S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 99

Book Chat #33 – THE FORGETTING And Audiobooks Galore!

May went by in a blur and I wasn’t able to get my Book Chat up before the end of the month. So this one will have a lot of audiobooks!

What I read…

THE FORGETTING by Sharon Cameron

Wow. Just wow. I was totally enthralled by this book. Here’s what reading it looked like —

0% to 20% – Huh. This is a really interesting premise for a story. Everyone forgets on a regular 14-year cycle and they don’t know why, so they write down the truth in their books and keep the books with them at all times. Lots of great thoughts on “truth” and what it means. I like the heroine a lot. I’ll keep reading because I’m intrigued.

20% to 40% – What is going on in this world? I am now REALLY intrigued as to why this girl, Nadia, is so different from everyone else. This guy, Gray, is really interesting too. What’s going on with her mom and sister? And wow, there’s a lot of great backstory.

40% to 50% – Holy crap. It’s just got sci-fi on me AND IT’S AWESOME.

Then I feverishly read from 50% onward until my eyeballs fell out. Not only did I love this story to pieces and then pre-ordered the next one (which I never do, especially for a book over $10), I also learned a lot about storytelling from this one. I realized that sometimes it’s better to withhold details from the reader. Readers shouldn’t always be spoon-fed all the story elements. I’m going to do more withholding in my own work. I want readers to question everything.

Really excellent book. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

What I listened to…

A SCONE TO DIE FOR by H. Y. Hanna

I finished this one at the end of April but it didn’t make it into that Book Chat. I really enjoyed this cozy mystery set in England! I loved all the British slang, and the narrator did an excellent job, though I felt that her voice might have been a tad old for the protagonist. Still, the writing was excellent and I’m definitely going to move on with the series.

EARTH RISING (Earthrise, Book 3) by Daniel Arenson

I felt like this book went by so quickly! I liked that we finally learn why the Earth is at war against the Scum (no spoilers) and we got to see more of the side characters and see who lives and who dies. I’m still enjoying this series!

INDEPENDENCE by Nick Webb

So Nick Webb has also gone by the name of N. D. Webb in the past, though it looks like all of his books are under Nick Webb now. I heard him last year on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast and I really enjoyed his episode. I thought he sounded super interesting with a cool rocket scientist background. Chris Fox mentioned his book INDEPENDENCE in his WRITE TO MARKET book so I decided to pick it up. I’m so glad I did. I really loved this book! I love that the main character is a woman who’s a bad-ass admiral. The alien enemy was one I hadn’t seen or thought of before, and there was a great mystery behind everything. I’ll definitely be reading on (or listening) in this series!

GODS OF RISK: AN EXPANSE NOVELLA by James S. A. Corey

This was a short listen, and while it wasn’t anything stunning or eye-opening, I did enjoy it. In this novella, we hear a little bit more about Bobby Draper’s family on Mars. Her nephew is cooking up drugs and selling them on the side. I never really understood why he did it, but we hear all about the consequences. He seemed pretty weak and couldn’t take care of himself. Bobby eventually stepped in and helped him out, which was the best part of the story.

LAUNCH TO MARKET: EASY MARKETING FOR AUTHORS by Chris Fox

If you’re already an experienced self-publisher who listens to SP podcasts and is active in the FB groups, you don’t need to listen to this book or read it. It was basic stuff that I already knew and I didn’t pick up anything new that I would have to try. If you’re new to self-publishing, this will be a good primer for you.

And that’s it! More to come in next month’s Book Chat!

Sunday Update – June 4, 2017

A late update today as I spent all day walking, going to my orientation for my summer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) vegetable share, and then editing three chapters.

It was a busy week and I’m glad it’s over, as I worried how we were going to fit everything in. Monday was Memorial Day and the weather was kind of crappy so we spent it at home. Still it was nice to have the day off. Tuesday was a normal work and school day. The kids went to school and I was able to get work done all day. I was up late working on editing and my newsletter.

Wednesday was my busy day. I sent out the newsletter, had my chiropractor appointment, got three chapters edited between regular work time and then tennis. Then my youngest had her Girl Scouts Bridging Ceremony from Daisies to Brownies in the evening after tennis. By the time the day was over, I was beat!

Thursday was a half day of school for no particular reason. So I got as much done in the morning as I could, picked the kids up at 12:30pm, had lunch, kids had piano lessons, and then in the evening, my oldest had her All-District 4th Grade Band Concert. It was so cool to see all the kids from all four elementary schools playing together. Then the high school jazz band played after, and they were awesome! I was brought back to my own high school music career. I was in marching band, concert band, jazz band, and musical pit band too. I basically really loved band and it saved me from having an awful high school experience. I’m encouraging my kids to get really involved in music too. I think they both have the aptitude for it, so I hope they enjoy it.

Friday, I went for a quick walk after dropping the kids off, showered, and went grocery shopping really early at 9:30am. Let me tell you, grocery shopping at 9:30am is the best. There was no one there, no lines. I usually go around 11 or 11:30am so I can get lunch too, but this was bliss. I might have to do it more often. After I ran home and put the groceries away, I met my friend, Amy, for some Panera time. We only have one more week of Panera and then she’s away for the summer. I’ll definitely miss her this summer!

Editing continues apace! I’m on a 3-chapter-per-day diet and so far sticking to it. I need to finish with this book by the 10th. Did you see that I revealed the title and blurb? They’re over on Facebook! I’ll post about it this week on the blog too, but if you’re a book blogger and do cover reveals on your blog, I’d love for you to sign up here — http://www.lolasblogtours.net/cover-reveal-crash-land-on-kurai-by-sj-pajonas/

What else happened this week?

I started a new knitting project and haven’t worked on it much. Editing has been taking up all my time.

I cleaned up all the bath toys this week. I’ve been putting this off for ages, but they stink and many were too moldy to keep. These are all the keepers and they all got bleach baths and some time in the sun.

I never pass up dessert.

It was great seeing all these kids playing together for the all-district concert.

We had some beautiful skies this week with big fluffy clouds.

I love lunch at Panera, especially my Panera where I can order exactly what I want at the kiosk instead of at the counter. I got a Greek Salad with quinoa and a hard-boiled egg, then I cut up apple and put it in there. It was SO GOOD. It’s my new favorite thing, with a side of grilled cheese. Mmmm.

We had our first trip to the pool! Summer has officially begun! It was a cool but sunny day and the water was cold, but the kids had a great time and we got ice cream. I brought my computer and worked there while the kids were in the pool. That’s what I plan to do all summer.

And finally, some beautiful Mountain Laurel that I saw on my walk this morning. Thanks to everyone on Facebook who helped me identify what it is.

Coming up this week on the blog: the title and blurb reveal for my upcoming sci-fi series and a Book Chat.

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June 2017 Goals

It turns out that I started these monthly goals posts a year ago today! I’m so glad I kept them up because, believe it or not, they do motivate me. Putting my goals in writing and being accountable for them helps me stay on top of things.

A Look Back At This Year’s Goal

Since it’s June, this is a good time to look back at the goals I had for the year. This is The Year I Have Fun and so far so good on that one. I’m enjoying writing what I want to write and not really caring if there’s no market for it. I’ve gotten a few tweets on Twitter and a few emails from people looking forward to my new sci-fi series, so that makes me happy! I’m brainstorming the next Miso Cozy book AND an entirely new series. I expect that 2018 will be the year I have three series going at once, which will be my absolute limit.

Neon Beast

It was a project almost three years in the making! Meet Neon Beast!

I have a few theories on why it took me so long to finish this knit. First, I started it during a really busy writing time for me. So I was concentrating on my new career and still taking care of my baby, who at the time was still in preschool. Then last year I hit a huge batch of depression and didn’t feel creative at all. I didn’t want to write OR knit, so this project languished in the knitting basket.

But I started to really get into it once I got it memorized and I even knit on it at the pool last summer. That was a sure sign that I was coming around!

Then last month I realized that I was in the home stretch and I could finish it off if I just knit a few rows each day. That I could handle!

So I picked up the needles again and made sure to give myself time each day to relax get back into one of my favorite hobbies. I had forgotten how much I loved knitting, and that relaxing time each day also helped give my brain a rest so that it could process the stories I was writing. It really helped.

I’m so glad I finished it! First of all, it’s huge, so it’s nice to wrap around my neck a few times. I would totally knit this one again, and in fact, I have plenty of odd and ends yarn to make it in six different colors. I would only do one thing differently and make the center yellow portion smaller. It really doesn’t need to be this beastly. Lol. It can be a mini beast.

Here are the details!

Neon Beast

by Veera Välimäki

from Rain Knitwear Designs

View this project on Ravelry

Needles

US 6 – 4.0 mm

Yarn

North Loop Yarn Silky Merino Sock Yarn – Honeydew
madelinetosh Tosh Sock – Nebula
madelinetosh Tosh Sock – Charcoal

Started – October 14 2014

Completed – May 26 2017

This pattern was easy to follow and understand. I love all of Veera’s designs!

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Sunday Update – May 28, 2017

Happy Sunday everyone! And if you’re in the US, I hope you’re enjoying a nice relaxing Memorial Day weekend. I always think of my grandfather this weekend every year. Not only did we always celebrate his birthday on Memorial Day weekend when he was alive, but he also fought in WWII. He was in the Air Force and was navigator on bombers over France during that time. I thank everyone who has served in the military for their strength, determination, and sacrifice.

This is also the weekend that our town pool opens but it’s not hot enough yet to get out there and go, unfortunately. I really hoped we’d be there this weekend but it’s barely 70ºF! And it was in the 90s last week so this just doesn’t feel right.

It was a busy week! I got a lot done around the house including cleaning up a few piles of paper that had been around for several months, but also I finished off Hikoboshi 2! I finished on Thursday and the book came in just over 80k. Right now, it’s a bit of a hot mess, and I can already tell a lot’s going to change in the next revision, but I’m glad it’s done and now I can move on to editing Hikoboshi 1 and getting it out there. I’m ready to bring this new series out to the world!

Lots of pictures this week to share AND expect several updates on the blog this week too. Not only do I have to post the Monthly Goals post but also a Book Chat. So expect a few more posts than usual!

What else happened this week?

My girls had an adorable tea party last Sunday.

The guys that renovated our kitchen last year were on an HGTV show, so we watched and toasted their success.

My husband was away in Salt Lake City all week and the only way to get through it was with ice cream and wine.

Everything around here is in bloom, and it makes me super happy!

Yes! I finished Hikoboshi 2 and celebrated with an ice cream sandwich!

I finally finished a knit I’ve been working on almost three years. THREE YEARS. I plan to take FO (Finished Object) photos later today and post about it later this week or next week.

And last night we had octopus for dinner and it was super yummy. We’ll definitely have to get it again!

Hope you all have an amazing week!

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Sunday Update – May 21, 2017

What a busy week around here! I think every day this past week had some sort of obligation that I normally don’t have to deal with. I’m glad my calendar looking forward this week is a lot lighter.

One of the things I decided this week was that I need to lighten my load a little bit. I decided to move a lot of my administrative things to the weekends so I can spend my weeks writing, and that I needed to cut back on some other things in order to free up time for de-stressing, like knitting or reading. I really work a lot, and sometimes it’s just too much. I need to take time for me.

I’ve decided to cut back on blogging unless I have a new release. I’ll update every week for the Sunday Updates (because I like doing them) and then also I will keep my monthly Book Chats, Monthly Goals, and I will blog about any Facebook Live Videos I end up doing. This is mostly because I have shifted a lot of my work to my newsletter where I’ll have some flash fiction soon! When I blog around my new releases, I plan on having posts about the books, anything Japanese cultural-related, and contests people can enter. So, yeah, I won’t be blogging as much but I will still be here!

After Mother’s Day, the week rolled right along. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were the busiest. Wednesday, I had my chiropractor appointment and a bunch of errands to run including dropping off old clothing to the donation drop boxes at my town’s recycling center. Thursday, I had a dentist appointment and I’m happy to report that this appointment went much better than the last one I had. My new hygienist was super nice and gentle, and she was left-handed! I’ve never had a left-handed hygienist before. Friday, my oldest kid had her spring band concert, which was a lot of fun to attend. I then ran errands afterward and the day just flew by into the late afternoon when we spent a scorching 90ºF day at the school carnival.

I’ve been doing well with my walking and the writing is coming along too. I’m ALMOST DONE with this darned book. It’s so hard to write the last third of every book I write, and this book is no different. I’m dying to be done with it. Yes, it’s the second of my new sci-fi spin-off series, Hikoboshi 2. I’m sure I’ll be done before the week ends and then I can take a break before coming back to edit the first book in the series.

What else happened this week?

Three posts about food! First, I tried this corn snack from my Bokksu subscription box and it was super yummy. I want more! Then I treated myself to some popcorn while sitting outside. And I indulged in some ice cream while the kids were at school. Shhh, don’t tell them.

I crossed a milestone on this book and I’m actually past 70k now!

My new computer setup is complete!

The Fourth Grade Car Wash was yesterday and my daughter’s class raised money for their class gift to the school!

And last night we enjoyed watching Mary Poppins together as a family. It was a nice way to end the week.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

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The Results Of My Reader Survey

Back in late April, I sent a readers survey out to my entire newsletter list, asking them to fill it out, so that I could get an idea of what they wanted or needed out of me for the future. This summer I’ll be switching over to a new newsletter service and I also wanted to make sure that I bring over the engaged and willing subscribers, plus I wanted to give them the ability to greater control when they get emails from me as well.

I took the survey results and I did a 40 minute Facebook Live video with them. I answered a lot of questions and expanded on some of the most popular answers of the survey. I know the video is long, but it’s pretty interesting to see all the results!

People who are new to my list continue to take this survey and I’m sure the results will skew a little bit over time, but this is a good starting point. I may have to do the survey again next year and see the difference!

Anyway, you can see the video now on YouTube and right here on the blog.

If you want me to answer any additional questions, you can put them in the comments below.

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Sunday Update – May 14, 2017

It’s Mother’s Day so Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and dad-moms in the house. I’ll keep this short because it’s my day to relax, so of course, I won’t be relaxing, I will be writing. Lol. I didn’t update on the blog here this week because I’ve been keeping to my goal of writing 1600 words per day minimum, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I’m averaging 1600. I really want to finish this book by June so that I can move onto the next Miso Cozy book (which I already have about 20k written).

I also dealt with computer troubles this week. I took my computer to the Genius Bar and they reinstalled OS X on it without blowing away all my data. That was a super huge relief. But I’m still having trouble with Time Machine backups. I may have to go back there for that.

Other than that, my husband had pneumonia so he was home sick all week, and I handled everything house and family wise. So I was pretty tapped out by the time Friday rolled around. He’s now on a second course of antibiotics for a sinus infection and will hopefully go back to work this week.

What else happened this week?

I needed a big drink the night before going to the Genius Bar.

The Genius Bar trip went well. The guy who helped me was impressed with all I had done before I showed up and we were able to get to the heart of the problem right away. He reinstalled my system files without blowing away my data, which was cool. I’m glad I didn’t have to do a reinstall from scratch.

Hit the car wash on the way home. My car was filthy with pollen and bird poop since I park under a tree in my driveway.

I hit a milestone in my WIP!

The turtles were out in my walk in the park. Look at the tiny one at the bottom!

I got a stand for my computer which I love and I’m trying out new keyboards that’ll allow me to type longer with less pain in my fingers. Alas, I did not like this silicon keyboard.

I got in some distraction free writing on the Alphasmart while my husband tried to fix my Time Machine. I like my Alphasmart but I wish the keys weren’t so stiff. Still I should use it more.

And look what I got for Mother’s Day! A monthly Japanese snack subscription from Bokksu!! Big thanks to my hubby for picking this one out for me. I love it!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I hope to be updating the blog more regularly come June, but I’ll always be here every Sunday for a weekly update.

Sunday Update – May 7, 2017

Another week come and gone. It was busy around here as usual, which is always nice. I like it when I have plenty to do!

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, my husband had jury duty which means that he got home at a decent time each day! He came home in the late afternoons and worked on this project of his in the backyard, putting together a greenhouse space for our container plants. It has chicken wire underneath and chicken wire all around it to keeping all of our wildlife out of our plants. I spent the days working on writing and walking. Monday, we were able to chill after school and then Tuesday my oldest has her regular tutoring.

On Wednesday, my husband worked from home and we were able to go out for a lunch date together! We haven’t done that in a long time. We went to our local Thai place for lunch where the staff knows me by name now. Lol. We also ran into almost the entire staff of my chiropractor’s office while there. I love living in a small town. The kids had tennis in the afternoon and I worked on writing while I was there.

On Thursday, I lost momentum with writing. I was on my walk and I was doubting everything. I was sure my story was boring and I had gone in the wrong direction with it. I wondered if I had gone totally, irreversibly wrong. So I came home and I started reading. I read fast, skimming all the 45,000 words I had already written. That took the rest of Thursday and part of Friday before I decided that everything was fine and I could go back to my story. Sigh. Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember what I wrote and if I’m servicing the story in the right way.

On Friday, it was raining super hard here. I decided to skip the gym since my shoulder was bothering me and just do Whole Foods for groceries and lunch. My Whole Foods is great but there was a river running through the parking lot and I got soaked on the way in and out. My husband came home from work that night and he just looked so spent and not at all with it. I had a feeling he was really sick, but we went to bed hoping the next day would be better.

Nope. On Saturday, he woke up and looked like death so I urged him to go to urgent care. Yep. He has pneumonia in both lungs. Poor guy. He’d been coughing for weeks, probably had walking pneumonia and couldn’t get better. The good news is that he’s been resting a lot and has antibiotics now. Hopefully, he’s on the mend.

I didn’t post this earlier today because I went to a Mother-Daughter Tea with my youngest and her Girl Scout troop. It was a lot of fun, and we got all dressed up for it. I love her Girl Scout troop and all the ladies involved. They’re all super nice.

What else happened this week?

I love being able to work outside.

Here’s the new outside greenhouse! I hope we’re able to grow vegetables all summer and keep out the wildlife.

Taco Tuesday was had.

I had one last long walk in my old walking shoes.

Right before my new ones showed up!

The turtles were out sunning themselves! And I even saw a deer (see image at the top of the post).

I’m getting in words where I can because I think I’ll have to reformat my drive this week. I spent all last night downloading app installers for all my apps and finding serial numbers.

And tea with scones was lovely this morning.

Coming up this week on the blog: not sure. I may be without my computer for a few days, so catch me over on Instagram!

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These Shoes Were Made For Walking

About a year ago, I purchased my second pair of Mizuno sneakers and decided that walking was going to be “my thing.” I loved yoga but I fell out of the practice of it pretty easily. I go to the gym but it takes up a lot of time to be there more than once per week. Hula hooping is fun but not for longer than a twenty minute stretch. But walking? Walking I could do, especially if I included time spent on my treadmill desk. Combine it with podcasts and audiobooks? I could walk for hours with no difficulty at all.

My shoes have seen a lot of ground. They’ve been to South Carolina, through New York City, and then, the coup de grâce of all trips, Japan. They’ve been on my treadmill and outside, to the gym and grocery shopping. They’ve walked a ton of miles. How many? Let’s go to Runkeeper!

In the past year, I’ve walked almost 1000 miles (which is actually my goal for 2017) and I’m going to say that 90% of those miles were in my purple Mizunos. So it’s just over 800 miles! Wow! And these shoes have seen all four seasons too. I walked when it was 95ºF. I walked when it was snowing. I crunched the fall leaves and dodged the geese poop. Lol.

But like all things that get a lot of wear, these shoes are at their end. The inside of the heels are worn through and the soles are thinning out. I’ve noticed they don’t have that bouncy step anymore, and my hips are sore after a walk instead of loose.

It’s hard to let them go, though! I think about walking the streets of Tokyo, through Asakusa to the giant lantern at Sensō-ji. Or up the mountainside to Ginkaku-ji, through the back alleys of Kyoto, and on the floor near the door of my hotel room in Nishi-Shinjuku. I don’t want to get rid of them. The sentimentality is strong with these shoes.

They’ve even been with me through several books now. Since I often walk at my treadmill desk and dictate at the same time, these shoes have seen a few cozy mysteries and the start of a new series for me. They’ve kept me healthy and sane so I can write and be present with my family and friends.

I know it’s strange to write a whole blog post about a pair of shoes, but I felt these walking shoes deserved their time in the spotlight. Tomorrow, a new pair of Mizunos arrives (my third pair!) and they’ll get their journey with lots of trips and miles ahead.

Purple Mizunos, thanks for all the great memories. You’ve been awesome.

Discussion Question: Where have you been in your shoes the last year? Do you have any walking goals for 2017?

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