitchcock (5/24/16) - Mystery
30. The Flaming Tree by Phyllis A. Whitney (5/23/16) - Romantic Suspense
29. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (5/22/16) - Literature
28. Body Double by Tess Gerritsen (5/20/16) - Suspense
27. Shockball by SL Viehl (5/16/16) - SF
26. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling (4/27/16) - Fantasy
25. The Hitwoman and the Mother Load by JB Lynn (4/27/16) - Mystery*
24. Honor from Ashes by Sam Schall (4/22/16) - SF*
23. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lillian Jackson Braun (4/18/16) - Mystery
22. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (4/17/16) - Literature*
21. Closer Home by Kerry Anne King (4/12/16) - Women's Fiction*
20. Scavenger's War: The Marlowe Transmissions #1 by Jack Sheppard (4/11/16) - Dystopian*
19. Moonstruck: Secrets by Silver James (4/10/16) - Paranormal Romantic Action Thriller*
18. Duty from Ashes by Sam Schall (4/9/16) - SF*
17. Easy Coffee Cake Recipes by Jeen van der Meer (4/3/16) - NF Cooking*
16. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickmen (3/31/16) - Fantasy
15. Dracula by Bram Stoker (3/25/16) - Literature*
14. Moonstruck: Lies by Silver James (3/20/16) - Paranormal Romantic Action Thriller*
13. Beyond the Veil by Pippa DaCosta (3/18/16) - Urban Fantasy*
12. Barefoot Bound by Roxanne St. Claire (3/8/16) - Fiction (Romantic Suspense lead-in)*
11. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (3/8/16) - Urban Fantasy*
10. Compulsion by Allison Brennan (3/7/16) - Suspense
9. The Hitwoman and the Chubby Cherub by JB Lynn (3/4/16) - Mystery*
8. The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor (1/30/16) - Adventure
7. The Cat Who Turned On and Off by Lillian Jackson Braun (1/21/16) - Mystery
6. One Monday We Killed Them All by John D. MacDonald (1/18/16) - Hard-boiled Crime
5. The First Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen (1/15/16) - Fantasy
4. The Hitwoman and the Sacrificial Lamb by JB Lynn (1/12/16) - Mystery*
3. Beyond Varallan (Stardoc #2) - S.L. Viehl (1/9/16) - SF
2. The D.A. Goes to Trial by Erle Stanley Gardner (1/5/16) - Hard-boiled Crime
1. The Turquoise Mask by Phyllis A. Whitney (1/2/16) - Romantic Suspense

Do you set reading goals?  How many books did you read last year?  How many are you hoping to read this year?

Something Neat to Share

Last week, I sent out a batch of postcards to family and friends.  In it, I sent a postcard to my former physiatrist (rehabilitation physician) - because he really helped me a lot through all my brain issues and my leg issues, etc. and I thought he'd get a kick out of it.  Because I don't have his home address, I mailed it to his office with a note that said something like "I had to do it myself, but I finally did it."

Anyway, I got a short email today from one of the gals in his office, thanking me for sending the postcard and telling me she bought a copy of my book.  Which was cool in itself.  So I emailed her back thanking her. 

Her reply was really special to me.  She remembered me after all these years because I was one of the doc's success stories, and the first success story she had a part in.  She also said the doc still uses my story to encourage patients who feel like they'll never get better. 

:blush:

That totally made my day. 

Plus, she said the doc was taking the postcard home to show his wife.  :grin:  I hope he's getting a kick out of this.  I bet when he first stepped into my hospital room all those years ago, he didn't think I'd be writing books someday.

(For the record, this is, of course, not the doctor I did a memoriam for in Dying Embers.  That was for my favorite college English professor, who unfortunately passed on before I could thank him for being so damn tough on me and making me a better writer.)

Sunday Update - Week 7

Other than the obvious - Dying Embers went live on Friday (both Kindle and Createspace) - it was a pretty scattered week. 

I took Max to the vet.  His gums were a little inflamed so they gave him an antibiotic shot.  Otherwise, he's progressing nicely. 

I got the final PDF for the print cover, uploaded all that, and then ordered a proof copy - expedited so it would arrive on Friday rather than the following Thursday.  When the mail came, I was seriously cheezed off because it wasn't in there.  Umm, yeah, I know... expedited doesn't come USPS.  The UPS guy dropped it on the front porch just as I was laying down for a nap.  After I got up, I scanned through it and everything looked peachy, so I approved the proof for sale.

Meanwhile, I had uploaded everything for the ebook copy and set it to 'preorder' for a Friday launch.  I actually managed to snag 8 sales - which is awesome for me since I've heard tales of a sale-free launch day.

Then launch day came.  And I was a total spazz.  In fact, I got so sick of myself, I picked up and went to the used bookstore in town.  It is a testament to my will power that I have not been there since we moved here, because if I had gone, I would not have had the fundage to self-publish - believe you me.  The place is awesome.  The owner is a book geek and computer nerd like me.  And she plays awesome old songs throughout the store.  Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald.  :happy sigh:  Just what I needed to get out of my own head for a while.  I came home totally refreshed - and that was even with a midday stop at Walmart afterwards.  I swear old bookstores are like a shot of B-12 to me.

And before you ask, no I didn't do anything to otherwise celebrate launch day.  It's just not me.  I remember celebrating completing my first novel.  After that, not so much in the yahoo-yippee arena.  I'm not much of a celebrator, I guess.  To each his own.

I did get kinda choked up when a blog follower and avid reader gave me a most excellent review.  And I got teary at the outpouring of support from my friends - who reviewed, and tweeted and blogged. and facebooked about my release.  Plus, out of the blue yesterday, I got a notice that someone I'd never heard of tagged me in a tweet.  They were talking about the release of my book!  Could've knocked me over with a stick.  

What happened in your worlds last week?

2014 - The Year in Review

2014?  Well, we've just about put that sucker to bed. 

January:  I started the year out in a funk, wondering whether I was going to keep writing.  Shortly thereafter, I got over myself and got back to work.  I began the total rewrite Wrongful Termination.  (The book I'm actually supposed to be editing while I wait for Edits: Round Two on Dying Embers.)  I got the rejection letter I'd been waiting on for 16 months, which kinda put me in another funk but then I got mad and lit a fire under my own ass.

February:  I actually listed my resolutions for 2014 - Take my writing more seriously. Reduce the irritation in my life. Accept myself for who I am.  (I think I did pretty well on all three.  Yay.)  I spent a lot of time watching the Olympics.  And baking.  Meanwhile, I finished the rewrite and sent loads of queries out.  Also, I began writing Djinn 3.

March:  First off, I got our taxes done.  Yay me.  Baked some stuff.  Sat down and figured out what I do on an average day.  OMG, and this was the month I not only rearranged the office, but got the world's most tragic haircut.  (If you go back, you'll see where I'm trying to be positive about it, but it was so bad.)  March was also the month when Hubs and I finally took a vacation and I met the family members I hadn't met in the 10 years we'd been married.  Also, and most importantly, I met my friend, JB Lynn, for the first time in real life.  Too cool.  Hubs began the re-plumbing project.

April:  Wow, April was a busy month on the homefront.  We got the electric up to code.  We contracted some dude to come spray for bugs, but he never showed.  We each got eyeglasses!  (Scary world now that we can both see. LOL)  The squirrels found a new way to live in our eaves, and the silly git had a litter of pups up there.  Tragic Hairdo Part 2 occurred and made March's gaff look like a supermodel's hair.  Also, Hubs started re-insulating the house. 

May: Hubs finished the insulation project.  The planting I did the previous fall finally started showing its glory.  Then Hubs did the plumbing project.  (That was a bear, but it's done and it's done right.)  I found my antique typewriter.  And we celebrated our 10th Anniversary.  I got really rolling on Djinn 3 and met my goal of 44K words in 30 days (cuz it was my 44th birthday that month).  We also started the vapor barrier project under the house. 

June:  We had to put off the vapor barrier project because it was raining like a bad devil, but Hubs got it done.  I finally finished the first draft of Djinn3, and started working on editing a suspense manuscript Bloodflow.  June was a pretty lazy month, though.

July:  This month saw a brown recluse invasion which had me scrambling to de-clutter.  We also dug out the remainder of the foundation so we could seal it and then fill it back in again.  Hubs also starting sanding the orange off the house.  Yay!  I killed a copperhead snake I found while I was weeding the wildflower bed, which led to me removing the rock border of said bed and pearocking the damn thing.  Hide in there, you slippery bastards. Additionally, I discovered - with the help of a friend - the joys of using vinegar and dish washing liquid as a weed killer.

August:  I spent a lot of time on work in August - editing things and researching things and tweezing things so I could submit things.  This was the month I really took the business of writing by the short hairs.  This was the month we lost ShortStop the fawn.  I completed the peagravel project and the driveway drainage project.  August was also the month where I broke my butt. 

September: Another month where I started out totally angsting over something stupid.  (Hey, it's a writer thing.)  But I fixed it up quick.  Yay!  I got the tweezing done that needed doing and submitted WIOH to a publisher. (Still waiting...)  I motored right along on the Bloodflow rewrite and got it done. And my mums started to bloom.  I finally got sick of tragic haircuts I had to pay for and cut my own hair.  I'm not winning any awards, but at least I kinda look like me again.

October:  Max's teeth really began giving him fits - not in the usual way, more like full blown.  I talked about a new book I wanted to write for NaNo, and then decided to work on finishing a book I never finished instead.  This was also the month where I realized I needed to stop beating my head against the rock of traditional publishing.  I finished the edit notes to myself for Wrongful Termination (the notes I'm now procrastinating about inputting) and I did edit notes on a dystopian I never finished.  And Hubs and I whacked walnuts into the woods with some old used golf clubs I bought. 

November: I did it.  I finally contacted an editor and a cover artist, and took the first steps to controlling my own writerly destiny.  To that end, I cleaned up my other blog and began posting over there again.  I also participated in NaNo and managed to rewrite that old novel all the way to the place I stopped last time - where I am still stuck.  But I won NaNo, and that counts for something, right?

December: It being December, we started out the month by chowing down on leftover turkey and decorating the house for Christmas.  I got my edits back from the editor, and took the majority of this month to get the manuscript whipped into shape.  I cleared the trails in the woods because it finally got cold enough to make the snakes and ticks go dormant.  This month, we also had Max's remaining teeth pulled and we're still dealing with the eating issues of toothless cat.  And we got Hubs a car for Christmas. 

For those of you who're still with me on this post, thanks.  For those of you who've stayed with me all year, THANKS!  I really appreciate you all.  And for the ones who'll come to visit me in 2015, I look forward to meeting you all.

2014 was pretty awesome, but here's to an even better 2015 - for us all.

:HUGS:

Sunday Update - Week 45

The last week was a total blur, but I managed to piece it back together a little.

I've been writing my brains out.  I typed 14538 words over each of the days. 

I hired an editor and a cover artist.

Somewhere in there, I did some more research work on the world of self-publishing.

I read three books.  (Because hey, if I can't work and still find time to read, what the heck am I doing? Ya know?)

I went grocery shopping.

Took Max for a walk nearly every day - except when it was raining.  He hates that.  He also hates walking on leaves, so the walks have been short. 

I spent some time talking to my financial backer (aka Hubs) about cover artists and editing. 

Hubs and I took a drive up a couple roads we'd never been down before.  One of them was supposed to - according to Google - connect with the other which would bring us to the water.  That first road ended up being a one lane that sort of ended at what might have been a trail through the woods.  When we backtracked and went down the second road from the other direction, we found where the two roads shoulda oughta joined up if Google had been right.  :shrug:  It was fun and the car didn't die, so it's all good.

Oh, and if you didn't read Friday's post, I'm resurrecting the old 'Pound of BS' blog into something more professional where I can share publishing news, stories about murder and mayhem, and anything related to the book I'll be putting out in 2015.  If you don't follow it already, you get extra brownie points in the contest I designed to go live on Monday if you're a follower before the contest actually goes live.  (Same for here.) 

I'm really excited and I hope you are, too.

Anyway, what's up in your world?

Sunday Update - Week 34

Well, folks, it's that time again.  Let's look back at the week, shall we?

The writing slacked a bit this week.  No excuses.  Okay, maybe one or two, but still...  I only got 8335** words rewritten on Bloodflow this week.  In my defense, it's really coming together well.  And I had a couple spots where I rewrote... errr, retyped... the same damn thing without changing it and then had to go back and delete words because the scene just wasn't working.  Which is why I'm rewriting this instead of merely editing it - because I get lulled by my own words and don't do the work that needs doing to make it a better book.

**After this posted, I noticed an error in my word count data and I actually wrote 10250 last week.  Can't quite figure out how that happened.  Still, it's less than the week before and way less than I'm capable of, so instead of rewriting the above paragraph, I'm leaving it.

As for the polishing, I'm down to just over 102K, so only a couple thousand left to tweeze out before I can submit this thing where I want to.  And it's a better book for the tweezing.

I haven't really read anything this week.  And now the progress I made earlier in the year to get ahead of the goal on Goodreads has really come in handy, but is totally erased.  Next month, I'll pick up the slack.  And since a book I beta read has been published, I can add that to the goal - as soon as I can wrap my head around it enough to review it properly.

In other news, you might have heard me kvetching on FB about my AC problems.  The damn motherboard that controls the doohickey went kaput.  Good news, the HVAC guy bypassed the board for this weekend and he has a dude who will delivery a new board on Monday, which he will then install.  So we're cool again, baby.

Which reminds me, we're in a heat wave down here.  Send cool thoughts.  It was 99F on Saturday and promises to match that today.  

Nothing much else doin' here.  How are things in your world?  Anything good to report?

Sunday Update - Week 33

Hi ho.  It's Saturday night for me and Sunday morning for you, but I don't plan on doing any more work this week, so this is as up to date as I can get.

With regard to writing, I typed out 13567 words this past week.  I'm looking ahead a month and don't know whether I can get the rest of this done by mid-September.  Well, I might have the words all typed, but I'll still need to go back and polish it before I let anyone see it, so I won't totally be breaking my promise.  This just took way longer than I thought it would.  But it is so much better than it was before already, so that's a win.  =o)

In polishing news, I'm down to just under 104K and halfway through the book in the line-by-line tightening.  I wish I was farther along, but I slacked off on that part.

I'm also not making any progress in the research category.  No offense to them what love Mallory, but he's long-winded and I haven't the patience for him in my more advanced years.  The last time I read Le Morte d'Arthur I was in my teens.  Young with my scads of time.  (Probably skipped doing homework to read the book - cuz that was how I rolled, baby.)

I did work on the driveway drainage thing a bit this week.  We got like 2.3 inches of rain one afternoon, and it showed me exactly where the flaws were so I could correct them.  (It was like a freakin' river out there.)  I think I've got it mostly corrected, but I won't know for sure until the next big rain.  And who knows when that'll be.  :shrug:  Even if it is fixed, I still have cosmetic work to do - because right now, it's functional, but ugly as hell.  LOL

As I said Friday, I've also written several blog posts that will never see the light of day.  Long and ranty.  That's not the positivity I've been going for - either here or in my real life - so screw it.  Still, writing those posts helps get the poison out of my head so I can face the day without wanting to hide under my bed from all the crap going on in the world.

And just as an update, Fat Boy the fawn is doing well.  He kinda freaked me out the other day because he was sleeping in the side yard - and the last time a fawn slept in our yard, she died.  But he was just napping.  His mom showed up after a little while, and he got up to go eat with her, then they left together.  Since then, he curled up in almost the same spot after he finished eating while he waited for her to finish, then they left together again.  It's all very cute and Disney-like (minus the hunter part where Bambi's mom dies.)  I'll post pictures of him another day.  =o)

How were things in your world last week?

The Groove, The Path and a Hint of Disappointment

Okay, so yesterday I was really in the groove.  Sure, I woke up at 3am and ended up taking 3 short naps throughout the day, but I also wrote 2K words, did some writerly work on the query process, and read a bit more in Le Morte d'Arthur - taking notes for my super sekrit project.  It felt good.

Hubs and I have been talking about stuff - trying to figure out how to get ahead in our chosen endeavors.  We hashed some things out, which is what led to my renewed commitment to resolution #2 - take my work more seriously.  As well as leading to yesterday's groovy-ness.  It's time to walk the path and not just talk about it.  So that's what I'm going to do - hit both the writing and the business aspect of publication with renewed vigor.

Which led me to a hint of disappointment last night.  I had the opportunity to beta read a new book for an author I love (who's also a really awesome person), but I had to be honest with her about these commitments I've made to myself.  I mean, part of me wants to drop everything and just read her book.  Cuz like damn and whoa how awesome would that be??  But tanking on my goals the day after I make them and actually did what I said I was going to do would unravel everything.  On the upside, she said to get back to her when my schedule frees up - and I agreed because she really does deserve my full attention.  And as I was apologizing and admitting my regret, it occurred to me that if I had gotten off my ever-widening ass and worked last month, I would've had this rewrite knocked out by now and I would have the time I need to beta read.

Let that be a lesson to me - do your work when you have the time so you can grasp opportunity when it shows its handsome face. 

Yeah, pretty much what my mom told me years ago about my procrastinatory behavior.  Mom always was right.  Why I couldn't see it back then is beyond me.  ;o)

Goodbye Orange Paint, Hello Pine

So anyway, this is what we're up to this week and I'm just so tickled with Hubs' progress, I wanted to share it.

Here's the house before:

Here's the front of the house after day 3:

And here's the front after today (day 4):

Here's what Hubs did on the first day:

And on the second day:

Look at all that gorgeous wood.

Of course, everyone's feeling the need to voice their opinions.  It's too much work.  Why don't we just paint over it?  Why not use paint stripper?  Yada yada yada.  One look at the finished product tells us that 1) it's not too much work for that result and 2) the last guy painted over it and it looked like shit, so why exactly would we paint over it again?  As for 3) We explored every available option and this one suits us the best.  Do you have any idea how many gallons of stripper we'd need to buy to cover this size house??  And don't even go there with how much it would cost to have a crew of people come out to sand it or strip it with corncobs or whatever.

Anyway, I'm damn proud and we'll have the house we dreamed of.  Complete with pine knots and real wood and NO MORE ORANGE.  (We swear, it did not look orange in the pictures before we bought the place.  Not that it would've changed our minds, but at least we would have known.)

And while Hubs was doing that today, this is what I did.  I took the chunky rock border out from our wildflower bed and replaced it with pea gravel.

Before:

After:

And why I did it:

I found Mr. Copperhead hiding in the chunky rocks when I went out to weed.  Now they have nowhere to hide.

Not bad work for two old farts, eh?

Today... Hubs will be sanding and I will be inside trying to avoid the buzz of the sander by throwing on my headphones and writing.

What's up with you?

Resolution Check

It's a little over halfway through the year and I thought I'd do a resolution check.  (Cuz the post I planned out in my head last night while I was trying unsuccessfully to sleep makes yesterday's post look milquetoast.) 

So anyway those resolutions were...

1) Take my writing more seriously.

2) Reduce the irritation from my life. 

3) Accept myself for who I am.

Number one?  Umm... yeah... about that.  I have been serious about my writing.  I wrote a freakin' book in May for petesakes.  And I'm really trying to commit to getting this book edited.  I rewrote a chapter and a half yesterday for cryin' out loud.  But the business side of the writing... Let's just say that while I am paying for a membership to Query Tracker, I haven't really been using it.  I need to get back to that.  But I've also been going over some things in my head that might make querytracker moot. 

As for #2, let's just say that I have tried.  I cut loose a couple people who were doing more to add negativity to my life than add positivity.  I unfollowed a couple irritating pages on FB.  That's been a major reduction.  I know I can never eliminate the irritation - I only joke about being a hermit and that would take a full court press of hermitization.  Unfortunately, as I reduce irritation, new irritations arise.  Still, I think I'm ahead for the year.

That last one is the only one I feel pretty good about.  Okay, so the tragic haircut knocked me sideways for a while.  (Still waiting for it to grow out enough to be fixable, but I have accepted it.)  All in all, though, I think I'm doing well at being okay with ME.  I'm a slightly overweight, 44 year old woman with graying hair and gimpy parts.  And that's okay.  The downside of being okay with myself relates to #2 - and finding myself getting increasingly irritated with our culture's push to make people be NOT okay with themselves.  Seriously, if I get one more email from this major magazine I subscribe to telling me how I can lose weight, fix my flaws, make myself sexier... I'm going to scream - in the ear of a customer service representative at said major magazine.

:deep breath... in through the nose, out through the mouth:

Ah, much better.

How are you doing at your resolutions for 2014?