S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 85

Fox Watch 2018 – Part 1

I literally am still writing 2017 as the date (as I did on this post before I corrected it). It’s APRIL, STEPHANIE!!

Here’s an unplanned post! I have a family of foxes now living in my backyard and the yard behind mine! I’m so excited and so is my whole family. When we first saw the Mama Fox had moved into the old groundhog den, we were overjoyed. I would rather have a fox living there than groundhogs. Foxes keep other pests from my property and they don’t dig up my house foundation. They’re scared of people, too, so I don’t have to worry about them around my kids. They always run away. I’m very pleased to have them here. Plus, foxes are my favorite animal ever. I love them so much! So this is an extra treat for me.

I’ll try to get better pictures soon with my good camera!

There was nothing more amazing than seeing her with her orange coat and fluffy tail sit on the lawn like she owned the place. Then she went into her den and brought out a kit, and I nearly lost my mind with glee. Oh my god. The little thing was so cute!! And then the kits kept on coming and soon all five were playing on the lawn and having a great time. I could spend all my free time watching them, I really could.

Obviously, I’m not watching them all the time, though. Foxes are edges-of-the-day creatures and we see them the most at dawn and dusk and sometimes after school. I went out and bought a hunting/game camera and now have it set up near where they live. I hope to catch them on camera with it soon and show you all!

This morning was fun. We witnessed Mama Fox return to her den with a dead squirrel in her mouth. Good job, Mama! She then hid it away and went back out for more food for her babies. She’s an excellent Fox Mommy. I’m really in love with her. Lol.

Here are two videos I captured with my phone these past two days. I’ll be back with more fox sightings soon!

Aren’t they adorable? Gah! I’m so happy!

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Top Ten Books I Loved But Will Never Re-Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted every week by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This one turned out to be a really hard list to generate. In general, if I finish a book and enjoyed it, I’m always happy to read it again. The books I hate or didn’t finish are the ones I would, obviously, never re-read. But it turns out that if I think hard enough. I can barely come up with ten books for this one. The first five were easy. After that, I struggled!

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell – This first one was easy. I loved this book. I hated what happened to the main character in this book and the alien civilization disturbed me. I did read the sequel and I won’t read that one again either.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova – This book was really good but sllllooooooooowwwwww. I’d need a few years of reading time to get through it again. But I still recommend it if you like Dracula and vampires. It’s literally the ONLY vampire book I’ve ever read.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke – Have you read this book? It’s fantastic. But it’s also slllllooooooow as all get-out. I will never re-read it because, just like The Historian, I will probably never make it through it again.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – Dude. Outlander has like over 30,000 reviews on Amazon! I did enjoy this novel immensely but I see no need to re-read it especially since I couldn’t get through the second book of the series. It would be one thing if I read them all and loved them, but I didn’t. Now, I do really want to watch the show on Starz, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson‎ – This whole series is amazing and disturbing. I can still picture all the awful things that happened to Lisbeth. Loved it, but I don’t think I could re-read it. I like happier books now.

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami – There’s a reason why the blurb for this book says it’s “haunting.” Honestly, this book was so fascinating and a deep look at the Japanese psyche, but I can’t read it again. Hearing how those cult terrorists preyed on innocent lives that day really strikes me as just plain evil. I have a hard time not thinking about it constantly.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold – There’s a reason why this book has so many reviews and was made into a movie. But I couldn’t watch the movie. I can barely think about the book. I have two daughters and this book makes me want to cry when I think of them. There’s one thing from this book that has always stuck with me, and I don’t know why. It was just a small line about the daughter wanting to know how to shave her legs, and the father, who’s raising her now, remembers how his wife never shaved above her knees unless she was going to wear a bathing suit. The little details in this book are amazing, but I can’t ever read it again. Seriously, I’m getting choked up just writing this.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – Another twisty-turny book with lots of things to think about and wonder about. I really enjoyed it, but I don’t see the need to read it again.

Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya – I don’t know what’s up with this book now. It looks like it’s been self-published by a 4-year-old with minimal design skills. Sigh. Anyway, I read this book in college and it really struck home just how horrid conditions can be in India. Really depressing and yet thought-provoking. I thought the book was well-written and a real eye-opener. I will never read it again. I can just watch or read the news from Asia to get the same story almost 70 years later (I think it was published in 1955 or thereabouts).

If I Stay by Gayle Forman – This was an absolutely beautiful story and Gayle Forman is a master storyteller. But once again, all I can think about is my children dying when I read a book like this, and then I know I’ll never read it again. So, yeah.

What books have you loved but will never re-read? Tell me in the comments!

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Sunday Update – April 8, 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.

Sit down and get comfortable. I haven’t done one of these in two weeks so I have plenty to share, y’all! Notice I said y’all. After a week in the South, it comes easy.

The week before Easter went about as well as expected. The weather was still crap, and there were a few things we had to do that made things difficult, but we got everything done before vacation. Easter weekend was nice too. We went to my in-laws on Long Island to have Easter Sunday brunch and dinner and do an Easter egg hunt in the yard. It’s tradition, and we love it. The weather was lovely for the day too! Bright and sunny and warm enough outside to be without a jacket.

Then that night and the very next day, it snowed. OF COURSE IT SNOWED. Because we were to leave on vacation. The snow stopped mid-morning, we dug ourselves out, and then we left to drive to JFK to get our flight. We got really lucky and hit absolutely no traffic on the way there. I don’t think we’ve ever made it to JFK in under an hour but we did. Once we were checked in, we ate sushi at the fancy sushi restaurant in the Jet Blue terminal and then waited for our flight. Our flight was a little delayed but not too bad. We got the kids pizza for dinner on the plane and my husband and I had sandwiches. We made it to my parents later than we would’ve liked but we were on vacation!

Tuesday, we went to the beach after my husband and my dad got back from golfing. Then we had dinner at a great restaurant nearby.

Wednesday, my husband and I went on to see some historic houses in Charleston, and we had lunch in the city then dinner back at home.

On Thursday, my mom and I took the kids to the Children’s Museum in the city, had lunch out, then my husband and I had our traditional yearly date out for dinner and drinks without the kids.

On Friday, we went to the beach in the morning and it was just lovely. The weather was cool and there was no traffic down to the beach! When we were done there, we went out to lunch and I had a huge bucket of crab. Mmmmmm. Then I met up with fellow author, Sarra Cannon, for coffee and we talked for almost 3 hours straight! It was so good to see her and hang out.

On Saturday, we flew home in the morning and were home by 1pm. Vacation was over.

On Vacation Through April 7th!

Hey everyone! Here’s a quick admin note that I’m on vacation through April 7th, returning to the blog to update on Sunday, April 8th. It’s finally time for vacation! The bags are packed (not really), the plane tickets are booked, the house sitter is sitting, and I’m ready to kick back and read for a whole week. And hopefully get some sun too.

Have a Happy Easter, if you celebrate, and I’ll see you back here in a week.

xo, S. J.

(Image above is from last year’s vacation. I’m hoping for more of the same. Can’t wait!)

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April 2018 Goals

I’m publishing this a few days early since I’m going on vacation soon. March was one of the better months we’ve had here in a while. Everyone was illness free for the majority of the month, and though we had a lot of snow days, we still managed to make it through!

What Happened With March’s Goals?

Write something new! I did this! And so far, the writing is going well and I’m really enjoying myself. There’s a lot going on in the publishing world right now that might make it difficult for me to publish this book, but we shall see. It’ll be many months before I get around to it, and I have a feeling that the way I’m writing this will not cause any issues. Sorry for the vagueness, but everything is currently a mess anyway, so it’s not like I can be specific.

Start playing around with Amazon Polly. I did this and quickly realized that this is just not something I want to do. I had Amazon Polly read to me the first scene of the first chapter of REMOVED. It took me a week of evenings to put it together and I don’t LOVE it. It’s fun, but not what I was hoping for. In the end, I’d rather spend time writing. So I’m going to make an MP3 of what I did and post it on the blog but that will be about it, and I won’t be continuing down this path any further.

Update back matter in Nogiku Series. This is done. I accomplished this at the beginning of the month and now the back matter is consistent across REMOVED and all the Omnibuses. That was all I was willing to do right now.

Come up with a solid idea for Daydreamer 5. I came up with the kernel of an idea! I hope to solidify this next month.

Make it through this month. Made it! *blows on nails*

More of the same: walking, reading, knitting. Done, done, and done. I even finished a knit and started a new one!

A Look Back at March

VIDEO TO COME ON MARCH 31st.

Business Goals For April

Figure out what I have to do to be GDPR compliant. The vast majority of my readers are in the U.S. but I have a few in the E.U. There are a few updates I have to implement to my system for sending email updates to remain compliant to the GDPR which goes into effect in May. I will also be purging my email list of non-openers to hopefully decrease my liability. This will be a big confusing task, but it needs to be done.

Continue writing on new book. I’d like to continue writing on this book and finish it in April. I think I can do that.

Edit FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT. I have some feedback from readers but most everything has been super positive so far. I don’t expect any big changes. I plan to make a few corrections and get right on copy edits.

Schedule FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT for publication in May and update website with cover. When edits are done and the ARCs are off to readers and proofreaders, I will update the website and blog with all the information including the cover and purchase links. I plan to allow 2 weeks for preorders.

Produce any teasers or other promotional material for FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT. I don’t plan to do much here. Really, the most important thing is just writing and releasing.

Plot out beginning of Daydreamer 5. I plan to start writing this book in May sporadically. May is a VERY busy month with lots of travel including going to Japan so I’d like to be prepared.

Figure out how to sell direct from my website. With everything happening on Amazon, Apple, and more with the banning of sexual content, I want to start selling from my own website. I need to research how to do this this month.

Personal Goals For April

Keep away from sweets. Though I’m allowing myself to have some sweets during the day, my absolute cut-off is 7PM every day. I’m also staying away from alcohol during the week since it’s usually full of sugar. I find that I’m sleeping a whole lot better if I have a good dinner, I’m done eating by 7PM, and I have nothing else sweet after. I think blood sugar has been keeping me awake at night, and this has so far been the case with my experiments. If I’m really craving something, I allow myself a cup of herbal tea in the evenings with a little non-caloric sweetener like monkfruit. I allow myself alcohol on the weekend or on vacation.

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

Hope you all have a great April!

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TV Recommendation – Death In Paradise

Since many of you read my cozy mysteries, I thought you might like Death in Paradise! We started watching this show on Netflix a few weeks ago and it’s been a lot fun so far. It came recommended in a Mysteries and Thrillers group I belong to on Facebook, so I added it to my Netflix queue ages ago before we finally got around to it. My husband and I had watched pretty much ALL the sci-fi shows available, and we figured this would be a great palate cleanser.

Image copyright BBC.

Indeed it is. We’re only in the second season so far (so no spoilers!) but I know the cast changes soon, either in the next season or the one after that. Right now, we’re enjoying watching Richard, Camille, Dwayne, and Fidel solve crimes on the fictional island of Saint Marie in the Caribbean.

Some charms include looks at island life, jokes about the French, the very Britishness of the main detective, and the various set-ups for murder. I’ve already been inspired by several storylines for The Miso Cozy Mysteries series! It’s been a while since I watched a mystery show that I forget all the different ways a murder can play out. This show has been good for reminding me of all the different tropes I can pull from.

Plus, sigh. I love the tropics. I want to live on an island someday. Some place hot all the time. I will just be sure to not dress in a suit constantly. Lol.

I highly recommend queuing up this show. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Have you watched Death In Paradise? Do you have any other mystery shows I might be interested in? Let me know in the comments!

(Images copyrighted by BBC and used here to promote the show.)

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Work In Progress Wednesday – A Little Backstory

It’s WIP Wednesday! I thought, since we’re nearing the end of my month of working on something new, I would share a little snippet from it so you can see where I’m going with this series. Here, my main character, Vivian, is talking with her mom and I try to convey a lot of history in a few short sentences.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Don’t be,” she says, lifting her head. “I’m the sorry one. I was supposed to give you this house and farm after all of your hard work. I have totally failed as a parent, both for you and for Tomu as well.”

“Mom, Tomu’s actions have nothing to do with you.” I let my fingers rest on Frogger’s head and he licks them.

“What if I had treated him better? Gave him more money, more freedom? What if he had inherited the land and house, like they used to on Earth?

Anger heats my face. “Because we’re the minority here, Mom. Fifteen percent. Fifteen,” I stress. “Because a bunch of idiot men a long time ago decided that men were more reliable and better planetary settlers, so they made changes that almost wiped us out as a race because, oops! Guess what? Men can’t have babies. And lord knows, they tried.”

“I know, I know. I just never thought that I would give birth to an idiot.”

I sigh, trying to dissipate some of the heat of my anger. “As angry as I am at Tomu, I know he’s smart, too smart for his own good. He’s gotten himself in some kind of trouble. I can feel it. I just need to find out what that is.”

Yeah, this has been a lot of fun to write!! I love family dynamics. All of my books have them. This one will be no different.

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Top Ten Books That Take Place In Another Country

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted every week by That Artsy Reader Girl.

When I saw this one, I just knew I had to play along!

Of course, there will be a few books on this list that take place in Japan, but many more that take place in other countries as well! Let’s get right to them.

Watermelon by Marian Keyes – Believe it or not, I’m friends with Marian’s younger sister and she was the one that introduced me to her books. I love this one, and it introduces one of my favorite fictional families, the Walsh family. So full of charm! Countries: Ireland.

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith – Almost everyone knows this book because it was made into a series on HBO. This was the series that introduced me to the cozy mystery genre all those years ago. I love Africa, so this was a no-brainer for me. Countries: Botswana.

Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami – This book was on my last Top 10 list because it’s so important to me when it comes to storytelling. Countries: Japan, China, and Malta.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – If you’re going to win me over with a YA romance, this is the one to recommend. I loved to experience all the seasons of Paris with Anna. Countries: France.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck – Not only is this a harrowing tale, but you’ll get a good look at a China you’ll barely recognize from today’s China. Countries: China, obviously.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami – This surreal tale has stuck with me for a long time, and when I re-read it a few years ago, it was still one of my favorites. Countries: Japan and Greece.

Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling – Of course, I had to bring back Harry Potter! Though there are tons of amazing books that take place in London and the U.K., this one is the most well known. Countries: England and Hogwarts.

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood – I remember reading this and feeling the pull of the story within a story within a story, but it’s all set against the backdrop of Canadian home life, which was interesting as well. It won the Booker Prize, so not a surprise there that this is a complex and fascinating book. Countries: Canada.

Bangkok 8: A Royal Thai Detective Novel by John Burdett – I’ve been to Thailand and I have a fascination with the country and its people, so this book really appealed to me (except for the snakes, ugh, snakes). It was interesting to see a mystery from a Buddhist Thai cop’s perspective. I read the first two books in this series. Countries: Thailand.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson‎ – Fun fact! My husband bought me a Kindle (the second generation one with the keyboard) for my birthday in 2010, and this was the very first book I bought for it! I’m not usually a thriller reader but this series captured my attention and held on for quite some time. Countries: Sweden.

Honorable mention: Summer Haikus by S. J. Pajonas – It would be dumb of me to not mention one of my own books that takes place in Japan! I loved writing this book because I got to travel with Isa and Masa to my favorite places in Tokyo including Asakusa, Kichijoji, and more!

What’s your favorite book that takes place in a foreign country? Tell me in the comments!

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Sunday Update – March 25, 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.

Admin note: there will not be a Sunday Update next week as I’ll be on vacation (FINALLY).

So we had another week with some snow days AGAIN. I’m really hoping that’s the last big snow fall of the season. I will totally lose my mind if we have another snow day! Another Nor’easter blew through my area on Wednesday and my state was closed because of it. This meant the schools were closed too. Then my kids had a delayed opening the next day. My husband had to be into work early in the morning, so that left me to deal with all the snow. I used the snow blower and took care of it, but it was over an hour of work before I had caffeine or breakfast. I was exhausted the rest of the day.

The other big thing that happened this week was that my oldest daughter turned 11. I wrote a little post about it on the blog, if you missed it. We took her out to dinner for her birthday, had some cake, and she got a new doll from us. She’s a very happy camper.

On Saturday, we had family over to celebrate her birthday as well. It was an all-day affair. We spent the entire morning cleaning, then the entire afternoon entertaining. The evening was spent cleaning up and hunkering down on the couch. My daughter had a great time and it was nice to see family!

I’ve been writing! I think I only skipped one day of writing this week, on Saturday. I’ve been giving myself a small goal of 1000 words a day (considering I have friends that write 5k-8k per day, it’s small) but I’ve been going over that most days. My world is shaping up along with my characters, where they’ll be going and what they’ll be doing. I want to slow down and start making my series bible of what I’ve written already but I’m afraid to lose forward momentum. I think I’ll just keep writing and start the series bible on the first read-through. I’m having a lot of fun with it, and that’s what matters the most.

What else happened this week?

I started my new knitting project and it’s going well so far!

Pretty sunrises get the day going.

This has become my favorite lunch.

The moment I met my first child 11 years ago.

She had a small Easter cake on her birthday, then an ice cream cake yesterday for her family party.

Pistachios are my go-to afternoon snack.

And my husband finished up the repair of the couch by repairing the other side (“my side”).

Coming up this week on the blog: Top 10 Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, a post about a show we’ve been enjoying on Netflix, and then a notice that I’ll be off for the week!

If you want more photos from me, please follow me on Instagram at @spajonas.

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11 Years Ago Today…

I was going to write a post about how much I hate spammers because that’s what I’ve been dealing with on this website the last three days, but instead, let’s focus on something sweet and wonderful.

Today is my oldest daughter’s 11th birthday! I remember when my husband and I got married, and I thought kids were a far off and distant thing for us. I couldn’t even picture myself pregnant or taking care of a baby. I felt still so young and selfish. The whole situation didn’t even seem remotely possible.

Then the inevitable happened, and I was pregnant… and I hated it. Lol. I still laugh at this because my hatred for pregnancy cannot be topped. I even hate it more than winter! It does not agree with me at all. I was sick for so long, and tired, and in a lot of pain (and the same held true for my second pregnancy which was even worse). There was nothing I wanted more than that baby to be out of me and on the outside.

So, of course, my Peanut, which is what I called her in the womb, was late. Over a week late. And even when I went to the hospital to get induced, I WAS THERE FOR THREE DAYS. I am not kidding. The nurses on that ward whispered to each other, “Dr. So-and-so has had a patient here for THREE DAYS!” *gasp* *shock*

Eventually, yes, she was born after much pushing and many drugs. The eviction notice was sent and abided by! She came out clutching her umbilical cord and demanding to go back in. Lol. Sorry, kid. My body’s my own now!

I love this kid so much. She’s always been full of life and happiness, demanding and stubborn too. We had a really difficult first 7 years together until all the signals connected correctly in her head, but now, that all feels like a dream. We even joke about it together sometimes. I’ll say, “Hey remember those two years you refused to sleep at night?” and she’ll say, “Mommy, I love sleeping now. You don’t need to remind me.” Hell, yes, I do! That’s my job as mama.

Now, she’s almost as tall as I am. She’s in middle school, has her own phone, and a definite idea of what makes for a good birthday (cake AND ice cream, don’t skimp!)

Happy birthday to my oldest daughter! I hope the world stays bright and cheery for you the rest of your life. Your daddy, sister, and I love you so much.

xoxo

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