On my side of the world the winter solstice is here. That makes for a long, long night.
Here’s hoping your’s is comfortable & calm.
Just Me Talking to Myself
Vulnerability
Being vulnerable enough to look [honestly] at yourself – at your past is the hardest thing some of you will ever have to do.
I wish you strength. I wish you healing. I wish you peace.
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What’s New? (Tuesday’s Tell All)
What’s new?
Is nothing and a lot an appropriate answer?
Well it will have to suffice.
Let me first assure you I am not in a funk nor am I suffering from writer’s block.
On the contrary, potential stories abound!! I say potential because none have made it past my imagination.
In the garden, the grocery store, in front of the television or at a restaurant….
The list goes on forever.
So this morning as I was rocking and sipping my coffee (without spilling a drop), I asked myself,
Self, why haven’t you written a damn thing ??? Not so much as a blog post since April. And you failed miserably at supporting NPM
I pondered the question while I kept rocking and sipping, listening to the birds, watching the butterflies in the mimosa tree and waiting for a response.
Finally self answered. Well, (in no chronological order) let’s see...
You got older and slower so multi-tasking got a little harder.
You had Covid twice…
You focused more on family…
A large portion of last year was consumed when the home had to be gutted and restored due to the flood after the freeze. And the fishing shack had to have all of the pipes replaced due to the same freeze.
You spend a lot of time “working” in the yard and gardens. But honestly you “meander” as much as you work.
Your dog died and you got a new kitten.
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Read an eBook Week #Tbt
Ah I vaguely recall my start as an independent writer; it almost seems like a lifetime ago.
I can’t even remember how I found [the oddly named] Smashwords, but I am glad we connected. Mark Coker’s publishing platform really simplified my life.
And then Draft2Digital with Books2Read came along with their pretty little layouts and boom I had a new crush. And a new distributor.
But I never left Smashwords.
By the way, it is true Smashwords and Draft2Digital are merging and I think that’s a good thing.
I’m not sure if Smashword’s support of the annual Read an eBook will continue in the years to come, but it is going on right now through March 12th. I, of course, am participating. Several of my books are available free or at a drastically reduced price. Just scroll through and check it out.
I believe The Perpetual Series was the first, or one of the first books I published with Smashwords; that was in 2013. Can you believe that?
I recall making the cover from a photograph I had taken of a flower blooming in the yard. Sadly, that flower never returned.
… that flower and so many other things.
Sigh
Happy Thursday Y’all. XoXo
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Happy New Year or Spring Equinox
The spring equinox ringing in the new year just makes a lot more sense.
So HaPpY New Year y’all.
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The New Editor
Sleep late on Sunday morning?
Ain’t gonna happen with mystical magical Merlin Samuel Salem Saberhagen in the house.
Get a little outlining done since you’re up?
Not with the new editor.
Look at this cat. Would ya look at him?! 😆
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#WTH (What the Heck Wednesday)
From the porch this morning:
The buzzards are chasing the cats; the cats are chasing the chickens; the Chihuahua is humping anything that doesn’t move and the dog is wondering what the heck is going on?!
Me? I’m just rocking and watching and laughing my butt off.
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Coffee With the Birds
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I Was Just Thinking … Quotes & Covers & Useless Experiments
I love this quote:
“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
And while thinking (or living out loud and flinging cake against the wall) it occurred to me:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s quote from The Hobbit may have inspired GREED, a trio of short stories. Though these stories are another genre and tremble in the shadows of Tolkien’s [other] worldly genius, it is the bent finger of that beautiful quote that lured me to my conclusion.
About GREED:
What does A Face in the Falls, August Wolf and The Sharecropper’s Son have in common?
These stories reveal the perplexities, the strengths and the weakness of people that are true to life and, like life; these stories expose the innate greed present in mankind.
“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
We have changed the book cover at all stores except Amazon. Call it a lopsided useless experiment. 😉
The Amazon cover
B&N, iBook’s, Kobo (and all other stores) cover
A Face in the Falls was first published in Unshod, An Anthology of Traditional and Contemporary Western Short Stories by AIW Press,LLC
Psst. If you haven’t read The Hobbit or want to re-read it again there is a special 75th anniversary audio/video edition for for $9.99. MeRrY ChristMas to you, huh. 😀
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Look at this Cat
Look at this blasted cat. This is reason #17 for not getting anything done today. 😀
I’m falling off my stool here. Would you just look at this cat!
No, seriously, look at him. Look. At. This Cat.
The Real Janna Hill 