Monday Got Away from Me

Yesterday was just f**king busy.I finished putting together a bookcase. The plan is to finish cleaning out the storage unit. Which means I need to get the home library's bookcases out and cleaned up, as well as putting together the new cases so I have enough room for everything. Anyway, yesterday's job would have been done a lot faster if the Princess Puppy and the Grandpuppy didn't insist on supervising the process.

I also FINALLY got the Outlook Groups for my publishing e-mail lists pulled from the previous laptop to the new one. UGH! I hate Microsoft sometimes. "Let us handle the information transfer, but we will leave out random shit!" Anyway, the newsletters will be out later this week.

I reviewed everything I need to do for the Kickstarter that's supposed to launch this month. I'm a lot closer to being ready tan I thought. The last things I need to do for the campaign are to draft the story portion and take photo of the swag that will be offered.

I attended last night's yoga class and managed not to cry. Our instructor is closing her studio at the end of the month thanks to the current economic crisis. I wouldn't have been able to go if my readers hadn't graciously bought lots of copies of A Barrel of Vintner and Amazon hadn't paid me early. Tonight is the last night, and I may lose it at the end.

And last night, I took a much needed break since my sprinting partner wasn't available since she was babysitting her niece. I watched The Last Stand with DH and then resumed reading Jonathan Moeller's Ghost in the Hunt.

None of this may seem like a lot, but every niggling thing takes time, effort, and concentration.

But hey, things are getting done! And in time, it will all turn into something beautiful!

Real Summer Is Here!

I got spoiled with last week's super-pleasant, super-sunny mid-70's weather. Mother Nature ratcheted the temps back to the 80's today. The A/C has been running most of this afternoon. Tomorrow morning's rain front will cool things back down to the 70's for a couple days. And then...

It'll be in the 90's, baby! With lots of fireworks in the neighborhood!

I'm glad I grabbed a bottle of calming chews for the Princess Pup and the Grandpuppy during last month's dog supply run! Neither of them shake in sheer terror like poor Haley did decades ago, but they feel the need to reply to every little crack and boom with three times the barking. Honestly, the calming chews are for mine and DH's sanity, not the dog's.

In the meantime, I finished proofing the paperback of A Barrel of Vintner in the wee hours of this morning. My lovely formatter has already sent the final files back to me by the time I rolled out of bed and grabbed my first cup of coffee. Now, it's just a matter of getting everything uploaded and letting the retailer process roll through.

Which means paperbacks should be available for order late next week. Not in time for the July 4th festivities, but definitely for any other vacations for this summer.

In the meantime, I'm trying to wrap up edits on Death Goddess Fighting and getting words in on Death Goddess Redeeming while taking occasional forays into A Sprout of Wild for a palate cleanser.

I hope the rest of you are enjoying a lovely slice of summer sun and fun!

Release Day - A Barrel of Vintner

Finally, A Barrel of Vintner is out in the world! At least, the ebook is.

I spent the afternoon at Starbucks working on Death Goddess Fighting. It helps to be working on the middle of the next book so I'm not fretting about sales. Or lack thereof.

The world economy is all over the place right now because someone with a tiny mushroom is trying to prove its not a tiny mushroom. And to the world, I sincerely apologize that my fellow citizens would chose a convicted felon and rapist because he's white rather than an accomplished woman with a proven track record because she's black.

Anyway, I have started on A Spout of Wild, but I'm putting it aside for the next two weeks in the hope I can finish the second volume of The Books of Apep before the end of the month.

Let's hope Mother Nature cooperates. We've already had thunderstorms and tornadoes in Northwest Ohio nearly every day this week.

Happy Fri-YAY!

Despite the constant interruptions of real life, I'm wrapping up the fiddly bits on A Barrel of Vintner (Justice #11) before it drops next Wednesday.

I try to stuff all the reality crap into one day a week, so I can create the other six days. However, Murphy decided that was insufficient. Some things were super important like DH's eye doctor appointment. If you've ever had your eyes dilated, there's a reason you need someone to drive you home.

However, DH's appointment was on my day planner's to-do list. A lot of other stuff was not. In fact, I've only been able to cross off one other item on the to-do list.

That was a rather enjoyable dressing down of our local hospital administration for their lack of professionalism. For context, the hospital waited fourteen months before sending me the invoice for a 2024 appointment. These are the same people who threatened to sue me when I couldn't pay them thousands of dollars for my cancer treatments that the insurance company within six months. *side eye*

I get it. We're all just a number in the cogs of U.S. business interests. However, it irritates me when a compromise could be reached if the greedy fucks just weren't so fucking greedy.

*sigh*

Anyway...

I need to get back and finish the fiddly bits  of a new novel coming out. I hope everyone has an enjoyable spring weekend! Or a lovely fall weekend if you're down under!

Pre-orders Are Populating!

I managed to get the pre-order for A Barrel of Vintner entered on some of the various retailers before DH and I headed to Georgia last week. To my shock, people are already pre-ordering this tome before I announced they were available!

Thank you, readers!

I'll have links for the rest on the series page and on this blog post as soon as possible.

Thank you to all of you that have sent notes concerning the Justice series. I really appreciate your support! I'm so amazed that what should have been a one-off short story has turned into a beloved series.

Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords

Editing! Oh, Yes, I'm Editing!

Monday morning,  I started editing Death Goddess Walking.

For the third time.

 Why? Because I kept getting interrupted with life stuff. I did my first round shortly after finishing the manuscript and sent it to my alpha reader. Then, somehow, I had partial second-round edits in two different files.

Whoops!

So, now I'm picking through files to make sure all the second-round edits are in one file. And I'm finding a few more typos in the process.

I'm really hoping to get it done today. I'm ready to jump back in to working on A Barrel of Vintner.

Why? So I can get back to writing new stuff. As necessary as editing is, it can be incredibly boring.

YMMV! 

Completion!

Hallelujah! I finished the first draft of A Barrel of Vintner at 4:04 PM EDT yesterday afternoon. It came in just a hair short of 105K. But I know it will be well over that number once edits start.

It's a bit of a relief since I was wondering if I'd ever get to the end. I thought a quiet winter would help, but the last three months have been anything but quiet, both in my personal life and in the world at large.

Needless to say, my writing and publishing schedule has been pushed back thanks to the chaos. I'm still plugging away at the other books on my list. And I really hope things calm down.

Except I know they won't no matter how much I childishly wish for it. It doesn't mean I can't keep hope in a little box on my desk. Sometimes, clinging to hope is the only thing that gets me through my days.

Tonight, I'll work on something else to clear my palate before I start edits. I'll let you all know when the preorders go live. And don't get too excited just yet. It may be a couple of weeks before I finish the edits. It's damn long book! 

A Rough Monday with Rewards

I knew Monday was going to be a rough day with multiple appointments and very little writing time. I also knew today I would pay for running myself ragged.

Whenever I have major amounts of stress, I end up with a ton of muscle and joint pain. The doctors over the last twenty years have no idea why. And since it can't be instantly diagnosed, they give up. It leaves me struggling on days like today.

The overall stress isn't going away any time before 2029. Hell, it may even get worse after 2029. All I can do is try to alleviate personal stress. Which I generally do by writing.

See my problem? LOL

Anyway, the fabulous Mallory Goeke has hand-drawn a new Ohio Rebel Symbol. She shares her work freely, but if you want a copy, kindly tip her of Venmo.

So between this gorgeous bird and some perfectly baked chocolate chip cookies, I'll relax and see how close to finishing A Barrel of Vintner today!

To quote Dustin Pace, aka Non-Toxic Masculinity on Facebook, "Read Books. Lift Weights. Fight Fascists."

The Status of the Latest Justice Book

I get it. You're all anxious for A Barrel of Vintner. I see the stats of people checking the Justice series page.

And I want it done, too!

It's just been a little hard to concentrate over the past ten days. We're in the middle of a war that only the one-percenters want. A buddy of GK's knew one of the seven soldiers killed. And the current leaders of  U.S. are telling us they'll sacrifice all our kids to get what they want.

 The wrongness of those statements makes it a little hard to concentrate.

DH and I are old enough to remember Vietnam. The stupidity. The senseless waste. Children my age being napalmed. And yet our leaders are stupid enough to make the same damn ideological mistakes over and over again.

So, yeah. I'm terrified of losing my only child in a war that makes no fucking sense.

But for those of you that need a new Justice book to forget about the war that's not a war, I'm working on it. The wip crossed the 91K line yesterday. I hope to get another 2K written today.

We're getting there. At least, in fiction.

The real life mess? Well, the mid-terms are coming. Let's see if Americans get off their asses and vote. Because gas prices aren't coming down as long as the Straits of Hormuz are blocked.

What NOT to Say to Your Readers

During an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, George R. R. Martin was asked about finishing The Winds of Winter, the next book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Unfortunately, a quoted snippet has been taken woefully out of context by many other media outlets.

"...I'm not in the mood for that."

And ran with it they did. Esquire laments about Martin messing with his fans by not finishing the series.

I find myself a little irritated with George. As a reader, it's been fourteen years since A Dance with Dragons came out. I hate it when an author doesn't finish a series. So yes, I totally get that anger and disappointment from the fans.

On the other hand, I understand as a writer sometimes life gets in the way. It certainly did over the last six years of my life. The COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of parents, breast cancer still being treated, the Genius Kid getting deployed and Grandpuppy moving in with us, assisting a cousin with estate planning, and the list goes on.

Not once did I not feel like writing! Even during the two-plus-year gap between A Hint of Thief and A Cup of Conflict, I was writing. Just not very fast. Frankly, I was doing good some days to get a sentence or two written before I dropped in my bed, totally exhausted. And yes, there were some days I worked on a light and fluffy story because my days were depressing enough that I couldn't work on anything deep and juicy without crying.

As a I told a reader who asked when "Coming Soon" will be for A Barrel of Vintner, I told her I always mean it when I'm working on a book, but I don't know what or when the Great God Murphy will drop another life roll on my head.

For example, GK is getting promoted to sergeant soon, and DH and I want to attend, but it's a day-long drive one-way to another state. A close relative contacted me about staying with her for a major surgery that's coming up. And I promised my cousin I'd drive her around to visit assisted living places later this summer.

That's while editing the one book that's completed and writing nine other novels before December 31st.

So I'm pleading to you Murphy, GIVE ME ONE DAMN BREAK!

As for A Song of Ice and Fire, fourteen years is an awfully long time to wait for the next book. And part of the problem I believe is George is overthinking his story. It doesn't help that the show-runners for Game of Thrones didn't stick the landing of the finale in the fans' view. So, George is probably putting so much pressure on himself to stick that landing that he ran head-first into the balance beam of his own ego.

So I do get why he's working on other projects. There's not so much pressure internally and from the fans to perform. But, George, if you're listening, maybe you need to just let the project go. Sure, you'll get some blowback, but honesty to your readers is much better than saying, "I'm not in the mood for that."

Another Day, Another Two Thousand Words

It might technically be a holiday in the U.S., but there's no rest for a writer trying to finish a book!

DH and I had our Valentine's dinner on the 13th because my tolerance for crowds is waning. The emotional bombardment overwhelms me. So we had a quiet dinner at his favorite restaurant before we cat-sat for the niece's feline Miss M.

The rest of the weekend was spent writing and some heavy-duty editing in between watching the Winter Olympics.

"Editing?" you ask. "But the book's not done yet!"

Believe me, I know the book's not done. I was so focused on Anthea's side of the story that I dropped a subplot involving Luc. And that subplot has some very important ramifications for the next two novels.

So yes, I went back to the beginning to make sure those elements are inserted where they need to be. Which is what I've been doing for the entire last week.

Between all the adding, changing, and "killing my darlings", I've hit a net wordcount of 75K. Yeah, I think this book is going to be way longer than anticipated.

On the plus side of all that work is what I hope is a tense, hold-on-to-your-butts story that will knock the reader's socks off!

And I need to get started on this holiday Monday... 

Missing in Action

It's been nearly a month since I posted anything. Things have been. . .weird.

There's probably more words that are more accurate. Maybe off-kilter? Unprecedented? Worrisome?

The combination of the federal government shutdown and the Kickstarter Union strike delivered shockwaves through our family. Genius Kid called often, terrified that he wouldn't be able to pay his bills though he was still required to work full time. I beat my head against the wall attempting to put together my planned  October Kickstarter.

We've dealt with things. Somehow.

I put off the Kickstarter until next March for a lot of reasons. I didn't want to rush to finish the last two books. Finding a printer for what I wanted to do for this Kickstarter became a royal pain. Books are getting held up in customs even though books aren't supposed to be subject to tariffs. Shipping companies are using the tariffs to rip off both producers like me and customers. Even if everything went smoothly with me getting the shipment, the US Post Office decided to raise rates during the New Hallowthanksmas season since it's the busiest time of the year.

The stress of pulling this off became so great I halted my efforts because the last thing I need is my blood pressure climbing again after I worked so hard to get it under control. I like not taking so many damn pills!

Genius Kid came through the shutdown okay. He's smart and had enough in savings. The incident became a lesson on how you can do everything right and still get screwed over. *sigh*

In the meantime, I've simply been writing. I figure if nothing else, I can get A Barrel of Vinter written, edited, and published before the end of the year.

Maybe.

Unless some clown decides start World War 3. 

Here We Go Again

Back in the spring of 2020, COVID-19 swept through the world, causing massive disruption to everyone and everything. Millions of deaths, trade and economic collapse, people refusing to protect themselves or others from contamination.

And now, it's happening all over again. Except the cause is greed and power, not a virus.

*sigh*

If you're a history buff like me, we're seeing an action for action repeat of the first half of the 20th century. Back in 2020, Kris Rusch posted about Black Swan events disrupting the expected path of things. Go read it. I'll wait.

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So, what does this have to do with me and my writing? I had planned to do a Kickstarter this month for The Books of Apep series. I've been prepping for this campaign for two freaking years, and...

Of course, shit hit the fan. Not mine, for once. But everyone else's. And this Black Swan event is even weirder than the last one.

Everyone in the U.S. is suffering from the current, and rather deliberate, chaos in D.C. to dismantle the government. I won't get into my fury about my son's panic at not getting paid as a soldier.

But on top of that, the employees of Kickstarter have gone on strike. Ironically, the workers unionized back during the pandemic. And now, they are looking for nothing more than to continue their four-day work week and a cost of living increase in their wages. Management isn't even trying to negotiate in good faith. Kind of like Congress right now.

So, I delayed in putting up my campaign, hoping that the strike would end soon. Both of my parents were in unions. I remember us dropping off Dad at the picket lines during strikes in '70's. Frankly, I feel a little funky about crossing the Kickstarter United virtual picket line.

Company owners seem to forget who makes the products they sell. They forget who buys the products they sell. And if people aren't earning a decent wage, they can't buy the products these companies sell. It's a vicious cycle that no one seems to want to stop.

In my own case, my book sales are down because of the uncertainty of the economy. I can't blame my readers. DH and I are also nervous about what will happen next, too.

What am I going to do? After waffling over the last three weeks, I'm going to bite the bullet and launch the campaign at the end of the month. If it funds, great! If it doesn't, I'll try to do it again next year. But I've got to look after my own interests, especially if GK needs financial help!

In the meantime, I'll keep writing to keep from weeping over the disaster my country has become. Which is how I wrote 2600 words on A Barrel of Vintner yesterday.