Tag: books

February 2026

This is my birth month. Another year older. But not necessarily wiser.

I’ve been re-reading a mystery series that I just love. She hasn’t come out with a new book in that series in a while and her one website/blog has gone inactive. I hope she hasn’t stopped writing. I love the series and would love to see more.

Some writing did get done. I’m trying to slip back into my routine and get at least one book done by April. But social media is just so dang distracting. After I do my emails I just surf on in to FB and IG. I got 4 emails to look at, 2 are for book stuff, 1 for misc, and 1 is personal. Can take up a lot of time just on that, then I have 3 FB pages which I don’t even really update. I have hard enough time trying to stay current with IG. I think a lot of authors struggle with keeping up with social media. There are only so many hours in the day. We have daily activities/chores that we have to do. And a lot of authors still work a day job as well. I still think a brain to print interface needs to be invented, speech to print ain’t fast enough and can usually cause a lot of word errors.

We’ve been having some warm days, up in the 60’s. The cats are loving it of course. They’re being frisky. The males are chasing the females who are irritated with all that. Not time yet as far as they’re concerned. But you know males have only one thing on their minds when they think spring is here.

I signed up for two in-person events this spring. Author Expo in the Nixa Library is happening April 25 and Triple Treasures Marketplace in Hardenville, MO is May 9th. The TTMP is confirmed but I haven’t heard back from the Expo yet. But we have a while yet. I also signed up for the writer’s conference in June to save a place but I may not go as that one depends on several factors. More about them when it gets closer to time.

Dragon’s Heart has only sold a few copies and no one has rated it yet. I don’t know if that’s because it’s new or because people don’t think it’s worth a rating. My muse just wanted me to get it out of my head. It was taking up valuable real estate. It had been in my head a long time, sitting there like a stone. Other stories were bouncing off of it. I was having a hard time concentrating on other stories long enough to write. Some stories are like that. I promised myself that I would publish whatever I wrote, even if I considered them a ‘dud’. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure as they say. Each book still gets a going through for editing but no one’s perfect.

I got to feed the cats soon and I have to open a new bag. So I’ll catch you on the flip side. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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November 2025

A bit behind on things. Seasonal Disorder is kicking my butt. It gets dark too early for my rhythms.

I haven’t winterized my trailer completely yet. I just don’t have the gumption. And to me it’s not that cold right now. It’s dipped into the 30’s but with just a long-sleeved shirt I feel fine. Spring and Fall are my seasons. Well, except for the sinus problems they bring. I hate that.

My muse has not been very busy. I’ve only written about 200 words in all of October. And I am now two books behind in my book club. No gumption at all.

Mama cat has only two kittens with her now. She’s moved to the wood pile by the old chicken house with them. An older kitten has moved into the chicken house itself. I think it is one of the summer bunch that had stopped showing up. It looks like one of them any way. The kitten’s a scaredy cat though. You even look at it the wrong way and it runs off a little ways. If it spends enough time around here it will calm down some. They all do once they realize we ain’t gonna hurt them.

Been watching a few YouTube videos. Well more than some. But I’m starting to get tired of them. Maybe I’ll be forced to go back to reading when I get bored of YouTube.

November is a between month for me. Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving doesn’t mean much when most of your family is gone and you don’t have a lot of friends. Christmas isn’t the same either. But Halloween and Christmas the whole world celebrates publicly and it’s nice to watch the children enjoy the holidays. Tis the season as they say.

Gotta go. Catch you on the flip side. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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October 2025

Halloween is just around the corner!

Halloween is my favorite holiday though I do not really celebrate it. There are not many social events here, small town. We have a yearly craft festival and put up holiday decorations around the square but rarely does that translate into social events even at the local senior center. However I still have that wonder towards Halloween that I had as a child. I love dressing up as a character and being that inner child/person even if only for a few hours. If I ever win the lottery I plan to make a yearly Halloween event wherever I land in October.

Speaking of the craft festival, I didn’t sell much. I did talk to quite a few people, but it didn’t translate into sales. I have an in-person event on the 11th so I’ll see how that does.

Still haven’t been reading or writing much. In fact I haven’t read the September book club book and reviewed it yet. I just haven’t been very ambitious. My muse is being very fickle, playing hide and seek. It hides while I seek it. So nothing got done last month except procrastination.

Mama cat moved her kittens from under the trailer. She only has four now with her. Makes me smile to see them try to eat the cat food with their tiny teeth. They are so cute.

I’ll be putting up the skirting around the trailer this month. The cold weather will be here before we know it and I want to make sure the cold wind stays out from underneath my trailer. Now that the kittens are out I don’t have to worry about them and can seal it the best I can. Duck tape added to my shopping list. It’s a good sealant.

Time to publish this. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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July 2025

July is here. Over half the year is gone already. The summer heat has started, and it’s been alternating with rain or blazing sun. With all the rain we’re getting, I think August and September may be ‘dry’ months. I just hope September is fairly cool for Hootin An Hollarin. I don’t want to cook while I attend my booth.

As my last post said, I finished my WIP Dragon’s Heart. My Mary-Sue muse was harsh. She wouldn’t do more than a page a day and wouldn’t let me work on any of the other WIPs. Almost OCD. But it’s done. Not my greatest work, but then forced work never is.

Novella 3 of the Elemental Voice Companion series is moving along. I hope to get it out by September. Book 5 of EV and Novella 4 of EVC will be next on the agenda after. Unless my muse switches up. Which, you never know, they might. I want to get the Elemental Voice series done, though. I have over 15 books out and not one series finished. My muse is fickle, and other muses hop in and take over. Herding plot bunnies is hard; those hind legs really pack a oomp when they hit, and they can be vicious and tenacious.

Already read this month’s book club book and did the review last month. So that’s done, and I’ve been reading cozy mysteries. Some of them are okay, but a few are not my cup of tea. They sound interesting, yet they don’t go the way I like. Quick, easy reads, though.

The ferals have been lounging in the shade, watching the kittens run around. None of the kittens let me get near them yet. They’re still wild. The mamas rub up against me when I feed them. Hurry up, they’re no doubt saying. Haven’t named the kittens yet. Not really anyway. I’ve been calling them little grey or orangy. But no real names.

My clock says it’s lunch time for me. The ferals already had their lunch. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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June 2

My Mary-Sue muse has stopped chasing the other muses/plot bunnies away. I’m done with the WIP I’ve been working on. It ends rather abruptly but that’s the way the muse left it. I sent it out to my publishing coordinator and see if she’ll pub it. I’m not touching it again. It consumed me for months a trickle at a time. And I don’t know why cause it was just a little snippet of a dream I had years ago. But the muse wanted it done. But on her terms.

Maybe it was taking up valuable real estate in my mind that needed to be cleared out. I don’t know. Anyway it’s done now and I’m moving on finally.

My next two WIPs are novella 3 of Elemental Voice companion series and one of the dragon fantasy Fallborn books. I hope to get at least one of them out before September. The other I hope by November.

Read this month’s book club book and did the review. It was a Christian romance. I usually don’t read them cause some get real preachy but this one was fair. Only got a little preachy towards the end but still was a good clean book. She had changed the title but I prefer the older title. I think the older title suits the book better. But the new title does grab attention.

I ordered and got a few books for inventory. I was out of a couple. Since they are older I didn’t get many. I’m hoping to get my WIPs out and ordered before Hootin An Hollarin so I have new books to sell. That’s the thing about writing you always have to have new inventory to put out or you don’t sell as well.

Gonna relax tonight, watch a DVD. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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June 2025

Halfway through the year already, and I haven’t published a book yet. I’m still working on my WIP. I have two more books I want to get out, but I can’t work on them until I get this thing done. My muse is being so fickle about it. She won’t let me work on anything else til I get this done. It’s irritating me. But my muse wants this written now. It was at the bottom of my queue, but she shoved it in front and said, ‘Do this’. Like I don’t have thousands of books to write in my queue.

Anyway, Summer’s here officially now. Mornings we do a little bit outside, then have lunch and sit in a/c for a few hours after. Evenings we go outside for a while as well, once the sun has moved a bit. The ferals are haunting the shade, and the little babies aren’t so little anymore. They’re growing a little bit and playing around with mamas keeping an eye on ’em. There are three water bowls for them near the feeding boards and a metal container full of rainwater that they like to use, so they’ve got plenty of water. All the kittens have started to eat the dry cat food so I’ve increased the amount a bit in the three main feedings. Before I go in at night I put a little out. I figure that mamas need a little extra. 🙂

Did last month’s book club book. It was actually good. At first I thought it was going to be a retelling of David and Goliath but it wasn’t. It did have giants and battles but most of it was a coming of age tale of a slave who became a champion of his people. Slayer of Nephilim by Daniel Moots. This month’s a romance and one I normally wouldn’t read as it’s not paranormal. We’ll see how it goes.

My in-person TTMP event last month was okay. I didn’t sell much. Of course I didn’t have anything new. Hootin An Hollarin is up next in September and then another TTMP event in October. I’m hoping to have new books for both.

I didn’t do a cover last month. I’ll see about doing it this month. I need to build up my covers. They keep me on track with what I’m writing. If I have the cover I have to do the book.

Time to feed the ferals their last main feeding. Stay tune for the next installment.

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May 2025

Almost half way through the year. April indeed was wet but the flowers have already bloomed and some have come and gone.

We’ve been sitting outside on the porch in the evenings for a bit and doing odd ‘projects’ here and there before dark. Now that it doesn’t get dark until after 8p.m. The ferals have been hanging around napping while we sit on the porch and some of the females seem to have had their kittens. Now that it’s warm the cats don’t eat as much. There’s leftovers after they go through and I’ve cut down to 3 feedings a day.

Time to start reading the next book club book. The other members read mine and gave me fair reviews. I can’t afford an editor and I usually go for a proofreader but sometimes even they miss things. However I think I didn’t have either for Bone, just spellchecker. So I agree about the grammar errors. When I read a book if I get immersed in it I don’t even see the typos.

I have not finished my main WIP. My muse is adding things in, fleshing out some more. It’s gonna be published this month one way or another. I have two novellas I want to get out by September. This WIP is a little different than my other books. Probably why my muse is being so fickle with it.

I have an in-person event this first Saturday of the month at Hardenville, MO. Triple Treasures Market Place. I also signed up for Hootin An Hollarin at Gainesville, MO in the third week of September. These are probably the only 2 I will be going to as funds are short. Unless I get a lot of sales this month. And I do mean a lot. 🙂

I have picked a cover to do this month. The cover for book 3 of the Bone Whisperer series. That is if I can. Money isn’t a sure thing right now.

The clock says it’s lunchtime and so does my stomach. Stay tune for the next installment.

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April 2025

 A little late with these posts this month. Yesterday we lay chad on our driveway so I was outside all day, except for mealtimes. We finished an hour before dark. I didn’t feel like writing any thing yesterday evening so I watched a video after checking all my emails. 

Now that the weather is getting nicer I’ll be doing ‘projects’ with my Dad and most of the time not being indoors long until suppertime. Not all the time but usually at least once a week or other week. That’s what I’m here for according to my parents, to help so they get what work they can from me. 🙂

I’m still working on the two WIPs. I only got a few days left til the deadline.

My book, A Playground of Bones, is up this month in the Book Club.

Want a walk-on role in one of my Elemental Voice books? In book 4, Wind Whisper, one of my past co-workers, gave me permission to use her maiden name, and she became the M.E. because she was good at cutting up the stuff for the salad bar. She thought I was joking about making her the M.E. because of her knife skills. But there she is in Wind. Message me the name and occupation/skill and you’ll be slipped in.

I’ll see about doing another book cover this month. I want to try and do at least one a month, to keep way ahead of my books incase my book cover company stops being able to do them. As I’ve said they’re in Ukraine.

The ferals are doing fine. A few of the females have shown up pregs. So kittens will be coming. There are ten cats that show up regular, other not so much. The count is fluid and some like to hang around incase we put out food between feedings. Which we do, some leftovers from our meals. The more that stick around the less pests we have hanging around.

Clock says it’s almost lunch time and I’m eating with my parents today so I best be going. Stay tune for the next installment.

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January 2025

It’s the new year already. 2024 seemed to fly on by. Now we get to see what the new year brings.

The Time-Lost book is out on Amazon. I’m moving on to the next book in the queue, novella 3 of the Elemental Voice Companion series. Book 3 of Ghostwolf is the writer’s block book this time instead of Bone Whisperer 2. I need to get Ghostwolf out as well. I have a feeling though that I’ll be working on all three of them. My muse never does exactly what I want.

When I say writer’s block book, I mean a book I work on when I get stuck on the main book. If my muse decides she doesn’t want to work on the main book I open the block book and see if she’ll work on it. Usually she does, at least a bit.

I only did the one cover this last month. I wasn’t settled on which cover I wanted to do next. I need to figure that out and get it done this month. Staying ahead is nice. Hopefully the company that does them for me will still be there in the new year. Ukraine is still up in the air.

The evenings and mornings have been chilly and the ferals have been cuddling in cat piles, either in a leaf pile or in a cat house. I’ve been feeding them extra on the boards in the mornings and evenings. During the day the young ones romp around while the older ones lay in the sun.

Joined a book club. My book is slated for either March or April. I can’t remember. I’ll look up the schedule later. Already started on this month’s book, a coming of age set in the 1960’s. Has a soda fountain area mentioned in it. Our local pharmacy had an old time soda fountain in it when I was a kid and this book brought about some good memories of ice cream and chats at the counter. I was sad when they reneuvated the pharmacy and took out the foutain when I was a teen. Not many places to go in a small town to hang out. But that was probably why they took it, too many kids hanging around. And it probably wasn’t profitable enough.

Just finished my glass of tea so I think I’ll wrap this up here. One more check of my email then I think I’ll go outside and check on the ferals, about time for a feeding since I feed them early. Stay tuned for the next installment

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November 2

Well, the month is almost over. December is just around the corner and Christmas will be upon us. The new year is coming whether we like it or not. And there’s gonna be big changes. People wanted change, well they’re gonna get it though not in the way they’re gonna really like it.

Enough doomsaying.

It’s been windy and cool for the month and the younger ferals are still being frisky while the older ones are taking advantage of the laying in the sun. Once Winter fully gets here the older ones will be hibernating between feedings unless we have a balmy 40 degree sunny day.

The cover of book 3 of the Elemental Voice Companion series is done. So I have a total of 4 covers done for the next 5 books I’m working on. Next month I’ll do some more covers. ’cause you never know what’s gonna happen in the new year with the company I’m using. They’re based in Ukraine.

I rearranged my writing queue a bit as I said I would. However I didn’t change too much. Book 3 of EVC series is first on the list to get done, then book 2 of Bone Whisperer, book 1 Of Gods and Curses, book 3 of Ghostwolf, and finally book 5 of Elemental Voice. They are subject to more rearranging, but those are the next 5 in the queue. Then I have arranged the next 5 after them, but left the rest. I try to do one T.L. book, then one Tina book so whichever series you follow you don’t have to wait too long. My muse however is fickle.

My newsletter went out this month. This is my second newsletter. Hopefully I get good stats with this one like I did last month.

Not quite cold enough for a cuppa so I’ll pour myself a glass of ice tea and surf the web a bit. Maybe check out a few of my fellow writers’ blogs or a couple of YouTube videos. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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