The latest from Planet Tash
Hallo! Long time no update, I see. Regrets!
I assure you, we are open!
It’s been a lovely six months or so since I updated you on our doin’s here at The Treehouse. Let’s hit it:
Work continues on The Treehouse, getting it ready to market. As I type, Tim is gleefully perusing the real estate listings in Bloomington AND in Brown County, so obviously we’re still oscillating over which community would suit us best as a new home.
Unicorn Puzzles celebrated its 500th puzzle last month. Subscribers have reached over 400, but we’ve got a long way to go before we can monetize on YouTube. (If you’re reading this, please subscribe!). We are monetized on Facebook already, and I *think* Instagram. We are also getting a lot of views on TikTok, but we could use likes/follows/subscribes on all of the above. *raining magic sprinkle dust on you*
My AMP show continues to be fun, when it’s fun. My low battery has gotten in the way of fitting to a regular schedule, and unfortunately, radio shows do best when they don’t have to be canceled at the last minute due to health reasons. Le Sigh. That does get me down a little, but I’m trying to push past those feelings of “not being as capable as my peers.” I have over 500 awesome followers on AMP, and plan on doing a show today (5/30/23 at 1:11 pm ET). If you enjoy live radio, give me a listen sometime. Right now this is my main project, so I’m very tuned into the AMP community. You can download the app for free on any iPhone or iPad, or listen via your Amazon Alexa speakers, or even listen via the web browser. (The web browser is a little glitchy–you may have to reload if it doesn’t go directly to me the first time.)
Miss Fitz Discovers Midlife Magic has been fully recorded on audio. Next, I need to re-listen to the entire book, because it took me eight months to record it. (Again, health reasons, mostly.) Once I re-listen and re-record any parts that need to be done over, then I will be reading/listening along to the original Kindle version, because…I did find a few typos that missed all my editors/proofers/betas. (It always happens! But why not fix them right now?) My audio engineer will do this magic, then I’ve got to get the PDFs for all the recipes from Miss Fitz 1 organized…make the cover…and then I should finally be ready to publish it. (Note: since Audible.com lowered their prices across the board, my audiobook royalties have dropped by about 75%. I should probably release this book wide, but I likely won’t, because I haven’t researched that just yet. If you use an audiobook service OTHER THAN AUDIBLE.COM OR AMAZON, please weigh in with your thoughts. I’d love to hear from my readers/listeners.)
I will start recording Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder when I’m done with all that! That means that Miss Fitz and the Hard No November probably won’t be finished in 2023, but who knows? Weirder things have happened.
Writing and releasing this series has taken longer than I thought it would, but I’ve decided to take my time and enjoy the process AS THOUGH I am blissfully ignorant of my author peers’ blisteringly fast publishing schedules. I’m not able to publish a book a month. I have never really wanted to do that. So…as I grow older, the dream of becoming best buddies with Stephen King in the Rich Authors Club dwindles, but it is what it is. I’m writing stories that I’m happy with. Things I’m proud of, that I can relate to. I’m finishing them my way, in my own time. The money is bonus. The self-esteem hits are no longer welcome in this arena!
To the end of job stuff, I’m studying Artificial Intelligence now, so who knows…maybe I will change career directions entirely.
I’ve been focusing on my physical health this year. 2023 is the year of getting as much energy back as possible. To that end, I’ve been going to exercise classes a couple of times a week. My goal is to get there three times a week, reliably. I almost hit that goal last week, then ended up sleeping all day Friday. I wish I had some control over my energy level, but I’m coming to terms with the fact that I probably never will. My best bet is to try and gain some stamina and strength, so the days when I do have energy, I can use it to the best of my ability.
Tim is supposed to be walking/working out, too. If you talk to him, ask him how that’s going.
Our adventure to Italy is coming to fruition soon. We’ll likely post a lot of photos, so follow our Instagram.
As far as the rest of the family goes…Sean graduates in a few days. He’s living with his dad and I miss him very much. We all do. Seamus is thriving at a new job, and living with Sean and their dad at the Bachelor Pad. Sam is still here at the Treehouse, and proving to be a delightful adult roommate. He is still at his beloved RecBar 812. The non-binary baby of the family is growing up before our eyes. We do our best to keep them entertained, and they are patient with their “old” parents. (50 is the new 30!!!)
I think that’s about it, for now. I’m cleaning the oven and the smoke alarm just went off…again…
If you’ve read this far, thank you. Don’t forget to like/follow/subscribe on all the links above, and by all means, sign up for our email list, because when we have something big to announce (like, an audiobook release!), that’s the first place you will see it. Right in your inbox! If you think you’ve signed up in the past, but you aren’t getting emails, look in your promotions folder, your spam folder, etc. Move us to the inbox, mark us as a contact, etc. Don’t spam me, bro!
