Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 64

My Artist Quest

To my endless frustration, I was born with a desire to draw without much talent and without enough passion to work at it until my skills became tolerable. This is why I keep dabbling in art things like the painting party or signing up for online drawing classes or (my latest) scratch off art.

Facebook and their ads algorithm is continually showing me art-related ads and I keep clicking on them. Then they showed me the scratch-off art kit and it looked fun! It also looked less messy than the paint-by-numbers kits they'd been showing me so I decided to try the Eiffel Tower kit.

As you can see from the image, it's relatively easy. All I have to do is scratch off the silver lines. I've done the top of the tower so far. However, I ran into a couple of things as I worked.

Number one, the tool they provide is cheap and difficult to work with. I can buy better scratch-off tools, but I have a feeling this is going to be my one and only scratch-off project, so it's not worth the investment. Number two, this is messy. It is very, very messy because those scratchings have to go somewhere. They're fine, tiny things and they stick stubbornly to the drawing board. I found that they don't simply fall off with a couple of quick taps of them board against paper.

Once again, my desire to be an artist has been frustrated. This time it isn't lack of skill because pretty much zero skill is required. It's because it's sort of tedious and the free tool is horrible. Back to the drawing board (pun intended).

Storm Warning

Storms scare me, they always have, so when I was offered a chance to sign up for a weather alert system, I did it. I think the offer was from my county, but I don't really remember. I would receive an alert before severe weather. Cool.

Now, more than a year later, it's driving me crazy! My phone rings, I get a text message, and my email pings--all at the same time. They are literally notifying me three different ways! Gah!

I'm sure I signed up for this barrage, no doubt thinking that if I were away from my email, I'd at least see the text. Why I signed up for phone calls, though, is beyond me. I hate when my phone rings.

Recently, this all came to a head. About 90 minutes before a storm rolled in, I got a severe thunderstorm warning. I also was warned two more times prior to its arrival. That meant 9 notifications. NINE! And when the storm actually showed up, it was one gust of strong wind, about 15 minutes of hard rain and a little thunder. Nothing that warranted multiple alerts. I'd had enough.

I scrolled down to the bottom of the email, looking for a link to manage my settings. There were no links of any kind. Gah!

It took some searching of my email, but I finally located the original signup confirmation. I had to reset my password since I had no memory of it, but at least I had my user name. I think I have it setup now to only get texts. I'll find out for sure when the next storm rolled through.

Where the Characters Live

I like pictures when I write. Lots and lots of pictures. Images of my hero and heroine are the most critical, of course, but there are a few others that can be wildly important. Like where my characters live and what their homes look like.

Usually I can search around and find one house that has everything I need. Like the Lake Tahoe hideaway where Ryder took Langley in Wicked Obsession.

I even spent time searching for Langley's condo. In the original draft, part of the prologue took place in her condo, so it wasn't as if I had no plans to use the information, but since the scene was in her Point of View, I didn't need much detail. We don't think much about things we see every day. But I even have floor plans of her condo although that was overkill.

For Wicked Intention, my upcoming romantic suspense novel (and part of the Paladin League), I did need to know what my heroine's home looks like, and since the first scene in that space is in Finn's Point of View, it was going to need to be more detailed. He uses the appearance of her home to try and figure her out.

Only this time I couldn't find one house that fit Finn's heroine. She lives in a condo in Los Angeles, so I started there. None of the condos worked. Most were too dark, too masculine, or too fussy and didn't fit her at all. I expanded to homes in LA. Still nothing that really worked.

I search homes for sale, so it could have just meant that no one with the right condo/home was selling when I searched.

Next I searched Palm Springs, CA and I found her great room! Kitchen, family room, and dining room. It actually was kind of unexpected because there were bright pops of color I didn't know would be there. This is why I like pictures. Not only did Finn get some insight into her personality, so did I. I knew her really well already, but her surroundings added another facet.

A different house gave me the guest bedroom. I haven't found a master bedroom yet that really fits, although I have one that's close, and no office yet. I might expand my search a little farther in Southern California and see what turns up.

Will I need all these rooms in the book? I doubt it, but I like having the images anyway.

To the Moon

Listening to the podcast I blogged about not too long ago (13 Minutes to the Moon) triggered my interest in the Apollo program. I've always had an interest in space, but the Apollo missions seemed like ancient history. The first thing I did was re-watch Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell.

That's when I started wondering how old were the astronauts? A search online didn't turn up their ages at the time of the mission, but it did show the current ages for the two surviving crew members of Apollo 13. Lovell was 42 and Haise was 37...if I did my math right. :-) I used a calculator, but even then I've been known to make mistakes.

From the podcast, I'd learned that the average of mission control was 27 years old.

I always imagined that everyone involved in the space race was older, a grizzled veteran from the military pushing 50 if not already in their 50s. It was a little staggering to learn I had this wrong all this time.

My interest is really fueled now and I'm going to have to see if I can find some more podcasts or maybe some documentaries about NASA's Apollo program. The podcast had clips from the oral history museum, so maybe that would be a place to start. First hand accounts from the people who were directly involved would be fascinating.

It also gets me wondering why we haven't been back to the moon since the 1970s? I know it's expensive, but if did it with the technology from 50 years ago, surely we could do it again for less than what it cost then.

To the moon, NASA!

Adventures with Credit Cards

It was almost two years ago when I moved, and in the midst of the chaos, my credit card number was stolen and used fraudulently. It was a PITA to deal with because I didn't have a phone or internet yet. You can read about that fiasco on my post from back then called No Cable for You.

After the mess during my move, I setup alerts. Now whenever a charge comes through on my credit card, I get a message on my phone. For nearly two years, it was just an irritation. Then it happened. A charge I didn't make.

I was writing when my phone alerted me to a message. I glanced at it and then did a double take. I didn't charge $.64 at some business in Kentucky.

To be certain, I checked my spreadsheet where I keep track of every charge I make. Nothing. Then I checked all my PayPal receipts just in case I'd forgotten about a knitting pattern or something like that. Still nothing. Next, I started searching for this business. The name was common, though, and nothing was listed that corresponded to that town in Kentucky. I disputed the charge.

And my credit card company said I had to wait until it moved out of pending.

Okay. So I setup an alert to let me know when that happened and worried about that charge. I was right to worry. The next day while I was at work, my text beeped again. Did I charge $.92 to Google Services. In the United Kingdom. Hell, no!

This led to a phone call with the fraud department. It turned out that in addition to the two tiny charges, someone had tried to use the card at Game Stop. Seriously.

My credit card company declined those other two charges--maybe because I'd already raised an alarm by trying to dispute a charge. Or maybe because the charges didn't fit my usual usage pattern. I didn't think to ask when I was talking with them.

This led to my card being cancelled and a new one issued. Then I had to go in to all the websites and update my number. That is where the big hurt comes in--trying to remember where I was being auto-billed. I made a list of the places where I updated and I should probably squirrel this away in case it happens again.

I tried to figure out how it happened and the only thing I can come up with based on the timing is the gas station. The day before--Saturday--I used that card to fill up. I always give the card reader a yank to make sure it's legit, but maybe the skimmer was attached in a way that made it more secure than I thought it would be. Or maybe they've come up with some new way to grab credit card numbers.

Either way, this time the activity was caught early and only one charge went through before everything else was declined. I guess this is a win, but man I wish thieves would go away.

Password Patrol

On Tuesday, I blogged about my WiFi being hijacked and having to change my router's password. That meant updating passwords all around the house on a myriad of devices.

Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I have my own personal router that I'd changed all the passwords on the day I bought it and most of my devices were logged in to the WiFi through that device rather than the AT&T router.

There are a few devices, though, that were connected directly to the leased router. Like my iPhone. I have the TV guide for Direct TV on there, and if I want to change channels from the app, I have to be logged on to the same network as my router.

I also logged my dad's iPad through the this router because the password was shorter than on my own router. Luckily, though, my Nest thermostats were through the personal router, the Roku boxes, and my Wii box, too. It minimized the pain.

But the pain was even more minimal than I expected because of Apple. (***This is not an ad for them and heaven knows they're not giving me anything to blog about this. This is my own, personal opinion.***) Apple made everything so easy!

Once I was logged in via the new password on my iPhone, I went to update my dad's iPad. Trust me when I say this was necessary. If he got to his iPad before I updated and couldn't connect to the internet to send emails or message someone, I would hear about it. :-) So, because my password app is on my iPhone, I brought it with me to enter the new password on my dad's iPad. I clicked forget network and then selected it again to login.

Apple popped a message on my phone asking if they should use that password. Not just yes, but hell, yes! I didn't have to enter anything! It just automatically put in the password and the iPad was connected. Brilliant!

Hijacked?

I was working from home last week and my work computer was having a super hard time staying connected to the internet. This isn't a huge shock because this has happened before and I ended up buying a repeater to bridge the WiFi signal over to my office even though my personal equipment has never had an issue.

Today, though, my personal equipment was struggling, too.

I hoped it was merely a glitch that would straighten itself out the next day. Only it didn't. It was the same on Friday, so when I got home from work that afternoon, I ran a scan to see if my computer had malware or a virus.

It scanned clean.

My next step was to download software to scan what devices were on my network. When I ran that, I found a couple of surprises--two devices I didn't recognize. One said Samsung and the only Samsung I own is my refrigerator and I do not have a smart fridge. It appeared as if someone had hacked into my internet and was using my WiFi.

When I had my internet installed after I moved, I was lazy and didn't change the password that came on the AT&T router. I figured why bother? Everyone had their own internet and I was planning to switch to Comcast when my contract was up. (FYI, if you are using the password that came with your router, be it AT&T, Comcast, Charter, or even one you bought in the store, you should change the password. I always have in the past. There are a limited number of passwords they use for these devices and someone who knows what they're doing can hijack your internet. I just figured none of the people around me would know this.)

I shouldn't have been lazy.

After I spotted these rogue devices, I changed the password on my router and updated the devices in my house that were logged in. The two strange items that showed up on my scan? No longer there when I reran the scan.

I don't know why anyone felt the need to use my internet, but my internet speed improved a lot after I changed my password. Lesson learned: Don't be lazy.

My Dad Gets an iPad

My dad doesn't handle technology well. He didn't grow up with it and really has no desire to learn, but his friend convinced him to get an iPad. This has been both good and bad.



The good:
My dad doesn't drive any longer and he's home alone all day. This gives him contact with the outside world.Not only can he read the news, but he gets emails from my cousins with pictures of their children and he loves this. He also sends short emails to friends and family. It allows me to text him from work because I have an iPhone and iMessage works between Apple devices. My dad's hearing isn't the best so this allows me to tell him something quick without having to shout on the phone while I'm at work.The not so good:
Even after months and months, my dad still makes the same mistakes, and although I've shown him over and over and over again how to fix them, he still brings the iPad to me.He uses a stylus. This by itself wouldn't be bad, but it makes a loud clatter every time he puts it down and he puts it down a lot. Which drives me crazy because he moved in with me after my mom died and that noise is super annoying.He wants to share every word of every email or message he receives with me. It doesn't matter if I'm busy, he'll rush in to tell me someone message him. "John told me hi and asked how I was doing."  Sigh.This ties back to item one--I am tech support. 24/7 tech support.He hasn't figured out how to use the home button, making Touch ID impossible because he holds it so long, Siri always pops up. I wish we'd waited until Face ID was available and bought him that version of the iPad instead. Despite the lengthy list of negatives, it's still been really good for him. I just wish more people he knows had iPhones because it's much easier for my dad to message someone than to email. For some reason, messaging makes more sense to him. But because he doesn't have a phone number, he's limited to iMessage which only works between Apple devices.

Overall, I'll call it a win for him, although not so much for me. :-)

13 Minutes to the Moon

***I received no compensation of any kind for this post.***
I love podcasts and I'm always looking for interesting ones to listen to. I found a good one recently produced by the BBC World Service called 13 Minutes to the Moon. It's about Apollo 11 and the first moon landing.

They could have focused solely on the first moon landing itself and I would have been riveted because I'm super into space stuff. (Probably why I started off writing Science Fiction Romance stories.) The BBC did more than this, though, giving us all kinds of fascinating episodes into other things that impacted the mission in some way.

The first episode covered the Soviet space program and how that propelled President Kennedy to set the moon as our goal. Other episodes that I've listened to so far include mission control and the fact that most of those guys were in their 20s. The lunar module. Apollo 1 and the fire that killed three astronauts. There was also an episode covering the computer and the software running on the computer that landed the astronauts on the moon. Even topics I didn't think would be that interesting ended up being incredible!

I wish I could listen faster!

One of the really cool things is how many interviews are included. Some of the people were interviewed by NASA before their deaths, but many were interviewed by the BBC. Many of the men and women interviewed mentioned things I'd never thought about or simply took for granted because they've always been part of my life.

If you have any interest in the Apollo program, I highly recommend this podcast. If you search for the title on any podcast app, it should show up.

Five stars (Through episode 5)

Story

In May, I listened to the Chernobyl podcast every week even though I don't have HBO, have no plans to get HBO, and probably won't watch the series even if it becomes available elsewhere because of how depressing the subject matter is. Why did I listen to the podcast? Because I loved hearing the writer--Craig Mazin--talk about his story.

Story is interesting. I like to see how other authors'/writers' minds work, maybe because it drives home that everyone's process is different and that there is no one true way to write.

When I was a teenager and decided I wanted to be a writer, I went to the library and checked out every book I could find about writing. They were all written by plotters. I contorted myself trying to follow their systems because only plotters were True Writers according to every one of these books. Only I was more of a seat-of-the-pants writer and plotting made me hate writing. Hate so much I almost decided to give it up.

Until the day I realized I missed writing and I was going to keep writing, but I'd do it my way and if I never became a real writer, that was just how it would be.

It's been my experience that so many plotters still maintain the plotting is the only true way to write. Hey, I would seriously like to be more of a plotter because it would make my life so much easier, but I'm not. I'm not a pure pantser either for that matter, but hey, it's my process.

But back to the Chernobyl podcast. Craig not only talks about the story, he talks about the choices he made in telling the story. OMG, I love this! And because this is a real event, he talks about what he changed for the sake of story and what is 100% true. (Hint: Most of it!) My only regret is that the podcast only goes as long as the series because I'd love to hear more about how he made his story choices.

Also, as an FYI, Craig Mazin is half the team (with John August) that does the Script Notes podcast which I am totally hooked on. The tag line is something like: Screen writing and things that are interesting to screen writers. They talk a lot about craft. Some of it is helpful for novels, some of it is so tied to how to write a script that it doesn't translate well. I still enjoy listening to it, and when I hear about what happens to a script, I am hugely glad I write novels. :-)