S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 23

Sunday Update – June 19, 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've had a week of good things and bad things.

Good thing… I wrote every day this week, Monday through Friday, and passed 20k on my current manuscript. Yay! I was hoping I would do it, and I did. It's my intention to write Monday through Friday every week, so I hope to do it again next week. The weekend is for other things.

Bad thing… I'm not sleeping well again, and I'm kind of wondering if this is something I need to just accept and move on from. I was so restless in bed the previous week, and I realized I hadn't been taking enough magnesium. Increasing my dose helped a lot, but still, I'm so tired every day. I can't make it through a day without lying down anymore. It puts a real damper on my schedule when I HAVE TO lie down around 2PM or I'll fall over. I'm really sad about it, ESPECIALLY when I'm eaten by a mosquito all night! (I woke up this morning with 5 bug bites that weren't there when I went to bed. Argh!)

Good thing… I finished knitting my blanket! I love it and I can't wait to take photos of it. I also can't wait to start another one. I just need to figure out how much yarn I need.

Bad thing… I did my expenses and checked my income for the first part of the year (Q1 and Q2) and I lost over $500. Yes, I actually lost money as an author. And no, this is not an anomaly. Except for a brief time in 2020, I have never made a profit as an author. This is another reason I left FB, because seeing authors post about how they make six figures and afford things like conferences and audiobooks was just making me depressed. Next September 2023 will be my ten year anniversary as an author, and I have completely failed at making this a career. I had to have a real talk with myself this week about cutting back on ads. I decided to take Q3 off from buying any (any more than I already have running). This is probably something, like my sleep, that I need to come to terms with and accept. Last year, I did everything I could to save my career, and it just didn't pan out. Now, I think I need to just write and publish and not do anything else.

Good thing… My exercise routine is back! I'm doing well with the Power Zone Pack Challenge and plenty of walking with Lulu.

I'm sure there are more good and bad things for this week, but that's probably enough for now.

Lulu gets hot on our walks, so she picks a cool lawn each block to lie down on. It's not annoying at all.

I got shishito peppers for our Friday drinks appetizer. I love these things. They are so good.

My treat for writing every day this past week was s'mores! We made them in the toaster oven last night. Delicious!

Blanket preview! It's done. All the ends have been woven in. I just need to take photos now.

Wore some of my fun, geeky t-shirts this week. Hello Kaylee (a Hello Kitty and Firefly mashup) and my Leia shirt.

Last softball game of the season. The opposing team's parents were awful. They said trashy things about our girls on the field because they are trash. Never thought I would say that about a neighboring town, but here we are.

My drinks this week were well deserved. Especially after doing my income and expenses. Sigh.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – June 19, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

How Do You Find Out About New Authors/Books?

I've been pondering this question for a few weeks, but then I ran across an article from Variety that really made me think more on the subject of popularity. In this interview along with Sebastian Stan, Aniston mentions that Hollywood is more or less just interested in someone's online following. That people don't need talent anymore to get a good acting gig, but they do need a burgeoning social media profile. (Let's not get into her acting roots because the internet is full of the backlash right now. It's not really why I'm here.)

It did make me wonder about social media and books, though! It's 2022, and most authors have profiles on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snap, Etc. Etc. and they are encouraged to post on these platforms relentlessly, either by author gurus or their publishers. Sometimes I see the amount of content being pumped out by authors and wonder when they have the time to actually, you know, write the books. They may have help (many do) in order to feed the social media beast, but I know many of them are struggling to get by and don't have the extra money to pay others to do this work.

Currently, I think I get the most recommendations on new (to me or otherwise) books or authors mainly through word-of-mouth. A friend or family member will talk about a book and it will spur me into buying them. Sometimes, I will see a post from a friend or family member on social media or a blog about a book they loved and that will get me too. I rarely see a post from an author about their books and think, “Hey, that's for me!” The recommendations are coming from people I know.

So, how do you find out about new authors or books? Are you seeing posts from authors or publishers and those are swaying you? Or is it maybe a recommendation from Amazon or another store? Family or friends? School?

I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments. I have pulled way back from social media in 2022, and I have wondered if I'm shooting myself in the foot by doing so. I still do some posts, but I rarely see them commented on or shared, which makes me think that no one is really seeing them or caring about them. It would be good to have some other opinions!

The post How Do You Find Out About New Authors/Books? appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – June 12, 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 meant to update the blog this past week with a TV or Book Chat, but it was so hectic around here that I just didn't get to it.

My husband was away for most of the week, first at the beach house, then home for one night, and then off to D.C. for a work thing. So I was handling everything on my own. This is usually fine. I don't have a problem running the house when he's not here. My kids are older and I can usually rely on some friends and neighbors to help with car pooling. But this week, I just wasn't sleeping well. (Not a big surprise there for you all, I'm sure.) The lack of sleep and my frustration around my writing made me feel pretty low for a bit.

So, when I'm a little low, I like to organize things! This week, I cleaned out the junk drawer and organized it. I cleaned out the desk where our family computer is and made a spot to always put my purse. Then I also cleaned out the spot in our kitchen where we just dumped things like old mail and pens that didn't work. I also stored away the winter bed duvet and unpacked some boxes in the basement. Ahhh, it felt great to get those things done.

And, the good news is that my I figured out my writing conundrum. I thought I had written myself into a corner in the previous book, but it turns out I hadn't! And I had been vague enough that it is ultimately to my advantage. Then finally had an acceptable night's sleep, meaning I slept for around 6 hours. I'm doing much better now.

Today will be hectic. My oldest daughter has to cook something for her French project with her project partner at our house. The youngest has a birthday party. And then we have to attend a meeting this afternoon for my oldest daughter's trip to Italy next month. I'm going to try not to stress, but I have a lot to do.

Another tree gone on a neighbor's front lawn. :( But this one had been hacked to pieces over the years because it was dying around a bunch of electrical wires. I'm sure the town will plant another tree there. They did with us.

Some Lulu photos! Cooling off on our walk on someone's front lawn. Getting her morning scratchies and belly rubs. Sometimes she likes to lie down and stare at her treat (*shrugs*). And running the front desk at daycare like a boss.

Out on a walk and I saw this gorgeous rose. I love spring and summer!

I finally figured out what “Dog Mode” is in my Tesla. I admit that there's a lot I still don't know about this car, but I drive it fine without knowing everything. Dog Mode is an always-on mode for the climate controls to keep a dog safe if you have to run into a store. The screen says, “My driver will be back soon. Don't worry. The a/c is on and set to 74ºF.” Pretty neat feature. Of course, you can use this too if you need to leave another capable human in the car, like an older kid or another adult.

Since I finished both Grey's Anatomy and the last season of Call the Midwife, I have moved onto some Star Wars I missed and I'm watching Bad Batch during my lunch breaks. I'm really enjoying it so far!

Yesterday, we ate so much food at our Indian lunch that we couldn't even eat dinner!!

And finally, we had some nice weather this week, so I enjoyed it on the deck with a glass of wine and my kindle.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – June 12, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – June 5, 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.

Sometimes even the short weeks are as hard as the longer ones, right? I feel like we try to cram everything into 3 or 4 days that we'd usually do in 5! So by the time Friday comes around, we're all exhausted.

Monday was a holiday here, and we were at the beach house. We slept in and enjoyed the quiet time then grilled in the evening.

Tuesday, we drove home because my kids had the day off from school too. The district had leftover snow days that we didn't use and they made the Memorial Day weekend longer. No complaints from us! The drive home was pretty easy.

Wednesday, it was back to life as usual, though my husband was still at the beach house taking care of some random things like a visit from the plumber and the tree trimmers. He drove back in the late afternoon.

Thursday, I did some grocery shopping and took Lulu for a walk. It was pretty hot so we didn't go too far. Lulu doesn't like being too hot (she also doesn't like being too cold, so basically, she's Goldilocks), and when the pavement is hot, so is she. Summer walks are never very long. A crew came to take down 4 diseased trees. That took most of the morning. Then the landscapers showed up right after. It was perfect timing!

Friday was rather chill. I worked out in the morning and got more groceries delivered in the late afternoon. They arrived early for once. That rarely happens.

Saturday, we went to the town pool for the first time this season! Speaking to our friends there, it seems that Memorial Day weekend was INSANE at the pool. Super crowded. We suspect that due to the increased airfare price and gas for cars, people are not going to be traveling as much this summer. We'll have to watch and see if that's the case.

Writing is happening, albeit slowly. I wrote at the pool on my Neo 2, and I need to bring those words over into Scrivener. I'm starting to feel better about the story, and I know that when I'm done, I'll have to return to this first act and fix things. It'll be worth it.

I finished ALL 400 EPISODES of Grey's Anatomy. I started on this in mid-February and just finished this week. The first 17 seasons are all on Netflix and then season 18 was on Hulu. It was quite the ride for me. I laughed. I cried. I scoffed. I learned that uterine transplants are really real, and that I love a good drama. I'm looking forward to season 19.

We love going to the beach! It's my time to get a little sun and lots of reading.

We enjoyed some smores at the beach house with our fire pit!

This sunset was so gorgeous but it was SO BUGGY due to all the horseshoe crabs on the beach.

Back at home, we had 4 trees removed (you can see them marked with orange ribbon over there on the left) because they were diseased. It's always sad to see trees go.

For the first time ever, Duolingo actually responded to one of my in-app language reports.

Went to the pool on Saturday and I'm spending my mornings on the couch reading with Lulu.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – June 5, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Color Love – Knitting FO

I finished this knit back at the end of March and then it took me quite a while to get around to blocking it and taking photos. As most of you know, I have only been knitting shawls for the last ten years or so. The last garments I knit were The Lucy Hat in 2014 and Issara in 2011 so it's been a while since I've done anything other than shawls.

I think this will be my last giant shawl for the time being.

Though I love how this knit turned out, it's just too big to be practical. I really need to find smaller shawls to knit or just knit blankets (which is what I'm doing now).

This giant beast of a shawl took me a year to knit. I was cruising on it in the beginning, and then I stalled out through the middle of the shawl. Finally, I just wanted it done so I cruised through the end. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn and had a very frustrating experience of ripping out and picking up almost 500 stitches! But I got it done, and that's what matters.

I'm knitting a cross-stripe blanket now and loving it! I'll probably knit several before I move on to something else.

All the details about yarn and needles and more images are all on Ravelry.

View Color Love Shawl on Ravelry

The post Color Love – Knitting FO appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Across the Universe Promo

Hey everyone! I have a fun promotion for you all filled with science fiction (romance) books that all fit a stars/universe/aliens theme. There are over 40 books to check out, so head on over and give them a look!

Check out the Books Across the Universe Promo!

The post Across the Universe Promo appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

June 2022 Goals

We're almost at the halfway point of the year! And summer is right on the horizon. I can't wait!

What happened with May's Goals?

Start writing Escape from Shin-Osaka, the last book in the Hikoboshi Series. I started this book but it's been slooooooooow going. I'm just barely over 10,000 words. I have a feeling this one will take me all summer to write.

Start Japanese self-study for JLPT N5. I started studying but then I stopped. I will pick it up again.

Get my fitness back. This is coming along. All this month I worked on getting back into my fitness routine and now my heart rate is much more manageable. I think I'll be fine going forward.

Reading, watching TV, and knitting. I have been doing all of these things! Plenty of them all.

June Goals

Keep writing Escape from Shin-Osaka, the last book in the Hikoboshi Series. I'd love to hit 40,000 words this month. I'll be back on the horse today.

Start Japanese self-study for JLPT N5. I'll be working on this a few times per week this month.

Continue to stay on top of my fitness routine. Now that I'm back in my routine, I just need to stick with it.

Reading, watching TV, and knitting. I finished Grey's Anatomy (*cries*) so I need a new TV show I can sink into. Right now, I plan to watch some movies and see what's on Apple TV+ and Disney+.

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

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

Sunday Update – May 29, 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.

We're at the beach house so I'll be brief. This was a tough week, and I'm glad I'm relaxing at our second home for the long holiday weekend. I'm still dealing with sleep issues and brain fog, though both are slowly getting better. I had some breakthrough ideas for the book I'm writing, so that's good. I'm ready to get on that as soon as we return from vacation. It used to be that I would write on vacation, but I'm not going to do that anymore unless I'm really excited to write something. Everyone needs a break from work, and I haven't given myself that break in a long time.

While we're here at the beach house, I'm enjoying other things. We're eating well, going on long walks, going to the beach, spending time outside, etc. I'm reading and watching TV. I'm knitting. I'm doing my best to get past all this leftover stuff from covid. I think it's almost done. This past week, my heart rate while exercising returned to normal, so that's a good sign. Maybe after resting this weekend, I'll be fully back and ready to rock.

The beach is pretty great! Even when the water is brick cold, right at the beginning of the season.

Sometimes my breakfast is a combination of like 4 different cereals because it's the bottom of every box.

Seen at a candy store here at the beach. These candy cigarettes were a favorite when I was a kid!

A new Star Wars shirt I purchased.

Lulu watching my every move while I work, and getting belly rubs on the couch.

And last but not least, check out this reel I made of all the horseshoe crabs coming into the shore for mating season. They were EVERYWHERE! So many of them. And then there were hundreds of seagulls feasting on their eggs as well. Kinda nuts. You can hear Lulu barking at them in the footage. Lol.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – May 29, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – May 22, 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.

Hmmm, I don't have a lot to say about this week. It was pretty regular and routine in regards to all family stuff. My husband went into the city twice for work and the cleaning ladies came. I took my oldest daughter to get her second ear piercing. My youngest daughter went back to school after staying home the previous week with covid. She tested negative last Sunday. All in all, covid was just a cold for her, so I'm grateful she wasn't too sick. She was mainly bored, just like I was when I got it.

I have been feeling blue and foggy since getting covid, though, and I wonder if this is the “brain fog” that people talk about. Being creative is a real struggle. I'm barely writing. I'm worried I won't be able to write this book, but I'm going to give it time and hope that with the nicer weather coming, I'll snap back. We have Memorial Day weekend coming up and we're planning a trip to the beach house. I'm sure that will make me feel a lot better. I'm also spending less and less time on social media, and believe it or not, I think a lot of my blues are from that. We all know that social media is addictive and gives us heightened oxytocin and serotonin levels. So I think that has a lot to do with it as well.

In other news, I published An Unforgiving Desert and made that free. If you've read it, PLEASE PLEASE leave a review. I can't buy ads for it until it's gotten some review love.

Since I haven't felt creative, I've been doing a lot of knitting and watching TV, especially instead of being on social media.

Been spending some time outside with Lulu (as allergies permit) looking at the lovely flowers and going for walks.

I've also been wearing all my geeky t-shirts and I've purchased more of them for myself. I think it's time for me to embrace my geek (and comfort) side.

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

The post Sunday Update – May 22, 2022 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

An Unforgiving Desert is Now Available and Free!

I have a present for you this Friday! If you didn't purchase Summon the Stars while it was on sale, and you want to start the Amagi Series for free, then you can pick up An Unforgiving Desert right now for zero dollars, euros, whatever.

My anthology partner, Carysa Locke, and I decided to pull Summon the Stars from sale early so that everyone could get their stories back and publish them. And that means you can have an adventure with Skylar and Kalvin now, and I've made it as free as possible. Some international Amazon stores haven't made it free yet, and if that affects you, please download the book direct.

Please, lovely readers, if you have read this one already, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or your store of choice. I can't buy ads for this book until it gets a few reviews and I would love to get downloads happening soon so the rest of the series can find readers too. (This will be on Goodreads soon as well. I'm getting that information done now.)

A ship hijacked. An arrogant and handsome classmate. A relentless desert.

Skylar Kawabata is so close to having her Class Three pilot’s license, she can taste it. She’s worked two years in isolation to get to the final exam, and nothing is going to stop her now, not even Kalvin, the class pretty boy high flyer who can’t stop calling her Princess. She’s going to kill him if he calls her that one more time…

When their class ship is hijacked during the final exam, and Skylar and Kalvin are marooned in the desert, they’ll need more than patience and a supply of water to stay alive until rescue comes. 

Will Skylar and Kalvin make it out of the unforgiving desert in one piece? Or will they kill each other before the desert kills them? 

An Unforgiving Desert is the prequel novella to The Amagi science fiction romance series. If you like talented heroines, cocky, self-assured men, and a hot desert gamble, then you’ll devour S. J. Pajonas’s gutsy action-adventure. Be sure to read An Unexpected Debt after!

Download An Unforgiving Desert Now!

The post An Unforgiving Desert is Now Available and Free! appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.