S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 86

Hopefully I’ve Fixed The Email Updates Plugin… Hopefully

Lots has been going on behind the scenes here on the blog/website. I was alerted by a friend recently that the sign-up box for my automatic email updates on the blog wasn’t working correctly. She kept getting an error that the MailPoet server couldn’t be reached when trying to sign-up. I tested it several times and it always worked for me, so I thought it was an intermittent problem. But I contacted the company I bought the plugin from and they advised me that the form was probably having caching problems! Ugh! I now wonder how many people have been trying to sign up and getting errors!

Anyway, I switched over the form yesterday and now I’m getting a lot more sign-ups than I’ve ever had since I ported over to this new system. Double ugh. I have a feeling many people have been trying to use it and it wasn’t working. Now I’m also stuck in a conundrum because I see lots of people signing up and not confirming their subscription in the double opt-in. I see that the Amazon email system is actually sending these emails, so I hope those people are getting them.

If you’re one of the people who has been trying to sign-up to my updates but failing, you’re welcome to comment on this post or contact me personally. I’ll figure out how I can help you!

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Featuring SWEET & WILD By Viv Daniels

Today, we have Viv Daniels here to talk about her contemporary romance, SWEET & WILD. I love this series and its covers especially!

I asked Viv, “What was your favorite part about writing SWEET & WILD?”

She replied…

My favorite part of writing Sweet & Wild is that Hannah, my heroine, is a secret super-fan of horror movies. She’s seen everything and she keeps a pseudonymous blog called The Final Girl where she discusses the horror genre and gets in debates with other fans (mostly male). And *no one* in her life knows about it. I am nothing like Hannah — I’m the biggest wimp ever when it comes to horror movies, though I’m fascinated by the genre and how it manages to say all these really interesting, subversive things while no one in high art circles is paying attention to it (a little bit like romance, amirite?) But in order to make Hannah a credible horror fan, I had to do a ton of research into what movies she’d watch and like and what she’d think about some of the more misogynistic tendencies in horror, and how she’d champion more feminist or progressive horror films instead. I think I read more plot summaries and reviews of horror films than an actual lover of the genre!

Omg, horror films scare the crap out of me! I’m with you Viv. I’m a total wimp. I cannot take them. And the funny thing is that people ask me about Japanese horror films all the time because they know I love Japan. I have nothing to recommend! Lol.

From author Viv Daniels comes a sexy new opposites-attract romance!

She’s done being sweet…

Six months ago, Hannah Swift’s perfect life fell apart. She learned her prominent businessman father had a secret family, she was diagnosed with a chronic illness, and to top it off, her boyfriend left her… for her own half-sister. She’s ready to put the past behind her, but her wealthy, image-obsessed parents are insisting that she finish college on their terms and keep setting her up on blind dates that feel more like corporate mergers. Hannah’s had enough.

Now it’s time to get wild…

Enter Boone, a bad boy with a pick-up truck, a killer smile, and a sexy dare: one night, no rules. Except what starts out as a fling soon turns serious. Boone is everything Hannah has never allowed herself to want, but he may be exactly what she needs.

Yet behind the gorgeous blue eyes and well-worn jeans, Boone has secrets of his own. When their pasts come crashing down, who will be there to pick up the pieces?

Check out SWEET & WILD on…
Amazon iBooks Nook Kobo Google Play

Find This Author Online

Want to learn more about Viv Daniels? You can find her online here…

https://www.facebook.com/vivdanielsbooks/

https://twitter.com/VivDaniels

Do you like horror films?

I’m a huge wimp and cannot watch horror films. Suspense films are hard for me too, but I make myself watch them anyway (through my fingers).

Sunday Update – March 18, 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 finally catching on that I can join up to the Sunday meme with Caffeinated Reviewer, so I’ll be doing that from now on. This is a good place to find more bloggers, if you’re an author or reader looking for more blogs to follow!

Anyway, this week was finally back to normal. No snow storms. No more snow days. It was sure cold, but my kids made it to school and home every day, and that’s what matters. The biggest thing to happen this week was my oldest going on her 5th grade team-building trip to a YMCA camp for the day. She didn’t get home until after 9PM! It was a long day for her.

Otherwise, nothing much else happened around here except for my husband working late almost every single night. That was unusual for him, so I did my best to hold down the fort while he was out doing his thing.

I worked on my new book in the new series! I’m trying something really new here, and I’m a little worried that it’s a bit outside my brand… but I’m willing to give it a shot! It’s till sci-fi, but it’s in a different connected solar system than all my other books. In one solar system, the culture is Brazilian and Japanese Brazilian, and then the other is Californian. And I have turned the paradigm upside down too, with women holding a lot of power because of their decreased numbers. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m enjoying pondering what will happen next in almost every interaction. And that’s all I’m going to say on that until I decide to share a snippet!

I’m glad I had one good, easy week this past week because my coming week is looking a little dire. Lots of school half-days, which throw a wrench in planning, and then my oldest daughter is turning 11 on Thursday! Where does the time go?

What else happened this week?

I got to wear my knew knit out and about after taking photos of it. ICYMI – Here’s my Knitting FO post!

We went to the Scholastic book fair at the school and, of course, my youngest got some ridiculous rock thing.

I was walking home one morning after dropping the kids off and saw this pretty rainbow in the clouds.

I crossed the 10k mark on the new book! Always a fun milestone!

I picked out the yarns for my next knitting project.

Sumo wrestling has started back up again for the March Tournament in Osaka. This rikishi, Ichinojo, is our current obsession. This man is HUGE. He is tall, and when he fights, he’s like a wall of man. It’s no surprise that he’s won almost all of his bouts. The only way to defeat this guy is to go in high and push him up off his center of gravity. Not many of the rikishi can do this.

There are still lots of downed and broken trees in our park. That snowstorm we had was pretty destructive.

We have decided that our 7 year old couch needs repairs. All the cushions are deflated and need help. So my husband watched a bunch of YouTube videos and we ordered up the supplies. He repaired one cushion today and the rest will get repaired next Friday. The first one is always the hardest as you figure out what needs to be done.

I did not want to hear from the kids today that they were bored, so I gave them fabric scraps, stuffing, a stapler, and a hot glue gun and I showed them how to make pillows for their American Girl dolls. Then I went out for a walk. Lol.

Coming up this week on the blog: another author feature, and a few other posts I’ve been thinking about.

Knitting FO – Trillian

I’m so pleased that I can post about another finished knit within a year of finishing my last knit! Lol. It’s not like I’m churning out knits every month around here. I mostly knit on my WIPs when I have downtime between books or when I’m really brainstorming something, which is why I was able to finish this little beauty last weekend!

This is Trillian by Martina Behm in Ellen’s Half Pint Farms Merino Nylon. (I could have sworn this was superwash, but apparently my memory deceives me which no one will be surprised about.) I bought this yarn about 8-10 years ago at Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool festival and I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so it sat in my stash for ages. When I decided I wanted something simple to knit while dictating my last book, this pattern and yarn jumped forward to do the job.

I memorized this pattern pretty quickly, which made it easy to pick up and put down again. Perfect for when my brain was fried or if I wanted to listen to podcasts while knitting.

All in all, it was an enjoyable knit, and since this is the second shawl I’ve knit by this designer, I’m sure I’ll knit more of her designs in the future.

Here are the details!

Trillian

by Martina Behm

(View this project on Ravelry)

Needles

US 5 – 3.75 mm

Yarn

Ellen’s Half Pint Farm Merino Nylon Sock – Rainbow

Started – June 1 2017

Completed – March 10 2018

Now I wonder what I’m going to make next!

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Featuring FRENCH VANILLA & FELONIES By Erin Huss

Today, we have Erin Huss here to talk about her cozy mystery, FRENCH VANILLA & FELONIES.

I asked Erin, “What inspired you to write the Cambria Clyne Mysteries?”

She replied…

I’ve been blogging at The Apartment Manager’s Blog for seven years now, where landlords from all over the world send me stories and pictures. It’s a hilariously awful industry filled with hoarders, drug dealers and, yes, the occasional murder. I knew it had to be a book!

Let me tell you, friends. I ordered this book right away. After living in New York City for over 10 years, I saw my fair share of apartment drama (and was involved in some drama myself, accidentally) so I just know there’s going to be some great plots in this mystery series. I can’t wait to read it!

From author Erin Huss comes an “uproariously funny” (InD’Tale Magazine) new mystery…

When Cambria Clyne—klutzy, twenty-something single mom—takes the job of an apartment manager at an LA complex, she hopes her run of bad luck is finally coming to an end. She’s got a nice home for her daughter, a steady source of income, and the cute maintenance guy is certainly a nice perk! But her luck takes a bad turn again when a dead body turns up, a crime spree takes over the community, and Cambria finds her complex squarely at the center of it all!

With her dream job suddenly on the line, Cambria dons her detective hat to get to the truth—after all, she’s watched enough crime shows on TV to know how to catch a perp! Or so she hopes as she wades through a streaker in apartment 40, an ex-con with a shady agenda, an overly frisky retired couple, and the suspiciously sneaky dealings of the dentist in apartment 36. But will Cambria be able to catch a killer… or will she get caught up in his game and lose it all?

Check out FRENCH VANILLA & FELONIES on…
Amazon iBooks Nook Kobo Google Play

Find This Author Online

Want to learn more about Erin Huss? You can find her online here…

http://www.facebook.com/authorerinhuss

http://www.facebook.com/theapartmentmanagersblog

http://www.twitter.com/erinhoganhuss

http://www.instagram.com/erinhuss

Have you ever managed a property?

I have never managed property but I know a ton of people who have! If you’ve managed a property before, what’s a fun story you like to tell people about the property and the people who live there?

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Sunday Update – March 11, 2018

First off, it’s the 7th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that took place on March 11, 2011. It’s an event that marks not only a turning point for Japan, but also one personally for me. So I always take a moment to remember all that died that day and the impact that has had on the Japan of now and the world into the future.

It was another crazy week here. Honestly, I long for a week where nothing weird happens and everything goes according to plan. That did not happen this week!

Monday and Tuesday were all fine and good. The weather cooperated and we got plenty done. My youngest had her last day at her theater camp at school, too. She had a good time in that class, but now it’s done! I knew there was a big storm coming on Wednesday so I went grocery shopping on Tuesday and got all stocked up.

Then yes, we had a huge storm on Wednesday. You can read more about it here. It was so big that it knocked out power to over 2000 homes in my community. We got a lot of snow and it killed a lot of trees. One of them on my property is split down the middle and I’m afraid it’s not salvageable.

Due to the snow, the kids had off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We’ve been stuck at home for days now! Today I went out for a walk because I hadn’t left the house in 5 days and I needed to get out. My park is kind of a mess. Only half the loop has been plowed and there are a ton of trees down.

I can’t wait for summer.

In writing news, I’m almost at 5000 words on the new novel. I didn’t have a lot of writing time due to the kids home, but I got some in, and I’m gelling up all of my ideas. I feel confident now that this will be a good, fun story. I’m going to keep writing!

What else happened this week?

I tuned out the world, listened to my podcasts, and finished this knit! I’ll be washing and blocking it tonight, and Finished Object photos to come this week!

We got a lot of snow. A lot.

These patches of ice on the grass, before the snow came, were very cool.

I took a walk in the park today and all the benches had this much snow on them still.

Check out this crow sitting on the very top of this pine tree. Birds have no fear.

Yes, I used the Ultra Awesome template to get another book going. Then I wrote the first 1000 words! (I’m almost at 5000 words now).

And then I needed this drink something fierce by the time the weekend came. Lol.

Coming up this week on the blog: I’ll be featuring two authors and their books this week, one cozy mystery and one sci-fi, a knitting finished object, and maybe something more!

Find more of my photos on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/spajonas/

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An Unrelenting Winter

As many of you know, I’m not a winter person. Hoo boy, I’m about the farthest from being a winter person a person could be. My husband likes to say, “But you grew up in Michigan!” Yes, I did. And I had my fill of it while I was there, thank you very much. Still, snow? Cold? Ice? No. I say no to all of that.

I live in the Northeast of the United States, about twenty minutes outside of New York City. I don’t really expect to avoid winter here, of course. We’re still far enough north to get a decent snow or two each year. But the past two warm winters totally sucked me into believing that winter wasn’t all that bad. Mother Nature said, “See? I can be easy to get along with.”

This year she said, “Look here. I’ll do whatever I want. And it will SNOW.”

If you missed the news, we’ve had some snow here. New York City and Long Island lucked out and got rain and slush. What happened to us? We got close to 14 inches of the heavy stuff.

God, it was so heavy it took out a good number of my favorite pieces of landscaping. Our beautiful Dogwood tree? Completely toast. The snow was so heavy, it clung to the branches and split the trunk right down the center. I’m so bummed. This tree was big and beautiful, and it bloomed too. White flowers! Ugh. I’m so sad it’s gone. The snow also did a number on a lilac bush that was struggling anyway, and also killed a bush.

The kids have been home since Wednesday. My town got hit so hard that about 500 homes are still without power and there are still downed power lines in the street. It wasn’t safe for the kids to go to school. I blame the young one for wanting “more than one snow day.” Well, she got her wish. Why is it that they always want a snow day and then by 11am THEY’RE SO BORED? Lol. I made them clean the house yesterday. No use letting that slave labor go to waste. Today, maybe we’ll bake and do a puzzle.

I’m not getting much writing done. A few words here and there as I feel out the first chapter of this book. I’ve been doing other things instead like my work on the Amazon Polly version of REMOVED. That’s going well, if slow.

So if you have any snow-day activities you’d like to suggest for two kids, 7 and 10, who are bored out of their skulls (that hopefully don’t require too much in parental supervision), please leave them in the comments. I’m desperate. Help!!

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Work In Progress Wednesday – A Snippet From FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT

It’s WIP Wednesday! An idea I totally just stole from my critique partner, Tracy Krimmer. Since it’s snowing like gangbusters outside and I feel like staying under the covers, here’s a snippet from FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT, which I just finished the other day. It’s still technically a WIP since it’s in its first draft state.

Chop, chop, chop.

I learned a lot from Kay, the android metronome, at K&G Noodles.

Saki and I stand next to each other and chop vegetables for tomorrow’s shift. Better to stay late and prep for the next day rather than come in early. The lunch and evening shifts were hectic, and my feet hurt standing in the clogs I bought in Shin-Osaka. I pause, looking past my pile of carrots on the counter to my shoes. Where did I buy these again? I remember the day so clearly. I had been fed up with Kotashi and Gina and I went on a spending spree, but I don’t remember anything about the store I shopped in.

“What’s up?” Saki asks, also pausing. She picks up her beer and takes a generous gulp. “You look confused. Missing something?”

“Yeah. Memories. I’ve noticed that parts of my shorter-term memory are fading.” I grab my beer from next to the pile of unpeeled carrots. “I think I’m a little young to be dealing with memory loss.”

Saki shrugs. “Maybe you’re becoming senile in your old age.”

“If twenty-six is old, then you must be ancient.”

She laughs, throwing back her head. “I walked straight into that.” She returns to her pile of green onions. “I wouldn’t worry too much. It probably has something to do with lack of sleep and a poor diet.”

I want to argue with her, tell her about the three concussions I’ve had in the last year, the crippling migraines, and how the crazy weather systems here fuck with my head. But I can’t tell her any of that. Every time I’ve had a migraine here in Kitakyushu, I’ve called in sick to work and dealt with it on my own. Well, I had Ninjin’s help, but he’s not as attentive as Kazuo or Rin. I was docked pay for the days I couldn’t come in, but my boss is flexible and hasn’t threatened to fire me yet.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I say, grabbing a handful of the carrot scraps. Out the back door, I take a break with my beer and feed Ninjin his daily supply of carrots.

“I promise to buy a bag of dog food tomorrow,” I say to him as he rests his head on my lap. “It’s been two weeks, so I think I can get away with it.”

Atsumi locked up my funds because I’m supposed to be poor. It seems immoral to starve my dog because I have to keep up with appearances, but that’s why he comes to work with me. No one cares if the scraps end up in his belly or in the compost.

The back door opens again and the rest of the kitchen staff joins me. They’re a nice group of people to work with. I have no complaints except that I still feel lost here every day. I’m not supposed to be slinging noodles and waiting tables. I’m supposed to be finding Shiroi Nami or hoping they find me in. I’m supposed to be taking care of my people. I’m supposed to be with Rin. Where is he?

Oh, look! There are some new characters here you’ve never seen before. Do you want to know more about who they are? I’m excited to get this one out to you guys. I’m shooting for May!

Do you have any requests for characters you’re interested in seeing more of? Hopefully I could give you more next Wednesday!

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Focus In 2018 – Cutting Back On Goals

I’m always so excited when a new year starts. I can’t help but be positive and forward thinking about my career, health, and family. But sometimes my dreams get away from me and I think I have a lot more time (and capital) than I really do.

It only took me two months to realize that I put too much on my plate this year! Which is better than making it to June and saying, “Oops, what did I get myself into?”

So, remembering that my goals for this year are to focus on me and my writing career, I’ve decided on a few things.

I will not be starting any new websites this year. My original intention to put together a website that focuses on Japanese fiction and another website I had planned to give other author’s manuscript critiques are being set aside until 2019 at least. I just do not have time for them.
I will not be doing anymore giveaways this year. No more Rafflecopters. No more free runs of my books for 2018. This includes my paperback giveaways which I started in 2017. First, they go largely unappreciated. Winners don’t return my emails. None of them even say thank you. I can think of better ways to spend my money than shipping them books I feel certain they will never read. Instead I have decided to donate all the books to local Little Free Libraries. More on that in a future post.

And that’s it for now. So far everything else I want to do is still on the table. I started writing a brand new book yesterday and I feel confident that I’ll be able to publish Fukusha Model Eight in May before I leave for another trip to Japan. That means my obligation of publishing 3 books this year will be 2/3rds complete!

Onward!

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Sunday Update – March 4, 2018

This turned out to be a pretty great week! If you missed my posts from this past week, I went over how I did with February’s goals and set March goals too. Then I also updated on how I finished off FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT.

The week itself went by pretty painlessly despite my husband falling ill again. The kids were in good spirits and the weather was pleasant enough until Friday when we had a huge Nor’easter blow through. The wind was pretty strong, and it dumped some heavy snow on us, but all the snow is melted now.

My biggest accomplishment of the week was finishing that book. It felt great to get to the end and actually be happy with what I wrote. I like it a lot and I hope my alpha readers do too. I formatted it up and sent it out to readers on Friday.

Then I spent the last two days gathering all of my expenses for 2017 for my writing business. I am, once again, in the red. I haven’t made money at this gig for five years now. But I keep reminding myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint. I’m much happier with my business this year and what I’m doing so I’m not going to complain. I’m hoping for a small profit in 2018, so we’ll see how the year goes!

Now that expenses are done, I’m able to get writing on my next project! I’m hoping to start tomorrow with the preliminary stuff like character work-ups and the first chapter, which I’ve had in mind for a while. Then I can start plotting!

What else happened this week?

I finished off FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT on time and right around my word count goal. I made sure to use Dragon dictation as well to keep my hands from suffering.

It’s mating season in the park! I’ve seen plenty of geese running after each other and ducks shooing away potential rivals. Lol. It’s like a soap opera in the park. I hope to see ducklings and goslings this year. I saw none last year.

My latest Young Living shipment came and I’m excited about what I purchased. I’m looking forward to diffusing and wearing these!

My afternoon yesterday was filled with reading on the iPad and pistachios. Mmmm.

I made mock chicken and noodle soup and it was just as good as leftovers the next day!

And I totally agree with my fortune this week!

Coming up on the blog: Other than getting back into my monthly paperback giveaways, I’m not sure yet. I’d like to concentrate on getting ahead on this draft of my new book. I’ll probably post once or twice.

Have a great week everyone!

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