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But yesterday. . .
The Muse cut loose on the next steps in the puzzle Anthea must solve to protect Jing's soon-to-be-crowned emperor. Next thing I knew, the sun had set. And my back and fingers ached.
No matter how much effort I put into my posture and the typing positions for my hands, Subconscious literally wants to climb into the laptop screen and live the adventure.
So I went in my art room and worked on a Tarot card bags while I watched Ghosts, the US version of the series. It's one of the rare cases where I like the American version better than the UK version of a series. It may have something to do with the heroine who sees and speaks with the ghost is a blond reporter named Samantha. LOL
I missed the last few episodes of the second season because of my father-in-law's death. And about the time the third season debuted, my mom passed. Then, I became consumed with re-releasing the first three books of the Millersburg Magick Mysteries. Now that the fourth season began two weeks ago, I went back and started over from the pilot. I finished last night's bag as the second season cliffhanger ended. (I am so glad they finally solved Alberta's murder!)
It was seven p.m. when I finished that little project. Time for dinner and a little TV with DH before I went back to work on the novel. Took a break for the last quarter of the Steelers game and Stephen Colbert after which SH and the Grandppuppy went to bed. I wanted to finish a scene and...
Next thing I knew, it was two-thirty in the morning. I love it when a story takes over my brain!
In the past two years, we've accumulated another large pile. But now, we have GK's pickup and a new facility in town that accepts green waste. So we loaded up the bed of the pickup. We also cut down a dying evergreen bush and started to weed the two small flower beds in the front yard.
However, the green disposal facility was closed on Monday. Not a big deal. DH took the pickup down the the facility yesterday.
On Monday, he had two soccer tournament starting in the early afternoon. Another reason for taking the day off.
I, on the other hand, still had work to get done. I finished the first draft of Death Goddess Walking on Sunday. I'm also updating the publishing info and back matter on all my books since Angry Sheep Publishing LLC is official. I also need to transfer the copyright ownership to the LLC.
Since my formatter is doing all these updates, I've pulled out my lists of found typos to update those books as well. That's the lovely thing about indie publishing. I can fix any boo-boos that have slipped past me and my editors.
After DH left for Monday's soccer game, I decided to finish reviewing Amish, Vamps & Thieves as a palette cleanser before jumping back into A Cup of Conflict. Except I was jerked awake when I dropped my tablet on top of my laptop.
*facepalm*
I've only ever fell asleep while reading one other time in my life. Frankly, I recommend any U.S. Civil Procedure textbook to cure your insomnia.
Luckily, neither device broke. I set them both aside, reclined on my couch, and went back to sleep. Apparently I expended more energy that I thought during our yard work.
Anyway, I slept for a few hours, reviewed some more of AVT, and started supper so it'd be ready when DH got home.
I guess I'm getting old. I never used to be able to take naps at all.
Now AG (Authors Guild) claims the only way to protect its members is by selling out their members to Big Tech by licensing the works of its members to these companies.
Big Tech is already scraping the internet, aka stealing artistic works. Instead of fighting them, why are organization,s that are supposed to by representing our interests, stabbing us in the back?
It all comes down to money. ALLi and AG are probably planning to skim the money supposedly pain to them on our behalf. Last week, Lilith Saintcrow had a rundown of her communications with AG over the matter.
The out-and-out lying of AG wasn't surprising. It has become the norm in our society, which is frightening in and of itself. When I was visiting my cousin in WV last week, the subject of Springfield, Ohio, came up more than once. *facepalm*
I have never wished to join AG after its anti-indie stance when I first started publishing in 2011. But how long will I remain a member of ALLI? Long enough to use the free codes to update my paperbacks on Ingram, which I'm in the process of doing.
By update, I mean fixing the typos that escaped editors while my formatter is updating the back matter. (I've got 83 books out right now, under two names, and there will be two more published before the end of the year. I'm currently working on the Bloodlines series and the Bloodlines shorts. After that, I'll buckle down on the Justice series for its upcoming 10th anniversary.
I kind of wish that Writers Guild of America accepted writers of other calibers besides screenwriters because they are the only ones in the U.S. who seem to give a shit about writer's rights.
We found pictures her father had taken of the family when he came home for my parents' wedding. We discussed timing of certain events, like Grandma Howell's passing, because Suzan's memories are clearer since she's a decade older than me. We spoke of how different our lives turned out than what we expected and/or planned for when we were younger.
She's in the process of clearing out her house to sell it and move into a smaller place. So, I shopped for something small and personal as an early birthday present. I took down a pair of earrings. I couldn't find any topaz ones at the store I was at, so I selected a lovely pair of citrine and silver ones. She wore them most of the time I was there.
I got to meet the newest addition to her household. Max is a stray she found on her property, and he's nothing like the scrawny kitten in the picture she sent me a couple of years ago. He's now what my family would call "pleasingly plump". In other words, he's definitely enjoying the life of a domestic Red Tabby.
The whole trip was another reminder of how short of lives we live on this planet, and how we need to relish the people we love. It doesn't take much to give a hug or say, "I love you." So please do it while you still can.
Now I need to finish. Dress my posable skeleton (he's going redneck this year). Set up my inflatables. Set out my light-up pumpkins. I hope to have the house organized by next year, so I can retrieve the boxes of decorations still in the storage unit and display those next year.
What do y'all do for the Spooky Season?
But I've noticed that a majority of people I used to follow have stopped blogging. The list is down to Lilith Saintcrow and Dean Wesley Smith. And Saintcrow talked about quitting last week.
I think most of the fading away is due to writers being forced by their agents and publishers to interact with their readers. Some writers loved it. Some didn't. The majority of us are introverts, so interacting with anyone isn't a comfortable proposition,
But even the folks who enjoyed such encounters with readers have turned to other social media platforms. Some of them are helpful with communicating with other humans. Other platforms are cesspits of hostility.
Oddly though, I've seen a slight uptick in people visiting my blogs. I'm not including the bots that are obviously scraping my blogs for content. (Really, dudes, if you're using stuff I wrote fifteen years, it's woefully outdated.)
Few people comment anymore, which is fine. I don't like people kissing my ass. But if someone enjoys reading my thoughts about writing and life, then more power to them.
Ultimately, I consider myself an entertainer, and I like to entertain myself most of all.
*sigh*
After that, I'm heading to Hot Yoga for the only class I can attend this week.
Then it's home for a quick shower and food before DH and I head to doctor's appointments. We were scheduled for our regular quarterly appointments back in July, which we had to cancel and reschedule when we came down with the latest variation of COVID.
Then it's home again to wash clothes and pack. I'm headed down to West Virginia on Tuesday to spend a few days with my cousin Suzan. Yes, there are two of us, but she pronounces her name "Suzanne". I lived with her nearly forty years ago when I worked in D.C. She's pretty awesome, but unfortunately, age is catching up with both of us. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to travel, and I'm making plans to visit as many loved ones as I can over the next couple of years.
So, I'll try to get Wednesday and Friday's post written ahead of time, but if I don't make it, you'll know why.
Why? Because I'm putting my estate in order to make it easier on DH and GK when I pass.
Don't worry, folks. Nothing's wrong. At least not wronger than my usual stuff. LOL
Once upon a time, I used to be an estate planning and probate attorney. Having your ducks lined up isn't about being morbid. Nor will estate planning bring about your death just because you thought about it.
(Good Goddess, you wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that one!)
The idea is to make things as easy as possible for my loved ones.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with your estate going through probate per se. But it means delays for your family in getting their property. And if your joint bank accounts are tied up, how is your spouse going to pay for food? Probating my mom's estate took fifteen months even though all she had left was her SUV and her checking account.
Back to Monday. While going through the paperwork and signing various documents, my attorney asked if I used AI in my writing. I firmly denied doing so. As I pointed out, I can't copyright AI-generated text.
Needless to say, we then had an interesting conversation about art and the law. Basically, we both agreed tech had grown light-years behind developments in the law, and that was going to cause bigger problems until some this gets sorted.
Ironically, when I got up this morning, I saw an online article where an artist was pissed about people stealing "his" art online. His lawsuit was kicked out of court. Why? Because he "created" his art using the AI program Midjourney.
The federal courts have been pretty consistent that any art created by a non-human cannot be copyrighted. Not the paintings done by elephants. Not the photo selfies taken by monkeys. And not a damn story written by AI.
The whole point of my appointments with my attorney is to protect my work. Copyright is for the artist's lifetime plus seventy years. My family could conceivable benefit from my stories and character into the 22nd century.
And this is why you want to line up your damn ducks now.
