So far, it's only up on Amazon, but it will be available on the other platforms soonish.
In the meantime, today is the last day for Kris Rusch's Kickstarter The Return of the Fey. If you're a reader, there's lots of good books including Kris's new Fey novella.
But if you're a writer and you want to delve into epic fantasy, WMG are offering a lot of classes from a three week workshop to seven pop-ups.
The Kickstarter ends at 10:00 p.m. EDT so check it out before it ends!
Confessions from the Dance Floor showed Madonna was still a force to be reckoned with!
Because I know there are things missing from my repertoire. Lots of things. Like some aspects of marketing. I just don't know enough yet to ask all the right questions.
So I've been experimenting with some advanced courses. The big one lately involves learning how to run a Kickstarter.
Why Kickstarter? Because I want to experiment with issuing hardcovers, and Kickstarter seems to be a way to kill the proverbial birds with one stone. It would *hopefully* increase my readership through a new avenue while evaluating the interest in my tiny little publishing company issuing a new medium.
Ironically, there's a Kickstarter about running a Kickstarter right now. Crowdfunding Your Fiction: Best Practices seems to be a good starting point. Why? I was at the writer's workshop where Loren Coleman asked his initial questions.
Frankly, a crowd-funded book wasn't something I'd considered before. I didn't think I had the audience for it to be a worthwhile endeavor. But I'm reconsidering the idea. I've already purchased the covers for a new fantasy trilogy that won't be written until late this year at the soonest, and I planned for a 2022 release.
So I've got some learning to do if I want to use that trilogy as a Kickstarter.
This will be so much fun. *rubs hands gleefully*
I seriously overslept on Monday, so I didn't get much done. Yesterday, I was up at 7:30 to take Bella to her appointment to have her hair and nails done. You'd think I would have gotten more done.
But no, I was making phone calls, answering texts, and sending e-mail. The family grapevine was working overtime now that Genius Kid and Significant Other are officially producing Adorable Spawn in July. Maybe.
S.O.'s doctors keep changing the due date because of A.S.'s size. He's going to be a big boy according to the ultrasound.
In preparation, everyone at Casa Harden is getting haircuts. Because we know how babies like grabbing things. Things like hair and fur and dangling earrings.
I'm the only one that has to worry about that last one. However, DH's haircut from last Thursday was so radical it caused commentary among the young gentlemen sacking our groceries. Bella looks like an entirely different dog after yesterday's grooming (see photos for comparison).
DH suggested we be called Gramps and Grams. I kind of like that. "Grams" is what the Halliwell sisters on Charmed called their grandmother.
But in the meantime, I've got a lot of writing to write and paperbacks to publish before Adorable Spawn makes his debut.
I know we aren't though. The same people who refuse to wear masks to slow the spread are refusing to get vaccinated. And worse, most of these people are my age or older, i,e, one of the most vulnerable populations. This virus goes beyond politics, beyond borders, beyond any fucking space rock headed in Earth's direction.
This pandemic could have been much worse. And more could have been done to prevent its spread.
As I said on Monday, DH, some of the in-laws, and I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. I haven't had any side effects. DH complained about a sore arm for four days. One in-law had the fever and chills for a couple of days.
But I'm still masking and social distancing. The last thing I want is to spread any germs to vulnerable people, especially those who can't take the vaccine right now like GK's Significant Other.
In the meantime, I'm getting caught up on all the things I'm behind on publishing-wise. That work will keep my mind occupied while things become the new normal and some of our favorite activities return.
That's more U.S. citizens dead than World Wars I and II combined. One out of every three Americans have lost a family member. And even as more than a thousand people die every day, there are still those that deny the disease is real. The whole situation kicks me in the heart.
But I'm starting to feel hope again. DH and I got vaccinated Saturday. That mean in a couple of weeks we can be around Significant Other. We'll still take precautions being around her and the grandson-in-utero, but we've lowered the risk.
For those who are worried about types of vaccines and side effects, we both had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. DH has been complaining of a sore arm. On the other hand, I've been fine. Seriously, I had worse side effects from my flu and pneumonia shots last year.
I'm holding onto that hope. Things will never be the same after COVID-19. It's nice to think they will, but I fear that's a pipe dream.
However, if we can simply be with our families again, that will be more than enough for me.
I first heard this song when we took GK to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I fell in love!
It's important because our first grandchild is on the way. Yep, Genius Kid and Significant Other are expecting. And there is a certain delicious symmetry in that an Army brat baby will make his appearance around the Fourth of July.
The stimulus package will also help with the purchasing of important infant safety and waste disposal equipment.
And my whining about getting a haircut on Wednesday? Well, it is a necessity. I've been around babies. Long hair, dangly earrings, and newborns do not mix. Also, I need to dye my hair because I'm going to be the geek grandma.
The appointments took such a load off my mind that I wrote more yesterday than I did the entire rest of the week. I guess I needed that little glimpse light in the darkness.
COVID-19 fatigue has gotten to me big time despite the marvelous spring weather we've had for the last three days. No, I haven't had the disease. This is the same malaise that's affecting every one who's been trapped in their homes for the last year in an effort NOT to contract the damn coronavirus.
It doesn't help that my hair is now long enough to be annoying. The last time I got it cut was the day before my father's funeral in May of 2019. I meant to get it trimmed before I went to Vegas last year, but I ran out of time before I had to catch my flight. Messy bun and ponytails it was for the workshop.
I got home after spending two glorious weeks in Sin City only for the nationwide lockdown to happen. No haircut. Even when the salons and barbershops reopened, I feared contagion because I'm immuno-compromised.
I just need to hang on a little bit longer. My age group is allowed to get the vaccine starting tomorrow. Then the hair is coming off.
Maybe a little change in weight will help the hamsters in my brain get on the wheel to help me finish these three projects.
A year ago, DH and I sat across from each other in the local Applebee's and debated what would happen with COVID-19. The week before, the news broadcast announced the first death when I was on a layover in St. Louis. As we ate, hospitals in New York were becoming overwhelmed. No one was totally sure how the disease was spreading. There was a lingering unease even in our little town.
Less than a week later, my father-in-law's assisted living facility was closed to visitors. Two days later, the Ohio governor shut down the state.
A year later, Texas's governor is reopening the state. The CDC says it's far too early, and I agree. The new British variant is already spreading through the U.S. while we barely have 10% of the population vaccinated.
I worry because GK and his girlfriend are stationed in Texas. I worry because my unborn grandson doesn't have a choice in the matter. I worry because they want us down in San Antonio for the baby's birth, and the last thing I want is to expose them to COVID-19.
I'm glad Ohio's Governor Dewine is upholding the masking and social distancing efforts. We aren't out of the woods yet. But there is some hope on the horizon.
On Thursday, my and DH's age group can sign up for appointments to get oue vaccines. It's not a perfect solution, but if it helps us to welcome the grandkid into the world, then it's a little less worry on my soul.
I haven't gotten much writing done this week. Despite my best efforts, there's missing receipts, missing records, and incorrect entries in my accounting software. Not regarding Angry Sheep Publishing though. No, it's always the fucking medical shit.
I miss the years when I only went to the dentist twice and the gynecologist once. All I took was birth control pills because I was NOT getting pregnant in the middle of law school.
Luckily, I only need to write a couple of short stories for my next release. However, I'm overstocked in covers, and I want to write the new stuff now, but I have to finish the tax stuff first, and I still need to write the next HERO book, and I need to finish unpacking because we've been in the new house for four months, and it still looks like a bomb went off in here, and spring's coming, and I need to do yard work because there's a ton of dead branches and deer poo, and Bella wants to roll in the damn deer poo, and--
Yeah, taxes make me a bit crazy.
WMG Publishing is have another COVID-19 stay home and learn half-price sale! All the details are on Dean Wesley Smith's website. The code for getting various classes and prescriptions at half-price is
AGAIN
There's a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines are being distributed as fast as they are being produced. The masks and social distancing has made a dent in both patients and deaths.
So, stay in just a bit longer, and use the time to study craft and/or business. You'll be glad you did.
However, the FDA approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over the weekend, which will help get more folks inoculated against this horrendous disease.
On the other hand, A Virtue of Child went live yesterday, and I'm working on two new short stories to fill out a new anthology Practical Witches. The volume also includes the two non-Justice stories that were published Sword and Sorceress, plus a story that was originally published on my website.
Most of the two feet of accumulated snow has melted over the last five days. Temps reached the sixties yesterday, but clouds are moving in, and the wind has picked up. March may not be coming in like a lion, but it's definitely coming in like a rambunctious pack of cubs.
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