My Novels

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Windy March Days

It seems the wind blows fiercely almost every day, at least thus far in March. I've also noticed windy days have become more frequent in the past few years, have no idea why. When I've visited Florida, the wind is almost a constant there. Now, here in north Alabama, windy days are increasing.

Not much to write about in my daily life; just the usual. Have upcoming maintenance issues to get taken care of. Someone coming Tuesday to give estimates for installing a new storm door on the back, and adding a new doggie door in the wall. The doggie door is in the bottom of storm door now, and will need moving since I want an all-glass storm door to let in abundant sunshine. Flushing apparatus needs replacing in toilet; want new kitchen sink installed; last, need wood fence doors that lead to back yard shortened -- have started to sag, and lawn care man needs to get riding mower through those gates.

There's more, but it can wait till next fall. Sigh. Always something when you own a home. One of these days I might find a condo, less maintenance. But I doubt I could have 3 dogs and 3 cats in a condo! And my pets are central to my life, my constant companions.

As a matter of fact, I took Muffin & Oscar on a neighborhood walk earlier. It was nice to get out in the windy sunshine, visit with neighbors along the way. I usually take Rambo separately; it's just become impossible to walk all 3 dogs at the same time.

I finally received my first check from Amazon; it was certainly not a fortune, but enough to put back into more editing/formatting/cover-art to improve my novels. And maybe a bit more promotion, when I get the novels the best I can. At least I have plenty to keep me busy. In fact, I still have two more novels to edit/proof, as well as a couple books of short stories, essays and poetry. But I'm in no hurry to get those online, since I would like to space new releases during the next year. In the meantime, I keep working on editing, proofing that work when I have time.

Starting April 1st, my novel, The Dark Fire, will be available free for five days. My first-born novel, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I added a copy of my hand-out author card as the heading for this blog; you can click on it, go to my Amazon author website. I'm handing out some to people here where I live, friends, neighbors, anyone who likes ebooks or has an e-reader, either tablet, phone with Kindle program or a Kindle.

Lately I've been reading a lot on my Kindle. What I enjoy is finding undiscovered gems in indie published ebooks on Amazon. It's amazing how many I've found while browsing either free or discounted work. Especially interesting and entertaining are the ebooks that really don't fit a particular genre, rather have twisting plots with unexpectedly unique characters. My reading is all over the map, no particular kind of fiction, whimsical and eclectic.

Unfortunately, I dropped my camera the other day, broke it. The thing was not very costly, and I never liked it. Guess I'm in the market for a new one -- something to spend time looking for online!

I am dreading another round of medical visits; I need to see several specialists -- allergy/sinus issues; two dental crowns needed, etc. Keep delaying, not fun.

Alas, that's about the extent of my life these days.

Monday, March 03, 2014

March has arrived!

I sure hope spring is just around the corner, but you couldn't prove it by the weather today. It's in the 30s, and falling into the low 20s tonight. Yesterday was a gorgeous day: bright sunshine, light wind and 75 degrees.

I took the dogs to the wooded park, and we all enjoyed the nice, meandering walk. Saturday was nice too, a bit cooler, so I took Muffin on a short neighborhood walk. Unfortunately, my knees hurt later. I still can't walk comfortably on pavement -- even with new shoes and thick, padded inserts. The wooded park has a graveled path, and that's about the only option now for a bit of exercise.

I wish I could find an activity that I really liked. The orthopedic doctor suggested "chair yoga" just for the stretching and relief for my joints/muscles. I haven't googled it yet, but plan to soon.

Wednesday night I'm going to a new AA group meeting. It's held in a different location, and only once a week at night. I think I might fit in better with that group, and perhaps can find a sponsor at some point. So far, I don't have any urge to drink at all. It's like something that happened in another lifetime, but I recognize that it can always come roaring back if I let my guard down and don't attend AA meetings.

What else? Well, my novel Season of the Serpent, continues to sell several copies each day. Thanks to indieauthorland it still comes up on their site -- truly great free publicity for authors. Also, I noticed a reader posted it on Good Reads website, and that might account for sales too. Of course, it is only $1.00. I ordered name cards today - with my name, email and website to my e-books. I hope to distribute those to the library, the newspaper and any other venue I think might garner readers.

I have a lot of outside maintenance jobs that I'll have to hire done soon. I dread it, because finding reliable help is always a challenge. Next week I'm also going to run an ad in a small free paper that is distributed throughout the city/county for occasional housework & pet care. Come to think of it, I might also run an ad about my work, since the paper is also online too. Huh, this marketing thing is starting to stimulate my imagination!

My dogs are doing great, though Oscar is slowing down in his old age. He doesn't like to play at all; he barks if Rambo & Muffin rough-house too much. It's like he's saying, "Hey! Knock that off, it bothers me!" :-)

With that, I'm outta here for today.