Happy New Year!!

Just a reminder! The sale at Smashwords ends tonight!

Planning for 2023

I spent the first hours of the brand new year planning out my tasks. 2023 will be my time to complete unfinished stories, get out the overdue paperbacks, and update the front/back matter of the already published books.

Updating links is a no-brainer. But after all the crap with Twitter in the last quarter of 2022, I can't even access my accounts. At my last check, they haven't been purged, but Twitter will no longer recognize my passwords. Any attempts to get an email link to reset them have failed. It's annoying as fuck, but it made my decision to walk away so much easier.

On the other hand, Greta Thunberg was already my hero. She should now be elevated to god status.

For the moment, I'm not saying when a particular ebook or paperback will be out. I fear jinxing myself after the turmoil of last year. Plus, I've lost my preorder privileges on Amazon. However, I will announce when links go live.

Could I get my preorder privileges back on Amazon? Probably. But I'm not going to try anytime soon because I need to get caught up on the writing, plus there's the aforementioned jinxing.

Not to mention, Alter Ego hasn't put out a book in a couple of years, so I need to finish a trilogy for her fans.

I've already got 1500 words for the year, and I'm going to keep chugging away this afternoon. I hope y'all feel refreshed and re-energized for the new year!

Happy New Year!

May 2023 be kinder and gentler to all of us than 2022 was!

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 664 - Brand New Year!

Known COVID-19 cases in the U.S. - 54,850,527
Known COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. - 824,301

We entering the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. People are getting tired of the whole situation. I get that. I really do.

DH and I had a lot of travel plans that were canceled the last two years. It totally sucked, especially after I worked so hard to get healthy after my cancer surgery. I'm tired of my glasses steaming up with a mask on. I'm tired of not being able to go to a coffee shop to sip hot drinks and people watch while my brain unravels a plot point.

While the country's media is focused on the Omicron variant, our county is seeing a sharp spike in the Delta variant. The two regional hospitals are full. To the point, the director of Blanchard Valley posted a plea for people not to come to the ER unless they are facing life-threatening injuries or conditions. In fact, DH and his sisters refused to take their dad (my FIL) to the ER.

No, they weren't being cruel. One of his meds can cause constipation, but he refuses to buzz the nurse to get a laxative, even though he's in an assisted living apartment and pays for the damn RN! The last time DH took his dad to the ER, they were stuck in the hallway for six hours. With the hospital full of COVID patients, it's not worth taking a chance even with him fully vaxxed and boostered.

Even worse, DH and I went to his cousin's funeral yesterday. (His son is the same age as GK.) Only a handful of people were masked. DH and I decided not to go to the wake.

I know it's not just me. I spoke with friends over the holidays. Most are like me, major and/or chronic health issues, and we really don't want to die. It's that simple. A big part of the issue is you don't know how your body's going to respond to COVID until you actually catch. It might by mild as a cold. It might kill you. To a lot of us, it's not worth the risk.

For now, I'll focus on writing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that 2022 is much, MUCH better than 2020 or 2021!

Starting Over

That's what 2021 feels like. Staring over after an awful trauma. I had that feeling in 2019 after spending 2018 as a cancer patient and my career as a writer once again getting kicked to the curb.

2020 started off so good for me. I was healthy enough to travel again. I was writing on a regular basis. I even had some writer workshops lined up.

However, the first workshop ended right around the time COVID-19 was recognized as a major problem in the U.S. The news announced the first known COVID-related death when I was laid over in St. Louis on my way home from Vegas.

I haven't done a Monday Movie Mania post for almost a year now. DH and I simply can't take the risk of going to a theater. So, this year will be like some previous years when I couldn't go to movies for other reasons. I'll be catching movies on streaming services, like Wonder Woman 84.

Also, I refuse to put the fucking pandemic in my stories. We're already living it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want an escape. From the news. From the stupidity of the denialists. From the worry about relatives and friends older than myself. So if you want that type of "reality" in your stories, then please look elsewhere.

Things change, and I'm patiently waiting for the circle to come around again.

In the meantime, I'm planning out my publishing schedule for the new year. I'm also giving myself a little more time between novels by publishing a bunch of short stories sitting on my hard drive. I like writing shorter pieces to explore ideas, characters, and new genres. Stretching my writing wings feels pretty damn good.

I hope y'all survived your first Monday of the new year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other 360 days.

Happy New Year!

May all your goals be accomplished in the coming year!

Happy Samhain!

Or Halloween. Or New Year's. Or whatever floats your boat.

All Hail the Pumpkin King!