Update on all fronts

First of all - kitten.

Bertie is being a kitten. She tries to escape her playpen, eats everything I put in front of her and is passionate about string. She beats up the blue bear and the brown mouse. The broken leg does not seem to be hampering her in any way.

The adult cats still hiss at her. In a way, keeping her contained is easing the transition. By the time we can let her out (soon! please!) the other two will have, at the very least, become accustomed to her.

She's getting very frisky.

Every morning, as I eat breakfast, we play a little clip hockey on the desk. Until she decided she could squeeze under the monitor and escape. She's very playful and inquisitive. And hates the playpen. I'm not sure if we can keep her contained another 2 weeks as the vet had suggested.

Next - Unintended Consequences.

The ebook is available from Kindle or Smashwords. The print book is taking a little longer. I am having a lot more trouble with the formatting than I did with White Lies.  And the cover needs to be redone. The requirements for covers has changed. I need to up my game a bit. I'm planning on working through a couple of tutorials for Gimp this afternoon. Hopefully, I will have all the bugs worked out by next week.

Finally - End of the Lines, the work-in-progress


I was very excited to get back into this story. Unfortunately I lost a couple thousand words of work when the external drive died. I read through what I'd written so far and can see some areas that need work. I am also adding a couple viewpoint characters.

I am always torn between tinkering with the completed bits and powering through to the end. Since I have added new characters, I think I need to start working them in. Then maybe I'll try to power through. Get all the bones down before I flesh them out.

Provided a kitten doesn't get in the way.

Free Audiobook

Audible sent me 5 promo codes for a free copy of White Lies. If you would like one, please email me at asabo_56(at)yahoo.com.

I ask that you review the book at Audible when you're done.

Kitten Interruptus

I found a kitten.

That may sound like a pretty simple story, but it isn't. First of all, I found her in the crawlspace under the house. The sealed crawlspace... Haven't a clue how she got in there.

I had heard a cat crying on and off for a few days. My neighbor lets her cat out on a leash and it meows sometimes. But this sounded more urgent. Then I thought I heard it in the back yard, but didn't see anything. Finally on Sunday, I heard it again. Insistent. I stood on the porch and listened. It was coming from the vents under the house.

With the help of a skinny, non-claustrophobic neighbor, she was rescued.

I have no idea how long she was under there. She's emaciated. The vet said she thought the kitten was stunted. And that the ear mites, worms, fleas, etc. were sapping her energy. Oh yes, and the broken leg, too.

Of course we kept her. Who can say no to a hurt kitten? Her name is Bertie.

The first couple days Bertie was happy to lie in her box, eat and sleep and cuddle. Now she's feeling better. Now she wants to investigate. Maybe even play with those really big cats. But she is supposed to be confined until the leg heals.

A bored kitten can really be a handful!

Done!

Unintended Consequences is finally up on Kindle and Smashwords. Whew.

The print book is in the works.

One thing I have to share about my second round of publishing - get your ducks in a row first! I spent some time, gathered all the information I would need and things went sooo much more smoothly this time.

I struggled with some formatting issues until I discovered tutorials on YouTube. Wow. There's just about anything you need to know out there.

Onward to the rest of it!

2 Years!

As of this week, this blog is 2 years old. Wow. That old cliche is true - the older you get the faster time passes.

Or maybe it's because of the way I am spending my time. I am lucky enough to enjoy my whole day. My pay-the-bills job is easy. The people I work with are pleasant and competent...and that means a whole lot to the working environment. In my spare time I write and work in the garden. What could be more enjoyable?

I can remember long boring afternoons as a kid in school, watching the clock and begging for recess to arrive. Or lunch. Or the final bell so I could go home.

I've had jobs where the minutes dragged by. Those were mostly the sit-down jobs. When I worked for the nursery, time went pretty quickly. But again, I was doing work that was fun for me.

What have I learned in 2 years? Mostly that I'm not on display. When I started writing this, I was afraid that people would come to the blog and argue or attack me. How silly. Looking at my numbers, I'll guess it's mostly family that visits. I may have a presence on the web, but I don't have a following as yet.

All the advice I read says to take your time and do it right. I will be publishing my second novel this month. (Fingers crossed!) My writing income is miniscule, but it exists! That's something new. It dribbles in as the writing dribbles out. I will plug along at my own pace, but always making progress.