Vaccine Party!

I was on the phone starting at 8 a.m. yesterday morning with the county health office. It took about twenty minutes to get through, but DH and I have appointments for our first shots on Saturday!

It's important because our first grandchild is on the way. Yep, Genius Kid and Significant Other are expecting. And there is a certain delicious symmetry in that an Army brat baby will make his appearance around the Fourth of July.

The stimulus package will also help with the purchasing of important infant safety and waste disposal equipment.

And my whining about getting a haircut on Wednesday? Well, it is a necessity. I've been around babies. Long hair, dangly earrings, and newborns do not mix. Also, I need to dye my hair because I'm going to be the geek grandma.

The appointments took such a load off my mind that I wrote more yesterday than I did the entire rest of the week. I guess I needed that little glimpse light in the darkness.

Struggling with the New Shiny

I've got three projects to finish over the course of the next couple of months, but I don't want to do any of them. No, I want to work on the new shiny project that's, well, a little more humorous.

COVID-19 fatigue has gotten to me big time despite the marvelous spring weather we've had for the last three days. No, I haven't had the disease. This is the same malaise that's affecting every one who's been trapped in their homes for the last year in an effort NOT to contract the damn coronavirus.

It doesn't help that my hair is now long enough to be annoying. The last time I got it cut was the day before my father's funeral in May of 2019. I meant to get it trimmed before I went to Vegas last year, but I ran out of time before I had to catch my flight. Messy bun and ponytails it was for the workshop.

I got home after spending two glorious weeks in Sin City only for the nationwide lockdown to happen. No haircut. Even when the salons and barbershops reopened, I feared contagion because I'm immuno-compromised.

I just need to hang on a little bit longer. My age group is allowed to get the vaccine starting tomorrow. Then the hair is coming off.

Maybe a little change in weight will help the hamsters in my brain get on the wheel to help me finish these three projects.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 363 - Jumping the Gun

29,293,090 known COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and 530,614 known dead from the disease.

A year ago, DH and I sat across from each other in the local Applebee's and debated what would happen with COVID-19. The week before, the news broadcast announced the first death when I was on a layover in St. Louis. As we ate, hospitals in New York were becoming overwhelmed. No one was totally sure how the disease was spreading. There was a lingering unease even in our little town.

Less than a week later, my father-in-law's assisted living facility was closed to visitors. Two days later, the Ohio governor shut down the state.

A year later, Texas's governor is reopening the state. The CDC says it's far too early, and I agree. The new British variant is already spreading through the U.S. while we barely have 10% of the population vaccinated.

I worry because GK and his girlfriend are stationed in Texas. I worry because my unborn grandson doesn't have a choice in the matter. I worry because they want us down in San Antonio for the baby's birth, and the last thing I want is to expose them to COVID-19.

I'm glad Ohio's Governor Dewine is upholding the masking and social distancing efforts. We aren't out of the woods yet. But there is some hope on the horizon.

On Thursday, my and DH's age group can sign up for appointments to get oue vaccines. It's not a perfect solution, but if it helps us to welcome the grandkid into the world, then it's a little less worry on my soul.

I Love the '00's!

 I'm sad that her personal dramas overshadow the performer she is.

Taxes Are Kicking My Ass

Or writers.

I haven't gotten much writing done this week. Despite my best efforts, there's missing receipts, missing records, and incorrect entries in my accounting software. Not regarding Angry Sheep Publishing though. No, it's always the fucking medical shit.

I miss the years when I only went to the dentist twice and the gynecologist once. All I took was birth control pills because I was NOT getting pregnant in the middle of law school.

Luckily, I only need to write a couple of short stories for my next release. However, I'm overstocked in covers, and I want to write the new stuff now, but I have to finish the tax stuff first, and I still need to write the next HERO book, and I need to finish unpacking because we've been in the new house for four months, and it still looks like a bomb went off in here, and spring's coming, and I need to do yard work because there's a ton of dead branches and deer poo, and Bella wants to roll in the damn deer poo, and--

Yeah, taxes make me a bit crazy.

WMG Publishing Half-Price Classes!

WMG Publishing is have another COVID-19 stay home and learn half-price sale! All the details are on Dean Wesley Smith's website. The code for getting various classes and prescriptions at half-price is

AGAIN

There's a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines are being distributed as fast as they are being produced. The masks and social distancing has made a dent in both patients and deaths.

So, stay in just a bit longer, and use the time to study craft and/or business. You'll be glad you did.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 356 - New Month, New Stories

The U.S. stands at 28,904,197 known COVID-19 cases and 519,014 known deaths from the disease. For all of our advanced medicine, we're approaching the same death toll as the Spanish Influenza outbreak a century ago.

However, the FDA approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over the weekend, which will help get more folks inoculated against this horrendous disease.

On the other hand, A Virtue of Child went live yesterday, and I'm working on two new short stories to fill out a new anthology Practical Witches. The volume also includes the two non-Justice stories that were published Sword and Sorceress, plus a story that was originally published on my website.

Most of the two feet of accumulated snow has melted over the last five days. Temps reached the sixties yesterday, but clouds are moving in, and the wind has picked up. March may not be coming in like a lion, but it's definitely coming in like a rambunctious pack of cubs.

Remember

...if we are willing to woork for those dreams.

Audiblegate

I've been quiet the last week in order to finish A Virtue of Child. However that doesn't mean things aren't happening in the publishing world.

I talked about Audible and their atrocious return policy last month. The return policy that essentially turned Audible into a subscription service.

Writers and publishers were steamed. Steamed to the point that The Authors Guild, which is primarily trad publishing folks, and the Alliance of Independent Authors, which is primarily indie folks as the name says, teamed up to tackle the issue.

Now, there's Audiblegate.com, a clearing house website that collects info about Audible's shitty practices. It promotes awareness to those who have been screwed over by Audible and a warning to those who haven't been yet. The website is run by two talented, brave women, Colleen Cross and Susan May. Check out the website. If you're having an issue with Audible and your royalties, contact them. Otherwise, I hope you'll support their campaign for author justice.

Side Note: If you're an author who's been screwed over by Audible, contact your state attorney general's office and file a complaint. Also, contact your state and federal legislators. Audible's serial disregard for their own contracts will be of interest to investigators looking into Amazon's overall business practices.

I Love Musicals!

Dreams and wishes can come true...