S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 66
May 24, 2019
THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE Is Free! Grab This Cozy Mystery And Start The Series Today!
Today, I’m excited to announce that THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE is now available for free on all vendors including Amazon Canada, UK, Australia, and India (I had to pull teeth to get India to be free so enjoy it). I’m not sure how long I’ll leave this book free, but I’ll at least leave it free through the summer and evaluate its effectiveness sometime in September. THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE is a great way to get into my books and learn a little about Japan along the way. If you have the chance, please let your friends and family know it’s free!
I can hardly believe it’s been just over 3 years since I wrote and published this book. The characters in here feel like old friends. The town of Chikata is as real as the town I live in. And I still feel like there are lots more stories to come in this world. I hope you all enjoy this mystery with Mei, her family, and friends!
She’s got her head in the clouds and a taste for solving crime…
Mei Yamagawa is out of luck and out of money. After five years in Tokyo, she has little to show for it besides a laundry list of unrealized dreams. Left without a choice, she returns to her rural Japanese hometown, ready to be branded a failure by her relatives and rivals. At the least, she looks forward to seeing her best friend, until Akiko is accused of murdering her own father.
As Mei helps her farmer mother with the crops, she scouts for clues to clear her friend’s name. But during her investigation, she can’t help but notice the celebrity chef looking in her direction. The amateur detective can balance a new love interest and a murder case… can’t she?
To clear her friend of the crime and find the real killer, Mei’s going to need every last ounce of her imagination… and just a pinch of luck.
THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE is the savory starter to the Miso Cozy series of cozy mystery novels. If you like twisty plots, delectable food descriptions, and rural Japanese towns, then you’ll love S. J. Pajonas’ culinary tale.
Check out THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE on…
Amazon Apple Books Nook Kobo Google Play
Direct via PayHip
Have questions about buying direct?
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May 21, 2019
Featuring DRASTIC CRIMES CALL FOR DRASTIC INSIGHTS By Kelly Hashway
I’m back with another mystery for you to read! If you picked up the free prequel to this series a while back when I featured it, then you’re ready for more of Piper.
I asked Kelly, “What inspired Piper Ashwell Psychic P.I. Series?”
Kelly replied…
My favorite thing about this series is my main character, Piper Ashwell. She’s a psychic P.I., and I’ve been fascinated by psychic visions for as long as I can remember. Having Piper use those psychic visions to help the police solve cases is so much fun.
I love a good psychic twist to a story! I bet these books are a lot of fun.
Not all clues lead in the same direction.
Psychic P.I. Piper Ashwell is faced with her biggest case yet. Missing persons files are piling up faster than she can track down clues. And then the clues just seem to stop.
She’ll have to take drastic measures if she wants to catch this criminal, especially when she figures out the kidnappings are turning into murders. Worse, Piper has no idea where the bodies are being hidden.
How many lives will be lost before Piper can track down the killer?
Check out DRASTIC CRIMES CALL FOR DRASTIC INSIGHTS on…
Amazon Nook Apple Books Kobo
Find This Author Online
Learn more about Kelly Hashway on…
Website: http://www.kellyhashway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyHashwayCozyMysteryAuthor
Instagram: https://instagram.com/khashway/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyhashway
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May 19, 2019
Sunday Update – May 19, 2019
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.
It’s been a quick two weeks! And lots has happened, both good and bad. So, let’s get right to it!
I thought I was going to get a lot more writing done during my time off, but that wasn’t the case. I did get some done, and I got past 20,000 words on my work-in-progress. I’m happy with that. I’m also happy that I got all the content updates done on SFR Station! Yay! Now I have a short list of tasks to do to finish up that site. It’s almost done.
The bad news in my house was sickness. The broken leg continues to heal, and I’ve started physical therapy, so there’s no new news on that front. But last Sunday, on Mother’s Day, my husband woke up not feeling well. He managed to pull through the day, but he was running a fever by the end.
Then on Wednesday, I was feeling really low. Just really depressed and awful. I should have known then that I was going to feel sick the next day. It’s this really weird thing! I always feel really depressed the day before an illness! If only I had identified it right away. But I woke up that evening around 1am and my nose was stuffy. I felt okay during the early part of the day then by the evening, I was on my way to a full-blown sinus infection. I thought I had avoided it this year, but my health has taken a dive since the broken leg, so I’m not really surprised.
My husband looked at me and said, “The universe has not been kind to you lately.” No, indeed.
I went to Urgent Care on Friday morning first thing, got antibiotics, and started taking them right away. After only two days, I started feeling better, and now, Sunday, I was able to host my daughter’s Harry Potter themed birthday party! We had a great day! I’m exhausted now, but the kids had a fabulous time. Yay!
Now back to the daily grind. We have a few more weeks of school and then off for the summer!
What else happened while I was gone from the blog?
The Sunday before Mother’s Day, I went to a sign making event with my oldest daughter’s Girl Scout troop. We had a lot of fun, and it was one of my first major trips out with the broken leg.
There were some nice days and I spent them outside!
I went to pottery to get some painting done, and I picked up some of my bowls too. They turned out great!
There were donuts, lots of them! My husband made donuts on Mother’s Day, and then we decorated donuts the next day with my youngest daughter’s Girl Scout troop.
I got the good chocolate for Mother’s Day. Mmmm.
We got some weird fortunes in our fortune cookies.
Made significant progress on my knitting. I hate when a ball of yarn turns to chaos.
I managed to leave the house to go to Panera for some work time!
And here are some photos from our Harry Potter party day! Lots of fun crafts, brooms, cake, and Deathly Hallows cookies, too.
Hope you enjoyed all those photos! Have a great week everyone!
Viber
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May 7, 2019
Gone Writing!
Hello my lovely readers! The healing process for my broken leg continues, and it’s been quite draining. I’m tired morning, noon, and night. But the good news is that I’m seeing progress! I just need to manage my time better since I’m spending more time in bed than usual. I’m going to take the next 10 days off from the blog so I can focus on writing and healing. Plus, I have a Harry Potter birthday to plan! And I’m super excited about that too.
So, instead of “Gone Fishing!,” I’ve gone writing! I hope to come back with the book half finished.
I’ll see you all again here on Sunday, May 19th. Have a great two weeks!
Viber
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May 5, 2019
Sunday Update – May 5, 2019
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.
Unfortunately I don’t remember much of what I did this past week due to the pain management and feeling low. I wrote down what I did on Monday and then forgot the rest of the week, so I’ll try to pull it together!
Monday was a tough day again. I just didn’t sleep well and couldn’t nap even though I was super tired. I tried to get as much work done as I could and then I went to bed early.
Tuesday was a big day for Japan and Japanophiles. It was the day of the abdication, the end of an era. I watched TV most of this day while working on new covers for the Nogiku Series paperbacks.
On Wednesday, I spent most of the morning uploading the new covers for the Nogiku Series and getting everything set up for those paperbacks. I read in between uploading and tried to take it easy as much as possible. In the evening, we had a vocal concert for my youngest daughter. We arrived early so I could get a seat and not have to stand long. It was nice to get out.
Thursday was a big day. We had my 6 week follow-up appointment with my surgeon for my leg. Things are healing but not by A LOT, according to what I see on the x-rays. My leg is still very broken, but the rod is holding it all together. I’m supposed to be up and walking on it as much as I can, but it’s hard when I’m still feeling a lot of pain. The good news is that I don’t have to wear the boot anymore and I can drive locally again. Since I was cleared to drive, I went to the pottery studio for an hour!
Friday, I got groceries delivered and then took the kids to the school carnival in the afternoon. THAT was a little too much for me. I did walk around, but not a lot. Still, it was just too much being on my feet. I was in pain all evening and had to take real pain medication to sleep.
I then woke up in a bad mood on Saturday and had trouble shaking it. Sigh.
The good news is that I’m slowly making progress with Flyght 3! I’m up to 12,000 words! I’ve been typing away on my Alphasmart Neo here and there and just getting words in when I could. I amassed a huge 4000 word chapter that I need to break up and deal with now. I’ll probably work on that on Monday. Progress is happening but at a slow pace. Still, I think I’ll be able to write this book and Flyght 4 before FIRST FLYGHT publishes in September.
What else happened this week?
Designing the paperback covers for the Nogiku Series was fun. I got the proofs in the mail yesterday and I like them! I just need to make a few tweaks to the spines and then they’ll be done.
I went to pottery on Thursday and made a small bowl. This way I’ll have something to trim next Thursday and I can sit and paint my other bowls too.
The abdication of the Emperor of Japan was a big deal. An abdication hadn’t happened in over 200 years! Usually the emperor serves until he dies. So it was a fantastic day to see Emperor Akihito step down and watch his son, now Emperor Naruhito, step up.
Harvesting the latest batch of sprouts means it’s time to start a new batch!
Love all these kids! They did a great job at their vocal concert!
Grocery delivery has really saved my butt through this whole broken leg experience.
Speaking of broken leg, here are my x-rays! There are more on Instagram if you’re interested. You can see the rod that goes down through the length of my tibia. It’s secured at the top and bottom with screws. In the second x-ray, you can still see my leg is very much broken right above the bottom screws. Eventually that will fill in and will heal up. Then you can also see the plate holding together my fibula. Yes, it’s about 6 inches (14-15 cm) long and has lots of screws in it. I have… a lot of scars on my leg. A lot. And still a lot of healing to do.
I was in a bad mood yesterday so I had tea outside with my knitting and I started a new audiobook. It was a good way to make things a little better.
I hope to get some blog reading in this week! I am painfully behind going to visit you all. I promise to see you all soon.
Have a great week!
Viber
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May 3, 2019
Featuring COMMANDER’S PRICE By Diana Logan
For today’s feature, I have a fun and sexy sci-fi romance by Diana Logan for you! I loved this book, and I was then eagerly awaiting Book 2, which I’m reading right now. If you want to know my thoughts about COMMANDER’S PRICE, check out my last Book Chat.
I asked Diana, “What inspired you to write Commanders of the Iti Series?”
Diana replied…
The Commanders of the Iti series is a world I’ve been thinking of for nearly fifteen years. I kept getting involved in other projects, some romance, and some sci-fi, but never really had a chance to come back to it until now. It’s this beautifully expansive, absolutely crazy cosmic world. I’ve always loved the sort of wacky, zany “planet-hopping” type sci fi properties (think: Farscape, which was also very lush and romantic), so writing a series that combines adventures, aliens and a lot of sexy romance is a dream come true.
The trigger for me in finally getting started was when I started thinking about who my human heroine was. I’m a big sci-fi geek and I don’t often see characters like that in my sci-fi. I wanted a character who got abducted by aliens and didn’t spend a long time wondering how the heck there are aliens. Katy jumps right in, and her funny, geeky, adventurous attitude was irresistible to me.
Yes, I really loved Katy! Her wit and charm, and the fact that she just shrugged her shoulders and went with it really appealed to me.
Sci-fi romance for the pop culture superfan!
He was the most gorgeous creature to ever walk into Katy’s dive bar. And he claimed he was looking for a woman. Two shots of tequila later, Katy jumps at the chance to accompany her new friend back to his place for a night of mindblowing sex that proves to be out of this world.
Literally.
Katy wakes up on a spaceship halfway across the galaxy, the captive of a smoking-hot alien who claims he’s an exiled prince, and that Katy holds the key to helping him win back his throne, as long as she’s willing to pay the … COMMANDER’S PRICE.
Check out COMMANDER’S PRICE on…
Amazon
Find This Author Online
Learn more about Diana Logan on…
Website: http://dianaloganbooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianaloganbooks/
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May 1, 2019
May 2019 Goals
April flew by in a blink! Which is good for me since I was in pain for most of it.
What Happened With April’s Goals?
Continue working on the SFR Station website. Yep. I got about another 50 posts edited. Need to do more.
Reveal the new covers for the Nogiku Series. Yay! I did this! New covers are out there. I’m still working on the paperbacks, though.
Start Bookbub Ads. I did this! And I’m currently running low-cost ads every week.
Start Facebook Ads. Okay, so I did try some FB ads and they sucked. So I’m trying something different right now that I like. We’ll see how it goes, and I’ll talk more about it sometime soon.
Start writing Flyght 3. Yes! I did start, and I have about 10,000 words! I’m feeling my way through this first act of the book, and I’m making good progress.
Plan and execute a Harry Potter birthday party for my oldest. Nope. Still too much pain for this. We need to plan this for May.
Work on healing this broken leg and fractured foot and start physical therapy. I am working on this every day and whenever the physical therapist is here. I hope to be sent to outpatient PT soon.
Put all other personal goals on hold. Yep. I did what I could this month and nothing more.
A Look Back At April
Business Goals For May
Continue working on the SFR Station website. Every month until this is done.
Finish the paperbacks for the Nogiku Series. I’m in the home stretch on this task. I have all the files ready and I just need to upload them and do the rest of the work.
Keep up with my Facebook Page. I am posting there a lot more and boosting posts to gain more of an audience.
Keep writing Flyght 3. I’d like to make good progress on this book this month. Maybe get into the 4th act of the book. I don’t want to push myself if I’m in pain. But I’m hoping to not be in too much pain this month.
Personal Goals For May
Plan and execute a Harry Potter birthday party for my oldest. We’re going to set a date this coming weekend and start all the prep work. It will happen in May!
Start outpatient physical therapy. I have my follow-up doctor appointment tomorrow morning, and I hope to be cleared for outpatient PT and to drive again. I’m not sure what outpatient PT will entail, but I’m going to guess I’ll go at least twice a week, and I’ll also have to do things on my own.
Reading and knitting. I’d like to take more time to read and knit this month. I’m hoping I’ll be walking more and can listen to audiobooks again.
Pick up intermittent fasting again. I need to start over from scratch on this. I’ll start with setting my fasting to 12 hours, only eating between 8am to 8pm. Hopefully by June, I can get it to 10am to 8pm. Then by summer, I can be back to only two meals a day and 11am to 7pm, which is where I was before the broken leg. I did this over the span of a year last time, so I don’t know how easy it’ll be, but I need to give it a shot.
Have a great May!
Viber
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April 28, 2019
Sunday Update – April 28, 2019
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.
Things are slowly getting back to normal around here! Very slowly. Y’all will know when they’re back to normal when you see me out walking in the park again. Hopefully in the next Sunday Update, I’ll be able to tell you that I’m cleared to do just that.
Monday was a high pain day for me after a night of pain. I went back to bed in the morning and just did my best to get by the rest of the day.
Tuesday, I woke up in a good mood after getting good sleep. My house was very noisy with the landscapers here and construction happening next door. I did PT in the morning with my therapist, made lunch and sat outside for most of the afternoon. I wrote some words too! Then I got in the kitchen and made my first real meal in 5 weeks. Miracle of miracles, even my youngest daughter ate it and liked it. (She was obviously abducted by aliens because she ate something with curry in it and liked it. Crazy.)
Wednesday, I wanted to rest but there was so much construction next door! And my cleaning ladies came so I had to pick up everything before they arrived. I’m really slow on my feet, as you can imagine, so that took a lot of time. Then I ate and took a shower after they were gone. I did my physical therapy and had groceries delivered. I did write some. Usually I take the kids to tennis on Wednesdays, but I wasn’t able to drive so I had to cancel it. We ordered pizza for dinner and went to bed early.
On Thursday, I really wanted to go back to bed. And I tried but there was too much noise outside. In the morning, I did some chores around the house, took care of some online stuff, and then ate a late breakfast. My physical therapist showed up, and we did our usual exercises, and then she helped me navigate the stairs in and out of the basement! It was the first time I had been in the basement in five weeks. I made a simple and easy dinner and then had to rest the rest of the evening with an ice pack.
Friday was a high pain day. I did what I could but it wasn’t much. I did manage to write but only after icing my leg. We ordered sushi for dinner. We also got the bill for my hospital stay. A whopping $59,000! Thankfully our insurance is going to cover almost all of it. Still, we have to pay a good amount of money which sucks. Ah, the American Health Care System.
Saturday, I was tired all day and the pain from the day before plagued me. I brainstormed most of the day on Flyght 3. I knit some and spent time with the family.
Today, I am just trying to get by. I’m exhausted from all this healing I’m doing, and all I want to do is sleep. I watched a documentary on Emperor Akihito on NHK World. His abdication is coming up this week! I’m looking forward to watching all the ceremonies on TV. Then I took a nap. I know I need to get up and do some PT, but I’m having trouble finding the energy to do it. I may do it from my chair instead.
What else happened this week?
I’ve been making good progress on my current knitting WIP. I’m almost done with the second section.
Our cherry tree has been in bloom for almost two weeks. It’s been nice to have all that pink outside the window.
I enjoyed some outdoor tea time this past week.
There has been writing! And I’m almost at the 10,000 word mark on this book. It’s taking time to get the words down, but I’m glad I’m getting ANYTHING.
One of my favorite drinks in Japan is Pocari Sweat. It’s a lot like a Gatorade but it has a very distinct flavor, kinda like grapefruit. Which is probably why I like it because I like everything grapefruit. Anyway, the bottles of the drink are not exported to the US because of the unfortunate name. Lol. But I found the powder on Amazon! So happy! It does have a lot of sugar so it’s not something I’ll drink every day, but whatever!
We enjoyed some English Muffin Pizzas last night for dinner. The kids especially love these.
And finally, my Easter bunny lots its ears… and head… I love to dip them in peanut butter!
I hope you all have a fabulous week!
The post Sunday Update – April 28, 2019 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
April 26, 2019
Where Do You Buy Books?
2019 is a year of changes for me including making my books more available to a wider audience. This summer I’d like to get my paperbacks onto Ingram Spark and then make them available on Barnes & Noble’s website, Books A Million, Book Depository, etc. I’d also like to offer Large Print editions, if there’s a need for them. I’d also like to offer my books on more international stores like DangDang, Bookmate, Bookshout, and Tookbook.
But did you know that my books are also available on Scribd, Playster, and 24Symbols? Most of these are new to me this year. I was on Scribd several years ago but kicked off when they did their romance purge. I’ll be adding their buttons to my book pages soon!
Mind taking a quick poll?
Answering these questions could really help me out!
Where do you buy paperbacks?AmazonNook / Barnes & NobleBooks A MillionBook DepositoryPowellsStrandIndigoWaterstonesOther
0 votes · 0 answersVote
S. J. Pajonas.
April 21, 2019
Sunday Update – April 21, 2019
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.
Sorry the Sunday Updates have been so sparse. The recovery period for my broken leg has not been very glamorous. Some days, I’m in a lot pain. Other days, I’m doing okay, but I’m not doing much of anything. Y’all have been with me a long time, so you know that my Sunday Updates are usually packed with the millions of things that I do each day. It sucks not being busy. I love being busy, and I hate just sitting around. So this recovery period, while good for my leg, has been crap for my mental state.
I do have a few good things to report though. I did start writing again! I started Flyght 3 and I have a good grasp on where I want to take the story for the first act. I haven’t been writing a lot on it because of some high pain days this week, but I did start it nonetheless. I’m hoping to write on this book more this coming week.
I am taking some steps on my own without the walker! This is big for me and I’m so pleased I’ve gotten to this point. My steps are small and shaky, but they are independent which is where I want to be.
This coming week will be difficult for me. My husband is returning to work, and I will be home alone again. I can’t really leave the house because I’m not allowed to drive. I’m also crap at stairs so anything I need from the basement must be retrieved before the kids leave for the day. But since standing on my two feet is good, and I can take steps on my own in the kitchen, I hope to do some cooking and cleaning this week. I can’t push it, but I also have to be mindful to work towards recovery. I’m a bit frightened of the process. Please think good thoughts for me!
Here are the few photos I took this week…
I got a chance to sit and work outside when the weather was nice this week! I hope to do the same this coming week.
Our cherry tree outside is so beautiful! I’m missing all the trees in the park blooming which I’m really sad about.
On Thursday, my husband drove me to the pottery studio so I could sit and paint for a few hours. Being out of the house was glorious! And it was good to see my friends there.
My daughter got this hilarious fortune in her fortune cookie.
My husband and the kids worked on washing and staining the deck this week. It looks really nice! I’m so happy they got this big project done!
And finally, yes, I did start writing again. It was a relief to start this book, even though I’ve barely written on it this week. It was hard to concentrate with the kids and husband home every day. But next week, the husband goes back to work and the kids go back to school. I will have “alone time” again to begin to really work on this manuscript.
Broken leg, be damned, I will own my life again! Only 11 more days until I see my doctor, and hopefully, I’ll be cleared to do more aggressive physical therapy and I’ll be set to drive. Here’s hoping.
Have a great week everyone!
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