S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 20

Sunday Update – November 27, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I realize now that when I'm writing a book, this blog is pretty silent. Lol. Really, I don't have much brain power for anything more than Facebook when I'm writing a book. Looking back on Novembers past, this is pretty much the case. Oh well. That's life!

You know what else is life? Sickness. We were supposed to be at the beach house this weekend but covid has hit our house again. On the way home from Thanksgiving, my youngest daughter said she wasn't feeling well. She felt blah and nauseous, so we opened the car windows until we got home. (Fresh air usually helps.) The next morning, she still felt awful, so before we all packed up the car to leave for the beach house, my husband decided to covid test her. Positive. Ugh. We had to call the whole family who we saw the day before and let them know. This is her second time (maybe third) that she's had covid. All in all, she's not too sick, and I'm sure she'll bounce back soon. But what a pain in the ass. I'm so over sickness in this house because my other child had RSV the week before.

Despite all of this sickness, I have been extremely productive. I did all of my Black Friday shopping including buying our Holiday cards. I've been writing on Ean's Rare Gift every day and loving the story so far. I've been keeping up with a bunch of my other goals too. I'm happy with my progress.

Thanksgiving day was a lot of fun! We went out to visit my husband's side of the family on Long Island. There was lots of food including homemade ravioli. Mmmm. My BIL's dog, Starla, wouldn't let me pet her, but she did sit near me.

Lulu is doing good. We had a small weird thing happen ON Thanksgiving. She woke up that morning and her face was swollen. First around her left eye. Then it moved to her right and her right lip. It was worrying so I gave her a little Benadryl and after a few hours it was gone. I still don't know why it happened, but she's okay now.

Ice is beginning to form on the lake in the park.

I'm getting a lot of writing done each day with Lulu keeping her eye on me!

I've decided that I like having my t-shirts available all winter so I'm buying even more and just pairing them with a cardigan each day. I often get too hot for long-sleeves in the evening, so this works out better for me.

Treated myself to ramen this week. This one was good, even if it was messy.

Finally, we are watching a lot of World Cup around here, even though the circumstances around the cup are pissing me off. I really hope FIFA doesn't choose a country like Qatar again, but I know that money talks. ANYWAY, my favorite player, Alisson Becker, who is usually the goalie for Liverpool, is now playing for Brazil and doing a great job. Here he is with his lovely beard, and that's how he will remain in my thoughts even though he now has a mustache. Lol. If you missed it, he's actually my inspiration for Gus in the Flyght Series. So, the beard has to remain because Gus has a beard.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – November 27, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – November 20, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I haven't updated this blog much this month because my life has been sooooooo busy! A lot of the stuff has been unanticipated as well.

When last I updated, I had published The Fate of Shin-Osaka and then we were going to Charleston to visit my parents. The trip went well, all told. We celebrated my father's 80th birthday, I walked a lot, we ate a lot of food, and I drank wine pretty much every day. No complaints there. Sleeping at my parents' house is a bit of a problem for me. The bed we sleep in is hard on my hips and I'm often in pain after a night of sleep there. I have to take a lot of ibuprofen to get through the days and nights. I hate doing that because I worry about it causing stomach issues, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I was worried about Lulu while we were there. I heard from her sitter that she wasn't eating much. Lulu tends to hunger strike when she's sad or displaced, so I wasn't surprised, but I was worried. Eventually, the sitter got her to eat and I was able to relax.

Our trip home was a bit of a problem. We originally booked a direct flight, but then United canceled that and put us on a connecting flight through D.C. We carried our luggage on so we wouldn't have to worry about the bags not making it to our destination, and that worked out. We even caught our connecting flight without issue. But once we got to Newark, things took a turn. The plane at our gate was having maintenance issues and then it took them a long time to find a new gate for us. We sat on the tarmac for AN HOUR waiting. All I wanted was to get my dog and go home. It took forever. Ugh. I love living near airports that can get us anywhere in the world, but Newark airport just sucks. There's a reason why it's rated so low.

Anyway, once we were home, it was back to business. Monday was a lot of tears and frustration from my kids about the school they missed and wanting Taylor Swift tickets (note: we did not get them because they canceled the sale). And then out of the blue, I got my period a week and a half early along with a huge headache. That put me down and out for pretty much all of Tuesday. Then I got some bad news about the health of a family member which threw me out of my groove on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, my oldest child woke up sick, and she's been sick ever since, so I have been playing nursemaid for days now. I'm hoping today she's without a fever and can go back to school tomorrow.

Have I been writing? Sort of. I'm only about 5k into Ean's Rare Gift. The first couple of chapters are always really slow for me, and then I take off until the middle. So I'm working towards that now. I doubt I will write today because I'm going to do pre-Thanksgiving with my cousin's family this afternoon.

I didn't take many photos this week due to (*waves hand in circle*) life, but here are some from the last two weeks!

The day before we left for Charleston, my husband and I played hooky and went into the city for the day. We went to MOMA in the morning for their Members Only Mondays and saw everything without ridiculous crowds. Then we went to lunch together and had delicious food, drinks, and wine. It was a fun day!

We went beachcombing and dolphin watching one day. It was so fun and we found several sand dollars and conch shells.

We went on a tour of the College of Charleston so my oldest daughter could see what it looks like to go to school there. She's a sophomore in high school right now, so we have time to visit plenty of schools. But this was a chance to do this on a nice weather day.

We went out to Drayton Hall, an old plantation, and walked around the grounds there on a warm but windy and overcast day.

We had two fantastic dinners out! One was at Hank's in Charleston for my father's 80th birthday. And then we went to Taco Boy in Folly Beach for dinner. They have this cool octopus sculpture hanging from the ceiling there.

The sunsetting from the car. Cookie watching us in the kitchen from the living room.

Lulu was happy to be home! And then we ran into deer on our walk.

I did my best with dinners this past week since I was dealing with headaches, sick kids, and my husband spent two days in the city for work. Pizza with wine and sumo wrestling on Wednesday. Yesterday, I made a Seafood Miso Chowder and that means I had to make dashi stock. I love making dashi as it's super easy and full of flavor. Mmmm.

And that's it! Don't forget that you can follow me on Facebook for more photos. Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – November 20, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

The Tools I Use To Write and Edit My Books

A lot of thought and creativity goes into writing a book, but there are also all of the other digital apps that help get the job done. Now, I know some people who handwrite their first drafts, and I salute them. I could never do that. I haven't written more than a greeting card's worth of text in years. I am a fully digital person, even down to my planner! So let's take a look at what I use in order to get the job done.

Planning

Evernote

Evernote is pretty much my brain now. If I need to remember anything, it goes into Evernote. So I use it for both personal and professional parts of my life. In Evernote, I have a Writing Stack full of notebooks that I create for each series. Inside each series notebook, I create notes that belong to whatever I'm working on. For example, in the Kimura Sisters Notebook, I started a new note the other day for Ean's Rare Gift. In the note, I'm writing down what I want to happen in the plot, character astrology, and anything else I can think of. I make it a habit to put actionable items at the top of the note so that I always know what to do next.

In each writing notebook I store important details about the books I'm writing, blurbs for those books, running character lists, etc. Then I also have a notebook for Story Ideas, and I just dump ideas there as I get them. In other notebooks, I store things like ASINs and ISBNs for all of my books, links to my books on retailers, website information, marketing ideas and snippets, etc. For personal stuff, I store shopping lists, recipes, kid or dog information, etc. There's a lot to remember in life! I keep it all in Evernote.

Como Bujo

Como Bujo is a bullet journal style app that I use for planning days when I will write and days when I will edit.

This was my editing schedule for The Fate of Shin-Osaka

Writing

Scrivener

I have written every single book for the last 12 years in Scrivener and nothing else. I'm not even sure I could write a book in Word. I hate Word so much that just opening the program kills my creativity. It's Scrivener or bust for me. I have a Scrivener template I've built over the years that has everything built-in that I need to get started including Tags and Statuses. I use tags to organize my chapters into 4 acts, and I use Statuses to show where I am in the writing/editing process. I do all drafts directly in Scrivener.

Sudowrite

Sudowrite has been a godsend! The part of drafting I always struggle with is descriptions and they can really slow me down. But with Sudowrite, I plug my writing into their tool, and the AI helps guide me to better, more descriptive text. Once I have some examples, I copy and paste to my work and then rewrite it to fit my style. It's made the work go so much faster because I'm best at dialogue and action. Sudowrite helps me pick up the slack.

Power Thesaurus

I keep Power Thesaurus open while I write. Sometimes, I just cannot remember a word! But I remember a synonym, so I will query Power Thesaurus and see if it can remember something. I like this thesaurus the best out of all of them online.

Editing

ProWritingAid

I used to use a program called AutoCrit to edit my books, but now I use ProWritingAid (PWA) instead since it can open Scrivener documents. PWA is a critical part of editing for me. It helps me identify passive voice, grammar and spelling errors, overused and repetitive words. Did I really use the word “just” 100 times in this chapter? Yes, I probably did. PWA identifies them and I delete as needed. Every book I write gets a PWA pass after the drafting and story work is complete.

Grammarly

A lot of authors will tell you to choose between PWA and Grammarly, and that they do the same thing. I have found that's not the case. I always do a Grammarly pass as well before my work goes off to other editors/proofreaders. Grammarly will often catch missing or misplaced commas that PWA does not. It has a more robust engine for rewording for sentence clarity, and it will find more compound word problems. It will also catch potentially ableist and outdated cliches and phrases. Using both PWA and Grammarly together is essential for my work.

Text to Speech

Finally, before my book goes to a proofreader, I re-read the whole thing while listening to it being read to me by my computer. On Macs, this is built-in to the OS. I have a voice I like picked in the System Preferences and there's a button right in Scrivener to “Listen.” The computer reads the text and I follow along, stopping it and editing along the way. Text to speech is incredibly important. It helps catch missing words that my brain filled in and neither PWA nor Grammarly caught. It also helps me make different word choices because I can hear word sound similarities that I didn't pick up sight reading. Sometimes too many words sound similar, even if they aren't the same word. Stairs, prepare, compare, bear — they all have a similar sound but different spellings. So if I were to find a lot in the same paragraph, I may change a few words to synonyms.

Formatting

Vellum

Once the book is ready to go, I format it using Vellum. I used to just format with Scrivener, and that is still possible, but Vellum is soooooo much better. I have styles set up for every series and I keep all of the extras like copyright statements, back matter, and about pages all in Vellum for easy drag-and-drop access to each book. Vellum is Mac only, so it's not available to everyone, but I will never go without it now. (That's fine because I only use Macs.) Vellum makes both my ebooks and paperbacks. From there, I just have to upload and I'm ready to sell the book!

Other

Beside all of those things, I use plenty of online resources to help me research my books. Lots of googling or Wikipedia and its sources, and I buy books to help along the way. Sometimes I reference trope or emotional thesauri to help me. Other times, I may ask questions on Facebook or my blog here if I need specialized information. But otherwise, these tools here are all I use to write and format my books.

If you have any questions about my process, I'm always happy to answer them!

The post The Tools I Use To Write and Edit My Books appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – November 6, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

This last week was absolutely NUTS. I was so busy every single day, getting The Fate of Shin-Osaka ready to publish on Friday that I barely had time to breathe. Launching a new book is very labor intensive, especially if it's in a series and every other book in the series needs to be updated to reflect the new addition. And because my books are widely available and not JUST on Amazon, that means uploading them to like 6 different places if you include the paperbacks too. Then website pages need to be updated, social media images need to be made and scheduled, blog posts need to be written and scheduled, newsletters need to be made and scheduled, a reel needs to be made… I'm sure you get the picture. It's a ton of work. But I got it all done! And now the book is out there and the series is complete. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I GOT IT DONE.

I celebrated on Friday by taking the day off. I cooked all afternoon and made two kinds of lasagna: regular and gluten-free/dairy-free (for my husband). I started drinking at 4PM. Lol. It was great. No regrets.

I was supposed to start writing the new Kimura Sisters Series novella, Ean's Rare Gift, this week but it was just too busy. I plan to start on that later today by getting my Scrivener project set up after I do my SFR Station work.

Also this past week, I decided to give up on Instagram for my business. A grand total of like 20 people ever see my posts there and I never see the people I want to see. Meta has done terrible things to Instagram this past year. They basically killed reach for photos and then concentrated on Reels. Then last month, they killed reach for Reels too because lots of people (rightly) complained that their feeds were junk, full of Reels that just annoyed them. I wish they would just go back to photos. That's where they started and it was the cooler Flickr. Sigh. I will be posting photos and updates from now on directly to my Facebook Page which gets lots of activity. If you don't already follow me there, here's the link to me on Facebook.

I won't be here for Sunday Update next week. We're going to visit my parents in Charleston this next week and we'll be traveling next Sunday. Photos will be on Facebook! And then I'll share them here too the following Sunday.

Some recent fall foliage around here. Everything has been super pretty for my 3x weekly walks. The weather has been spectacular too. Warm and breezy.

My day of lasagna making. It wasn't hard to make, just took forever. I'm sure I won't do this again for like 4-6 months. Lol. It was delicious and there were plenty of leftovers for other nights when I don't want to cook.

Time spent with Lulu is time well spent.

At the last field hockey game of the season, I finished up my proofreading edits to The Fate of Shin-Osaka and got it ready for publication.

Finally, this was my Halloween outfit. Halloween went well here. The kids swore they were going to “stay out late” but they were exhausted and home by 8:30PM. Lol. We got some trick'or'treaters and I bought too much candy, per usual. A success in my book!

See you all in two weeks! Stay safe and healthy.

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The Fate of Shin-Osaka Is Now Available!

Exciting news today that I'm not sure you expected… The Fate of Shin-Osaka is now available! I got the book back from my proofreader early on Tuesday and just decided to go for it and put it up for sale right away. I'm glad it coincided with the beginning of the month.

If you've been following me for any amount of time, you'll know this book was a long time coming. Originally, I was going to work on it last November for NaNoWriMo, but that didn't happen. I got caught up in the Amagi Series instead. Then I had to write Myra's Big Mistake for a deadline for Pets in Space 7. So I didn't get around to writing this book until spring this year… right after I had covid. Y'all, covid brain fog is real. I struggled to write this book for FIVE MONTHS. Not because I didn't love it or I didn't want to write it, but because I couldn't concentrate on it for the life of me. I would write a few hundred words, lose my train of thought, give up, and come back the next day only to have forgotten where I was and what I was doing. It was maddening. Add in post-covid depression and lethargy, and I wasn't motivated to do much.

But as the effects of long covid started to ease in late summer, I really buckled down and got it done. I'm I glad I did! I love this book and I love how it turned out.

Yumi is now in an android body but she has a war to fight and Rin to win back. She'll do pretty much anything to accomplish both of these goals, and we get the chance to see how she forms her team of people to help her. Believe it or not, I drew a lot of inspiration for their war from the war in Ukraine right now. I have been paying attention to the tactics being used, the propaganda, and the response from the world. All of it has helped me craft this story. That and the many months of watching Grey's Anatomy… Lol. I'll let you figure that one out when you read the book.

The Fate of Shin-Osaka is a great wrap to this odd-ball series of mine. It gives me a chance to showcase lots of characters and really put the heroine's journey to work. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Keeping with my tradition of just publishing books when I have them ready, The Fate of Shin-Osaka is going up for sale without any pre-orders or reviews. If you have the chance to read this one, please take a moment to leave a review on your store of choice. I would really appreciate it. (Paperback readers, I am still working on getting this up for sale. Please check back next week.)

Life as an android isn't all it's cracked up to be.

After three months of living in an android body, slinging noodles, and fending off ornery men, Yumi's done waiting to get her life back. But to do that, she'll have to deal with her biggest rival, Gen, and the powerful Aoi Uma. Together, they're mercilessly conquering the capital city, including the hospital where Yumi's frozen body is stored. Yumi wants her eggs, and the only option to retrieve them is an undercover mission right under Gen's nose.

Rescuing her frozen eggs is only the beginning. Her new body is waiting for her… and so is the love of her life, Rin. He barely trusts her as an android, and he's slipping away. If she can stop Gen and Aoi Uma from stuffing humans into androids, she can transfer to her new body and win back Rin. Easier said than done when Gen is on her tail at every turn.

With the help of an expert team of journalists, assassins, and hackers, Yumi pushes forward with a risky strategy to take down Gen and Aoi Uma and end their reign of terror. Will Yumi end the siege of Shin-Osaka before the city is destroyed? And will Rin eventually welcome her back in her new body? This plan is dangerous at best and devastating at worst, and Yumi only has one life left.

The Fate of Shin-Osaka is the fifth and final book of the Hikoboshi space opera romance series. If you like unforgettable characters, pulse-pounding action, and tender romance, then you'll fall for S. J. Pajonas's intense science fiction saga.

Note: THIS SERIES MUST BE READ IN ORDER. It is a true series and plot elements carry through every book, from beginning to end. You will miss too much by reading this series out of order or skipping around. This series contains a slow-burn romance, profanity, and sexual situations.

Purchase The Fate of Shin-Osaka

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November 2022 Goals

October was another busy month, but November will be calmer, even with a trip planned and the holidays.

What happened with October's Goals?

Finish editing The Fate of Shin-Osaka. It's done! And it will be published in November! Just trying to figure out which date will work best.

Celebrate Pets in Space 7. This anthology published and it has done really well. I'm super pleased with the sales according to what I've heard from the editor. And based on how many downloads there have been of the bonus scenes, I'd say people are reading my novella and enjoying it!

Get caught up on all my back blog posts. I managed to get most of these done. I have another TV Chat to post this month.

Spend more time on AI art. I worked on this all month except for a few days when I was away. I enjoyed getting to know Midjourney and how to use it. I will be making AI images from my books in November.

Stay on top of my Duolingo Italian and Lingo Deer Japanese. I only missed two days of Duolingo this month! And I'm progressing with Lingo Deer as well.

Finish the audiobook for The Daydreamer Detective. Nope. Didn't even get past the 2nd chapter. Just too much other stuff to do. I plan on doing more this month.

Continue with my fitness goals. Yes! Did well here. Added in longer walks in the park and shadowboxing.

Reading, TV, and knitting. The knitting didn't go as planned, but I have been watching TV and reading. Both good for my brain.

November Goals

Publish The Fate of Shin-Osaka. I plan to have this up for sale either November 4th or 11th. It depends on how I do with the bonus scenes and when I get the book back from my proofreader.

Write Ean's Rare Gift. I will be working on this novella all this month, and I can't wait! I've been thinking about it for MONTHS now. This novella will be exclusive for my newsletter subscribers.

Get caught up on all my back blog posts. I have one more TV Chat to post this month.

Spend more time on AI art. I am planning on making some images that represent places or things in my books now that I know how to use the tools. I will be putting the images on FB, IG, and here.

Finish the audiobook for The Daydreamer Detective. I plan on working on this a little each day right after lunch. If I can do even half a chapter a day, I can get it done before Christmas.

Stay on top of my Duolingo Italian and Lingo Deer Japanese. The usual. Work on it a little every day and I make progress.

Visit my parents in South Carolina! We'll be there next week. I can't wait for a little time off. We have lots of food plans already. Lol.

Continue with my fitness goals. The weather is getting colder and I still want to walk outside. I need to stick with it even when it's freezing.

Reading, TV, and knitting. The usual here. I'm almost done with LOST! I'm not sure what I'm going to watch next. There's a lot in the queue. For reading, I just finished a book and have started a new one.

That's it for this month! Have a great November everyone!

The post November 2022 Goals appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – October 30, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I was planning on updating the blog this week, but the week was super busy AND I was finishing up The Fate of Shin-Osaka. I wanted to get that done and off to my proofreader as soon as possible, and that meant letting other things go.

Anyway, things were busy here again as usual! It's the last week of both marching band and field hockey, though, so I expect November to be a bit quieter on the home front. Today is marching band state championships. Tomorrow is Halloween. Tuesday is one last field hockey makeup game. Then we're done. Phew! One piece of good news, my youngest daughter scored a goal at the field hockey game yesterday! It was literally the only goal scored all season and it was hers. Lol. Their team struggled this year, but they all still had a great time.

Now that I'm done with the main part of The Fate of Shin-Osaka, there's other stuff to do for the book. I wrote the blurb, and after 4 revisions with help, I'm happy with it. I need to make the page for it here on the website, so I'll do that on Monday. The formatting is mostly done. I'm working on Bonus Scenes for the book, and I've written one already. The other one I'll work on today and tomorrow. Then I'll do a quick edit and proofread and those will be done. I could possibly publish this book on Friday! Just get it out there without “advance” copies going out to my 5 ARC readers (they would still get the book just not in advance). We shall see what comes back from my proofreader.

After this, I will be working on a Kimura Sisters novella from Ean's POV. I'm thinking it might actually be dual first-person POV between him and the woman he's into. I haven't written anything like that in a while so it should be fun. It will be a newsletter exclusive story, so join my newsletter if you want it! I plan to write it all in November while everyone is working on NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck!

This last week I did a lot of walking and Peloton riding. I also started Peloton's shadowboxing and that's been good for my coordination. But I was so sore by Thursday I had to take ibuprofen to sleep. I'm sure it's been worth it. I'm getting stronger every day.

My park has been lovely this time of year, both in the sunshine and the fog.

Spotted a Little Free Library over by the field hockey game yesterday.

Lulu being Lulu as always.

I enjoyed this spot to watch the field hockey game until the sun set behind the trees and then it was FREEZING. OOF. I'm glad field hockey is almost over.

My new t-shirt was a hit this week! This image on Instagram got more reach than anything I've posted in a while.

This week's AI images are pretty varied! Remember that you can see them all on Facebook.

Finally, a little celebration is in order. The first book in my pen name's cozy mystery series passed 500 ratings this past week! I don't often talk about my cozy mysteries because I'm not writing them anymore, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate this milestone.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – October 30, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – October 23, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

This week I was back on schedule.

Monday through Wednesday, I worked on copy edits for The Fate of Shin-Osaka and finished them on Wednesday! I took Thursday off to read, walk, listen to podcasts and knit. Then on Friday, I started my grammar and listen phase of edits. This phase of edits goes much quicker so I've already finished 10 chapters. I expect to be done on Tuesday. At that point, I format and send to my proofreader and figure out the rest!

We had a week of usual stuff at home. There was plenty of field hockey practice and carpooling for marching band. Only two more weeks of both of these and then we get some time off. Thank the universe! We're all exhausted from it.

I made Japanese curry on Friday and I think this was my best batch yet. I've been working on my gluten-free version now for about a year (I don't make this often as it's more of a cold-weather meal), and I liked this one the best. I increased the MSG, amount of curry powder, and sugar, and it seems to be perfect. Yay! Going to have some today for lunch.

Other than that, not much is going on here. I'm still working on my sleep, and I went to give blood for more bloodwork on Friday to check my hormone levels. This has been a long two-month medical process to figure out how to get me to sleep better. I recently stopped taking trazodone, which my doctor prescribed to me for sleep. It was giving me tunnel vision and dizzy spells in the afternoons, and I can't have that. The afternoon is when I get work done and drive kids around. Can't be dizzy and drive. So, I'm done with that medication. Sigh.

Some moments from the week… reading, eating lunch in the car, watching field hockey.

More Lulu… She's next to me now as I write this post.

My Japanese curry used to be easy to whip up, but now it's a multi-step process because I have to make a roux with GF flour. I used to just buy the curry cubes and curry could be made in less than an hour. Anyway, I'm getting better at it. I kinda wonder if I could make the roux and freeze it? Hmmm.

The park is looking pretty this time of year.

I found one of my LOST (TV show) shirts when I did the clothing switch last week. Appropriate since I'm rewatching the show.

Working and drinking… working and drinking…

And here are some of the AI art images I made this week. As a reminder, you can find them on my FB page if you want to see them all!

I've also been making reels on Facebook including ones of me walking and talking about what I'm up to. I can't find out how to link to them all, so here's the latest one I made of books I found in the park.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – October 23, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Book Chat #78 – Books By Carysa Locke, Kazuo Ishiguro, Blake Crouch, and John Scalzi

I've got another four recently read books for you today! I've really enjoyed getting a lot of reading done this year. I hope to continue this next year too.

Healer Heart by Carysa Locke (ebook)

Healer Heart is a part of the Pets in Space 7 anthology, but I read this prior to release since Carysa and I are pals. It was good to get back into her Telepathic Space Pirates universe and see some more of Nayla, the psychic healer, and her work with the planet of Killers. This is a dirty job but someone has to do it. Lol. I liked the adventure and mission of the story and how the action kept going to the end. The tension between Nayla and Sevan was electric, and I loved how the story resolved. Another great story from Locke!

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (hardback)

I wanted to love this book. I mean, what could go wrong, right? Ishiguro, writing another interesting dystopian world, this time from the perspective of a humanoid robot? I really expected a lot more. But, like Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro only hints at the world his characters live in. We are left wondering about a lot of the story's little plot points, why people are the way they are, why society is like this. The only thing he gives us is a glimpse at life from the perspective of an android who knows very little. He also leaves a lot of promises unfulfilled. There are a few plot points that come and go, just peter out without resolving, and they left me feeling meh and disappointed. I did read this all the way through to the end because I wanted to know what happens to Klara, the artificial friend. But I probably could have stopped a lot sooner since her life had no real resolution either. Beautiful writing, though. His books always make me appreciate how the English language can be sparse yet powerful.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch (ebook)

This was another solid story from Crouch set in a near-future world where gene editing has become the norm and then outlawed when it runs amok. I enjoyed this one as much as his earlier books, Dark Matter and Recursion. Sometimes the technical lingo of gene science made my eyes glaze over, but I quickly realized that none of it was important enough to understand the actual story. I especially liked the twists and turns, things I didn't see coming. And the book had a satisfying ending as well. It took me a little while to get through it because the middle dragged on a bit, but it didn't stop me from finishing. I'm looking forward to whatever he writes next!

Travel By Bullet by John Scalzi (audiobook, Audible exclusive)

I really love the Dispatcher series and this one was a good story that kept me listening on every walk. As usual, there's a mystery that involves Tony, the Dispatcher who seems to have more common sense than everyone around him. This story had a lot of newer tech in it like crypto so it felt very NOW, even if it is near-future. I didn't figure out the mystery before Tony did, always a plus in my eyes. And per usual, John Scalzi's wit and sarcasm made me laugh out loud several times. Zachary Quinto is such a great narrator. I really love his work.

And that's it for this Book Chat! I'll be back with more in a few weeks.

The post Book Chat #78 – Books By Carysa Locke, Kazuo Ishiguro, Blake Crouch, and John Scalzi appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – October 16, 2022

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I'm posting this Sunday Update on Monday because I was away all weekend! On my own! That almost never happens. :)

The week leading up to my weekend away was busy per usual. There were nights of field hockey practice and marching band practice and lots of car pooling. My one kid had PSATs and the other had testing too. When the weather was nice, they were gone all afternoon, enjoying the outdoors with friends.

I worked hard all week on my edits of The Fate of Shin-Osaka. I actually got ahead of my schedule by two days, which was good because I didn't have time to work on it on Friday, like I thought I would. Friday was spent cooking and running errands all morning before driving up to Rhinebeck, NY for the NY Sheep and Wool Festival!

Yes, I spent the weekend with friends in upstate NY, which is something I haven't done since 2014. It had been a really long time. Too long without seeing my good friends. But you know what, once we were together, it was like no time had passed. We even sat at dinner and did a recap of the last five years, caught up, and kept going with conversation, no big deal. Lol.

We ended up renting an Air B&B really close to the fairgrounds so we could walk there! Friday night was spent eating, knitting, and catching up. Saturday, we got to the fair and, wow, it was crowded. Like thousands of people everywhere. There was some masking but not a lot. It felt pretty normal. I saw lots of old friends from way back in my Flickr and knit blogging days. We're all still friends on Instagram now, so it was just the in-person part of our relationship we had missed out on between family, life, and the pandemic.

I'm a little weepy writing up this post because seeing everyone, having them remember me and be happy to see me meant sooooooo much. So so much. The last two years of the pandemic were so isolating, and being an author is very solitary as well. I had forgotten how much I need these people in my life. This weekend was a blessing. I can't wait for next year!

There are lots of photos this week…

As you can see from the photos, it was a weekend of friends, gorgeous trees and sunny weather, yarn, knitting, food, and great conversation. We had so much fun. I can't wait to do it again next year!

Never fear! There are still photos of Lulu to share! She is very distracting when I'm trying to edit.

I made chili ahead of time and brought it up for Saturday dinner. Saturday at the festival is always exhausting so it's nice to just come back to something easy to heat up and eat.

Last Sunday, we tried this new service in our area where the chefs and kitchens come to you! They cook it all in the truck and then bring it to your door fresh. It was a nice treat. We got lobster rolls and periperi salmon.

I've been walking in the park now every week and it's been nice to just chill walking around the lake and watching the geese.

I finally moved my clothes over to the fall/winter wardrobe. It took a long time because I had to separate out some clothes that don't fit me (too big) and put them away in a different clothing bag. But I think I'm good now!

And finally, here's the AI art that I made last week. Prompts and comments are on my Facebook Page in the AI Art Album.

And that's it for this week! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – October 16, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.