H.R. Shavor's Blog, page 2

June Update(s)

So… There’s been a lot happening in the last week…

Firstly (and most importantly) my prices increased as of June 1st. This is because of Amazon changing some things around on their end lowering royalties. Had I not changed my prices I wouldn’t have made any money on some of my books.

The other big thing is… Husband and I bought a house. That’s what I was hinting to last update. We’re in the moving process and that’s been a crazy ride so far. I’m sure I’ll have more updates on that later.

Third (and lastly) I’m still slowly plugging away on a new book. I’m trying to get my life back in order so I can write on a better schedule again and just… I miss it. A friend asked me about it yesterday and I sorely miss it. The writing groups, book club… I’m just missing my community. And I want to get back to them. Back to taking care of a large part of myself.

And on that note, peace for now everyone. Be safe.

~H

Whispers – Poem

Incoming: Price Changes

Hey all,

No, this post will not take place of the regular poem posted for this month. I just wanted to give heads up because due to some changes with Amazon I will be making price changes to my books. So if there’s a physical book you want, order it now folks. Or at least before May 31st ends.

I’ll be making the changes official for June 1st.

May Update(s)

So this post is coming a little later in the evening than I’d have normally posted it, but that’s also because I honestly forgot about having a post go out this week until Monday night and Tuesday all through the day and while usually I would have Wednesdays off I was sent on a work trip out of town today (hell, out of state) and didn’t get back and on my computer until after the post would actually have gone out normally.

The only real update is the husband and I have some big news coming at some point very soon. I know that’s really cryptic, but that’s all I wanna say until we get farther along with the plans. And due to the way that’s worded I feel like this is the perfect time to remind y’all that husband and I will never have kids. This is by choice. If you want kids more power to you, but we do not and I took measures last year to lock that in. Our news is not child related.

Sorry for a shorter than usual post, but I’m exhausted and that’s about all the news I really have to share. Stay safe everyone. Peace for now.

~H

Staring – Poem

April Update(s)

I know I had a big plan about what to write here for the April update, but currently as I’m writing the post (on the day it’s due out) I can’t fully remember what I wanted to write about. There was some rant I wanted to go on, but it wasn’t about the state of the world or politics or anything like that…

Ah, yes, eReaders! As a writer and poet one of the biggest things I need to do is READ. At my old job it was easy because I was able to listen to audiobooks as I worked or on my commute. After moving I haven’t had the same time or schedule and this job isn’t one where I can listen to things during my work day. Between lack of use and finances I cancelled my Audible subscription.

On top of that it’s been getting harder over the years for me to read a physical book for prolonged time periods depending on the font. Ages ago I got a Nook eReader and started using that, but I’ve also had Kindles and used other various devices for one reason or another, but usually I find myself landing back on Kindle.

Last year the husband and I were talking about Kindles because I was debating upgrading to the newest one at that time. Where he works sells them and they had one on hand. Long story short he talked me into getting it. It’s a paperwhite. I love the paperwhite line because of the backlighting. I have a habit of reading in the dark and my kindle lives in dark mode. Be it on my phone in the Kindle app or my actual Kindle device. There is ONE exception to this.

My Boox Palma device.

While my day job doesn’t let me listen to things it DOES let me play on my phone so in the beginning I was reading on my phone a lot, but that was causing some eye strain and draining my battery a LOT. Among other issues my phone at the time was acting screwy… I ended up getting a new phone a little earlier than we planned because I still wasn’t super familiar with some of the areas I was driving in and it would just randomly lose all signal despite no one else losing signal. Before all that was an issue I ended up getting the Boox Palma device which is a phone sized eInk device.

Boox has a handful of different devices, so you can find which one works best for you if you’re thinking of making that jump away from things, but I strictly use my Palma for reading and it stays on standard, NOT in dark mode. It is backlit, runs on android operating system (so I can have all my reading apps) and it fits in my hand. I don’t have issues reading on it without dark mode and I don’t get eye strain on it (unless what I’m reading has something in the book that I can’t adjust the size of and I’m getting really close and trying my best to read the thing).

Between my Palma and Kindle Paperwhite I don’t really read on my phone anymore unless it’s something I need the color for (like a graphic novel or comic). I can customize my Palma lock screen and background and my Kindle is easy to hold with both hands which I like to do more than holding things with one hand. I just can’t easily hide my Kindle in the pocket of my work pants so Palma is mostly for work.

Sunday we had a big storm system come through that resulted in a lot of people losing power, including us. It went out around 4:30 P.M. Sunday and wasn’t back on until 11 A.M. the next day. Thankfully we sustained no damage (though one of the neighbors did end up with a tree falling on their vehicle. I talked with her and while it sucks we’re all just glad no one in their family got hurt).

Perk of the devices I use? I wouldn’t have been able to read a physical book in the dark at night, but I was still able to read on my Kindle. Husband was having issues because he was trying to play games on his Switch, but because he had got a new one there were some issues and it wasn’t cooperating so he was very limited to what games he could play.

There’s supposed to be another storm coming through today, so wish us luck. I’ll have images on my Instagram and author facebook page. Stay safe everyone.

~H

He Deserved Different – Poem

March Update(s)

Is it the first Wednesday of March? Yes.

Did I totally forget until Sunday night, get sidetracked, and forget again about this post until yesterday, roughly 24 hours ago? Also yes!

My life has been beyond absolute crazy to the point I’m getting writing in just whenever I can. Right now my life has been about keeping my head above water for the most part.

Other than that there was something big that happened last month. On our 6th dating anniversary the fiance and I upgraded to titles husband and wife.

It’s only been 2 weeks. It’s still kind of setting in. The whole night when we drove home he kept repeating “We got married. We’re married.” to himself or me or both I’m not sure but what I am sure of is I said the same to him that night before we went to bed and for the next couple days after.

And periodically we look at each other when we’ve done something ridiculous or not the smartest and state, with a grin, “you married this!” and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

~H

Written in the Stars – Poem

February Update(s)

Here we are on February 1st and I’m only just now realizing that I never put or did anything for a January update post. Oops!

There’s not a ton to update on from January. Fiance’s brother ended up coming back after some really bad situation stuff happening that’s not my story to share and I’m not putting his stuff out here.

I got a little writing done in January, but not nearly enough to catch up on anything so plans are getting shifted around for a lot of things right now and I’m not sure what this year is going to fully look like as far as the writing and publishing things go.

February is only a day in as I write this in the evening and it was a CHAOTIC day where I’m working. I do sales and everyone on staff was super busy for a solid chunk of the day.

Life is stressful beyond measure at this current state and I have no idea what’s happening half the time in general and I don’t like that. Solid honesty right there, I don’t like not knowing what’s going on and not having a plan for a lot of things. Currently I’m trying to understand what I can and leaning pretty heavily on fiance for help with some things. A lot of things? Moderate amount of things? I’m beyond thankful for him.

I’m trying to carve time to get writing done and I know I’ve been saying this so much, but bare with me, folks.

And for those of you who have been bearing with me through everything that’s been going on since last September (and even August and before) you have my sincere thanks and all of my gratitude and affection.

Once I get my feet more under me (and not hurting all the time) I want to try and interact more with all of you. Here on the website, on social media, and maybe in person if any of you are close enough (or I get to travel where I know some of you are). Wish me luck! And maybe some sanity…

~H