Diversions

 Happy October.  Just as it's fall and the days are visibly shorter, the weather heats up here.  When I looked at the forecast, there were a lot of days with 100 as the high.  We're still getting more than usual humidity due to a couple of hurricanes.  They are also pushing something called  Kelvin wave toward California shores which appears to be a bad thing and could raise sea levels.

It's a good time for escaping into something.  This week, my escape of choice has been watching Marble Hall Murders on PBS.  Rather than watching one episode a week on broadcast TV, I am watching one a day on PBS streaming.  I can't imagine holding all the story threads together if I was watching it with a week between episodes. It is a story within a story and the actors in one story line show up in the other one   as different characters.  It took me a while to get it all straight.  It is based on a book and the screenplay was written by the book's author Anthony Horowitz  I can only imagine how confusing the character in both the story and the story with in it must be in the book  without being able to see them.

At the same time I'm reading A Family Affair by Robyn Carr and carrying all the characters and their stories in my mind.  I watched a couple of series based on her books last year and they were good diversions, so I thought I would try one of her books.  So far, it's entertaining.

What do I need all these diversions from?  Just when I thought I had completed the form for the AI company settlement, I got another email from them.  It basically said I have to look at the form I filled out again to make sure there isn't a disagreement between me and the publisher about the split of the money.  If it was like the last time I dealt with one of their forms, it won't be clear.

I just got through with trying to pay a bill online and being told that my user name or password was incorrect even though they were both correct.  I won't go into the run around I went through and then found out there was no balance.  At least that was good news.

Meanwhile days are clicking by to when the next Crochet and Crumpet book is due.  Trying harder doesn't work for writing with me.   I need to relax and let the story tumble out. 

It seems like a good time to go to Malibu and look out at the ocean.  Except, then I'd have to worry about that Kelvin wave coming to get me. 

 

 

 

Odd Time For Posting...Again!

 But it’s for a different reason this time. My internet has been out of service!

I purposely intended to write my Killer Hobbies post later than I usually do, yesterday evening. That would be after I returned from a movie that afternoon.

My husband and I often go to see movies on Tuesday afternoons because of a discount we get.

And yesterday, I really wanted to go see Heart of the Beast, the new movie starring Brad Pitt. And oh, yes, it also stars Odie, also named Odin, a German shepherd. Well, as it turned out, there are several German shepherds in the cast playing Odie.

I wanted to write about it here since my primary topic on Killer Hobbies is animals, especially dogs. And I’m sure those who read any of my stuff here or elsewhere know how much I love, especially, dogs.

Anyway, I’d seen the previews for Heart of the Beast and figured it would be interesting, and a good movie to watch—which it was. It was full of excitement and adventure, and pretty much only had Brad Pitt and Odie in the cast, with a couple of other people showing up briefly at different points.

And I’d gotten the impression, seeing the previews and reading about it online, that it was potentially highly emotional.

Which it was.

I don’t want to say too much about it here, since I’d encourage people reading this to go see it if they like adventurous movies, emotional ones—and seeing a highly smart dog. Maybe it’ll inspire me to write a new story or series of my own, different, of course.

Anyway, as I write this, I hear my husband still trying to get us online, so hopefully this will be posted early enough to be seen here Wednesday morning.

Social Media

 It is always good to get out in the world one way or another.  Last week we went to a dinner party and among the guests were two members of a boy band called Boy Throb.  They were cute and entertaining and brought fun to the party.  One of them is actually from the area where the Crochet and Crumpets series takes place. It was also interesting to hear about their careers.  They were in town to film content for their social media accounts.  More singing with  fancy footwork  and fun reminiscent of the MONKEES. That's what it's all about now.  

Things have changed for authors too.  This Sunday I am going to be on the Facebook group  Cozies, Conversations and More at 8 pm Eastern time.  There's no camera, but I will be interviewed by Joyce Hamlyn.  It was set up a long time ago and the focus was supposed to be DEATH AMONG THE STITCHES, but now SCONED TO DEATH  has been added to the discussion.  I used to do panel discussions at local libraries and book signings at  literary festivals and the occasional bookstore.  But those were always local.  An online appearance can get people from everywhere all without leaving home.

There is no guarantee that I will get as much attention as the four boy band guys in their pink track suits and orange shoes (not what they were wearing at the dinner party), but it is still a chance to connect with readers and I don't even have to know how to dance. 

This Month Continues

Okay, this week I remembered to work on my post early enough to get it up here on time.

This week I learned several things of interest. First, my next book will be a January 2027 release. I’d understood it would be a December book, but I’m glad it will be celebrating the new year. It’s K-9 Evidence, the first in my new K-9 Crime Solvers series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Yes, there are K-9s in it as well as private investigators. I received copies of it already, and the books are a slightly larger format than previously.

I also learned that there are changes going on at Writerspace, the website where I get most of my promotion done, including updating my own website, publishing newsletters for me, and more. One of the people I’ve worked with the most has left and will be starting her own competing company. I’m staying with Writerspace, at least for now, but I do appreciate that departing person and will see how things go in the future.

And yes, guess what, I’m continuing to write the third book in that new series. Plus, it’s always fun to watch my dogs watch the world through our locked front gate.