The Winter That Won't End

It seems like the rain has finally stopped with this storm.  But so far the sky is still a leaden color and it's cold.  My little peach tree has already gotten its blossoms, lost them and gotten green leaves.  However the orange trees haven't blossomed yet.  I checked online and it seems they bloom in the spring, but exactly when varies from year to year depending on the local weather. Maybe all this bad weather has left the orange trees thinking it's still winter.

 Everything is so soggy that I haven't felt like going outside which means its a good time to be at the computer.  Since it's been awhile since I wrote the last Crochet Mystery, it's taken awhile to remember all the characters and figure what they've been up to.  It'll be the fifteenth book in the series and I have to bring readers up to speed on how the characters got in the predicament they're in.  I think the title will be Killer Hooks.

I can see that the sun came out.  It always amazes me how that brightness instantly lifts my mood.  There's hope that chairs outside will dry and I will be able to take my coffee out in the yard and bask in the light and warmth.  

Last night we went to IKEA, to get a few things and to eat.  The food is good and inexpensive and the eating area has huge windows with a view of the mountains, the 5 freeway and even the Metrolink trains as they head into the San Fernando Valley.    The sky was very dynamic with bunched up dark clouds and lighter spots as though the bad weather was trying to make its last stand.    It was nice to sit there and look out.

On the ride there we were treated to a very vivid rainbow.  It was so bright, it looked as if someone had taken markers and drawn the colors in the sky. 

 But now it's time to get back to Molly.  I left her in mid conversation with her best friend Dinah as they discuss the predicament Molly has found herself.  Little do they know that murder in waiting in the wings.

Oops!

 

            Sorry I'm late posting this.

            I could blame it on the continuing rain, but since it’s continuing that wouldn’t work. 

            I could blame it on our power outage yesterday, but it only lasted for an hour so I could have written a post some other time. 

            There’s not much new to report anyway. I’m still working on my fourth Shelter of Secrets story for Harlequin Romantic Suspense and will be working on it for a while. 

            I’m still enjoying promoting my latest release, the third Shelter of Secrets story, UNDERCOVER COWBOY DEFENDER.  

            I’m still enjoying acting as a dog mama, as I always am. 

             Hope you’re having a good day and a good week!

Downside of Being Connected

 I'm sure I'm not the only one who is finding I am bombarded by constant sales pitches.  My computer came with a trial of McAfee which is long over and never activated because I have Norton.  But almost every day while I'm off in Molly land, some ad pops up warning me of something if I don't activate McAfee.

Even though I have Norton, that doesn't mean they leave me alone.  They are always trying to sell more and usually by using some threat.  Again it pops up when I'm busy doing something else.  The worst is that  both the pop ups are difficult to close.  I finally discovered that with the MaAfee, I have to click on the icon on the top bar to close it.

I'm sure it's partly because I still use an AOL email account, but I spend most of the time deleting emails from some so-called news service  I never signed up for.  It's not once a day either, but they keep coming throughout the day.  And that doesn't account for the scams.  The invoices that are ridiculous.  As if a real one wouldn't be addressed to me by name.

Then there is the junk mailbox.  A real email gets in there just often enough that I have to look them over before I delete them.  

It isn't just the AOL account either.  I have a number of other email accounts including one for our family  business.  Somehow something called Colony Tire  started sending me emails about daily deals on tires.  There are daily sales pitches from a place  I ordered business gifts from once.  It has made me not want to ever use them again.

And heaven help you if you click on something being advertised on Facebook.  That company will haunt you forever.

My Apple watch has joined in and I'm endlessly getting notified of something that's not even important or often new.  Yes, I know you can shut off notifications and I have done it, only to have them start up again on their own.  It's all confusing how to change things and it always involves too much time and frustration.  So, I just try to ignore the vibration on my wrist.

There was a story on the news the other night how our smart phones track what we say and where we go.  I'm sure the companies hope you think it's a wonderful coincidence that you looked in the window of a shoe store and then you're getting ads for it. 

The scams are the worst.  I get almost one a day by text.  I know enough to ignore them, but I feel for those out there who believe they have to do something and click there way into a miasma of hell.

Beware!

 

            Okay, it’s the Ides of March, so beware!

             I finished my edits for CSI COLTON AND THE WITNESS, my Colton New York story for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, on time, but before I finished I received my requests for edits on BEAR WITNESS, my second Alaska Untamed mystery for Crooked Lane. Rather, my alter ego/pseudonym Lark O. Jensen did. I’m still working on them, or she is. Actually, it’s both of us. 

And more rain here in L.A.! It’s calming down again soon, and I’m not sure when we’ll be done for the season. I’m glad we got rain but wish it hadn’t been so harsh and harmful to others—and I hope the authorities were able to save a sufficient amount in reservoirs so we won’t have as much of a drought as we’ve had recently after not-so-rainy seasons. 

I could add more about my dogs here, since they still run my life, but I’ll wait till next time—unless they do something different in heir cuteness from usual before I post this!