S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 50
June 4, 2020
The Summer of SFR Will Begin June 22, 2020!
What is summer without a good binge of reading, am I right? With so much happening in the world right now, I thought it might be nice to escape to some far off planets, explore some new worlds, and get lost in a romance. SFR (science fiction romance) is the perfect choice!
This is why I’m hosting the Summer of SFR event, right here on my blog from June 22 to September 1!
During the Summer of SFR event…
I will be highlighting SFR authors here on SPajonas.com and sharing these interviews on SFR Station’s social media. I have over 25 authors signed up and excited to participate! These are authors writing in the genre RIGHT NOW, and they are eager to say hi and tell us about their books.
I will also be recommending SFR books I’ve read or listened to! These may or may not be the same as the authors that I highlight. They will go into special Book Chats and labeled so you can find them. I have a kindle full of SFR ebooks and I’m not afraid to use it! Lol.
Woo hoo! I hope you’re as excited by this event as I am. We’re going to have a lot of fun and really get to know this genre I have committed myself to. I hope to have some giveaways as well. So be sure to check your weekly newsletter digests and play along!
Check out the Summer of SFR Information Page
I can’t wait to feature these authors and read more SFR this summer! Onward!
Viber
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June 2, 2020
30% Off SFR Direct Sale – June 2020 Only!
For June 2020 only, through SFR Station, I’m running a 30% off Direct Sale featuring a bunch of great SFR authors. Buying direct is new, I know, but for authors, it’s a way for us to sell independently without having to rely on the big retailers. And I swear it’s easy for readers! You can try it out today by purchasing a title direct from an author and saving 30%!
Check out these 30% Off SFR Books!
I hope you find something to read and enjoy!
Viber
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June 1, 2020
June 2020 Goals
April showers bring May flowers… and there were a lot of those and more this past month. But now we’re onto June! My favorite month of the year…
What Happened With May’s Goals?
Finish copy edits Flyght Book 6 and send off to proofreader. Done! And yes, I got this book off to my ARC list just in time. Some on my ARC team have already read it!
Continue with freelance work. I’m chugging along with freelance work at about the pace of 5-8 hours per week. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I can get a lot done in a little amount of time. And I’m making all of my goals for my client so that’s good!
Close out my Move Rings every day on my Apple Watch. The streak lives on! I managed to log a workout 26 out of 31 days this month. I took 5 rest days, mostly because of my leg. Somedays it just hurts, and that’s an indication I need a break from walking. Still, I always managed to burn enough calories to hit my move goals!
More of keeping my kids sane through this coronavirus isolation. We’ve been very busy this month and I think my kids are still doing well, so that’s a blessing.
Update the blog more often. I seem to only update 2-3 times per week, and I suppose that’s enough for now.
Audiobooks, reading, and knitting. I kept listening, reading, and only did a little knitting because I was sewing.
Finish my Space Masterclass. Still not finished with this. It’s a lot longer than I thought it was!
Goals For June
Launch Flyght Book 6! I can’t believe the Flyght Series is over! I plan to make a day of the publication with a fancy breakfast and hopefully a cake too.
Continue with freelance work. We’re making great progress on this website! And I think I might actually finish it in June. The bulk of the programming work is done. We just have lots of little things to do. I need to make a list of outstanding items and really just get to it.
Start on my branding redesign for S. J. Pajonas. My designer is working on my logo and branding for both this name and my pen name. I should have those final files this week! And this means I can start the switch! I’ll start with updating branding on the website, then social media and my newsletter. July will probably be spent working on my pen name.
Close out my Move Rings every day on my Apple Watch. I am determined to keep this going come hell or high water.
Finish off the school work for the kids. The kids will finish school this month and then we’ll transition into summer mode.
Come up with a summer schedule. As the kids transition into summer, I cannot CANNOT hear constantly that they’re bored without summer camp. I have purchased them some Make Your Own kits for the summer, we’re going to do a summer book club with friends, they’ll do some online classes, and play outside. If I set up a schedule, they are more likely to stick with it. So that’s what I’m going to do.
Start the Summer of SFR! Starting June 22, I’ll be focusing on sci-fi romance (SFR) all summer. I’ll be featuring authors here on the blog, and I’ll be recommending books I’ve read here and on Bookbub and on Instagram. I hope you’ll join in!
Read CRASH LAND ON KURAI and make edits to it. I will be revising this book to bring forward the romance a little. The romance elements are stronger in Books 2 and onward, and I want to brand this as a slow-burn romance series. So I’ll just be making some small tweaks to this.
Audiobooks, reading, and knitting. The usual and I’ll be listening and reading to SFR, of course.
Have a great June everyone! Stay home and stay safe!
Viber
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May 31, 2020
Sunday Update – May 31, 2020
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.
Another week gone by in a blur. Looking back at my photos from the week I see we did a normal amount of stuff…
Monday was a holiday here, Memorial Day. Usually Memorial Day weekend means the beginning of pool season, but the pool is closed due to COVID-19, so we spent the weekend at home. The weather was nice, and we spent a lot of time outdoors.
Tuesday was technically a day off too from school. We had a snow day that we didn’t use this year, so they gave us Tuesday off from distance learning. I took Lulu to the vet for a re-up on one of her shots and they told us she has parasites again. Ugh! This dog is housing too many freeloaders!
Wednesday, Lulu went back to doggy daycare (she’s on the meds, so no big deal) and we all got back to work. I went to my cousin’s house to drop off more masks and chat for a bit. Then I worked on adding an Advanced Search feature to SFR Station and sewed more masks.
Same on Thursday! I worked on the Advanced Search and finished off the last of the masks I was making.
Friday was a nice day, and my youngest had her “Field Day” which normally would have happened at school. But instead, I ran it for her. The school gave us a list of 20 activities she could do, and we were required to try 9 of them. So we picked them out and did as many as we could manage. It took most of the day!
Saturday and Sunday were spent working, making up for the days during the week where I was doing other things. Such is life now! Weekends have very little meaning except that it’s a break for me from helping the kids with school.
But the highlight of the week was watching the SpaceX launch today! I got choked up and cried watching Falcon 9 lift off with the Dragon team onboard. What a moment! It’s been so long since I saw an American space mission liftoff from our soil. It was AMAZING!
I’m expanding our food options! This was a Vegan Seitan Steak I decided to make and it was delicious! Also very low in carbs and high in protein. Total win. I’ll be making more from this site as I have a huge bag of vital wheat gluten. https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-seitan-steak/
Our peonies look and smell amazing!
Nice days mean lunch outside with Lulu.
Speaking of Lulu, we got our monthly BarkBox and it was Scooby-do themed! So here she is chilling with Scoob.
Weight loss is going well. I can actually fit into my clothes!
Part of Field Day was making paper airplanes and getting them into this bowl. The older child was really good at it!
My husband makes a killer Singapore Sling. Mmmmm.
This bread turned out super tasty and I just made the leftovers into croutons.
And finally, here’s my youngest and her BFF watching the SpaceX rocket launch today. We all had a great time watching this!
I hope you all have a happy and healthy week!
Viber
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May 28, 2020
The Lull
I’m stuck in a lull for a little bit, and it’s an odd feeling to have. STOLEN FLYGHT and the Flyght Series are complete. The Daydreamer Detective series is complete.
Lulls mean baking a lot of bread…
I currently do not have a work-in-progress when it comes to writing! Wow. I don’t think that’s happened for a few years now. Maybe not since we renovated the kitchen? That was 4 years ago!
Lulls mean an afternoon snuggle with Lulu…
I’m not sure if I feel lost in the lull yet because I have a few other projects I’m working on in the background.
I’m updating SFR Station with an Advanced Search feature which I hope to make public in a few days.
I’m still working on the freelance website and that’s going well.
My designer and I are working on branding for both my S. J. Pajonas name and my new pen name for the cozy mysteries (more on that to come!) and both will eventually need to be implemented this summer onto this website and a new website.
I’m preparing for a Summer of SFR event I’ll be hosting here on the blog, my social media, and on SFR Station’s social media. That should be a lot of fun!
Plus, I’m getting ready to read the Hikoboshi Series and make some changes to CRASH LAND ON KURAI in anticipation of a last book to that series and new covers for it as well.
Lulls mean quality control work with both a PC and Mac…
So, there’s stuff coming for me. I can see it out on the horizon, approaching at a steady pace. But for some reason, the lull feels endless, like it will go on and on forever, much like this quarantine. I see rules and orders being lifted, but it feels like it’ll never reach me. Maybe it’s just because it’s the end of the month and I’ve already finished most of my goals? I’m not sure.
This may be a lull, but I don’t think it’s going to last!
What do you do when you’re stuck in a lull?
Viber
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May 24, 2020
Sunday Update – May 24, 2020
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.
Another week of isolation at home! This week was like most of the others except I didn’t end up in FB jail. Lol. Which I’m happy about. I’m really trying to pull back from Facebook except for hanging with my friends. Trust me, that’s the way it should be for someone like me. It’ll get me in a lot less trouble!
Lulu went back to doggy daycare Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we were all better for it. She got lots of socialization and plenty of exercise, so her home time was chill and less stressful for us all. Puppies have a lot of energy! And she’s able to burn a lot of that off at daycare. It’s a blessing they’re still open.
This week I worked on getting the last bits of STOLEN FLYGHT ready for publishing on June 19th. I put it up for pre-orders on Google Play and Smashwords, so those are ready to go. The last place I have to upload it for sale is my Direct store and that won’t be until the day before.
The kids did their school work. My husband did his usual work. And I worked on freelance and a few other things this week. All around, it was pretty boring with very little to complain about.
The one thing that did not go well was my sleep. I’m sleeping pretty crappy lately. I’m either tossing and turning all night, or my leg (the one I broke last year) and foot are hurting. I think I’m finally starting to grow back severed nerves that reach my foot. My foot last night was painful most of the night through. Sigh. I think tonight I’ll take a painkiller at bedtime to get some sleep.
We had some drama this week when a turkey vulture ate a dead baby deer on the lawn across the street. WILD NATURE, FOLKS! Right in the suburbs.
I took Lulu for two walks in the park this week. The county mandates masks be worn in the park, and I’m fine with that. We had two very lovely walks!
Lulu loves a good belly rub in the morning.
We finally got toilet paper! Yay!! We were very close to running out and there was never any at the store.
Our peonies are starting to bloom.
We enjoyed some scallops and cupcakes this week.
I air-fried up some of our biscuits with butter and then dredged them in cinnamon sugar for a little treat.
That’s it for this week! Stay safe everyone!
Viber
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May 22, 2020
STOLEN FLYGHT Is Available For Pre-Order!
Happy Friday everyone! Just wanted to alert you that STOLEN FLYGHT is currently available for pre-order! We’re a little less than T minus ONE MONTH until it’s finally in your hands. Don’t forget to pre-order it!
I thought SILENT FLYGHT was the hardest book to write, but STOLEN FLYGHT takes the cake. I kept having to give myself extra time to really get through the writing process of this book. Vivian has a very important mission to accomplish, and she’s SO CLOSE to buying the family farm back. You know that anticipation that comes right before you finally get to do something you’ve waited months for? I felt it both for myself writing the book and for Vivian as she made it to the last act. Oh! And for those who have read ALL my books, there are some Easter eggs in here too. I hope you catch them!
Last books in a series are always a bit sad. I’ve grown to love the characters and they’ve become a part of me. Saying goodbye is not easy! But rest assured, this is not the end of seeing them. I’ve already begun brainstorming Skylar’s series and what will happen to her. I plan to write it so people can pick up either series and start reading without having to read the other. But there’ll be so much more to gain from reading both! Please stay tuned! I’m excited you’re here for the ride!
One last mission to secure her birthright. A frozen world and a sinister conspiracy that may cost her land… and her life.
Vivian will do whatever it takes to finally be victorious in the battle for her family farm. So when her benefactor insists she infiltrate a hostile military base on a treacherous ice planet, she has no choice but to agree. But when two of her crew are apprehended during the operation, her focus shifts to desperate survival.
Outmanned and pinned behind enemy lines, Vivian’s options for escape dwindle. But everything she believes in turns on its head when she makes a shocking discovery in the base’s top-secret lab.
Can Vivian and her team evade a deadly trap to win back her legacy?
STOLEN FLYGHT is the sixth and final book in the star-spanning reverse harem Flyght Series. If you like galactic heists, mind-blowing twists, and nonstop action, you’ll love S. J. Pajonas’s soaring climax.
Pre-order STOLEN FLYGHT on…
Amazon Apple Books Nook Kobo Google Play Smashwords
STOLEN FLYGHT will be available on June 19, 2020. I hope you enjoyed the series!
Viber
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May 21, 2020
What I’m Watching – Ozark
After finishing PICARD and WESTWORLD, my husband and I moved onto OZARK (Netflix), which I had heard from others was a good bet.
If you loved Breaking Bad and Sopranos, then Ozark is the show for you.
The Byrdes, Marty, Wendy, and their two kids, are an upper middle class family in Chicago, doing well for themselves, even if there’s unhappiness in their personal lives. Marty has been laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel for years, and his business partner gets caught skimming from the profits. Oops. Marty and his family barely avoid death, and they end up in Southern Missouri at Lake Ozark to prove their loyalty to the cartel and continue to launder money.
This is the perfect show for you if you LOVE gray areas. Tony Soprano and Walter White were anti-hero characters that got mired in the gray areas of life. We followed along, both in horror at their decisions and showing sympathy for the precarious positions they got caught in. I love that in a good TV show! I felt the same way about MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE.
So, the show is dark. There are bad decisions, sex, violence, and a whole lot of wow moments. But it is extremely watchable. And I’m often blown away by how well-plotted the events are. I can clearly see how the decisions the characters make translate to the issues they encounter.
Jason Bateman and Laura Linney are fantastic in their roles on this show, and I’m really happy with all the secondary characters (though I want to give their daughter the boot). The Ozark Mountain area is really pretty and provides a beautiful backdrop to this show as well.
With three seasons to watch, this will keep you occupied for a few days or weeks, depending on how fast you binge watch! We’re halfway through Season 2 now, and we’ll continue until we run out of episodes.
What are you watching now?
Viber
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May 17, 2020
Sunday Update – May 17, 2020
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.
What a week! I feel like this was the longest week yet of the quarantine. And now that it’s nice outside, people are flocking to the parks and people’s homes for parties. So, guess what? If you hated quarantine before, you’re gonna REALLY hate it when it goes on for months and half of your loved ones are in the hospital! Can you tell I’m annoyed? Because I really am. Like REALLY. I’m looking across the street at my neighbors who currently have over their entire extended family for a party. Grrrrr.
My week started with a 24-hour stint in Facebook Jail. Yes, I was sent to Facebook Jail for saying… are you ready? “Men are the worst” to some guy who said that women breastfeeding were like Jabba the Hut. I reported his comment after he reported mine, and Facebook decided that he was in the right, and my comment was hate speech. Lololololol. I can’t stop laughing over that one. So, good on Facebook for continuing to hold up the fragile male ego who can’t even abide looking at a woman breastfeeding. Incidentally, when FB puts you in jail, they stop you from being able to post AT ALL, including to all your pages, so SFR Station and my other pages had no content for 24 hours. Seriously, folks. Welcome to the future.
My week got better from there. I took Lulu to daycare Mon, Wed, and Fri and it was a good routine for us. I got walks in every day. Did a little cooking and baking. Researched new mask patterns. Nothing too dramatic. The kids had their daily school work. I worked on freelance and a few other things.
I finished off STOLEN FLYGHT, too! I got my notes back from my proofreader, entered them all in, made new files, and uploaded them to all the stores. This week, I’ll set up the pre-orders for STOLEN FLYGHT on both Google Play and Smashwords, too. Just to have them done.
And now what’s next with the writing and writing business? Good question. My current plan is to take off through to June 1, just to do my own stuff, some freelance, and knit, read, and sew. At that point, I plan on picking CRASH LAND ON KURAI and then the rest of the Hikoboshi Series to start reading and planning the last book in that series. I will also be planning out Skylar’s series (I already have ideas for this) and another novella length adventure for Vivian set to go into a box set next year. I will also be moving my cozy mysteries over to my pen name and redoing all my branding here and on social media. Lots to do in the coming months!
For Mother’s Day last week, we celebrated with caviar and champagne!
I enjoyed a really delicious cauliflower pizza crust pizza this week, loaded up with all the goodies.
We ordered Chinese food last night and my fortune was very profound.
Cheers! One of our favorite activities is to read the ridiculous descriptions on wine.com of the wine we choose to drink.
Lulu has been enjoying her downtime.
I’ve been doing some sewing and working on a new mask design. This one is adjustable and uses a cord made from a t-shirt. Much nicer around the ears.
And finally, I made fresh salsa this week and it was a delicious treat!
Have a great week and stay safe everyone!
Viber
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May 15, 2020
Book Chat #55 – Becky Chambers, Jessie Mihalik, Rysa Walker, and John Scalzi
May is cruising along and here we are at the halfway point! I’ve gotten some good reading and listening done the last few weeks! So, I’m here to share what I’ve been enjoying, both on my Kindle and via audiobook.
TO BE TAUGHT, IF FORTUNATE by Becky Chambers
I devoured this book. Devoured it. I spent all my spare moments reading this book, and it was time well spent. TO BE TAUGHT, IF FORTUNATE follows a small team that is exploring a new solar system for the first time. I loved that it touched on so many different aspects of their mission from their personal relationships, to the alien life they found, to their mistakes, to their ups and downs. The end of the story left off on a question of “what happens next?” and I really want to know what happens to the crew, though I’m not sure a sequel is planned. This had everything I love about a good sci-fi story, and once again, I’m impressed with Becky Chambers’s storytelling skills. She’s one of my favorite authors now.
THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT by Jessie Mihalik
After reading Mihalik’s other series The Consortium Rebellion, I decided to check out her other books while waiting for the last book in the series to publish. THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT is the first book in a 2-book collection about a queen who kidnaps another system’s emperor in order to ransom him for money to feed her people. I loved the action of this book! I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time. And the budding romance between the queen, Samara, and the emperor, Valentin, was delicious. As soon as I was done, I immediately bought the second book and started reading.
I enjoyed the first book in this series so much that I immediately went to the second one in audiobook. I enjoyed the second book better than the first, since I knew what was going on and I had a reference for what to expect. This is why I LOVE SERIES! I love them both as a reader and as a writer. In this book, we get to see Kate spread her wings, and we also get to travel to more points in the past. The history contained in these books is fascinating and a lot of fun. I will definitely be continuing on with this series!
THE LAST EMPEROX by John Scalzi
As you all know by now, John Scalzi is one of my favorite authors, and this last book in his Interdependency Series did not disappoint. The stakes were high, and everyone had a hand in the conspiracies. I liked that Scalzi managed to wrap up everything in the same manner that he started the story — funny, witty, and surprising. Kiva Lagos continued to be my favorite character, and her transformation at the end made me say “Didn’t see that coming” out loud. Once again, Wil Wheaton did a great job with narrating. I could listen to him allllllll day.
I had one re-listen during this time too. I went back and re-listened to BABYLON’S ASHES by James S. A. Corey (originally listened to in 2017) since I had accidentally skipped it during my Expanse re-listen-re-read.
What have you been reading lately?
Viber
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