Someone's Temper Tantrum

I had my head down all of last week, working on Death Goddess Redeeming (Book 3 of The Books of Apep) and A Sprout of Wild (Book 12 of Justice). If I react to every single thing in the chaotic news cycle, no books would ever be written so I'm learning to be selective.

However, I am truly glad we stayed home this weekend. For an introduction, DH loves a show on the REELZ channel called On Patrol Live ("OPL"). It's the successor to A&E's very popular Live PD. About the time we clipped the cable cord, REELZ introduced their own streaming service, so a subscription to REELSZ+ was DH's joint birthday/Christmas present.

Last season, the Toledo Police Department ("TPD") joined the series. Unfortunately, nearly every case on with TPD starts with the call "shots fired".

*facepalm*

Northwest Ohio is actually a fairly quiet region. Yes, we have our problems like a sinking economy and opioid addiction. And there was one case on the show where a drunk woman climbed a tree and peed on the officer trying to get her down, which sad to say is more typical. Part of me wondered if things on the show were overblown.

Until Saturday.

There was a mass shooting at the Old West End street festival. Twelve people were injured, but thankfully, there were no fatalities. But TPD is still looking for the perpetrators.

I have to wonder about people like this. What the hell goes through their brains to make them hurt innocent people on this scale? 

This morning, I breached briefly to check headlines to see if there were any updates. There wasn't to the Toledo shooting, but apparently, Tribblehead had a major meltdown on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday.

So, two temper tantrums in two days because some yahoos aren't getting their way. And they don't fucking care who they hurt in the process.

*sigh*

I'm hunkering down, disconnecting my wifi, and focusing on my stories. Because there, kickass women protect the people being shit on, and they don't put up with temper tantrums.

Music I Love

Here's a little encouragement from Queen!

Happy Pride Month!

Yesterday got away from me between writing and working on next month's Kickstarter. But to everyone out there, live your authentic life to its fullest! And have a wonderful Pride Month! 

Movie Music I Love

Ready for that summer family vacation?

Summer's Unofficially Here! And a Little Summer Terror...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the Summer Solstice is three and a half weeks away, but people in the U.S. considered Memorial Day weekend the start of our summer. The weather has warmed up to the point where we no longer need jackets during the day in most of the states.

Ironically, it's the first truly insane holiday for the Ohio State Troopers since New Year's Eve. I can hear my readers outside of the U.S. asking, "Why?"

It's because people who drink in the U.S. often drive while intoxicated. If that drunk person is lucky, they make it home without killing some living creature. However, they can't trust luck. Eventually, someone will die.

I've got too many stories of drunk drivers. Two of my cousins were hit by drunk driver. Both ended up with spinal and vertebrae injuries they still suffer with decades later. My brother was hit by a drunk driver who was racing another driver. Somehow, his only injuries were bruises from the seatbelt. The kid riding with his drunk brother wasn't so lucky. No seatbelt on and he went right through the windshield.

Another cousin was a police officer in D.C. She's been to far too many accident scenes where innocent people have been disabled or died because of drunk drivers.

Then there were my own parents. With three teenagers in the house, I understand they wanted and needed some privacy. However, their bright idea was to get a 12-pack of Busch and drive through the back country roads while drinking. In their cases, they were lucky.

But it didn't alleviate mine and my siblings' worry. I doubt if Mom and Dad ever realized the three of us would lay awake in our beds until we heard Dad's pickup pull into our drive. And there were a few nights when my brother and sister would enter my room, and we'd sit there discussing whether we needed to call the sheriff to look for them. Like I said, our parents got lucky. We'd eventually hear the truck pull into the drive, and my siblings would scramble back to their rooms.

However, the Ohio State Patrol announced that the 2026 Memorial Day holiday weekend had the fewest fatalities in years. Most of it was due to the doubling or tripling of gas prices depending on where you live. But it means someone, somewhere, isn't crying their eyes out over the loss of a loved one to a drunk driving accident.

I'm not against drinking. I just ask that you please do it at home or have a designated driver when you go out and drink. And make sure you wear your seatbelts. Be safe this summer! Because you all have someone sitting at home in the dark, waiting for your safe return.

Movie Music I Love

Sometimes, you gotta cut loose!

More B&N Shenanigans

These latest bits of info were probably in the e-mail I never received from Barnes & Noble ("B&N"), but if any of y'all didn't get the memo either, here's what I've learned.

1) B&N raised the payout limit to $25.

What does that mean? It used to be that a writer had to accumulate $10 in royalties on their account before B&N would deposit the finds electronically into the writer's bank account.

I needed to dig through the Terms & Conditions to find the total for royalties before payout was raised to $25.

By the way, that's US dollars.

They aren't the only retailer doing this. Draft2Digital recently raised their net royalty accumulation to $10 USD. Kobo's royalty accumulation has been $50  CAD since I first joined (back in 2015, I think).

I'm disappointed because it's just one more way for the retailers to make money off of writers rather than customers. By keeping the money in their accounts longer, they make the interest, not us.

 

2) B&N will no longer carry any paperbacks with the retail price less than $14.99.

At least, this change has been on a banner on the B&N Press website, and I didn't have to spend an hour digging through legalese. My feeling is that B&N is cutting off their noses to spite their faces. A lot of indie writers, including me, have had to raise their paperback prices thanks to the economic chaos from the COVID-19 pandemic.

That already sucked, but now, the costs for supplies like paper and ink are rising again thanks to the U.S. attacks on Iran and the traffic through the Straight of Hormuz being choked.

I'm already trying not to raise my paperback prices again, but B&N trying to force the issue steams me. So, if some of my books disappear from the B&N website that's why.

 

All-in-all, the recent changes in retailer behavior is pushing me to start my own online store sooner rather than later. I'll let y'all know!

Movie Music I Love

I'm Team Gopher!

Amy's Baking Company - The Fallout

Reality TV Rescues did a ten-year follow-up on what happened to Amy and Samy after their Kitchen Nightmares second episode. They also added some background details about the couple.

Movie Music I Love

For the rest of the spring and summer, let's listen to the emotional touchpoints from a lot of our favorite movies.

WARNING: Some of these may have been popular before you were born!