Inherit the Wool

Oh, now, I’m becoming one of them.  Well, maybe not totally.  After all my snickers at people forever looking at their smart phones, here I am lugging my Iphone around the house with me and listening for that bing to say a text has arrived.

It’s all because of texting.  It’s been slow going, but I’m finally joining the world-of-the-way-things-are.  Instead of relying on phone calls for our business, I’ve started texting heavily.  My next challenge is master typing with my thumbs.  It’s funny how things progress.  Phone calls have been around forever.  Email was the new kid on the block for a while and now it’s texting. 

I must say it is more efficient than making phone calls and leaving messages.  It is much more efficient when it comes to getting responses. 

I still have to consciously remember to check my phone.  I’m still not that person who pulls it out whenever they sit down.  Well, a lot of people have to because they keep their phone in their back pocket.  Finally a purpose for all those pockets that for so long were just for decoration.

I keep mine in my purse and when it rings or bings it’s like capturing a slippery fish. My Apple watch vibrates when stuff shows up, at least sometimes.  I notice it seems to be disconnected from my phone a lot and I have to unlock it.

I am still a million years away from the people who get anxious if they can’t have their phone.  I heard about a professor who ended up letting students have their phones visible even though they were turned off because otherwise the students freaked out.

Bottom line—I would still rather look out the car window from the passenger seat than stare at my phone.

And there’s exciting news.  INHERIT THE WOOL comes out October 9.  The e-book should be available for pre-order on Amazon, B & N, IBooks, Google Play, Kobo and Smashbooks next week.  The print edition won’t be available for order until the release date.  I love the cover.  It really looks like a scene from the book.   

Layering HTV- The Experiment

My husband and I joined a bowling league and part of the deal was if I started bowling, he'd wear a matching team t-shirt. I'm not sports-inclined but as it's a way for us to spend time with my daughter and her significant other, I conceded. I've been wanting to add layering HTV to my crafting repertoire, and found many reasons why the time wasn't right. I didn't have enough HTV colors. Didn't have the right project. I was in the middle of writing a book (which is pretty much always). I didn't want to waste the vinyl (once I bought it). Yep, one excuse after another. I even had a friend offer to come over and help me but I've been deep in the deadline cave and didn't have long to step out of it.

With the third week of bowling coming up, I knew I had to get our shirts done. It was the reason I agreed to join. So, I decided to give it a try because as my husband pointed out it was no more "wasteful" (my biggest fear--wasting supplies) to hold and not use the vinyl than it was to use it and mess it up. And at least by using it, I was giving myself the opportunity to get the hang of it. I'd never learn if I didn't try.

I went for it. I had a few missteps...mainly with the glitter vinyl...but was able to learn from it and the second try and the shirty came out much better. The big issue was with the glitter vinyl. Pieces of the glitter will stay on the transfer sheet, you just can't get it all off.

I found the easiest way to make sure random glitter doesn't get on your image is to trim down the transfer sheet, even if it leaves you with two small pieces to work with rather than one large image. The red was my glitter vinyl.

The other issue I had was in layering the main pieces. I didn't want to over press the main image, so I decided to add all the main back colors (orange, black, and yellow) at the same time. Well, that doesn't work so well when a piece of the transfer sheet ends up under the vinyl. The black semi-circles were attached to the transfer sheet of the yellow circle rather than the t-shirt. I had to peel off the black vinyl and start over, doing one color at a time. I was sure there was an easier and quicker way but decided to go with the longer method. I'm planning on making back-up t-shirts and giving it another try because as with most things practice makes perfect.

Backlist to the Foreground

I've been blogging about ideas lately.  And, yes, I'm still working on several--and enjoying each of them even without knowing yet where they're going. 

Meanwhile, I've also gotten the rights to my first two mystery series reverted to me, and I'm in the process of having them republished as ebooks.

Because there are 15 stories in them, including a couple of novellas, I will be having them bundled into box sets, each containing 3 or 4 stories.  Although I did have several of my earliest books republished as ebooks and have some idea of the process, this requires a different approach.

Fortunately, I'm obtaining some wonderful advice and assistance.  Plus, I'm having covers created for each set.  I've received the first approach to the covers for the first volume of three Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries and liked it a lot, although I also had some ideas for changes.

I'm not sure how long the process will take, and I'll want to introduce these new volumes one at a time.  But now I've got yet another aspect to publishing to learn more about--and like the rest, it's fun!

Rhino!

That rhinoceros thing works!  I haven’t gone back to re-read what I’ve written, but I’m several pages forward and find myself plotting the next scene and ready to write it.  I’m going to have to buy a little model of a rhinoceros and keep it on my desk, if I can find room – my desk is a muddled mess.