S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 82

Sunday Update – June 3, 2018

It’s June, people! One of my favorite months of the year because it’s the beginning of summer. You wouldn’t really know it, though, based on our weather. We’ve had a few hot days, but it’s mostly been overcast, cool, and rainy. Whatever. It’s better than snow!

This week I returned home from Japan on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very easy trip home. I left on Tuesday around 12pm, Tokyo time, and took two trains to get to Narita Airport by 2:30pm. I wasn’t able to eat lunch along the way, so I ate at the United lounge in Narita. It was okay. Not really enough food. I should’ve gone out of the lounge to get real food, and I know better to do that next time. Then I boarded my flight home around 5pm. I ate well on the flight but the woman next to me was a wreck anytime she was awake. Her knee bounced constantly and she sighed an wrung her hands a million times. This was the perfect time for her to get a drink and relax or take some meds and pass out, but she did neither. Eventually she did sleep and so did I, but it was an annoying flight due to her behavior.

Then I arrived at Chicago O’Hare for my transfer which was a disaster. There were at least 1000 people trying to get through immigration and they had no fast-lanes for people who had to transfer. I started to sweat and get nervous that 2 hours was not going to be enough time to make my next flight. It nearly was not. I had to make it through immigration, grab my checked bags, go through customs, re-check my bags, and transfer terminals to get to my next flight. I also had to go through security again. Ugh!! So stupid. I arrived at my next flight a complete mess, sweating and shaking. Then I flew into Laguardia airport which is at least an hour’s drive from home. I had a car service come and get me, but by that time, I had been traveling for 24 hours straight, and I was nauseous and exhausted. Eventually I did make it home, and that’s what matters.

The rest of the week was spent trying to get over my jet lag. I got the kids to school each day and napped when the exhaustion took over. My husband was in and out, helping out where he could. I think I may have kicked the jet lag now, though. Today is the first day I haven’t desperately needed a nap.

Work-wise, writing continues on the Miso Cozy Novella, MATSURI AND MURDER. I’m also starting the process of selling my ebooks direct, and I’m working on getting posts about my trip to Japan up on the site.

What else happened this week?

I got a haircut. The first photo is a composite of me “before.” And then the next two are me “after.” I’m much happier with my hair short. I love it.

The peonies are so pretty right now! This one had misty rain on it.

We have a legit strawberry vine growing up out of nowhere in the cracks of the pavement outside our backdoor.

This baby deer hid out next to our greenhouse all night on Friday. My husband accidentally scared it away in the morning on Saturday and then it came back and stayed under our deck until its mommy came to get it in the afternoon yesterday.

My first day at the pool was a success! And I got lots of writing done on my AlphaSmart3000 (hereto known as AS3000).

And I’m making great progress on my novella! I have a deadline and I intend to hit it.

Coming up this week on the blog: an author feature, another post about my trip to Japan, and a post about using classic sci-fi in the Hikoboshi Series!

Have a great week everyone!

The post Sunday Update – June 3, 2018 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

June 2018 Goals

We’re almost at the mid-point of the year! Here comes June!

What Happened With May’s Goals?

Start writing new Miso Cozy Novella. I did start writing this and I’m at about 10,000 words now. I’m aiming for 40,000, so now I have to write 30k in June.

Keep writing on the other WIP. I was way too busy to work on the first book in the Flyght Series, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’m looking forward to working on it in July.

Recompile and upload all the books of the Hikoboshi Series. Done. New ebooks are up there and new covers too.

Replace all the covers of the Hikoboshi Series on my website. Done.

Travel to Chicago May 4-6 for the Sell More Books Show Summit. Done and I had a great time! Except for that moment when I hurt my leg. Ugh. I learned a good lesson that day that I’m not cut out for parkour. Not at all. But I also learned other great lessons about publishing and writing from people during this conference that have stuck with me since then.

Handle my youngest daughter’s First Communion. Done. Everyone had a great time!

Figure out how to use this gimbal thing I bought. I figured this out thanks to YouTube and I used it plenty in Japan!

Plan out my trip and go to Japan! Been there and back! I had an amazing time in Japan. I saw a lot of the country, learned a lot of new things, and I also solidified my knowledge of this wonderful country. It was great to help out other travelers who knew very little about Japan and share the wealth of knowledge I’ve learned over the years. I’m looking forward to sharing my trip with you all!

Continue to keep away from sweets and keep practicing intermittent fasting. This went out the window while in Japan. Damn those ice cream sandwiches! But now I’m back and back on the wagon.

More of the same: walking, reading, knitting. I did well with this. I walked a lot while in Japan and read a whole book while I was there! I even got some knitting done. I wish I could travel more just for the knitting and reading time.

A Look Back At May

Business Goals For June

Finish writing new Miso Cozy Novella. This is due in July, but I want to be done with it by June 22 so I can go through, do light edits, and then copyedit and proofread before I turn it in.

Publish one post per week about my trip to Japan. These are kinda labor intensive with all the images and videos, so I want to publish at least one per week.

Personal Goals For June

Make it through this month. June is never easy with the end of school, and it’s usually gloomy too, as it is today as I write this. If I can get the writing done, I’ll be really happy.

Continue to keep away from sweets and keep practicing intermittent fasting. If I can keep this up through June, I feel it’ll be habit and I won’t have to actively monitor it anymore. Fingers crossed!

More of the same: walking, reading, knitting. Self-explanatory.

Have a great June everybody!

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A Trip To Kanazawa’s Nishi Chaya & Teramachi Temple Districts – Traveling In Japan 2018 Series

Well, I’m home from Japan and I had a glorious time (except for getting back home, but we won’t talk about that today.) While I’m trying to work my way through the jet lag, I thought I’d post a little bit about my trip to Kanazawa, concentrating on the first part of my stay. I’ll highlight other parts of Kanazawa, and more of Japan, in forthcoming posts, so please stay tuned!

When I knew I would be returning to Japan, I decided that on this trip, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to go someplace that not all tourists go. I figured most tourists go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hokkaido, and maybe Okinawa, too. So I went on the hunt for something a little different and settled on Kanazawa.

Kanazawa is on the west coast of Japan, on the Sea of Japan. It’s about a two hour journey via shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, so it’s not too far even if you wanted to do a long day trip there. But staying overnight is really your best option! You’ll get to see a lot more that way.

Points in Kanazawa’s favor:

It has a long history of great food, including being well-known for crab during the winter months.
It has an old geisha district and still many of the traditional tea houses where geisha work today.
It has a fairly large temple district with temples practically stacked on top of each other.
It has some old samurai houses, including the Nomura samurai estate, which I did visit.
It’s a bit more laid back and easy to get around.

So I decided to go!

I booked my stay at the Hotel Nikko Kanazawa for two nights via Booking.com and got a great rate on a very nice room. This hotel is conveniently located across and down the street from the Kanazawa train station, so if you want something close by, with excellent amenities, this is the hotel to go for. Photo below is of the Kanazawa train/bus station! Isn’t that a grand entrance?

I got into Kanazawa in the afternoon and checked in right away with no issues. Then I decided to watch the end of that day’s sumo tournament before I left for dinner. Around 6pm, when the sumo was over, I walked around my hotel’s neighborhood for a bit before finding a little Italian restaurant for dinner. Amigo fit the bill nicely. I was able to get a four-cheese pizza that was super tasty and a gin and tonic, both for a decent price. All served up by this dapper guy, who saw me to the door when I left!

And I was also lucky that my view from the hotel room was spectacular! I could see all the way out to the water.

First thing the next morning, I got to sightseeing. I only had one full day in Kanazawa, and I wanted to see as much as I could. I bought a one-day bus pass from the station and then took the Left Loop bus through the Kanazawa city proper to Hirokoji (Tera-machi Temple Area – Nishi Chaya District). You will see this bus map again in the future.

A Trip To Kanazawa’s Nishi Chaya And Teramachi Temple Districts – Traveling In Japan 2018 Series

Well, I’m home from Japan and I had a glorious time (except for getting back home, but we won’t talk about that today.) While I’m trying to work my way through the jet lag, I thought I’d post a little bit about my trip to Kanazawa, concentrating on the first part of my stay. I’ll highlight other parts of Kanazawa, and more of Japan, in forthcoming posts, so please stay tuned!

When I knew I would be returning to Japan, I decided that on this trip, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to go someplace that not all tourists go. I figured most tourists go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hokkaido, and maybe Okinawa, too. So I went on the hunt for something a little different and settled on Kanazawa.

Kanazawa is on the west coast of Japan, on the Sea of Japan. It’s about a two hour journey via shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, so it’s not too far even if you wanted to do a long day trip there. But staying overnight is really your best option! You’ll get to see a lot more that way.

Points in Kanazawa’s favor:

It has a long history of great food, including being well-known for crab during the winter months.
It has an old geisha district and still many of the traditional tea houses where geisha work today.
It has a fairly large temple district with temples practically stacked on top of each other.
It has some old samurai houses, including the Nomura samurai estate, which I did visit.
It’s a bit more laid back and easy to get around.

So I decided to go!

I booked my stay at the Hotel Nikko Kanazawa for two nights via Booking.com and got a great rate on a very nice room. This hotel is conveniently located across and down the street from the Kanazawa train station, so if you want something close by, with excellent amenities, this is the hotel to go for. Photo below is of the Kanazawa train/bus station! Isn’t that a grand entrance?

I got into Kanazawa in the afternoon and checked in right away with no issues. Then I decided to watch the end of that day’s sumo tournament before I left for dinner. Around 6pm, when the sumo was over, I walked around my hotel’s neighborhood for a bit before finding a little Italian restaurant for dinner. Amigo fit the bill nicely. I was able to get a four-cheese pizza that was super tasty and a gin and tonic, both for a decent price. All served up by this dapper guy, who saw me to the door when I left!

And I was also lucky that my view from the hotel room was spectacular! I could see all the way out to the water.

First thing the next morning, I got to sightseeing. I only had one full day in Kanazawa, and I wanted to see as much as I could. I bought a one-day bus pass from the station and then took the Left Loop bus through the Kanazawa city proper to Hirokoji (Tera-machi Temple Area – Nishi Chaya District). You will see this bus map again in the future.

Teaser Tuesday – Bring On The Popcorn

It’s the final #TeaserTuesday post for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT!

This is where I get to have fun as an author. Throughout this series, I have referenced not only older science fiction classics (like Blade Runner and Caves of Steel) but also themes from Japanese literature and pop culture. Playing around with these little easter eggs, dropping them into the stories when readers least expect it, is something I really look forward to. I like to “hang a lantern” on them, really show the reader that I’m paying attention, that I’m doing these things on purpose. In fact, this particular line in the teaser comes not long after Yumi also wishes for a deus ex machina interference. Lol.

Anyway, it was my intention in this book to reference more of the Japanese camp horror movies. I had been saving them for this book! With such greats as Godzilla and Mothra and other epic monsters in Japan’s past, how could I not use their inspiration for my own?

By the way, if you think this ending came out of nowhere, then you missed all the hints in the first two books. I’ve been planning this twist in the story since the beginning!

Sunday Update – May 27, 2018

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 update is going up early for everyone back home in the States, but it’s Sunday here in Japan! If you may or may have not noticed, I’ve been in Japan for a week now. Everything here has been going really well, except for sleep and the fact that I always JUST seem to miss the bus. Lol. I’m always waiting for buses in Kyoto because I just miss them!

Since I’ve been here I’ve traveled from Tokyo to Kanazawa and then to Kyoto. I’m here in Kyoto for only a few more hours then I take the shinkansen back to Tokyo for the final leg of my journey. I’ve seen a whole lot more of Japan this time, and I’m still in love with this country. It’s peaceful and beautiful here, and I have very little worry for my safety walking around. There’s lots to see and do, and getting around this country is easy peasy. If you were thinking about traveling in Japan, you should! I can’t recommend it enough.

In other less favorable news, I haven’t been sleeping well while I’ve been here, and that’s mostly the fault of the beds. It’s the one thing I’ve complained about, but it has the most impact on the happiness of my stay here. I’m a side-sleeper and these rock hard beds in Asia do not treat me well. I’m pretty exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed when I return home. Being exhausted means that I’m not seeing or doing as much as I would’ve hoped. But there’s only so much I can do to push my body to perform. I’m in my 40s and I just sustained a leg injury a few weeks ago. I’m definitely doing the best I can.

This also means I haven’t been working or writing as much as I would’ve hoped on this trip. I’m almost at 10k of the imagined 45k I want for the Miso Cozy Mysteries novella I’m writing, and I’ll be happy if I return home with 10k. That means I’ll have most of June to write 35k and I can do that! I have a deadline of mid-July. So I need to finish it, edit it, and get it off to the box set organizer at the beginning of July. It’s crunch time, people!

And one more problem I’ve been dealing with here while on vacation is my newsletter/blog post plugin that emails everyone each week (or each post). It malfunctioned on May 18th and didn’t send email with my new release. I had to pause it before it sent to everyone, and then I had to fix it with a regular email. I spoke with the plugin developers (this is a plugin I pay for, so it has premium support) and they assured me they would fix it and my next week’s email would go out as planned. It did not. But by the time I woke up in the morning in Japan, the malfunction had been six hours old and everyone in Europe, where the plugin is made, had gone for the weekend. I’m hoping to fix it this week. I’m tired of things going wrong.

I’m going to dump in some images below. If you want more, please see my last post or more of my photos on Instagram!

I will update more when I return and explain more about these photos I took. Have a great week everyone!

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The Blog Has Been Quiet Because I’m in Japan!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to check-in in case you wondered why the blog has been so quiet and I didn’t update on Sunday, as I usually do. That’s because I was on a long-haul flight to Japan! I’ve been here since the weekend and I’m loving it, of course. I flew into Tokyo first and spent a few days there. Now I’m in Kanazawa, but I leave today for Kyoto via the Thunderbird shinakansen. I’m looking forward to riding on a Thunderbird. Lol.

This will be a quick update since I have places to see before my train later, but here are some of the photos I’ve been posting to Instagram. If you want to get more updates from me with lots more photos, you can follow me there. http://www.instagram.com/spajonas/

Here are some scenes from my trip in no particular order…

I will return to the blog late next week with updates and more photos from my trip! See you on the flip side!

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Teaser Tuesday – Apex Of Life

It’s time for another #TeaserTuesday for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT!

One of the central themes to this whole series is the notion of being human. What is it about humanity, human emotions, and sentience that makes us unique? I know that people a lot more cynical than me may think that humans are just as bad as any other animal on Earth, but I think differently. I believe that humans have such a huge capacity for creation, art, and emotion, and that, while we still have a long way to go, we’re something to be cherished, not something to be damned.

Of course, my series is not without its villains, but Yumi knows better than to judge everyone by a few. And this moment, when she looks at Rin and really sees him, deep in her heart, she knows she wants to be with him for a long time. That she’s still open for love, and it’s something the androids in this society will ever have… or will they?

Want to purchase FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT?

This book is available now on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, and Google Play! View the cover, blurb, read an excerpt, and purchase FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT via my website…

Check out FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT now!

I’ll be back next week with another teaser! Don’t forget to leave a review for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT when you’re done reading!

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FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT Is Now Available!

Today’s the day! It’s the release of my second full-length novel of the year, and it’s also the third book in the Hikoboshi Series, FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT. I’m so excited to be sharing this book with you all. I love writing my brand of science fiction, and I’m so glad that there are readers out there for it too. After this book, I only have a few more definite things planned for the year between writing and publishing, so this is a turning point for 2018! I hope that you enjoy FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT and the continuation of the Hikoboshi Series.

Purchase Today!

Amazon iBooks Nook Kobo Google Play Books2Read Amazon Paperback

“Being human is the apex of life. It’s the top, not the bottom.”

Yumi is pretty sure someone’s trying to kill her… and she can’t remember who. Undercover and alone in one of the most dangerous cities on the Southern Continent, she’s struggling to live through every day until she can find her new allies and get back to Rin. But when the mission goes wrong and Rin is kidnapped and held for ransom, Yumi must act fast. Not only are the yakuza on her tail, but the fearsome Fukusha Model Eight androids are after her too. With her short-term memory failing and war just around the corner, she can only stay alive by determining who’s telling the truth and who will do anything to lie to her and steal everything she has, including her life.

I want to thank all of my readers for sticking with me the last few years. I know I don’t publish every month and keep you knee-deep in books like some other authors, but hopefully, you’ve been sticking around for the quality stories and exciting places I can take your imagination. You’re all the best!

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Featuring SHOOT THE MESSENGER By Pippa DaCosta

Today, we have Pippa DaCosta here to talk about her space fantasy, SHOOT THE MESSENGER. If you may remember, I reviewed this book in my last Book Chat, so I definitely wanted to have Pippa here on the blog since the second book in the series is out today!

I asked Pippa, “Why did you write SHOOT THE MESSENGER?”

She replied…

I wanted to mix fantasy and sci-fi with my love of all-things fae.

And, people, I’ve gotta say that, as simple as that answer is, it’s SO IMPORTANT when it comes to talking about and marketing your work. I know a ton of authors that can’t sum up their book in a sentence like that. And yes, this book has great world-building plus science fiction and faeries. It’s a great mix!

A new space fantasy series where the guys are hot, the perils are many, and one rebel messenger holds the key to the survival of the human race.

Lies aren’t her only weapons against the fae…

In the Halow system, one of Earth’s three sister star systems, tek and magic—humans and fae—are at war.

Kesh Lasota is a ghost in the machine. Invisible to tek, she’s hired by the criminal underworld to carry illegal messages through the Halow system. But when one of those messages kills its recipient, Kesh finds herself on the run with a bounty on her head and a quick-witted marshal on her tail.

Proving her innocence should be straightforward. Until a warfae steals the evidence she needs. The fae haven’t been seen in Halow in over a thousand years. And this one—a brutally efficient killer able to wield tek—should not exist. But neither should Kesh.

As Kesh’s carefully crafted lie of a life crumbles around her, she knows being invisible is no longer an option. To hunt the warfae, to stop him from destroying a thousand-year fragile peace, she must resurrect the horrors of her past.

Kesh Lasota was a ghost. Now she’s back, and there’s only one thing she knows for certain: Nobody shoots the messenger and gets away with it.

Check out SHOOT THE MESSENGER on…
Amazon

Find This Author Online

Want to learn more about Pippa DaCosta? You can find her online here…

http://www.pippadacosta.com

http://www.facebook.com/pippadacosta

http://www.twitter.com/pippadacosta

Do you like space fantasy?

It would seem like space fantasy is a new genre, but actually, this is a genre that came from Star Wars. I’ve seen magic, faeries, and even dragons in space lately! Is this a genre you read a lot of? If so, hit me with some recommendations in the comments!

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