A Day Off That Wasn't

I didn't get my post written yesterday. There was too much going on. Lot's of stuff that needed to be taken care of before the end of the month like the car registration, the AAA membership, dog supplies, etc.

I'm glad I did get everything done because it's snowing right now. Has been for the last two hours. It's hard to believe it was 82 degrees five days ago. The ground is too warm for the flakes to stick, but they're lining the edges of the raised flower beds and the branches of the tiny evergreen trees along our patio.

Halloween itself is quiet. The town's trick-or-treating was Saturday night, so the streets are still now that everyone's home from school and work.

Tomorrow, I'll hit the grocery store, stock up on some chocolate, and start on my NaNoWriMo story. And in between sessions, I'll work on cleaning the house since GK and the Grandpuppy will be here sometime on Sunday.

So for now, I'll enjoy the quiet and the snow.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Samhain!

You know what time of year it is, and you know what I post. All together, folks! Let's sing!

Halloween Season

DH is taking me to see The Nightmare Before Christmas re-release tonight. It's hard to believe it's been thirty years since it's original release. I dragged some friends to see it back then. I don't think they appreciated it as much as I did. And still do.

And for those who like to cause trouble--the answer to whether it's a Halloween movie or a Christmas is YES!

I'm Blind

Well, that's true since I was seven. I always got put in the back of the classroom because I was so much bigger than most of the other kids. And I squinted at the blackboard. (Yes, young'uns, this was in ancient times.)

So, I was tested by the school nurse, and she sent home the recommendation that I visit the eye doctor. This was the '70's, which meant huge ugly plastic frames and equally huge heavy lenses. By the age of eight, I had huge ugly divots on my nose from the weight of the dang glasses.

Contacts came in high school and went with my pregnancy. New plastic lenses made it possible to wear wire-rims for the first time ever.

Then came the cancer. And the tamoxifen. And the cataracts, the one side effect from the tamoxifen I worried about the most. My eye doctor thought I'd be looking at cataract surgery after I turned 60.

Today, I had my annual eye check-up. My eye doctor said the cataracts have progressed faster than she guesstimated, and she referred me to an eye surgeon. My appointment with him is in two weeks. It means I need to get my winter holiday story done before November 7th since I don't know what happens next.

I'm rather glad I haven't committed to any releases for the first part of the year. My fingers are crossed that this surgery goes smoothly. I need to see my laptop screen!

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

I remember when these folks were touring the college circuit.

It's Fri-YAY!

I'm home from Chicago. The actual visit was perfect. Lovely fall weather. For me, anyway. So many folks were walking around downtown with coats, scarves, and boots. On the other hand, I wore a t-shirt and overshirt and was perfectly fine even when we had dinner after dark on the outdoor patio at Broken English Tacos on East Lake Street. Excellent food! I highly recommend the place.

Besides, it's nice I can have a margarita with dinner again.

The weather changed as I was driving home. I hadn't even gotten out of the Chicago Metroplex before the clouds started spitting. And they continued to spit until the Ohio border when torrents of rain cut loose.

But I made it home in time for the Homeowners Association meeting. There were some things on the agenda DH and I were concerned about. However, the folks are so much nicer than the idiots we had to deal with in Texas. Our house was mentioned as a last minute item because we are planning to put in solar panels on our roof. We knew the HOA was never going to approve the panels on the south side of the house because it faces the street. DH and I even said that to the project manager and the broker, but the solar people submitted that south facing panel plan anyway. *eyeroll*

Anyway...

I'm back to working on the next series, and I'll clean the house this weekend in preparation for GK's visit in two weeks. We're dogsitting the Grandpuppy while GK is attending a month-long class at another base. He's a German Shepherd/Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix. Despite Blaze's size, Bella rules the roost. Two terrier mixes in the house  will be entertaining if nothing else.

In the Windy City

I went to Chicago at the last minute. (Long story) I haven't been in the city itself for thirty-one years. (Layovers at O'Hare or Midway do not count.)

It's amazing how a city can be the same and different over the decades. I'm at a cute little hotel on Michigan Avenue. Rush hour is starting to fade. From my window, I can see the sun is glinting off the lake.

The Millersburg Magick Mysteries, my second Kickstarter campaign, ended last night. It funded with nearly 200% of my goal. It was a normal campaign compared to the Soccer Moms campaign. Rewards will be out before the end of the year unlike the Soccer Moms campaign. No one is allowed to die in the next month!

Meanwhile, I'll enjoy my morning. In a little bit, I'll head out for some breakfast.

 I just hope I don't get lost between the hotel and the restaurant. LOL

No Movies, Not Even a Little Taylor

DH and I didn't make it to the theater this weekend. He really wanted to see Dumb Money, but the entire theater was taken over my Taylor Swift's concert. Well, except for the new Saw movie and some other horror flick. He's not interested in Taylor, and I had too much work to do after losing a day and a half to side effects from the new Covid booster.

The side effects were minimal: fever, headache, chills, but I'm immuno-compromised, which is the reason for getting the blasted shot to begin with. However, I woke up on Wednesday morning, feeling pretty damn. Even the arm soreness was gone, and that usually lasts 4-5 days.

It's one of the reasons I said screw it, and I moved the release of Fae and Felonies to Halloween. There's a lot of stuff that goes into a release. It's not just writing the book (or rewriting the book in this case), editing, and formatting.

And if I can getting that stuff done while I'm in Chicago, maybe I can go see Taylor Swift's concert on the big screen. I may not be a Swiftie, but I can appreciate another artist's work.

Musc I've Been Listening to Lately

Is it bad that I think the Peppers are still hot?

New Release - Demons Run at Halloween

Why, yes! I did have a new release drop today!

Demons Run at Halloween started as a stretch reward back in 2022 for the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse series. This is a prequel novella set ten years after Ed and Laura Hudson (i.e. Pestilence's in-laws) retired from demon hunting for the Vatican.

But it's a fun, stand-alone story and perfect for Halloween!

Blurb
Got a demon infestation? Call the people who can eradicate your Hellspawn problem! Vatican operators are ready to assist you!

Retired demon hunters Ed and Laura Hudson live the quiet, boring suburban life in Oakfield, Illinois, with their young sons Gene and Theo. Until a gruesome murder raises the senior Hudsons’ suspicions. And the archbishop of Chicago demands proof before he’ll send in a team.

Can Laura and Ed keep their sons safe during trick-or-treating while investigating the murder? Or has the suburban boredom dulled their hunting skills?


Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords

Last Week for the Latest Kickstarter!

The Millersburg Magick Mysteries Kickstarter Campaign is down to its last six days!

Get all three e-books, plus Amish, Vamps & Thieves (Bloodlines #4) which introduced several of the Millersburg adults, for only $10. Yep, that's half the price you would pay if you get all four books from an online retailer.

It's pretty simple. Kickstarter handles the transactions, so you're not giving me any credit card numbers. If you pledge for a physical reward, I'll need your snail mail address, but that's it. Between Kickstarter's rules and my own personal policy, no one else sees your personal info.

These YA books would make lovely holiday gifts for your young person.

Millersburg Magick Mysteries closes on Tuesday, October 17th, at 11:59 PM EDT. Check out this campaign before it's too late!

Monday Movie Mania - The Expend4bles

Once again, I needed some stupid, crazy fun after busting my butt delivering the last rewards for the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse Kickstarter campaign. Once again, a little Jason Statham fit the bill.

Only four of the original cast returned for this edition. Andy Garcia replaced Harrison Ford as the team's CIA contact. However, the new members for 4 were better than the kids the team had to babysit in 2 and 3.

* * *

SPOILERS

* * *

LOVES

1) Sly Stallone already announced this was his last Expendables movie, and after his on-set injuries in the previous editions, I don't blame him. Broken bones don't heal as well in septuagenarians. But he obviously had fun playing Barney one last time.

2) Female team members. YAY!

3) This one definitely earned it's R-rating. I swear it was bloodier than the last three movies put together.

4) Jason Stathm, even if he wasn't shirtless.

5)  Jacob Scipio was totally adorable as Antonio Banderas's character's son. Galan had his dad's patter down.

6) Lash (Levy Tran) and Easy Day (50 Cent) were awesome. I wish they'd filled out their characters a bit more.

HATES

1) Making Gina (Megan Fox) a whiny, pouty bitch. The woman's in her mid-thirties, and the title of teenage drama queen is already filled by Gunnar, thank you very much.

 

The one had a better plot than the middle two iterations. Like most Jason Statham movies, it's good stupid fun when you need to relax, especially for us older Gen-Xers who loved these guys' movies back in the '80's.

Overall, I give The Expend4bles 7 out of 10 stars. I had to deduct 1 star for handing over Dolph Lundgren's whiny bitch over to Megan Fox. What can I say? Male drama queen's amuse me more.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Opposites do attract!

Rewards

After spending the last four days catching up on tasks related to Kickstarters, I took this afternoon off and went to see to Barbie again. Why do I watch certain movies repeatedly?

Because I get something out of any story I love when I watch/read multiple times. I read A Game of Thrones twice to identify Jon Snow's parents. I didn't notice the dice in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon until my third viewing of Star Wars. I didn't understand how adult Spongebob Squarepants was until GK made me set down and watch the show with him.

Did I catch more during the second viewing of Barbie? Yep. It's even more woke that the Maga snowflakes realized.

It equally criticizes feminism and toxic masculinity. No one's perfect, and the harder you tr to be, the less perfect you are. Doublespeak doesn't help anyone.

It enforces why I believe the Wiccan Rede--And ye harm none, do what ye will. Life is that simple and that complicated at the same time.

The First Monday of October

I have a pretty extensive to-do list for today. However, I was up until 6 a.m., finalizing an audiobook that was a stretch goal reward for the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse Kickstarter campaign from 2022. I'm seriously late, but darn it! My backers will get everything they were promised.

The Soccer Moms experience is why I made the Millersburg Magick Mysteries a very small and limited campaign. I didn't want to get in over my head, though four family deaths in one year was rather exceptional circumstances.

But I'll get notices and links out later tonight while watching Stephen Colbert! I'm glad the WGA strike is done, but I don't blame them or SAG-AFTRA one bit. After the experience of recording my own audio book, I believe the SAG-AFTRA folks deserve every penny they are asking for, if not more.

Just recording a novella did a number on my voice. I can't imagine recording a whole novel. I understand why it's so expensive to hire a narrator.

But it's done! Life is good, and I'll move on to the next project on my calendar.