Jude Stringfellow's Blog, page 33

1211 (Three is Written) Woot!!

     So, just so you know, I didn't write anything last night, opting to read from my Perry Mason book instead. I love my Kindle. I love Erle Stanley Gardner as well. I would read Perry Mason books all day and never complain; just another thing about me that you may have already guessed.  I do take inspiration from the man, I do take his words and recreate them. I don't use entire plots, but I will take a sentence or two and bend the structure, making it fit my needs from time to time. I did that tonight.

    In "1211" tonight, the death of a cop who had previously attempted to murder my hero in "Pinball" was all the talk, but no one could say anything officially; the official story of suicide hadn't hit the morning press. There's a reason it didn't make the morning news folks, but that's because it was scooped by our man Hanshaw, and he told the real story in the evening news with only minutes to spare before it went to press. Oh, the agony that one will cause!! Damn. A stunt like that can cost a man his job....or his life.

We'll have to see how the journalist fares and what will happen in the big City of Edinburgh before Nick takes off for the States to somewhat settle into his old home state of Oklahoma. His mother has been waiting for this day; she's really excited about it. Not only will she have her son home, but his wife, and their son!! She loves being a grandmother, and we find out soon enough she's been one in the past, but the boy she gave birth to as a young woman was adopted out from under her; she never really knew him. Their reunion will not be one of shared love; not by a long shot.

    The day will come when names and faces are put together, but for now, we'll need to focus on the antics of another set of off-the-wall types who share all the same walls. The residents of the apartment house at 1211 W. Garvey, in Oklahoma City. Words like "odd", "quirky" and "strange" start to describe them; but it would be unfair not to add words like "sinister", "deceptive" and "immoral" as well. Not all of the residents can be categorized or lumped together; some are quite different than others, but for certain, all of them are unique. 

    Tomorrow, and throughout the weekend, I'll have fun diving into their lives, exploring and exposing them for who and what they are. It may take a while to sort them out, but in the end, it will all make a bit more sense...at least I'll try to make it so. I promise. I don't think there will need to be a follow-up to the book, but there will be another Nick Posh thriller to follow; that's for sure. I have about ten of them planned now, and that's another two years from now really -- who knows what will or can happen in that amount of time? Anything really.

Photo Credit: Library of Congress 

1211 (Two!) I Hope This Isn't How its Gonna Go.

     I'm working now, having started my new job today, so I'm only able to write after work and of course, I'll write over the weekends as well. I'll likely not write every evening, but I'll catch up on the weekends for sure. My goal is set, and when I actually set a goal, I do meet them. I can't remember a time when I didn't actually meet a goal that I intentionally set. There's that, but I do hope I don't find myself writing a chapter and then blogging about it -- that's a lot of blogging.

I started a new job today, one I will keep for a while, and then when it's time to move forward I will do so. I work normal hours, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. I was told today they aren't allowed to keep us past 4:30, so that was funny. I suppose they are rather strict about their overtime with this particular company. That's good. I need my writing time.

    I can start writing at about 5:30 and I'll write for an hour or so, getting at least one chapter a day written. That's a good goal. I won't stress that way. I'll just take one chapter at a time, and over the course of a month, I'll have a new book! Woot! Such a plan. This plan is a good plan, and I always say a good plan is good to have, but having a plan is essential. (My saying, you can quote me if you like.)

    I am also credited with saying "The world, when seen through the eyes of a child, is a rainbow." I think it was around 1988 when I came up with that one.  Anyway, I'll write this book right up to the deadline of January 22, 2024. On that day, Friday, the 22nd, I'll pay for the access code for the Versk version of studying Xactimate. I'll spend every last free hour I can studying that software program so that I can become really good at it. When I take the certification tests in March, I will try to do both Levels 1 and 2 at the same time, but I know I'll at least achieve Level 1.

    The book will be written quickly, but systematically. Today, I knew I would be writing Chapter Two, so I sat down and penned out what I wanted to do inside that chapter. I'm still pretty much catching the reader up from the last book, as this is a sequel to "Pinball".  I needed to explain a few characters, and what better way to do that than to let them speak and explore their own neighborhoods? This way the readers find out who they are, where they came from, what they intend to do in the next few chapters, etc.  It's my way, and it's my book, so there you go. 

    Today, the readers learned about the underground Chinese tunnels and the very secretive lives that hid themselves under Oklahoma City's downtown hustle and bustle. These 200-300 men and women, mostly men, huddled underground for protection, but it was also nearly free to do so. They came up to use the public toilets and showers; and they worked where they could, bringing food home to not only their own but for neighbors as well. It was a hard, harsh way to live, and many native Oklahomans didn't even know these tunnels or these immigrants existed. I wanted to bring a light to them; to show their strength and bravado. 

    Tomorrow? I don't know. I haven't thought about it. I may continue, picking up the story from Chapter One, or I may skip thoughts, and strike out on another rabbit chase, like I did today with Chapter Two. You just never know. Eventually, all the chapters will meld and flow together, making this a really fun and quirky book for the world to cherish. I like this book. I do, I liked it before I wrote a single word of it. I think it needs to be written - - it's fun, and it's odd, and it's really different. So yeah, "1211" will be a good book for anyone and everyone.  I'll keep you posted.

Photo Credit: OnlyInYourState.com

1211 (Chapter One is Done) Woot!

 I wrote out about a dozen things I think should happen in the new book. I wrote out over 40 names of people who will appear in it. I divided them into (a) Main Characters (b) Supporting Characters and (c) Apartment Dwellers & Associates. This way I will have names and such to use and go back to. Believe me, I forget people's names. I was writing the first chapter today for "1211", and I needed to remember the name of a man in "Pinball" so I had to go back into it, and use the FIND feature to look for the last name of the man. I could not remember what I had named him. He's in "Murder Book" and in "Pinball" as a minor type character, but I did not remember his first name. OMG...I need to stop naming the bad guys "Brian". I did that in my latest book too! 

    I really don't have anything against all the Brians out there. I promise I don't. I just happen to have used a male name generator, and that's what I got. I will be a lot more inclined to pay more attention this time. This particular Brian ended up hanging himself after trying to kill my hero in the last book. He's actually not that bad of a guy, but he got mixed up with the wrong set; it happens.

    So, I did finish the book "Bay Sorrel Ranch" yesterday and have sent it up to be published at Ingram Spark. I was going to rest and not write another book but decided that I can't do that; I have to try to get "1211" out before or around mid-January, and THEN I can rest. I am going to study Xactimate which will take all the spare time after work and on the weekends to get done correctly. I'll be able to take certification tests in March and then May, so that by March I'll be at Level 1, and by May I'll be at Level 2. It's an estimator's tool to use to earn a good living, so it takes precedence over the books for now.

    Once I get Level 1 out of the way, I'll write another book, and then I'll do another book after I get Level 2 out of the way. If I play my cards correctly, and I'm lucky, and eat all my veggies, I should be able to write my third book in the Summer, and maybe even a 4th or 5th before this time next year. I hope I can. I don't mind doing one chapter a day, which would be about a book a month, but I know I do not want to burn out like that. I like having the creative juices flow when they flow, not on command. They become so much less creative at that point.

    Well, Chapter One of "1211" is complete. It's saved. I have explained a little from the last book. You have to do that when you have a sequel. I've managed to get a few nuggets for foreshadowing as well, so I feel pretty good about Chapter One. I'm also critically thinking about each chapter as I write them now, and I'm editing as I go so that my editing process at the end is easier. I'm checking the spelling, I'm checking the spaces. I'm checking the adjectives, and I'm adding fluffy stuff as I go. Maybe I can get the book done in a month, and then start on the Xactimate study. That's the goal.

    I won't get the Xactimate access key until Friday, January 22, 2024, so I have over a month to get this book done. I can do the chapter-a-day thing, and I can catch up on the weekends. It can be done by January 10-12, and edited, formated, and sent up before January 22, 2024. I think I can make that happen. I'll at least give it the whole 9-yard effort. I'll do all I can on my end, it's really up to the characters to keep my head filled with the next steps. So far, they've never let me down.

    I wrote "Of Kilted Pleasure" in just over 1 month. I wrote "Murder Book" in less than that. It was a joke, to see if I could pour myself into it, and I did. I think it was 24 days or something crazy like that. I wrote "Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book 2" over the course of years, but put it all together in 2 weeks. I then wrote "Edinburgh" in just under a month, and "Pinball" in six weeks. The last book, "Bay Sorrel Ranch" was 32 days", a month and 2 days. Not bad. If I keep that up, I can write a lot more in 2024. We'll have to see how I feel - - after work!!

Photo Credit: Me.

"1211" (Twelve-Eleven) Has Begun.

     Typically, I will take a few days off between writing books so I can both clear my head and exercise. I don't usually do much in terms of moving about or lifting weights since my fingers are clicking away on the keyboard and I tend to be sitting when I write. I do try to get in 15-20 minutes of walking twice a day, but hey, it's not that easy when you're working, writing, and all that - - tomorrow, I go back to work. Yikes.

    This time, because I do go back to work, I will have to write the book after I get off work, which will be around 5:00 p.m. I'll actually clock out at 4:30 but need to walk the dog, make something for dinner, and maybe take a shower to get ready for the evening. The evenings, right up to January 22, 2024, will be filled with writing my new book "1211".

    First, I'll explain why I'm writing up to January 22, 2024.  That seems quite specific you know, and it is. I will be paid that day, and it's a full paycheck after the first full paycheck. The first full paycheck will go to catching up on my bills; naturally. The 2nd full paycheck will be used for some bills, and some food, but I'm also purchasing a year-long access code to train and study Xactimate from Versk.com.  I would suggest any and all of you do the same if you want to earn more than the average employee. I won't go into it on this blog, but I will in another, I promise.

    The second I'm paid, I'll buy the year-long access key and begin studying Xactimate. It will take me between 4-8 weeks to get it all down, but I'll take 8-12 weeks so I can say I know it.  I'll take certification tests at that point for Levels 1, and 2 before I go back to writing. When I have mastered Level 2 of Xactimate, I will begin seeking either a higher position where I am currently working, because the new skillset will warrant it; or I'll seek work elsewhere. It's that simple.

    Why call my next novel by a number? Well, it's the address of a house I used to live in; a shared apartment complex. Some would say it's an apartment house I suppose. There were eight studio-type apartments in the place; four on top and four on the lower level.  My unit, I think it was E, but not sure, was on top.  We had some of the craziest things happen in that place. We had felonies committed, absolutely a few hefty misdemeanors that would border on felonies, and God only knows what was taking place behind a few of those closed doors.

    It will be my pleasure, as an author, to make up details and explore what exactly was going on behind those closed doors; including mine. I won't actually live in the building in my book, but a young girl right out of high school who attends college a few blocks away will be living in that unit; and what I saw, heard, experienced, and witnessed will be talked about for sure. The rest I'll gladly exaggerate to the point of nonsense, but that's what's going to be so much fun about writing this particular book. Yes, it's a murder thriller; it's a Nick Posh sequel to Pinball.

    The house is still standing, and there are people still living in it, so I won't give out the actual address, but I am keeping the 1211; I always loved saying it. Twelve-Eleven, not 1-2-1-1.  Twelve-Eleven as if you're counting backward, and in some ways that makes a lot of sense. I'll be sure to explain that in the book too.

    Who will we meet? Oh, there's Good Bill, Bad Bill, Mercedes, and of course the girl relating to me; her name is Celeste because she's so...you know, heavenly. We'll meet up with Mabel the landlord; a very nosey busybody who insists on everything being played by the rules...except there are no rules. We'll meet Kate, a business entrepreneur who can't keep a job, so she becomes an at-home bookkeeper for several companies, and there's the woman downstairs who people think is dressing as a man at times, but they don't know. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and rarely enters or exits the building. The last apartment is shared, which is odd because they are very very small. It is shared by a couple that tells everyone they are brother and sister, and that they are from Italy. They are not related.

    The whole thing takes place in or about 1930-1931 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nick returns home with his wife and child to settle in for what looks to be a pretty steady gig working as a private investigator but paid almost exclusively by the City of Oklahoma City Police Department...but not 100% exclusively. He does work on the side; and that's where he meets Mercede's grandson, a local surgeon. If Mercedes is old enough to have a 38-year-old grandson, she's up there - - and she is. She has been living in the house since it was built in 1874, before that, she lived in a brothel downtown. (Her parents are from Germany, they didn't realize their young daughter ran away before the boat took off for Europe.) 

    You'll see. It's a good one. Good Bill isn't good, Bad Bill is flat bad, but the murdered man is somehow connected to just about everyone in the building. Could that be why they stay and Mabel insists on everything being played by the rules? Could be. I'm going to have fun writing this one for sure.

Photo Credit: TheOklahoman.com  (this is the Hefner Mansion, but the house in the book is similar.)

Bay Sorrel Ranch is DONE! It is Being PUBLISHED.

     I decided to sit myself down and edit the book yesterday and today, and then about fifteen minutes ago, I sent it off to be published with Ingram Spark. When you do that, you have to first register for the book, get an ISBN (it's free) and then fill out their form(s) so they can let the world know what your book is all about. They have an area for contributor(s) and you have to swear you own the rights to the book, that it doesn't have copyrighted materials in it, and all that. Fun times.

    The book turned out to have 84685 words, and it is 345 pages. I claimed it had 356 so I can have my blank pages in there as well. There are actually a couple of blank pages at the beginning and the end because I wanted the first chapter to open up on the left side. I have no idea why I did that, it's OK to start it off on the right, I really have zero idea why that was important to me at the moment that I added the first extra page.

    The 2nd blank extra page is at the end. I wanted to give space between the book's actual end and the "About the Author" page. Again, there's no rule about that sort of thing. You just do what you like. I like the layout of the book. I went through it and moved things down a notch if I thought it looked better on the next page; you can do that as long as you don't go over your page numbers. you can't go below your footer when you move things down, otherwise, it looks weird. You don't want to be weird.

    The one thing that continues to bother me, and apparently, I can't change it. I have tried five times now, is when I put the page numbers in the book, I'm supposed to be able to start the page numbers at number 1 on the page I want to start the page numbers at, which is at Chapter 1. Well, that doesn't ever work for me. It starts at the actual page 1 and doesn't have the number, but will start printing the numbers on the next page; page 2.  I can change the font, I can change the size. I can have the numbers on the edge or in the middle. I choose to have them on the outer edge. I just can't get the dang thing to start where I want the page numbers to start. Oh well.

    When you register the book, get the ISBN, fill out the forms, and decide what would prefer the book to sell for, (they at least let you pretend to say what you want it to sell for, then they set the price and you can't do anything about it) they want you to pick the size of the book, the paper color, the cover texture (I go with matte) and then they want you to choose the discounts you'll allow for Amazon and other places. I always choose the highest discounts because I'm not a famous author. If I get a few books sold, that excites me, and I would rather they be sold at a huge discount so people can spread the word about them. Yea.

    You also decide if the books are returned if you want them destroyed, I always say yes, because if you say no, they charge you for the book. Yikes. The book, because it is 356 pages, will cost me $6.26 to print. I can purchase them for that, and the shipping costs. So, when I buy one of my own books it is about $10.20; not too bad. I would love to have $$$ to buy 100-200 at a time and go around to bookstores and do book signings, but I don't have that yet. Maybe in the future. 

    The next big thing for me is to get all the books formatted and uploaded as E-books so they can be sold for $1.99 - $2.99 each, that's such a better deal!! I'm excited about it. I make 70% off each sale, so if a book sells for $1.99 I get $1.40 roughly and if it sells for $2.99 I get $2.09 roughly for each. Again, I won't have a say as to what price Amazon puts on the E-book, but I can suggest it...and I will. They won't be more than $4.99 because I think I can put a ceiling on it. On the printed books I make somewhere between $1.66 and $2.01 per book depending on their sale price. 

    So, there we are. Bay Sorrel Ranch is out there waiting to be published. I'll hear back on it probably Wednesday, 12/13/23 and I'll approve it, then order a copy for myself. The first round, as always could have mistakes. I'll wait 2 weeks to get my copy, go through it, and upload the corrections. So, if I were you, I'd wait for me to say the book has been published, corrected, and republished. It may be about 3-4 weeks. YEA.

    That's 6 books written and published this year, and 3 more books uploaded and/or republished. It was a very very busy and fun-filled year as far as writing goes. It wouldn't have been possible if I were working, so that means I starved a lot during 2023, but God is so very very good. He took really good care of me. Laura stepped up, and I was able to pay all of my bills and be fed. My life is wonderful. It may not be fit for some, but I am content.

Photo Credit: IngramSpark.com  (GREAT publisher)

    

Unwarranted Warrants.

     I don't know about you, or how you drive, but it can clearly be said about me, that I drive like the gramma that I am. The thing is, I didn't start driving like a gramma when I became a gramma; nope, I've been driving this way my entire adult and almost adult life. I didn't want to spend money on tickets and such, so I drove correctly. I drive correctly.

    I've been pulled over, but the only times I've been given a ticket was when I flat did not deserve one. Let me explain.  In 2006, I was pulled over by a cop who I had just made eye contact with. I stopped at the stop sign, continued over the little bridge, and turned left.  He stopped me a few yards down the way.  When he pulled me over he didn't tell me what I did wrong, he wanted to see my driver's license and insurance card. This was before they were digital.  I gave them both to him. He came back with the driver's license and asked me if I had found my insurance card. I told him I already gave it to him. He said I had not. See where this is going?

    He forced me to let him search the car, and my daughter, who was not licensed at the time, was told she needed to drive the car home since I didn't have insurance. What an idiot. She wasn't even LICENSED and therefore not insured, but he was adamant, and when I tried to protest he threatened to have my car impounded. We were 90 miles from home at the time, it was the end of the year, and this man needed his quota. It was plain as day. Don't tell me they don't have quotas. YES THEY DO.  Of course, I only let her drive until he was gone, and I took back the wheel.

    I got home, waited for Monday, called the insurance people, got another card, and I called my attorney. She called the clerk in the small town of Stratford, Oklahoma, and she complained on my behalf. They told her I could speak to the judge, he wasn't coming into the county due to the weather, but he could dismiss the case. He said he would, but guess what, he didn't. He issued a bench warrant for me and NO ONE told me I had one until late last year, in 2022, 16 years later. The ticket had been sent for collection. Not only was it a ticket for driving under a suspended license, which I wasn't, but the cop didn't write down any reason for the stop in the first place. THERE WAS NO REASON, so how did he know if someone was driving under a suspended license or not?

    I had Progressive insurance until I switched. Progressive reported me as being without insurance, which I was not. I had the insurance, and I had given it to the cop. It must be a racket, I don't know. What I do know, is that I am now paying $718 for something that (a) should never have happened (b) was forgiven but not recorded, and (c) is 17 years old, and I proved I had insurance. I was not without insurance. I was not driving under a suspension. I had to pay another $435 to the state because they thought I was suspended and I wasn't, and when I proved it, they never gave me back a single penny, but if I hadn't paid the fine, I would have had another bench warrant. This is just nuts!  All that was in 2006 before I was stopped. That's how I KNOW KNOW KNOW I had insurance because I had already paid for the false suspension before I was stopped!

    I was stopped in 2014 in Indiana when I was driving too slowly on a highway, but i wasn't driving too slowly. I was driving the damned speed limit. I wasn't even driving the minimum, I was driving the actual speed limit, but they pulled me over anyway, and checked my glove compartment for a firearm. Again, illegal, and wrong, and they couldn't do that, but there we were. I was not given a ticket.

    I was stopped in 2018 for going through a parking lot rather than pulling up to the light and waiting for the signal...EXCEPT, I had pulled into the parking lot to SHOP!!!  The cop didn't care. She tried to say I was pulling out to avoid the light. This wasn't true, but I had to pay $169 for a defensive driving course to keep the ticket off my record. The $169 paid off, in that I received a $36/month discount on my insurance for 36 months, but that is not the point. I wasn't breaking the damn law.

    I was recently pulled over when someone stole the sticker off my license tag. I reported it when I was pulled over because that's when I knew. Apparently, we're supposed to walk behind and around our cars EVERY TIME we drive it, to be sure the lights work, the tag is in place, etc. Tell me, do you know ANYONE who does that? I had to pay $158 for the ticket and $275 for the tag replacement because it was time for a new tag, and I didn't have the paperwork from the last time I bought a tag why is that? Because I paid CASH and the guy gave me a sticker, but no receipt. I didn't think about it then, but yeah, he kept my money, didn't record the transaction, and I got stuck with it. 

    I had the proof that there was a sticker, so how did I get a sticker if I didn't pay for it? He kept the money, he didn't record it. He didn't give me a paper receipt because he claimed he emailed it to me. There you go, I didn't know any differently, and BAM...I have to pay $275 for another one, and $158 for being stopped when someone STOLE my tag sticker. If someone steals it, it should be replaced for free, but they say you can take it off and give it to someone; I was supposed to report it stolen. I didn't know it was taken!!

    To say I'm pissed is an understatement. The thing is, in all those cases, I had a warrant out for my arrest for the 2006 bench warrant. Not one time, not one single time did a cop say to me "Hey you have a bench warrant".  When I got my license renewed no one said anything. When I paid for insurance, and when I paid for a tag, no one said anything. I literally had NO IDEA until a collector tried to collect it. Now, I have to pay $718 for something that never should have happened and no, I'm not happy about it.  If it happens to me, you know it happens to others. I had to call today and make payment arrangements to get the bench warrant stayed. I don't think it would do much harm being out there, but you just never know.

    I can't wait for the rapture. I really really can't wait, and if that cop is in Heaven when I get there, I really hope he has to apologize to every single person he cheated, lied to, hurt, and manipulated. If he's not there, well, then he gets what he deserves.

Photo Credit: LV Criminal Defense

Bay Sorrel (The Cover) READY!!

     I decided not to wait until 12/22 to work on the cover for the new book. I had reasons for doing it before now, as I knew even if I was able to get the book out by December 15, my target date, no one could have it ordered, processed, and shipped before January 1, 2024.  It's not a Christmas book, but it would be great if folks wanted to buy it for their loved ones for Christmas. They can always take a screenshot of the book on Amazon and say "Hey, I got this for you!!" I would be happy.

    So, I signed back on with Canva and created the book cover. I'll post it at the bottom so you can see it. I had in mind the photos I wanted, but when I went back on Canva I really couldn't find them. I couldn't find the front photo or the back photo. I looked, and I tried using different keywords. As it turns out, I found two other photos that I like just as much, if not even better, because the front cover photo has a little frame for the word "Ranch" in the title. I like it. It's cute. 

    Making the covers is a lot of fun, but if for whatever reason they are not downloaded correctly, or they don't upload correctly with Ingram Spark, I find myself redoing the dang things over and over again. This time, I was smart! I wrote down the titles of the photos and I wrote down the names of the fonts, sizes, colors, etc. It will save me a lot of time if I do have to redo it. I hope I don't have to. I hope I've learned how to embed fonts and such to the point that I can actually download something without needing more permission. It's really annoying!!

    I'm taking a gamble on the size of the cover actually. I haven't formatted the book yet. It may or may not be 360 pages. The cover may end up being too big, but I can always add a few pages in text if I really need to. I will at least be close. I think I'll be really close. I have about 82000 words now, and it's about the same as Edinburgh. That book was a mess. I think I redid the cover six times. I hope that is not the case this time.  Edinburgh has 339 pages; the cover was made for 362, and it's not too big. I may add a page to the front and back, just to give it a couple more pages to bind. 

    I use the Kindle book cover template online. It's free, you just go to the site and put in the dimensions of your book, and it fills out the template for you. You download it, save it, and superimpose it over the Canva base when you open your Canva Pro account, which is about $15.00 a month, but I do the $7.49 a month for the three months, and then let it lapse after the sub is over. I can make the book covers with a fairly good estimate of what they will be, and save them for the next lot of books. I don't nee the sub to go on year round.

    All of my books are between 82000-86000 words, so 339-375 pages if I use a 5x8 book template and since I won't be making any more 6x9 books, I don't need to worry about that size. I'll make Ebooks as well, but they will have completely different covers. It's not as elaborate; as the Kindles only show black and white anyway, and there is no reason for the other bells and whistles you add to the front and back cover. You can add a little "About the Author" and tell your readers where they can buy your books; it's really nice. I like the E-book format. They are cheaper to buy, and they save space in someone's house.

    I do like having the printed books in my hands when I show people what I write, but when I read the books, it's either on my computer or on my Kindle. I do take the time to go through each book when they are first published, so I can make corrections. With Murder Book, I need to send up my edits, but I have to wait until 12/22 for that one. I'll need to buy the Adobe subscription and pay for the revision since it took more than 60 days to make the change. My bad.

    It will happen. This is, of course, is my last book for the year 2023. I've written 5 novels and reproduced 3 other books. I think it was a fairly good year for me. Creativity was recognized and that's a good thing. I'll likely end up with 4 more books next year, but I can't be sure. I have to work too. I hate that, but it is what it is. If enough people buy the books I can take off and just write!! Woot! What a plan!!

Enjoy!! Let me know what you think:  jude.stringfellow@gmail.com 

Photo Credit: Me.

Bay Sorrel Ranch (100% Done) But Not Finished.

     So, here I am saying the book is done, but it's not finished. By that, I mean that the book is written. I have all the chapters written, and they are in order. What they don't have is flowability...not yet. I'm about to go back through the book a dozen times to make sure the spelling errors are corrected, the grammar issues that I see are corrected, and then I'll add dozens of more adjectives, even a few more nouns here and there. I'm fluffing it, and I'm stuffing it. It's not done done, it's just written. I'd say it's 95% done.

    The book didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and that's OK. Most if not all of my books end up being different in the end than they were in the beginning. I start with basic broad ideas and when they take off in a million different directions I find myself listening to the voices of the characters. They have a right to shine, and to make decisions so that's what happens. 

    I don't only listen to the main characters either; if one or the other smaller characters has an idea, something to ping, or make the chapter stand out, I go with that. If I can make the chapter interesting and have it support the ones before and after it, that's the goal. Nothing usually stands on its own, but there are two chapters I think in this book that do actually have stand-alone status.  You'll figure it out when you read the book.

    Do I like it? I do. I'm not going to dwell on it too much, but I got out of the horse world for some of the same reasons (more, in fact) that my main character Jule Armstrong has to deal with. She was a racer, a rider, and a good sport for years before buying her own ranch. In just over a year after buying it and sinking so much of herself and her money into it, she's ready to get out from under it. It's not the money; the money is really never the issue. The people are the real problem. Horse people. They suck...for the most part, even the good ones suck to a degree.

    I say it all the time, "The best thing about horse people are their dogs!" and I mean that. Horse people lie, cheat, steal, rob, bury things, burn things, hide things, use people, abuse people, use animals, abuse animals, and they can also be good, loyal friends, but even those people tend to skate the Golden Rule over and over again. It just became too much for me to remain in the mix. I can admit also that the expense was just too much, but that too deals with the barn and the barn owners. They charge too much. That simple.

    You can't make money owning a horse barn unless you overcharge people, and even then you're only making a little something. The best thing to do if you're a barn owner is to board a few and have a regular job somewhere else. That way you don't have 100 people vying for the stalls, the wash stalls, the feed, the arenas, and God help them if the English riders forget to pick up their jumps, or the Western riders forget to take down their poles and/or barrels. It's just too stupid to try and have schedules because most participating barns also give lessons to 4-9-year-olds who can rake $$$ out of their parents and drag them along for years and years. Adults figure out pretty quickly that the 169 lessons required could be cut down to 10.

    The book is done. I'm fluffing it now, and then waiting a full week to fluff it again and go back over it. Since I don't have the Canva and/or Adobe accounts yet, I can't do the book cover anyway until the 22nd. I'll end up publishing the book on 12/22 and or 12/23. It'll happen. I've at least picked out the photos for the front and back cover. That's good. I'll have to manipulate them of course, and a description of the book on the back. I'll add the "About Author" page on the back of the book along with links to where folks can buy the books online.

    So there we go...another book done!  That makes 5 novels written in 2023, and I released Faith's bio again, as well as my poetry book. I gathered the blogs from my computer and formed (formatted) "Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book 2", so if you are counting, that's 8 books published on Ingram Spark from January 2023 to December 2023. Quite a busy busy year to be sure.  I took "Of Kilted Pleasure", "Faith Walks", and "Periwinkle" from the original publishers, and republished them through Ingram Spark.  

    From this point forward all the books will be written, edited, formatted, and uploaded for free; this is good news. I can't produce the Ebooks for free, they will be around $240 per book. I'll end up doing that in  January and February of 2024. By this time next year, I hope to have 4 more books written.  Three will be in the Nick Posh thriller series, and another in the Kilted romance series.  Good stuff.

THANK YOU for all you do, and for all you buy and read. I truly do appreciate it. All of my books are on Amazon. (If you find mistakes let me know, I've edited them, but I think Amazon is still selling some of the older ones. Which isn't fun, but I can't do anything about it.)

Photo Credit: Blood-Horse.com

Bay Sorrel Ranch (87% Finished) Good Times.

         I'm thinking I could finish the book tomorrow.  I say "finish" as if it's done, but it won't be. I finish it, go back over it, and then I go back over it again...and again. I have to be sure the chapter headings are all the same, and I look for any red squiggly lines or double-blue lines that indicate a possible grammar check. The red squiggles tell me I've misspelled a word. I love that. I wish I could catch all the mistakes, but it's virtually impossible for me to do that. 

    So, I'm 87% done if I'm going by my 86,000 standard. The book will be another 5x8, I don't think I'll do the 6x9 anymore. I don't like it. I know others do, but I really don't. I have some books that are 6x9, but I look at them and think I should go back and reformat them. I'm not going to do that probably, but I do think about doing it. I'm such a mess. Maybe if I had NOTHING to do I could do that, but I usually have something else to do.

    Tonight, after finishing three more chapters, I sat down and wrote out about 80 to 100 actions such as "she turned to her left" or "shifting his weight".  I want to add these short descriptive phrases throughout the entire text to make it more interesting. I tend to leave out so much of the action when I'm writing. I don't want my readers getting bored, so I have a standard list of 200 or so phrases that I use and then I try to come up with more toward the end. There really are just so many times you can say something without needing to add a descriptive phrase to seal it.

    Saying something like "reaching for the homemade soap her granddaughter made" will prompt me to add at least another sentence or two to the book in order to incorporate the descriptive active phrase. It's a game I play with myself. By the end of the book I've added another 3000 words usually, and I like myself so much more for having forced myself to think.  Sure, we all want to end the book, but we need to end it properly and with purpose.

    After I write it, after I stuff and fluff it, I go back through it for details. I remove things, I add things, I change things. For instance, today I changed two people's names. They were boring. I mean, you're allowed to have boring names in a book, but I want some of them to be good and solid names that people can remember in the future. The singer I have in this one is John Wilson, that's boring, but it's basic, and he's a good character. He won't be making another appearance in another book, and he's not the main character, so he's just John. I could change his name to Spencer Wilson, I may do that. I could also make him taller, more robust, and have him bearded with nearly a crew cut in the back and a mop of long flop on the top; something that the Americans would call quite different; but it really isn't. I haven't described him yet. I need to do that.

    The murder is discussed in this section, but I may just let the whole murder thing be unsolved and unattended, as the book isn't about the murder as much as it is about the ranch and that a murder took place there. Who did it isn't as important as the fact that there was in fact a murder on the ranch right after Jule Armstrong took it over. It was the beginning of her questioning as to why she had decided to become a ranch owner in the first place if she had done so with the idea of it being relaxing and a means for her future retirement. She's discovering that being the ranch owner may be more than she bargained for, but she can't exactly get out from under if since her daughter can't afford to buy it, and the Mustangs are really thriving there. It may be something she's stuck with.

    What do you want to bet it all works out in the end? I can almost smell it...oh wait, that's my apple dump cake in the oven. I have to go get that and pretend I'm working on the book  - see ya.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

Reflection (2023)

     Another odd and unusual year has come to a close (almost) and though we still have a few weeks left in 2023, I thought I would go ahead and talk about what has happened in my life over the past 12 months. I've had worse 12-month experiences, to be sure, but also, to be fair, I've had better as well.

    This time last year I was working for a small investment firm in the "Back Office" as I was to be trained to be in the Finance department just after the holidays, where I would have been a trader's assistant.  That was really right up my alley, as I had been training for a few years for just such a position. I had completed my SIE courses, taken the test, and I had passed. I was hired with the understanding that I would be in the back office doing the dirty work for about 3-4 months then I would be handed over to a new supervisor; to pick up the slack and learn what it meant to buy and trade bonds. I could use the training in my personal endeavors with learning how to trade currency on the Foreign Exchange. Pretty cool stuff.

    On 12/28/22 I was called into the HR department and told I was being terminated. I was not being handed over to a new finance manager, but kicked out of the company entirely; this after having been given a Christmas bonus, a great 90-day evaluation, as well as several congrats and comments from the V.P., and one of the two presidents who felt that I would be a great asset. It didn't make sense.  It didn't make sense that they were going to give me a severance either. I hadn't been there very long at all. They gave it to me so I couldn't or wouldn't seek legal action. I was being terminated by my own supervisor, who had just made the Board of Directors over the guy in Finance, and she wanted to thump him -- she did it by terminating his next big thing. What a bitch. Karma is a real thing, she'll get hers.

    Just after the first of the year, with my severance and the right to file for unemployment if I wanted to, I decided to write a book, a novel. I decided to just relax, let it all go, and just pour myself into a creative venue rather than waste my time worrying about Kathrine whatshername. I literally can't remember her last name. That's how much she actually means to me. I could go find it if I wanted to, but good riddance.

    I wrote the book and sent it off to be published. I fought like hell with the publisher, and I spent way way too much money on the project. That was about the time an insurance guy called me and said he heard I was out of work. He needed an assistant, and we agreed not only that I would work from home, but that I would also be paid X amount; no quotas, because the carrier had taken a HUGE hit the previous fall, and clients were dropping off, not buying insurance. My role was to retain folks, and hopefully make a sale now and again.  I agreed. I should not have. 

    By April, just a few months into the year, the man's bigoted attitude and his racism got to me. I couldn't morally or ethically continue to work for him. I let him know how I felt, and yes, he terminated me. I needed him to terminate me rather than quit so I could collect unemployment. I didn't want to be on unemployment, but I also needed to find another line of work. Selling insurance in Oklahoma at that time, and now, is just too hard to do on commission. If I was on unemployment for five months, I could learn a new trade in the business. That was my entire plan. I had another plan too; to write a few more books.

    In April I wrote "Murder Book", and it was my first book to fully self-publish by using Ingram-Spark. I found out I could write the manuscript, edit it, format it, and upload it 100% free!! What? That was just too cool. Having the cover created through Canva and Adobe was also free. I had to keep up their monthly subscriptions after the initial 30-day trial, but the book cover, the process, the publishing, and the editing were 100% FREE. That thrilled me. I decided from that point every single book I wrote would be free.  

    In May I released "Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book 2", a book I had 98% written, that was just needing to be put together. It needed to be edited, formatted, and needed to be published. It took about one week. Again free, and again, too excited about that fact.  I also picked up a few tips on how to do what's called estimating insurance claims. I found out that being an estimator, or claims adjuster (I was already licensed) could earn me a lot more money, but it did take time to learn and there were some expenses to pay along the way.

    The entire summer from late May through August was spent trying to hone my skills as a claims adjuster through study, research, modules, and working with a dozen insurance carriers and affiliates that literally take you by the hand to train you if you're willing. I bought licenses in other states, 10 in fact, and I worked my way through hundreds of hours of study to get as much into my head as I could. When I couldn't pack in more, I wrote books. I used writing a means to escape and create. It worked out for me.

    In June I wrote nothing, but in July I wrote two books back to back. One was a romance book, but not like "Of Kilted Pleasure". This one took place in modern times and though it was even titled "Edinburgh" and took place in the great city, it was a book about life changes and challenges for a woman in her 40s, which isn't the same as most romance novels. It was a good book. It is a good book. The 2nd novel I wrote in July and spilling into August was "Pinball".  It was put on hold for some reason, probably because I kept looking for work, and I published it in October. Pinball is the sequel to Murder Book.  I love love love that book.

    In August, I rekindled a tossed friendship with a person who I felt had some grace left within her. You're told not to surround yourself with overtly negative people, and that's why we ceased to be friends in the past. She couldn't and wouldn't stop her woe-is-me (constant) attitude. She was just a mess and still is. We were friends again, but only briefly. I tried so hard to make the best of it. I called her every day, encouraged her and tried to help her mentally and emotionally. She helped me once financially and I'll go into that in a minute, but in the end, she proved to be the same back-stabbing bitch she was the year before. I couldn't continue my quest to be her friend. She went so far over the line to hurt me. It stung too hard. 

    In October I was finally hired to start a job with the state, but it wasn't going to start until December 4! What? Several weeks from the time I needed to go back to work as my last unemployment check had been spent on rent just that week. I was happy of course, as I live with my daughter, and she was able to pick up the slack, but the fact is, I've never been so close to the wire and without funds in my life; not even when the kids were little and I found it so very difficult to make ends meet. I had parents or someone to lean on, but today it was a kid!!  (She's OK, she's even happy to do so because she knows I carried the three of them for years.)

    In November, at the beginning of it, my car tag was stolen. The sticker on the right side that has the year on it. I didn't know this, but I picked Laura up from work and was pulled over by a very sweet police officer who said he didn't have a choice, he had to give me a ticket. No warnings are given these days.  I didn't have the money to pay for the tag and my friend was asked if she could help. She agreed, and even though the amount was more in person than what I was told on the phone it would be, she paid it. I was most grateful; thanking her, and promising to pay her after I started my new job.  I will mention that the job I received was one she had agreed to take then she withdrew her application for it. She encouraged me to go for it, I did, I was accepted, and now she was upset about it. I not only "took her job" I "took her money".  Can you see where this is going?

    My "friend" had begged me to apply, saying she felt I would be good at it. I got the job, and she got upset, but she never told me. She paid for my tag, having at least two opportunities to say no, but when she did pay for it, she again talked herself into believing that I somehow manipulated her. Her rant online was unbelievable and I was again hurt by her darts; why couldn't she have told me how she felt? I would have made some other arrangement even if it meant parking the car and not driving it!  That same day I was called by the state HR department saying they were rescinding my offer for the position. Apparently, someone had called them to say I had lied on my application. I can't tell you how hurt I was over that.

    Not only would the HR people NOT tell me directly what they found or thought they found, however they implied that the anonymous caller who gave them information about me had stated that I had been terminated by a finance company in 2022, something I had not mentioned; therefore that may have been the deception. I asked if I was allowed to defend or explain, and I was told no. There you go; the only people who really knew about the investment company's termination status were my friends. This woman not only purposely called my new employer to have my offer rescinded, but she wanted the job back, and apparently bad enough to ask for it; the only reason I know this is she boasted about it on her social media.  Needless to say, we are no longer friends.

    I wrote a letter to the state explaining that my recruiter and resume drafter had advised me not to put anything on my application that had been less than 180 days. I listened to their advice, but if they felt I had been deceptive I would at least ask for a hearing to clear my name. That was not to happen, I received a call from the state saying the matter was dropped, and I could again apply if I chose to, but the starting date for the next session of training would be mid-April. CRAZY but true. It had to do with budgeting I believe, but at least I knew where their information had come from, and I was able to cut the cancer out of my life permanently.

    In November I decided to write another book. This one is about mean girls at a barn who do awful things to one another, and yes, I will include what my ex and former friend did to me because it makes for good reading. People, for some reason, want all the gory details. If I can make a buck off the way she behaved, I suppose that's a start to fill up the hole that she left when she shafted me for the last time. I'm reminded of the characters of Edgar Allen Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" when the one man who had been jeered and insulted for the last time decided to seal up his former friend in a wall down in a lonely damp and isolated basement. I didn't want to go that far - - but maybe I will in another book; she really hurt me.

    Bay Sorrel Ranch is about 80% done now and will be released just before Christmas. I'm finishing the last few chapters before editing it, formatting it, and sending it up to the publisher. I'll start a new free subscription for Canva and Adobe for 30 days, it's been long enough now I can do that, and I'll close out the year employed, because my new job starts next Monday, December 11. I'm not telling ANYONE where I am going to work, or what I will be doing. I've been shanked, shafted, hurt, and deceived too many times in the past. I've simply been too nice about it, and that has to end. I have to protect myself, and I will.

    In closing, I guess the year 2023 was really cool in that I wrote and published six books; that's something to be proud of. I also had a good friend hurt me, but I had the grace to forgive once and the withal to stand my ground when she proved to be the monster she was before. I pray for her, and I will continue to do so, but I can't allow my soul, my heart, or my compassions to fall like they did. I've been too pie-in-the-sky with my feelings and hopes in the past, not wanting to see reality for what it is. I know the world is ugly at times, but my optimism kicks in and I want more for myself and everyone else. 

    The year was a good year. I didn't earn much, so it wasn't a profitable year, but I did relax, I did learn, I did write, I did love, and I did understand quite a bit more than I knew the year before. I'll be OK, and I'll even survive. God is great, and if nothing else, He is to be praised in the hallways even if the doors all close.

Photo Credit: Freepik.com