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.
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!
Unfortunately, I'm in the same position as everyone else in the country. I find it necessary to raise prices on e-books. I've been resisting it for the last ten years.
Any e-books currently released will remain at their current prices. Any unfinished series, like Justice and Millersburg Magick Mysteries, will remain at their current price levels.
Any NEW novels or series, i.e. any work where Book #1 or a new single title, is released on retailers after May 15, 2026, will be priced at $5.99. Novellas will be priced at $3.99.
It sucks to raise prices when we're all just trying to get by.
For various reasons, including the COVID pandemic, DH and I've never been able to attend any of GK's ceremonies. The kid kept saying we didn't have to come to this one. But I insisted, telling him I wanted to attend ONE adult recognition ceremony.
You see, he didn't graduate from high school. He dropped out for reasons DH and I understood and supported. In our white-collar town, something like this was a major scandal, but none of the three of us cared. Not every person is cut out for cookie-cutter classroom bullshit.
During the ceremony, his 1st sergeant and captain said some wonderful things about GK's service. Their words were genuine and sincere. At the end of the ceremony, GK was called upon to make a speech. GK thanked those who had mentored him and recognized the efforts of his fellow soldiers in getting the job done. It was a humble and sweet speech from an accomplished young man who had failed his public speaking class in his teen years because of severe anxiety.
To say DH and I are proud of the man our son has become is an understatement.
When the unit was dismissed at the end, GK said he needed to take care of a couple things and then he'd meet us for dinner. His captain overheard, came over to us, and said, "Harden, you're done for today. Go spend some time with your parents."
Sarcasm, an appreciation for SF&F, and a love of chocolate are pretty much the only things GK inherited from me. He got everything else from DH. However, we both love him and are proud of him. He's everything we could want in our progeny.
And now when he calls, I'll say, "Hey, Sarge! What's up?"
