Jude Stringfellow's Blog, page 49

Chapter One is Done. (Murder Book)

 I realized after I wrote the title "Chapter One is Done" that I would need to clarify which book was done because it would appear that I've written more than one book. Murder Book is officially my 7th book I think. I'll have to go look it up. I've written about 15 more but I've not published them. I need to combine them, chunk them, produce them, or rewrite them. I need to, I need to. I don't do it, but I do need to. I think it would be GREAT if I could be the person I'm pretending to be, and get out there and WRITE more.

    The first chapter of Murder Book is done.  I wrote it last night and it really only took me about an hour. I knew what I wanted to say. The following chapters will be a bit more difficult, but I'm hoping I can have the same flow of energy and decision-making. I tend to write when I'm writing if that makes sense. I have a really good idea of what I want to say, then I just set my fingers free on the keyboard and see what they have to say. This book will be fun to write as the narrator is a bit gruff and really says what they (no gender) want to say. The narrator is the person telling the story, and it's not written in 1st or 3rd party. This is an observation book. The narrator can be anything you wish them to be; as long as they say what I wrote, and don't go off half-cocked on their own storyline. That would be upsetting.

    I have a really wonderful at-home position at this time, and it allows me to spend a few hours just writing, researching, and doing what I need to do to get the books written as long as I also put in the work and answer the phone when it rings. I think I'll add my boss to this book, and my freaking awesome co-worker because she really helps the day pass faster as well. She's a licensed agent who has been with my boss for a little under a year now. We both work from home, and he takes us out to lunch now and again so he can have human interaction. When we zoom I usually choose not to be on camera so I don't have to put on makeup or wear work-appropriate clothes. My boss is forever saying he wishes he had that option. He does. He just doesn't realize he has that option. 

    The first chapter is all about grabbing the reader's attention. It needs to lay out the story, the plot, and a few characters to get the audience interested. It needs to tell just enough to keep them wanting to read more and more. The book takes place in the years 1918-1932, but there are really only references to the earlier years. The true work years in the book are 1929-1932 (Just after midnight on January 1, 1932). We'll see some really cool things, learn some more cool things, and witness murders and cover-ups, as well as an attempted murder that ends up leading to the arrests of the killers; not to mention sex....did I mention sex? Oh, well, I think you have to throw in a few bits and bobs to keep it moving. People like sex for some reason, so there will be a sex scene...maybe two.  We'll see if the detective takes off his overcoat for that. 

    I'm writing this book and then deciding where I should have it produced. I think I can find a place that will be as good as Xlibris, and that won't take too much effort. I'm hoping I can price the books at the price I want them to be priced at so that whenever someone buys the book I'll get money and they will feel that it is a good price too.  These books are so cheap-looking these days; it's a shame, but it's true.  They are worth about $10. I hope I can get Ingram to print the books for $10 and the Ebook will be about $5.99; that's the hope.

    Last night, after writing the first chapter, which really was only 1600 words; I decided to write out the notes for the remainder of the book. I got 21 pages typed up and thought no, I need more. I need so so so much more. So, tonight I'll add another 30 pages to the notes. It's really not that much when you break it down. I put out quotes I want to include, and ideas I want the characters to see, feel, say, experience, etc. I say things like "Discuss Conan Doyle's death" and that alone will be a two-page discussion.  It's as if each suggestion or note could bear 2-3 pages of fluff and stuff all by themselves. I could end up with fat book friends. I already know there will be a few (a lot) historical events taking place, or being mentioned. It's going to be a good and interesting ride - - both for me, the writer, and you, the reader. FUN TIMES...look for Murder Book to be available in the summer of 2023.

Photo Credit: Thehansindia.com

The Murder Book - - HAS BEGUN!

This is the official notice for the start of the new book titled "Murder Book".  It is a novel, and as you can probably tell from the title, it is a murder mystery.  It takes place between 1930-1932 or so, and it will have a few sites to traipse; Oklahoma, Chicago, and the great country of Scotland.  The City of Edinburgh will have the lion's share of attention I believe, but I will refer to the other locations as well as establish their necessity when they need to be needed. I'll inform the reader about the area, the times, the styles, the cultures, the laws, the by-laws, the traditions, and even the rumors about each location. There will be a few lines that may end up being catchphrases for Nick Posh.  Nick Posh is my detective for the series; and yes, there will be a series of Nick Posh detective novels. You have been told.

    The way I start a book is the most simple way possible. I have ideas that roll around in my head so I grab a new notebook, usually a composition notebook, and I start writing those ideas down. I probably have 30 composition notebooks laying about the house at this point. Some have murder story ideas, and others are romance novels. I have two for poetry because I lost the first one and then found it after I wrote out a few poems in the 2nd notebook. It happens.  Nothing happens, however, unless and until it is written down, signed, and then witnessed. You can't be too sure these days.

    Murder Book is going to be a spin-off type book; a book that assumes the action in the middle of its prime. This way, I can write the prequel as well as the sequels. I can do a flashback, I can do flashforward. I can dream, dance, prance, and scheme. I can completely go wild - - and I will.  I haven't been so excited about a book since my last book.  I have another one in the works too; one that will make this one seem like child's play in terms of me getting excited about writing it. That one will be amazing!!  For now, I have to appease myself with the series as it is and see where it goes. I have this series and the romance series to work on, so I should be pretty busy. I don't know if I'll ever have the money to get them all published, but they'll all be written and ready to go, then I can always do a GoFundMe or something to send them off to the publisher. OR....here's a thought, people can buy the other book, "Of Kilted Pleasure" and I can use the proceeds of it to fund these new books!! YEAH!! That's the real plan. 

    So far, I have about seven typed pages of notes. I need more. I am developing characters now, and deciding who dies, how they die, how they are covered up, and who they are mingled into and mixed up with in the other books. I'm also trying to find ways to use the books as a means to inform and educate the readers so they're not only entertained but they are educated as well; making their purchase an even better deal. See how nice I can be? No, don't tell anyone. Let them think I'm the biggest shrew out there. Why should they know I'm really an angel in disguise? Nope. Let them believe I'll hunt them down and force them to read my books!

    The book is NOT called "The Murder Book", but "Murder Book".  Believe it or not, it's the same when you look for it on a bookshelf at a store or library as the word "the" is never considered when filing. Crazy, huh? What if I wrote the book "The". LOL...don't tempt me. I'm just the sort of person to do that. Murder Book will be about 330-350 pages, it will be a 6x9 inch black and white novel. It will not have any photos in it, but I will have a nifty cover with Nick Posh in illustration form. Think Dick Tracy but he won't be wearing yellow.  He's more of a Paul Drake sort of guy if you watched the Perry Mason television shows from the 50s and the 60s.  He's tall and has grizzled hair in this book, but dark in the prequel. He'll eventually turn grey and be the man we expect all rugged gumshoes to be after 30 years of digging in the trash of the criminal elements of slummy backstreets.

    Nick has a past you know. He's on the case to both solve it and to cover up any evidence that could be used against him in a prior incident; I can't give too much away now. You'll like the story. You'll remember it too, and that's so much more important to a writer. Do I tease you now, and give you the start of the book, the very first line? OK, I've actually given it to you before, are you ready? "There's a reason they call her 'Plain Jane'". 

Photo Credit: MyComicShop.com 

Chicken Wraps For DAYS!!

 One of the problems with cooking for one or even two is that you have so much left over if you buy in bulk.  When I go to Winco to get my chicken breasts I know I'm going to come out with 10 breasts for just over $12.00, which is amazing! It's an amazing price, and yes, that's why I go.  It takes a minute to cook it all, but it will be cooked.  I cook for two right now, myself and my daughter Laura who I can't seem to convince it's time to fly the coop.  She's one of those daughters. She's almost 34, but she knows a good thing when she has it, so yeah, she's still clinging to the apron strings and this Mama bear is about to take off the apron; let me tell you.

    LOVE YOU, but you gotta go, and if you don't go girl, I'm leaving. It's just a matter of time before that actually happens, but until it does we can talk about food. Over the weekend I made an awesome chicken dinner in the slow cooker. It was something like an Italian Marsala dish, but I didn't add the mushrooms. I should have; I had them. I don't know what I was thinking. It was just simply fantastic, and since there were several pieces left over (I only used two large breasts and cut them in half) I decided to let them sit in the pot (in the fridge) and soak up all the sauce and cream cheese. That happened and then I did something really cool.

    I shred the chicken into very thin pulls, making the mix really soft and gooey. Chicken, cheese, cream cheese, and veggies kind of gooey, and after another hour in the fridge, I had a perfect blend to make toasted chicken wraps, adding a bit more cheese (hope you like cheese) and toasted it on the George Foreman (panini) grill. It really does make an excellent sandwich. I only eat 1/2 of the larger-sized tortilla wrap, so you guessed it, I had to call in Laura to do the cleanup. She had no problem doing that. I added grapes, olives, and pretzels to mine. She wasn't nearly as snazzy, preferring just to eat the wrap as is.  I hardly ever eat any meal without fruit these days.

    The point is if you're going to make something, and you know you'll have leftovers, get yourself an artisan loaf of several-grains bread or a package of good large tortillas and make wraps and panini for the next couple of days. We've had the same thing for about four meals now, to be honest. I had NO idea the chicken breasts were that big, but they were...are, I have 6 more.  This week I'll have to throw in a few beef, pork, and even shrimp dinners, but I have to wait until I can get the rest of the chicken eaten. I could give it to the dogs I suppose; that's always an option, and they don't mind helping. My dogs love me. 

    Pinterest hit a home run on this one. I think I spent less than $12.00 total on the chicken, cream cheese, regular cheese, Italian dressing, celery, and diced tomatoes and we're talking a full dinner for two, then three more meals of sandwiches! Yes, this is a good family-type meal maker that can be easily made, easily devoured, and easily cleaned, and it won't break the budget. You can't say that about the same thing you would buy at the fancy schmancy restaurant. The same meal I made over the weekend for one would have been $14-22 depending on where you go and what sides you have with your meal.  I'm not going to open up any cafes or restaurants any time soon, but if I did, the Italian Chicken wrap would be on the menu. It's cheap to make and I could make BANK on it.

    I just handed the last bite or two of the wrap to Ginger; she was patiently waiting by my side.  She knows me. One of the ways I stay so fit is to feed some of (if not 1/2) of my food to the dogs. I tend to think about it first, wondering if they'll be able to eat it without having digestive issues. Then I remember that I'm really old and have owned dogs my entire life. I've been "abusing" them I suppose, for about 60 years if you think about it. Damn.  So far, not one single dog has ever complained or died from my table-scrap supplements to their diet. Sorry fancy schmancy vets out there claiming otherwise. I'm gonna have to go with good old-fashioned good sense and a track record to beat the band.  My dogs love me. (unlike my kid, I won't kick the dogs out of the house.)

Photo Credit: Me.  Yuuki is the old boy, he's almost 16. Ginger is the brown one. (Tawny if you must know)

The Gourmet in Me!

 I always say I'm not a gourmet cook because I have never been properly trained to be one. I can take a recipe, follow it and tweak it, and I can make really good food. I know this, but there's just something about saying (out loud anyway) that I'm a gourmet that makes me feel really arrogant. I was, however, thinking it in my head just the other day when I went out to dinner with friends and spent far too much for far too little food and the quality was good but not brilliant. I was saying in my head and to myself, "You could have done that so much better".  The thing is, I could, but is that the point? I mean, it could be the point if you're trying to compete, but I don't compete. I don't do the whole chef thing or the beat-them-at-their-own-game thing. I just cook really good food.

    Today, I was interested in doing something a bit different, and I found a recipe for something that I hadn't tried before. It seemed extreme, and in the end, it has a bit of a kick to it, but not in a bad way. It's more of a zest than a hot, so I'm OK with it. I will survive.  One thing I don't do is hot spicy food; sorry...just not gonna happen. I'll make it for someone else, but I can't taste it to see if it turned out or not. My belly says no, my bowels agree with my belly, and then I'm on the floor dying. It's not pretty, and no, it's just not gonna happen.  Today's event was intriguing enough for me.

    I made what Pinterest referred to as Italian Slow-cooked Chicken.  It called for a full cup of zesty Italian dressing; I think I could have been OK with only 1/2 a cup. It called for a full bar of cream cheese.  Again, I think I could have been OK with using only 1/2 of the bar for the four pieces of chicken breasts that I ended up cooking.  I let them all heat and simmer together with another 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and onion spices before I added the celery and basil. It's really really good, I'm not going to lie, but next time (and there will be a next time) I will cut the ingredients in half. I did use some of the drippings in the rice cooker to make the rice, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm thinking it will be pretty great.

    One thing about the slow cooker is that you can literally turn it on and leave it. You can simmer a brisket for 10-12 hours in the hickory and smoke sauce.  You can cook your stews for 4-6 hours (don't forget a little baking soda to tenderize the meat).  The chicken doesn't need any extra assistance, the heat and the vinegar in the dressing are enough to break it up sufficiently for your meal.  After I eat this meal I'll take the leftover chicken, shred it, and use it in a chicken salad panini sandwich tomorrow. If that's not on Pinterest it should be. I may add it. I can you know, I'm not above that.

    One of the reasons, in fact, the #1 reason why I tend to cook at home rather than go out to restaurants to get fine dining, is of course the cost.  The chicken dinner I had with friends was over $27 for my meal, and when I say I was upset about it, you haven't seen me upset until you get me to pay $27 for 1/2 a breast of chicken and less than a 1/2 cup of rice with a few green and yellow vegetables adding up to maybe a 1/3 of a cup if stacked on top of each other. They didn't even include bread with the meal; it was an appetizer. They did drizzle the sauce on the plate, and add little dots to make it appear chic and edgy....yeah, not interested.  The atmosphere was louder than it should be; I may as well have stayed home and listened to the dogs play, or kept the television on in the background.  (For those of you who don't know me, I don't watch TV I may watch a show online, but the TV stays off most of the time unless the weatherman is really excited about something.)

    Yeah, I'm not an official gourmet. I just have really good spices and good timing I guess. I was trained by the kids who were learning at Pratt's Culinary College back in 2003. I was their Gen. Ed teacher. I can say that! They trained the heck out of me for all the extra credit they could get. I know how to use the system!! I learned a great deal, they learned a great deal, and we all ate well. It's a win-win.  I will say this: I won't go out with friends and spend $$$$ again. I'll invite them over and let them eat my food and we can spend the money going to the Oklahoma City Zoo and walking it off. That's a much better plan!!

Photo Credit: Electicrecipes.com  (I don't have the best camera to take photos and my shadows were all over the place. Sorry)

Dating in 2023. NO Thank You!

 It is no wonder why this world is in the shape and condition it is in now. We have people who swore to God and before family and friends that they would love, honor, cherish, take care of, follow, and be best friends to a certain other person, only to cheat on them and treat them like crap.  We have the worst track record here in the United States where it is easier to get a divorce, but it's just as bad in Europe and other areas of the world where it is not that easy. I have a friend (I'll call him a friend) in Scotland who is going through the two-year waiting period so he and his wife can be legally divorced. So stupid! Just sign the damn papers and be done with it. The way that woman is treating him now makes me wonder if she EVER loved him, or if she only used him to clean the house and babysit her kid; you know, the one she had with the other guy she mistreated and cheated on before she met my friend. God bless him.

    I'm just so sick of this crap! I haven't had a date in over 24 years and if I go another 24 years without the trials, tribulations, pressures, and mayhem that goes along with dating, I'm OK with that. Just this evening I was reading a Twitter post where a woman gave dating advice. I don't know why she popped up on my side of the world, I'm not following her. Her advice to women was "Ladies if a man orders dessert when you're paying for the date, ghost his ass. Leave the restaurant and leave him with the bill."  This was her true and actual advice to people who were dating. So freaking what, if a man orders dessert? Are we saying now that having dessert is out of the question, or is it the extra $5.00 you don't want to have to pay for him to be a little happier than he was? Tell me, I want to know! 

    I watched a man go into a store this morning and his wife was several steps behind him. I continued to watch as he not only didn't open the door for her, he didn't wait on her to catch up. He didn't walk around with her in the store. She got a buggy and I'm not kidding you, the man screamed at her telling her she was stupid for grabbing a buggy, he didn't want to be in the store that long and she wasn't "about to spend more than what I told you that you could spend"...that man would be run over with said buggy and then I'd back up and run his ass over again. No, I wouldn't. I would simply walk away and he would speak to my attorney the next day. I don't advocate violence, I only dream about it and write it in my novels. His ass would be the next man murdered in my next bestseller. 

    There's just no reason to treat people the way they are being treated. If you have no intention of keeping your promise to someone don't make the damn promise. You are in control of your actions. You either mean what you say, or you lied. You either meant it, or you did not mean it. You couldn't pay me to date anyone right now. I may marry someone but I sure as hellfire won't date them. I won't marry them either (him, not them, there would be only one, and he would be a man) unless God plopped him in my lap and said "This one is yours, you're welcome". That's the only way and if that happens you can bet that the temperatures in Hell have fallen by a few degrees. To put up with the "rules" or expectations of what is being dished out these days would be nonsense. Not to mention the wanton and rampant STDs and other creepy-crawlies that are flying around out there.

    NO THANK YOU. Another friend of mine is permanently injured internally through a sexually transmitted disease that she can't get rid of. She is never going to be clear of it. She thought she knew the man.  They dated for several weeks and got to know one another right? Well, he didn't tell her about that. They are no longer together, but she can't be with anyone else now. She's not alone, the stats on STDs in America are staggering, but they are higher in many and most other countries. It's absolutely incredible!!  Before I could or would marry (because I won't date) that man would be run through the gambit wringer medically at my expense. He'd be cleaner than a new whistle by the time I said yes. If that sounds like something you don't want any part of that's OK, you're not the one I'd marry anyway, so there you go - - problem solved.

    If you want the shock of your life go somewhere and people-watch. Watch how men treat their wives. Watch how women treat their husbands. I'm not talking about the dating scene now because people can pretty much fake their way through that except really they can't. Right now if a man in his 40s wanted to date he'd have to worry about that woman accepting his kids, he'd have to accept her kids, there would be too many in-laws, ex-laws, and blended half-this-and-that as well as the expense on watching younger kids while you go out. Who pays for that? Does the man pay for her kids to have a sitter? What if he's not interested in having more and she wants more, and then their relationship hits the skids when she finds out he's fixed but she's pregnant? Well, there you go...yes, that happened to another one of my friends. See why I don't date? NOPE..not gonna happen.  Bob was dating C.C. and she ends up pregnant and told him. Bob looks her in the face and says he was fixed 10 years ago. She just walked away. Yep! What else can she do? She and Bob dated for 11 months. He can't get that back, can he?

    What I found impossible to stomach is when Bob came over for coffee and cookies to tell me all about it, and he said he just now found out that C.C. also hated dogs! She didn't like the Beatles, and she didn't like half the places they went but went only because he wanted to go, but because of that she forced him to go where she wanted to go, and he hated it. Listen, people, you can go your own way and still be together!! No one expects, or shouldn't expect, their significant other to enjoy everything they enjoy. It's not like you are expected to spend 24/7/365 together. Have your own likes and dislikes, agree to disagree, and just chat without arguing over things that really don't freakin' matter!!  Who gives a damn if this band is better than that one, or this team is great, or if this or that celebrity is pretty or handsome? Screw that, and just decide whether or not you're suitable for one another BEFORE you lie and cheat and steal and end up hating each other! (Who the hell even speaks to people who hate dogs? Why would you keep that from someone? It's going to come out!) GEEZ!!!

    Gonna get really intimate here and give you a secret; staying celibate has been the best decision of my life. I mean, yeah, I'm glad I have my three kids, but not having to "be on" or "in the mood" or whatever else has been just wonderful. I think sex is fantastic, it's fantabulous, wonderful, and extremely entertaining, but if one or the other of the participants has to beg for it constantly, it's NOT worth it. It's OK to be tired now and again, but come on! Find someone who has the same likes and dislikes in that category rather than agreeing to disagree. The bedroom is your place, your choice, your thing, not for others to even know about. Don't tell your friends what you do. Tell each other what you want. Don't complain about it to other people. Talk about it. KNOW before you get burned is all I'm saying.  Don't test drive to see if it's going to work out -- talk about it first, and get the nitty gritty down before you do the nitty gritty and find out your nitty is more gritty than his and he's not really into your kink. FIND OUT FIRST before you walk into the bedroom and see chains hanging from the rafter!

    OK, back to the part where I say dating is for the birds. It is. Some birds mate for life too by the way, and I don't think there's a bird divorce counseling service out there. They work it out. People need to work things out before they go off (half-cocked pun intended) and make the bigger mistakes of their lives; mistakes that often or could have grave consequences. Here's a thought, and yes, it's really churchy...pray about it. Find God's answer and stick with it. He hasn't been wrong yet, that's one heck of a track record. I think that's why they say "What God has put together let no man put asunder." Let me tell you, just because you say "I do" doesn't mean you will.  Too many out there proving that every day.  If God put it together it will remain. Don't fool yourselves into thinking God wants you to be together if you know it's not the case. He knows...and if you've ever been divorced (guilty) you've not made the right decision, and He didn't put it together. Simple Math. Don't expect someone else to be the one for you if you can't be the one for them. 

1+1=1  in the marriages God actually approves of.

Photo Credit: agreatimpression.com

Nothing New. Nope. NOTHING.

 Have you ever started a new project or even a new position, and thought, "This is it! I'm going to change the world. I have all these great ideas!! It's going to be GREAT!"?  That's a valid question. We all do that from time to time, but as we get older, as I get older, I realize that some if not most or all of these times could have been either avoided, trashed, or rethought. After all, there is truly NOTHING new under the Sun, and we know this.  This is not a defeatist attitude; far from it. It is a very positive one. I am positive that there is NOTHING  new under the Sun, but I am equally positive that we can do our best, be our best, try hard to achieve the right answers, and be as gracious and kind along the way. That too is not new.

    My time on this planet as an employee has been many years. I have worked for myself, and I have worked for others. It never fails, when I work for others they have this "go-get-it" attitude of "hit the ground running" and "be the best" yada-yada. How's that working out for you? Is money the end game? I don't think so. Being grateful, having a servant's heart, and being willing to be one of the good guys is a far better motivators for me than to try and coax myself into doing something for the sake of earning an extra buck. In the real end, the things that really do matter, are the things you did and the way you did them in order to benefit God's work, not man's work. If you don't know that, you have some training to do.

    I'm working both for someone now, and for myself. I have two real jobs. In the one where I'm working for someone the man is constantly asking us, his employees, there are two, to watch training videos about retention, being genuine, and cross-selling. OK, and then what? These videos he's sending to us assume for the most part, that the clientele base is both educated and sophisticated. They assume that because that is THEIR client base. They sell these videos to people who are trying to build, grow, and keep businesses. Naturally, they're going to say things like, "Go the extra mile" but then they turn around and say "Let the client do their own due diligence, don't babysit them."  See what I mean? Nothing new under the Sun. All of the KEY TAKEAWAY points were so basic that we all knew them, we were taught these things in primary school. Let's go over a few:

Be polite and listen. Wait for the client to stop talking before you begin.Make sure you are the professional and you say things clearly with a cheerful voice so that the client understands you are in charge and know what you are talking about.Be aware of time, only spend a few moments on each call so that the client understands you are busy and your time makes a difference in their lives as well as your business.Answer each question with positive reinforcement such as "As I was saying" or "as previously suggested" so that the client understands that you have had this knowledge in your memory bank for a while, and you are not just now coming up with a suggestion to get them off the phone.Thank the customer each time. Let them know their business is appreciated.  It's all so dull and boring. In 2023 we should be directing people to use their smartphones as a tool, not just a phone. They make apps, we have apps, and they can find them, download them, and use them. There is literally no reason to call the customer service line to find out what your next payment will be. You can even add a vehicle, remove a vehicle, change your address, remove a driver, add a driver, and make payments all on the app without having to call in to do these things. I understand if the client is older, or has a disability, but to assist someone properly in 2023 who is capable of doing their own due diligence for their own policy, it is best (in my professional opinion) to train the client to do their own due diligence. We are not their Mom. We are not their babysitter. When I ran my own insurance business I trained my employees to help the clients by training them, not doing their work for them. It makes sense. If you have 500+ clients you can't call each one to say "Please make your payment" or "You may need to review your policy"....it's THEIR HOUSE, and they should keep up with it. 

    Take Turkish coffee for example.  How long have the Turks been making coffee the way they make it? Oh, I bet it's been a minute.  There are literally thousands of Turkish pots on sale with this or that new or improved implement, right? You go to Amazon and you can get a pot with a wooden handle, a brass one, a steel one, or maybe a precious metal handle. The cup can be brass, steel, copper, or even glass. You still need to add water, finely ground beans, and heat. You still need to take the pot off the heat when it films up and then return it for a minute or so allowing the settlement. Just because you bought a new-fangled pot with a pretty terrific handle, and you used the best organic coffee beans available, doesn't change the fact that it is still Turkish coffee, and will always be the same. (Actually, the beans make a difference, but you get my point.) You can use a stainless steel cup and a pair of pliers and the coffee will turn out the same provided you do what you're supposed to do. NOTHING is new under the Sun.

    Due your own due diligence. Be kind. Be polite. Help people. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed. Go that extra mile to train, but not to do their work for them. Be YOU so they can also appreciate that as well.


Photo Credit: Me

David Lee Roth is 68. Let That Sink In for a Minute.

 It was bad enough that I had to admit to my kids that I was high as a kite when I attended my first Van Halen concert. I wasn't on drugs like you may think, but I was certainly and absolutely flying while under the influence of pain meds. I had just had my four wisdom teeth removed three days prior to the concert, and there I was, driving my friend who was under 16 to the concert. She and I had managed to stand in line about two months beforehand and we got tickets to the show. They weren't bad tickets either. I didn't take into consideration that the date for the show was just a few days after major surgery, but hey, I was 19, absolutely invincible, right? At least I thought so.

    So, the night of the show I'm smart enough not to take the drugs before I drive down to Norman from Oklahoma City, but I wasn't smart enough to not take them somewhere between David jumping off the stage for the first time and then Eddie doing his spinning and turning riff show - - I was truly mesmerized by that time. I had my eyes on Alex for the most part. He was hot. Speaking of being hot, I got hot. The air in the concert hall was really muggy and I decided to remove my sweatshirt. I guess it looked like I was just stripping or something because before I knew it I was being carted off by two armed security guards, literally being dragged out of my seat and back behind the stage. (Not to be confused with being backstage.)

   My friend was really upset about it. I remember laughing. She was cussing and screaming at the security guys, but I was chatting them up and asking them questions like what their names were, how old they were if they were married, you know, things you typically ask a security guard when you're being arrested and/or detained for suspicion of being drugged up and whacked out of your head.  By the time we got back to the area where they detain people in these conditions, I had laughed so hard that my stitches broke and blood ran out of my mouth and all over my sweatshirt. The band had left the stage for Eddie to have his solo and there Alex was just standing about twenty feet from me. I waved.  
    
    I waved at Alex, and he laughed. He came back to where I was and asked if I was OK. I told him I was fine, but I did have to admit that I was on drugs. He said he was too, and it would be OK. I believed him.  He said something else to one of the security guards and I was released to go back to my seat to watch the show.  Just before the encore one of the guards came back to find me. He gave me a Van Halen t-shirt to swap out for the bloody sweatshirt I was wearing and he wanted to know if the meds had worn off. I told him they were better but I wasn't going to chance driving. I thought I would just stay in Norman and walk around the campus for an hour or so.
    
    The guard walked me and my friend backstage this time, not behind it. We were taken to meet the band for real, and I got a chance to thank Alex for being kind enough to release me from the clutches of the guards. He smiled and we hugged. We actually went out that night to a restaurant to eat, I had a car and my friend stayed with the roadies and other friends. I know, I'm the worst friend ever for leaving a 15 year old child with roadies but that was 1981 and she was a blackbelt; so there's that. I drove Alex to O'Conners in Norman, and we ate dinner. He paid for it, and he gave me his real phone number. I told him I didn't call guys, so I gave him my number and I'll be damned...he called.
    
    Earlier I said when I went to my "first Van Halen concert".  Well, that Autumn I went to six more. I went out with Alex each time, and no, we never had sex. I know, I know, my daughter likes to say Alex is her dad, but that would be impossible for a few reasons. She was born 9 years later for one, and again, I read once that you had to have sex to get pregnant.  Maybe Alex will remember that I'm the one person who told him no. He did ask, but I preferred to just hang out with the man. He was adorable. Believe it or not, he has a sharp mind, and a creative style, and he helped me understand more about bands and traveling than anyone I had ever met. I started working for Concerts West that year and mainly because he recommended me to the owner of the promotion company.  Between 1981-1984 I worked over 300 concerts (many artists) CRAZY!!
    
    I met up with Alex and the band in 1983 during the "Jump" video at Hollywood General Studios, and yes, Alex and I went to dinner again. He never asked that time. I may have given in, but I doubt it. Oh, the title of the blog was about David Lee Roth wasn't it?  Well, it's true. I'm older too, but that man is 68!! NO WAY. There is just no freakin' way  - can't happen. Nope. Won't accept it.  At least now when I hear the song "Jump" I am immediately transported back to Hollywood and I seem to have a smile on my face when I arrive.  See, you can have fun without getting naked...it's just that it's probably a lot more fun if you do.  

    It was a good time. Percocet and all. 


Photo Credit: RockSceneAuctions.com

When One Computer is Not Enough.

 I have a job, really I have two. If I were being honest with myself, I would say I have three jobs.  First, I am an author. I write. I am a professor, and I teach. I am also a claims adjuster and/or service rep. I work full-time during the day for an insurance company. I answer phones, adjust things, do quotes, etc. You may ask, "How do you find time to do all those things?"  Well, we are all given the same 24 hours each and every day. I am not actually teaching this semester because I was actively writing a book. If I do teach I teach online, and I tend to get all the lessons prepared for the week, even for a few weeks in advance so that I'm not fumbling around looking for the next series of assignments. If I teach the same class as I have taught in the past, it's a no-brainer. I just plug in the syllabus, wait for the students to do their work, and I grade it. We have discussions and Zoom meetings from time to time too. We just don't do them Monday-Friday during work hours.  I write when I write, I don't limit or stop that energy.

    This week my computer, an HP EliteDesk Desktop, which is probably three or four years old, decided to gum up and run slowly. I have to do a bit of recon to find out what the problem is, but when I'm running quotes or looking up someone's policies online I can't have a slower computer. I decided to bite the bullet and get a new machine. I'm going to do two things: First, I bought a new HP all-in-one to work with, and I won't put anything else on the computer other than work-related items. It will be very specific to my workload.  Secondly, I'm going to take my older machine in and have an SSD put into it to make it run faster and smoother; that should free up space as well as help the overall workability of it. It will be used for writing and if I teach, as the lessons and presentations won't take up much space.

    I will likely end up putting more RAM into the all-in-one to do more with it in a few months when I start launching my FOREX open trading. Right now I'm more or less practicing and just doing easy things without spending real money. I wanted to; I wanted to start using real money this last winter, but I wasn't really prepared and I didn't want to lose money. I only want to use real money when I know I'll earn, not lose. I can stand to lose a little.  I know I'll learn to use my Stop Loss like it was my lifeline because it may be.  I just don't want to force myself to pull up the big girl panties too soon on that one. I'll learn a bit more first.

    Since I'm not a guru of anything tech, I have to rely on friends and others to do the heavy lifting. I bought an HP because I trust the name. I bought an all-in-one for convenience as well as style. I like it. It's a 24" screen, it's pretty, it's sleek, and it's going to do what I need it to do.  This time next week when it comes in, I'll have cleared off the other side of my two-desk setup and have two computers spread out with four monitors. I can swing my chair from one to the other, and be so very proficient. I'll mostly stay on the work computer of course, but I'll write from time to time as well. Over the summer I'll apply to various universities to teach English, Ethics, Logic, or Philosophy. I prefer teaching Philosophy if I'm honest. 

    I wait.  I work. I wait. I wait. I work. It's like that. I write. I quote. I work. I wait. I think. I teach. I think some more. Life is good.  It deserves two computers to keep it all in check and running smoothly. 

Photo Credit: HP.com

    

Cats are Weird. That is All.

 We have an ironclad rule in our house; if you are seated and a dog is on your lap you don't have to move or do anything. You can order people about the house, making them do things for you, but you can't for any reason disturb the dog. I suppose there are reasons, but they are few and very very rare. You don't disturb the dog. The same rule does not and never will pertain to cats. Cats are not worthy of the loyalty and devotion I offer to my dog(s) because they themselves are neither loyal nor devoted to me. Cats are weird. We can all (mostly) agree on that one thing.

    So, to prove my point further, that cats are weird, I will tell you about Bilbo and Sam. Bilbo is MY cat. He's not quite two years old, but he's about twenty pounds. He's a big boy. He's a grey and black Tabby. He was given to us by a military friend who had another military friend who was being deployed. We end up with animals for all sorts of reasons; this is not new. Sam, on the other hand, was an adoption from the city shelter when my daughter Laura felt that she just HAD to have a cat to go with her other cat Frodo. Sam, by the way, is Sam Wise, he's Frodo's friend, right? See how this works? Frodo, Sam Wise, and now Bilbo. We are THAT family.

    Sam and Bilbo get along so much better and more often than anyone gets on with Frodo. Frodo is more or less a loner and by that I mean he only speaks to Laura. He tolerates me. He doesn't even come running when I shake the treat bag if he can't be bothered. Frodo is thin. Bilbo and Sam are so not thin. They always run when the treat bag shakes, and they wait on it as well.  They are simply not thin cats. Sam is another Tabby, but he's yellow; he is also at least twenty pounds. Frodo may squeak out 8-9 pounds if he's lucky. He's a Burmese grey/blue. He's very very thin naturally. 

    This morning, as they do, the "boys", meaning Bilbo and Sam, were in their usual position(s) of one dominating the other and looking THAT way. I usually click my tongue and shoo one or the other off of the other, and they resume in another room. They also lay around the bed(s) kissing and licking one another, presumably cleaning one another, but I really think they may actually be in a relationship. I'm not going to ask. I just continue to shoo them when I see them being what I would deem inappropriate. 

    We also own horses, so I have things laying about the house that goes with these animals. I have a crop whip, a shorter one, that I use on the dog (Tyrian the Boxer Mix) to keep him from walking into my room. He makes a mess.  He doesn't really ever get hit with the thing, he just sees me holding it or picking it up, and he walks away like a good dog.  This is NOT the behavior that either of my "boy" cats (Frodo is a boy too, but he doesn't give a damn about anything for any reason). Bilbo sees the crop is lifted and he eyeballs my hands, watching me and waiting for me to either use it or put it down. Sam tries to get under it. Sam likes being smacked with the crop whip. I never hit him hard, but that's how he is...he likes it. He's just so...well, inappropriate.

    This morning I was typing, just working, and my Bilbo comes over to let me know he was available for cuddles should I be in the mood; I am usually in the mood to cuddle my cat.  Sam saunters up to us while we're cuddling and he paws at Bilbo as if to say he is the only one allowed to show affection to him; so I cuddled both of them at the same time, which is always fun. Two fat cats squirming to get out from under the loving squeeze, you know.  Sam sees the crop whip on my desk and begins pawing at it, asking me to lift it. I do. He stares at me. He wants me to lower it. I do. He stares at me. He wants me to strike him in the rear with it. I do. He loves it. He rolls over and invites Bilbo over to cuddle. I stop. I walk away. I find a dog.

Cats are just weird. That is all.

Bilbo with Frodo, and Sam on the hope chest.

Photos by me.

    

    

Going with Ingram Sparks for Printing.

 In the world of books, you first come up with an idea, then you decide to write the book. Once you secure that in your head and through your fingers, you find a "house" or place to publish the book. If you are self-publishing you'll still use a publisher of some sort. The writer writes the book, then either edits it him/herself or allows the house to do so for a fee.  After the editing, the house then puts the book together in a uniform type interior to best fit the styles of most books being sold in the same genre. We'll go with the 6" x 9" black-and-white novel for now.  The only photos associated with these types of books will be either the front cover photo (if there is one) and the author's photo on the back cover or inside the front cover. It's an option. There aren't really any photographs in the interior, that's not the same type of book.

    When the house publishes the book they take it from the Word document sent to them by the writer, format it, and they send it back in all its perfected glory hopefully.  The writer agrees to the style and layout, and once it's been checked for grammar, spelling, etc., and after they approve it, the publisher puts it all together with the approved cover and they make a book.

    The illustrator is not the publisher. They work at the same publisher location oftentimes, but in today's market they are just as likely to be working from home in their own studio; then sending their work into the mix through digital means. Once they do the cover, and the writer approves the cover, it is all accepted and the publisher puts it together in final form.  That is where it gets a bit tricky.  You have a book, but do you want the publisher to also be the distributor? Not always. I don't anyway.  Xlibris did an OK job, they had to be forced and pulled along the entire time with the exception of the interior designer. She knew her job and she allowed me to make multiple changes without charging me because I had paid for the Level 3 illustration and only received a Level 2 illustration. Not happy.

    What you (a writer) do at this point is decide if the publisher will be the distributor or not. I would say MOST if not nearly all books are purchased online through Amazon or a larger bookstore such as Barnes & Noble. Since this is the case, you'll need to be sure your publisher works directly with them so you get the best overall royalty. Xlibris goes through another source, why would I want to pay a middleman?  I don't.  I decided that Ingram Spark, a well-respected middleman-type printer and distributor, would be the way to go. 

    To upload a finished book you want your publisher to send you the final high-resolution PDF for the interior and exterior. You then upload them to the Ingram Spark site through their upload link. It will cost you a bit; I'm paying $49 for the Ebook and Printed version, that's $49 for both, not each.  Then, they'll have you sign an agreement to let them reach out to their 40,000+ sources, and you'll wait for the book to sell or do your own promoting.  You can't expect anyone else to promote for you. If you have the means to promote, you do that. They do allow you to determine your pricing, but remember, when you price it lower you don't make as much. They have to recoup their printing costs.

    I'm not happy that I went with Xlibris, to begin with, but at least I have Ingram Spark to do the distribution. I will receive about 20% of the sale for the printed book and about 50% or more for the Ebook.  I'm hoping to have my Ebook priced at $6.99 because I think that's a fair price. I've seen Ebooks as high as $12.99 and I think that's really crazy for a romance book. I want it to be easily accessed. To use Xlibris I would receive 50% on the Ebook and 25% on the printed books, but ONLY if they were purchased through Xlibris. No one buys books through the publisher. I would have received 50% I think on the Ebook, but only 10% on the printed books. I don't even want a hardcover option, those are like $35.00 and I don't want anyone to have to pay that.

    Bottomline: I want my book to be purchased and I want to be paid for that. I can promote through social media, and videos such as reels and TikTok. I'm hoping to do more, and we'll see how it turns out. I'd love for a major house such as Harper or Penguin to find my book and love it to the point that they want to publish my next 10 books. We'll hope that happens!!  Pray! (I don't think crossing ones fingers is really going to get me anywhere.)

Photo Credit: Ingram Spark