S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 83

Teaser Tuesday – Fear

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

Yumi has it rough in the beginning of this book. She’s alone in a strange place, and she’s fended off rapists with her bare hands. She’s living in an unsafe space and barely getting by. So her fear response is off the charts by the time she gets out of her bad situation. She’s on edge and suffering from a bit of PTSD. Even when she’s distracted by an intimate moment with Rin, the fear is just waiting to take over and drown her again. I remember writing this little bit and laughing at how real it is. Just when we think a fear or anxious thought is gone, it lets itself back into our heads and hearts, ready to screw with us and trip us up.

Want to purchase FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT?

This book is available for pre-order 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!

The post Teaser Tuesday – Fear appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – May 13, 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.

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! For everyone else, Happy Sunday! We made it through the week. Lol.

It was quite the week around here. After returning home from Chicago last Sunday, feeling a little gimpy with my sore leg, I went straight into Monday as best I could. I got both kids to school and I came home to rest. No real long distance walking for me. I’m glad I could put my feet up and take it easy. And I did the same on Tuesday as well.

Wednesday was a long day for me. I had the cleaning ladies come in the morning, then my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments around lunch. I had to run some errands too and get gas into the car. After school, we had our last tennis lesson of the season until Fall and then softball right after. I’m glad we won’t have to go to tennis this coming week. I’m feeling really done with it.

On Thursday and Friday, I finally went walking again. My leg was sore both days so I cut my walks shorter than usual, but it’s important that I get my walking legs back before I leave for Japan next Saturday!

Saturday, we had my youngest daughter’s First Communion and family over to the house afterward to celebrate. If only the weather had been nice, we could’ve sat outside with our new deck furniture but it rained. Boo.

Today, Mother’s Day, we met up with my parents, who came up to celebrate for the First Communion, and had a really large and awesome Italian lunch at one of our favorite Italian restaurants. It was great to see my parents and spend time with them, especially on Mother’s Day.

In work news, this week I really got a move on the Daydreamer Detective novella I’m writing, MATSURI AND MURDER. It’s been a lot of fun to write so far and I’m getting into it. I hope to write more on it this week and then while I’m in Japan. By the time I get back from Japan, I’d like to be about 2/3rds of the way through and know my ending. I will have plenty of time to write while I’m on my trains to and from Tokyo, plus on the long-haul flight.

What else happened this week?

My park has been so freaking beautiful lately, I can’t even. It brings me such joy to see all the flowers and all the GREEN. I am finally feeling better after all that snow. It’s awesome.

In even better park news, I spotted goslings this week! I didn’t see any last year, so I was a little worried that this year would be a bust too. But these geese were hidden away and their little goslings were down there with them. Yay!

I treated myself to a bath bomb this week from Lush. This is the Super Mom bath bomb and, yes, it had a little cape on it. Smelled so good. I really enjoyed the fifteen minutes of peace it brought me.

This is funny. The house on the corner has this fenced-in yard that’s sloped, and their dog, Wilson, was sitting on the table to get a better of view of us walking in the street. He’s the funniest dog and really sweet. He made us both laugh on the way to school. And his owner ran outside and told him to get off the table right after I took this pic. Lol.

And finally, all the kids who took First Communion on Saturday. My daughter’s in there somewhere. Lol.

No photos from today because we’ve been relaxing.

Coming up this week on the blog: Teaser Tuesday. Then two posts on Friday, one featuring another author and then one to announce the publication of FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT!

The post Sunday Update – May 13, 2018 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Change In Perspective

You know what can change your perspective on pretty much anything? A left-handed dental hygienist.

About a year ago, my dentist switched over to some hygienists that he brought from his previous practice, and my new hygienist and I were not a good match. She was a little too rough, and I was in pain for several days after a cleaning with her. So I called my dentist, and I asked him to switch me to the other hygienist for the next visit. And she is left-handed. I remember sitting in her room for the first time, and she moved her chair to the other side of what I was used to, and I audibly gasped. “Are you left-handed? You’re my first ever left-handed hygienist!”

Have you ever thought about how that dental chair, the one in the photo attached to this post, is predominantly for right-handed people? My hygienist has to do things differently in order to clean my teeth. The equipment doesn’t move to the other side, and there’s less room over there for her chair. I have to turn my head to the left, and she’s practically on top of me while scraping away in my mouth. It doesn’t bother me though because she’s one of the best hygienists I’ve ever had. Gentle yet thorough, and she doesn’t try to talk with me the whole time. I like that.

But as I sat there in the chair this week, I daydreamed and thought for a long time about how dissimilar her training may have been to what other right-handed people experience. How many left-handed hygienists are there? Was it remarked upon every single time she was in class? Does she hate the fact that there are no chairs for left-handed people or has she just accepted it?

It was a change in perspective for me, one that has me considering how these subtle differences can influence a character in fiction, not just in real life.

Some times a change in perspective can also change your whole life. Take, for example, Paul Simon. Recently, my husband and I watched a show about Paul Simon’s Graceland. Before he wrote and produced Graceland, he was feeling pretty tired and depressed. He had put out Hearts and Bones, and he worried it wasn’t his best work. Then he heard some African beats playing somewhere and was inspired. He felt moved, like they were calling to him. So he traveled to South Africa, he met local musicians and played with them, he took the time to really listen and let the music speak to him. But it wasn’t going to be easy to use that music in his own way. No one really believed in him but a few people.

Now we all know Graceland was a huge hit, but he didn’t know that at the time. His producer remembered sitting down at Warner Music and playing the album for them and thinking, “These people are not going to get this.” It took them awhile to believe in Paul, and I bet now they’re glad they did.

Paul Simon went through that whole album mostly alone. He was taking a chance. Saying “screw you” to standards and current trends. He produced that whole album all the way to the end before he showed it to the powers that be. That takes great guts, great courage.

His change in perspective, going to Africa and experiencing something new, changed everything.

This week, inspired by Paul Simon and my left-handed hygienist, I decided to change things a little. The Miso Cozy Mysteries novella I’m writing for the DESTINATION: MURDER box set is told from Mei’s point-of-view, but with a different town and different people in her orbit, it’s totally changed her perspective and mine too. The whole scene has become more light-hearted and free, and suddenly the sense of adventure has doubled and the humor is off-the-charts! Just this little change has really re-energized me. I’m enjoying writing it, and I think you all will love it too.

I need to remember that sometimes time and a change in perspective can not just inspire us but also be life-altering. That great experiences and opportunities can be right around the corner, as long as you follow your heart and keep your options open.

The post Change In Perspective appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Teaser Tuesday – Don’t Be The Dumbest Man Alive

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

As we know from previous books, my theme of lovers from across the stars continues to be strong in this series. Yumi’s parents, Kentaro and Namika, were from different planets, and they came together to build the Minamoto name on Orihime. So it only seems fitting that Yumi has met Rin on Hikari. But just meeting someone you think you’ll click with doesn’t mean that you’ll have the opportunity to grow the relationship, or even have a normal relationship with that person.

This is a lesson Yumi and Rin learn very early on. Imagine finding someone you love and then being separated from them for a long period right in the beginning, kind of like being sent away from home by the military or something similar. Both Yumi and Rin, on their own, spend significant brain space thinking about each other, so how hard will it be once they’re together again? Hard. But Rin would be the dumbest man alive to give up a lover who came across the stars to find him.

(This was the line that my critique partner highlighted in her notes that she loved. Of course, I had to use it for a teaser!)

Want to purchase FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT?

This book is available for pre-order 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!

The post Teaser Tuesday – Don’t Be The Dumbest Man Alive appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – May 6, 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.

I’m posting this on Monday morning because I got back late on Sunday from my weekend in Chicago at the Sell More Books Show Summit! So I’ll start there with my update this week. I had a great time at the Summit, and I’m really glad I went. But one small thing marred my weekend there… I got into Chicago around lunch time on Friday. It was a beautiful day, so I dropped all my stuff at the hotel, asked the hotel manager about good restaurants nearby, and then went out for lunch. I had a lovely lunch all by myself at the bar of a local eatery, just me and my kindle, good food and a beer.

Then I decided I’d go for a walk along the lake since I was close. Everything was great until I tried to scale some huge concrete stairs over by the water. (Photo below). I jumped down one of the stairs and immediately hurt myself! I was so angry and in so much pain! I eventually limped back to the hotel and freaked out about the pain. I had to call my husband to calm down. I ended up missing all of the Friday night events which was a bummer. But I stayed in, I iced this little patch on my left leg where I had pulled something below my knee, and I watched Lost in Space on Netflix all evening. I didn’t even eat dinner. I just had a Cliff Bar and some ibuprofen and passed out at 8:30PM.

The next morning, though, my leg was much better. One of the conference attendees is a friend of mine, Chrishaun, and she looked out for me on that Saturday, and I’m so grateful for that! I’m so glad we got to spend time together and she was so kind and wonderful. Really, I’m getting teary just thinking about it.

Introducing DESTINATION: MURDER Featuring A Miso Cozy Mysteries Novella

I have an announcement to make! I was invited to contribute to a really cool box set called DESTINATION: MURDER that will publish in August! Yay! This was obviously not even on my radar a week ago, so it’s a bit unplanned. But, I knew exactly what I wanted to write for this as soon as I got the brief about it. All the stories in the set will have: a dead body, no graphic violence, a travel/destination component, and amateur sleuths.

I will be writing a novella in the Miso Cozy Mysteries series with Mei, Akiko, and Kayo traveling to Kayo’s hometown for a festival and an unplanned murder! The current working title is MATSURI AND MURDER. You can learn more about the box set here: http://www.atravelogueofmurder.com/

Pre-Order

Amazon iBooks Nook Kobo

Amazon pre-order now available!

I would love it if you would pre-order this set (only 99¢!) on Nook, iBooks, and Kobo, if you are already a customer there. We’re hoping to make the USA Today best seller list, and sales on these vendors is critical for hitting the list. Guess what? You can even get extra points in our giveaway if you do! Giveaway ends May 9th, so enter today!

Enter the giveaway now!

And murder at a matsuri!

Introducing DESTINATION MURDER Featuring A Miso Cozy Mysteries Novella

I have an announcement to make! I was invited to contribute to a really cool box set called DESTINATION MURDER that will publish in August! Yay! This was obviously not even on my radar a week ago, so it’s a bit unplanned. But, I knew exactly what I wanted to write for this as soon as I got the brief about it. All the stories in the set will have: a dead body, no graphic violence, a travel/destination component, and amateur sleuths.

I will be writing a novella in the Miso Cozy Mysteries series with Mei, Akiko, and Kayo traveling to Kayo’s hometown for a festival and an unplanned murder! The current working title is MATSURI AND MURDER. You can learn more about the box set here: http://www.atravelogueofmurder.com/

Pre-Order

iBooks Nook Kobo

Amazon pre-order is coming May 9th! I’ll update again when it’s available!

I would love it if you would pre-order this set (only 99¢!) on Nook, iBooks, and Kobo, if you are already a customer there. We’re hoping to make the USA Today best seller list, and sales on these vendors is critical for hitting the list. Guess what? You can even get extra points in our giveaway if you do! Giveaway ends May 9th, so enter today!

Enter the giveaway now!

And murder at a matsuri!

May 2018 Goals

April was here and gone in a flash! Now, on to May!

What Happened With April’s Goals?

Figure out what I have to do to be GDPR compliant. This is done so far. I have updated my privacy policy and added the cookie warnings. I will still be re-engaging my non-opens on the mailing list but probably closer to mid-May now.

Continue writing on new book. I only wrote a little on this, mainly because FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT took up most of my time.

Edit FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT. Did this. And this time I kept track of how fast I can edit so that I can better estimate my editing time on future projects.

Schedule FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT for publication in May and update website with cover. Done. Website is updated and the book is out there for pre-order.

Produce any teasers or other promotional material for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT. Done. I have made 5 teasers for the five weeks in May. The first one went live yesterday.

Plot out beginning of Daydreamer 5. This did not happen and that’s because I have been asked to write a novella for a list-aiming cozy mystery box set! More details below in May’s goals.

Figure out how to sell direct from my website. I think I know what I want to do with this but I don’t think I’ll get around to implementing it until fall.

Keep away from sweets. I did good with this goal! I’m only having a few sweets during the day and I’m now deep into intermittent fasting which is also going well.

More of the same: walking, reading, knitting. There was walking and reading. Very little knitting.

A Look Back At April

Business Goals For May

Start writing new Miso Cozy Novella. I was approached by a box set organizer to participate in a new list-aiming box set to be sold in August. The theme is murders while on vacation! You can learn more about the set here. http://www.atravelogueofmurder.com/ I haven’t been added to the list of authors yet as I was just approached this past week. I will be writing a novella with Mei, Akiko, and Kayo on vacation to Kayo’s hometown. We’ll get to meet some of her family and friends and solve a murder while we’re there. Expect this novella in August in the box set and then in late September on its own.

Keep writing on the other WIP. The first book in the Flyght series needs to be finished! I hope I can get it done by early June. Can I work on two projects at once? Let’s see!

Recompile and upload all the books of the Hikoboshi Series. I got all the covers tweaked for the Hikoboshi Series so that the titles on the covers are consistent. I also want to add a chapter preview to the end of each book. So I will be recompiling all the books and uploading the updated manuscripts and covers to all the vendors.

Replace all the covers of the HIkoboshi Series on my website. This is always a bit of an undertaking. Not only do I have to replace the cover images but also all the supporting images that use the cover, like the Twitter Cards, the sidebar image, and the smaller thumbnails in the media kit. I always forget something.

Travel to Chicago May 4-6 for the Sell More Books Show Summit. I will be gone this coming weekend at a conference in Chicago. I’m so looking forward to this! Not only will I be meeting lots of authors and learning new stuff, but I hope to see some of Chicago while I’m there. I’ll also be visiting an old friend who I haven’t seen in YEARS. It’ll be a nice weekend.

Personal Goals For May

Handle my youngest daughter’s First Communion. Thankfully this is mostly my husband’s job as he’s in charge of that area of our life. But still, this will involve lots of cleaning and entertaining.

Figure out how to use this gimble thing I bought. I bought this thing for my phone. It’s basically a combo selfie-stick and steady cam so you can take steady videos. I want to learn to use it before I leave for Japan. There are tutorials on YouTube, thank god.

Plan out my trip and go to Japan! Yes! It’s almost here! I’ll be in Japan May 19th-29th! And there’s lots of prep work involved in this as well. I have my JR Rail Pass and I’ve purchased my mobile wifi hot spot (which will be delivered to the hotel for me). Now I just need to plan out what I’m doing and when. I have most everything set. I have rooms booked in both Kanazawa and Kyoto. I have a tea farm tour booked. Now I just need to figure out what to do each day and which trains to take. Should be a lot of fun! I’ll get started on the planning next week.

Continue to keep away from sweets and keep practicing intermittent fasting. So far so good with my new eating lifestyle. Let’s keep it up!

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

Have a great May everybody!

The post May 2018 Goals appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Teaser Tuesday – The Waves Of Change

It’s the first Teaser Tuesday for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT! I’ll be bringing the teasers for all the Tuesdays in May so stay with me and learn more about the third book of the Hikoboshi Series!

One thing to remember about Yumi’s journey to the Hikoboshi system is that she was meant to be an observer. Her official role on the team was to document their mission and bring the news back to everyone on Orihime. So, while she’s definitely a fighter and she can defend herself, she’s not a leader. There’s no way she’s going to stop a war that’s rising up around her. The best she can do is to secure an alliance and choose the right partners. Because ultimately, she wants to go home.

Want to purchase FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT?

This book is available for pre-order 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!

The post Teaser Tuesday – The Waves Of Change appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – April 29, 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.

Last week just flew right on by!

We started the week on Sunday by purchasing real, grown-up deck furniture! And then we went out to eat as a family.

Monday it was back to work and school. I finished up my read-through of FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT and went for a walk in the park. Spring has finally made it to my corner of the globe and all the trees in the park are blooming. It’s been a beautiful week around here.

Tuesday, I spent the morning at Costco, and in the afternoon, I took both my girls to get their haircuts. They both got a lot of hair chopped off and now it’s so much more manageable for them.

Wednesday was the longest day. I had the cleaning ladies here in the morning (which always requires prep work to put stuff away prior to them showing up), then chiropractor and acupuncture, then a quick parent-teacher meeting, then tennis lessons. It rained all day, and even though that was rough, it saved us from also having to go to softball practice. That gave us a small break for us to eat dinner before we left for the school Art Show that evening. By the time I got home, I was beat.

Thursday turned out to be a nice day. I went for a walk in the morning and then got some work done. FUSKUSHA MODEL EIGHT made it out to ARC Readers, and then I took my girls out for frozen yogurt in the afternoon to celebrate.

On Friday, I had another busy morning. I went and got my haircut first thing and came home to find the deck furniture we bought arrived. Then I took the afternoon off and watched some Firefly. Somedays you just need a little break. FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT went out for official pre-order and I managed to get a few sales!

Saturday turned out to be busy too. I slept horribly and then the kids had piano lessons bright and early at 9am. Then I dropped off youngest for her softball practice before her game, ran to the outdoor furniture store, picked up our cushions and umbrella base, ran back to watch the softball game, then I spent the rest of the afternoon helping my youngest with her culture country project for school. I tried to take a nap but the kids kept waking me up.

Today, I went for a walk and we finished up the culture country project. I got some more work done and now I’m here writing this post. Phew. I’m exhausted again! I need to go to bed early.

What else happened this week?

The park was super pretty and the turtles were out on their log!

I enjoyed a very yummy raspberry mojito.

The school Art Show was full of great art!

Frozen yogurt was one of my better ideas for the week.

We had geese on our roof and the next door neighbor’s roof one morning. It was really strange to see them up there.

And I really love our new deck furniture. I plan to be out there writing as much as possible this summer.

Don’t forget that you can follow me on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/spajonas/

Coming up this week on the blog: The first Teaser Tuesday for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT, May Goals (on Wednesday), and then I’m not sure. We shall see!

The post Sunday Update – April 29, 2018 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.