awake9. A lot of folks are doing their holiday shopping right now, which is swell! I posted the holiday book buying reminder yesterday. You can also contact Mysterious Galaxy, in San Diego, for signed copies of Out of Tune, and for copies of Dead But Not Forgotten signed by Charlaine Harris, Toni Kelner, and a bunch of the authors (myself included). Support independent bookstores this holiday season.
8. Or maybe you're buying stuff from me, posters and T-shirts and the like. If you are, please use the PayPal option for sending money to friends and family. There are a few reasons for this. First off, I am still not a store: I am literally pricing things to cover cost of item + cost of postage. Having huge whacks of money vanish into PayPal fees makes this a loss, and means I have to start charging more to be able to afford to ship things. Secondly, you know how I always say "please send me your shipping info via this other channel"? I have found that people who chose "goods and services" are more likely to ignore that request, because they've already provided a shipping address, and if I were a store, I'd be able to access that data. Not a store. Cannot access easily. Please don't.
7. The new Pokemon game is not making me as happy as I wanted it to. I am sure I will enjoy the post-game, where it's apparently LEGENDARYPALOOZA, but I am not enjoying my Pokemon journey, and that makes me sad.
6. Thomas, who has always been an asshole, has taken his assholing to new heights in his glee that I am home. Lots of purring, lots of cuddling, lots of knocking things off shelves to demonstrate that he is still the boss of all he surveys. Thomas is going to be mittens if he doesn't cut this shit out.
5. I will be doing the Thirteen Days of Hogswatch again this year, beginning on December 12th and continuing until December 24th. The introductory post will go up on December 11th. The prizes, drawing times, response times, and requirements for each day are not negotiable; if I say "I must hear from you by X time for you to win," and you think you might not be able to check your email on, say, Christmas, I am very sorry, but I do mean it. I can't have people claiming prizes weeks after the drawing. I'm just not set up for that. But hey, I am giving away so much stuff.
4. I missed the October tip jar, which means we're running out of prioritized free fiction. I don't want to open a tip jar in December (holidays), but I may go ahead and do it in January. (Or we may have to pay for all the bodywork on Mom's car, in which case, I will not only open the tip jar, I will dance on freeways if that's what it takes.)
3. Oh, yeah: some asshole hit Mom's car on Thanksgiving night. The damage isn't massive, but she was parked at the time, and we didn't see it happen. Now we need to get the bodywork done to fix the dent on the side of her car, before rust sets in and everything gets buckets more expensive. Whee. (Yes, she has insurance, but the deductible is huge, especially if we can't produce another driver.)
2. I'm going to see The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County on Friday! I'm so excited!
1. Jean Grey is not dead right now and it's making me cranky.
That's my list. What's new with you?
December 1 2014, 21:22:47 UTC 2 years ago Edited: December 1 2014, 21:23:57 UTC
2. I've given up on agents and "traditional" publishing. All the "yes, it's beautifully and well written and the character is great and the story is great and everything works but...." has me just so done right now. One book is hitting the small press circuit, the other is being revised (AGAIN!) for future self-publishing...when I have the money and the expertise to do it right. Three other books are in the works, but I hit a wall so hard with all the "it's great but no" stuff. On the one hand, hate giving up that dream; on the other, I need to move forward, not keep spinning wheels.
3. Menopause put a monkey wench in losing weight, but I'm still losing! Granted...at about a third of the rate I was before, but it's still creeping down.
4. Along the same lines, this is the first year in a long time that I've been HEALTHY during the winter. My Timehop timelines show nothing but sickness for at least the last 4 years. o.O
5. Holiday sweets are officially out of the house. Yes, this is important. They'll be back for Christmas, but I have temptation free time until then. lol
6. Hub's mother's visit was a huge success. She saw great-grandkids! Ate his food! Took us all to Interstellar! Saw her birthday month sharing granddaughter (as well as the other grandkids)! Ate more of his food! Had fun! A good time had by all.
7. Newest cat boy, Gambit (yes, we have X-kittehs: Ororo Storm is part Manx and tends to be cranky, Rogue is a stray baby we captured with a cheeseburger, and Logan is nothing like his namesake; Vagner died last summer...and I still miss him desperately) is driving humans and cats alike cray cray with his chasing and wanting to be out. We did finally collar the fellow in case he gets out and disappears for a month again. Silly cat. It's COLD out there!
8. The tax return was supposed to go to clothes but now needs to replace the laptop. Since I'm looking at a Lenovo Thinkpad (after a double HP meltdown and the Toshiba lasting maybe 2 years), I suspect the also much needed new wardrobe will not be happening. Send safety pins. I'm going to need them.
And now a kitchen awaits for the weekly cleaning. Sorry to hear about the car. People are just so aggravating sometimes.
Happy holidays!
(And lordy, where the heck did this year go?)
December 2 2014, 01:17:18 UTC 2 years ago
December 2 2014, 03:00:11 UTC 2 years ago
December 2 2014, 03:00:38 UTC 2 years ago
December 2 2014, 03:12:52 UTC 2 years ago
Thanks! We're hoping to eventually get a reddish cat for Phoenix and hubs REALLY wants something big and blue-gray for Beast. lol
<~~~ them's Ororo and Vagner. :)