Still Woohoo-ing

Edited to add: Blogger won't let me put any photos on this post. I've tried everything I could think of to make it do my bidding to no avail. Sorry. You'll just have to read without pretty pictures. Dang. 

Just now I figured out how to find out how many books total and how many of each book I've sold on Amazon in 2025 and also since I started selling books there in 2022. Last year I sold 80 books, more digital than print. Not bad. Over all, I've sold 369 books, more digital than print. I'm very happy with those numbers.

 

And to toot my horn even more, I checked on Chirp and have sold 58 Horizon audiobooks in the last few days for $1.99, and 9 each of Island Dreams and Anneke's Legacy for $3.99 each. All these numbers make me very happy indeed. I am not figuring out how much I've spent having the audiobooks narrated. That would only make me sad. Very sad.

 

I took a little time this morning to draw yesterday's gratitude journal. I was most grateful to get the first corrected Sailing the Seas cover to approve.

 

I was even more grateful to get the final files this afternoon which allowed me to go on Kindle Direct Publishing and publish the digital and paperback of Sailing the Seas. As soon as possible, I ordered author copies hoping against hope that they'd arrive before my shows on September 25, 26 & 27. When I first filled in the number of copies, it said they'd be shipped in 10 days and arrive in time. When I made my order, it said they'd arrive between Oct. 1-6. Gah! Let's hope they come sooner rather than later. I can't afford to buy more than the first one at full price.

 

This afternoon I was waiting for a phone call to tell me when my new fridge was on the way. It never came. The first thing I knew about it was the backup beeper of the delivery truck in my driveway. Yikes! I was relying on that phone call to give me a chance to empty the fridge and freezer. So when the delivery guy knocked on the door, I'd just started unloading it. Man, I had a lot of stuff in there. Way more than I thought I had. Luckily I'd carried up my three big laundry baskets, some blankets, and big beach towels so I could line the baskets and cover them to keep the cold in a little better.

 

This is the new fridge. It's just a freezer up top and fridge below basic model in white. It was on sale. The fancy colored ones weren't. I don't need a colored fridge, just one that works and doesn't turn the fridge shelves into wading pools. When I called Whirlpool afterward to register it, the guy asked me about the fridge it replaced. He was impressed when I said that it had been 22 years old but he was blown away when I told him that my clothes dryer is 48 years old and still going strong. He said he wished he was 22 again but I was 53 years past 22 and didn't want to go back. He tried to flatter me into buying the extended warranty but I resisted. Us old broads have sales resistance, especially when we'd spent 42 years married to a salesman. 

 

Here's one more Dad's rose picture. The rose bush is having a bit of an explosion lately. I don't mind.

 

I met my writing friend, GBB, at Legacy Hotel for lunch today and DIL1 came down to show us where the Untitled Town book fair would be held. We had excellent food and then I got to show off my beautiful daughter-in-law. Win-win!

--Barbara 

More Woohoo!

This woohoo doesn't have my name on it but an editor who critiqued the first 3 pages of my last The Seaview Series manuscript asked a few weeks ago if she could re-edit my pages on her new podcast. I said yes. She's not sharing the name of the author but those are my words and my pages being dissected on a podcast. I didn't remember her being quite so... thorough when she edited the pages the first time but it was an education to watch it happen again. I learned a few things, mostly that I tend to overwrite dialogue. I can fix that--or not. (I entered a 24-hour contest on Writers Helping Writers blog to have the first 3 pages of a manuscript edited for free and I won. That's how she came to have my words to dissect in the first place.)

 

Today's drawing prompt was Bird. Something I'm much more drawn to draw than cats. I like the one in the lower left the best. Because of its tail feathers, I think.

 

I went out this afternoon and lowered the horse head squirrel feeder a few inches. Now it might be too low but at least it's at a height that the squirrels can reach it. I could tell that no squirrels had found it yet because some corn kernels fell out when I was moving it around. I also definitely need to go out with the clippers and clean up the greenery (weeds) around it so I can see what's going on and maybe take a picture.

 

Would you like to see a slice of a delicious chocolate mousse cake? This is what LC baked for me for my birthday. All by herself. There were little silver stars sprinkled around the edge of the cake. It was so good and so good looking it seemed like a shame to eat it. But I managed.

 

When I was rehanging the squirrel feeder, I took the camera out to take pictures of the sedum flowers and noticed a single flower stalk of a perennial purple salvia I thought the weeders had pulled out. Evidently there was a tiny bit of the plant left to struggle toward the sun. Hooray!

 

On to the sedum. The bronze sedum is more subtle and I'm so disappointed that there weren't any bees on there. Lack of sunshine? A rainy morning? Too many pesticides in the neighborhood?

 

The pink sedum is brighter. Still no bees.

 

I went to a Catholic funeral this morning. I hadn't been in church in years but I mostly remembered the rituals. Stand up, sit down, stand up, kneel, stand up, kneel, sit down. It all pretty much came back to me. Although I confess, I still miss the Latin Mass. And lightning didn't strike me. Plus we sang Amazing Grace, my favorite hymn. It always makes me cry. 

In the afternoon, I worked on Three Cheers for Murder. Working my way through the ProWritingAid Manuscript Analysis recommendations. It's helping me get the right parts of the mystery in the right places and preserve the mystery part better. Maybe I'll do a better job on the next one. And there will be a next one because I already have an idea about it.

The most exciting news of the day was the response to an email I sent to GetCovers this morning about why it was taking so long to get my finalized cover design. When I got back from church, there was an email from them with a cover design with the offending shadow removed so I approved it and am waiting for the final files. Then I can publish Sailing the Seas and maybe maybe maybe have copies to take to The Clearing the first week in October. Fingers crossed.

 --Barbara

Woohoo!

I couldn't wait to open the Chirp Books email with the list of Featured Deals this morning because my audiobook Horizon was supposed to be on there. And it was! Right there in the list of other books. I hope somebody orders it. A whole lot of somebodies.

 

A squirrel was on the suet nuggets this morning. It twined around the feeder, head up and head down, until it fell off and scampered away. 

 

And this rabbit peeked shyly around the trash can where I store birdseed. I was lucky to get its picture because it looked like it was ready to dash away at any minute. And it did just as soon as I snapped this.

 

I was nearly stumped when I drew the gratitude journal this morning. I could only think of two more things after drawing the weather report.

 

When I was drawing I looked up to see a grasshopper clinging to the patio screen. I haven't seen a grasshopper in ages and was happy to have one visit.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Cat. I'm not a cat person. I'm not a dog person either. But she said to draw cats so I drew cats. Tomorrow will be better, I hope.

 

I was invited to DS's house for supper tonight for my birthday--a little late. He made ribs, corn on the cob, salad, and DIL1's mom brought some potato wedges to bake. LC baked a chocolate cake that was to die for. I got cards, homemade and purchased, an Amazon gift card, and H & JZ gave me one of those cute kitchen towels you hang on your oven handle. It was a fun celebration.

 

cda and I did a critique zoom this morning even though it's a holiday because I'm busy tomorrow morning. She had a lot of good comments on my chapters and I hope I helped her fill in some holes in her manuscript. Then I spent some time putting new little scenes in to flesh out the story and expand other characters so the murderer isn't so easily figured out. I have a lot of work to do on that score.

--Barbara 

Not So Far

I saw a squirrel near the new horse head squirrel feeder but it didn't investigate the horse head. I didn't go  out to clip away the greenery underneath it or untie and lower it today. I just wasn't in the mood. Sorry the picture is dark and blurry. It's far away from the patio door and if I open the door the squirrels run away.

 

I did draw the new squirrel feeder on the gratitude journal page for yesterday and also that I got the Covid booster I wanted to get on Wednesday but they didn't have until Saturday.

 

It surprised me to see leaves changing color on one of the trees I pass on my walk. The humidity was much lower today so I walked. I don't walk if the humidity is over the moon, I just don't. But anyway, that tree is always the first one to drop its leaves. They kind of look like they're skipping the colorful phase and going right to brown and crunchy.

 

Dad's rose keeps opening new buds. I took pictures with my phone and see that the focus isn't good. Sorry about that, but now it's too dark to go out to take a decent picture so we'll have to make do with the blurry one.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Pitcher so she drew five different ones and I copied along. They're okay. Not very exciting but pretty simple to draw. I sort of signed up for a watercolor tutorial online but it looked like I had to download WhatsApp in order to join and I didn't want to do that. But evidently I was in the class because I got a replay. Haven't watched it yet but I will.

 

Tonight's supper was the last homegrown tomato in the larder. And it was yellow! I don't think I've ever eaten a yellow tomato before. It was good and juicy. Not quite as sweet as the red one I ate last night but way better than a grocery store tomato. 

 

I cashed in a credit on ProWritingAid this afternoon for a Manuscript Analysis of Three Cheers for Murder. I did it because I felt stuck for what to do to make it cozier and got lots of suggestions which I'll go through one by one and see what I can fix or change. 

In the afternoon I finished putting 2025 and 2026 book purchases and sales on Excel spreadsheets. Then I added up sales for all 4 years I have numbers for. It looks like I've sold 459 books since January of 2023. I didn't keep track of any sales I made from September 2022 to the end of that year so I know I sold a few more but don't know how many. To be honest, I thought I'd sold more than that but I guess not. And I haven't got a clue how many I've sold on Amazon. I wonder if that's something they keep track of. Next I'll count how many books I have on hand and subtract that number from how many I've purchased, that might give a more accurate number. All of this math-ing makes me tired.

--Barbara 

Bring On the Squirrels

I hung up my new, horse head squirrel feeder this afternoon and filled the snout with corn kernels. I think maybe I hung it too high but that remains to be seen. (It's kind of creepy looking, isn't it?) A squirrel found the kernels that fell out when I overfilled it but I didn't see it investigate the horse head. I may have to go out with clippers and trim back the greenery under it. Time will tell.

 

A Downy Woodpecker couldn't make up its mind which feeder to eat from.  Suet nuggets or birdseed? The first time I (almost) saw it, it landed on the back side of the round feeder at the same time a Sparrow landed on the opposite side, so the feeder didn't spin. That meant I got a glimpse of it but couldn't take a picture. The next time I saw it, it was on the nuggets, but the shot of it on the birdseed was better. So that's the one you get to see.

 

The gratitude journal for yesterday was a bit of a puzzle. What to draw? I finally ended up with a weather report, 2 zooms, and exploring Substack to find other writers, which I did and got more subscribers and followers. Very satisfying.

 

Dad's roses are still showing off. It wasn't sunny this morning and the flash was turned off so the rose looks very dark. I don't care, I still like it.

 

Sneaker was the drawing prompt today. We drew a Converse-like high top and a couple of regular sneakers. I kind of like the letters the best.

 

I was going to take down the Oriole feeder but then realized that I had another orange half in the fridge so I took down the jelly dish and put out the orange. As soon as I went back inside, the bees that are clustered around the leaky Hummingbird feeder flew over to the orange and got busy sipping the good juice. 

 

In the afternoon, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a pair of Rxs, asked if the Covid boosters had come in, and they had. So I got one. When I got home, I went downstairs to repair the pouch pocket on OJ's favorite shirt. It was a quick and easy fix. I spent the rest of the day trying to cut back Three Cheers for Murder (I have too much description) and add in more sleuth detecting. I'm not very good at that last part but I'll try to do better. DD recommended I rewatch The Sheep Detectives movie, which is a classic cozy mystery, to pick up tips. I'll do that tomorrow.

--Barbara 

Not As Hot...

 ... but still I had a melted squirrel on the patio this afternoon. I walked to the shelf next to the patio door to put something away and it sprang up from its melt. It stood there watching me out of the corner of its eye until I moved back from the glass. Then it lay back down and glared at me as if daring me to take its picture. Just as I clicked the shutter, it turned its head or you would have seen a squirrel's glare in full force.

 

A Mourning Dove and a couple of Sparrows were checking out the seed that a squirrel knocked out of the round feeder today. The squirrel was off to the side and didn't seem to be threatened by the three birds nearby.

 

Then a rabbit showed up to see if there was anything worth eating left. It was a popular spot under the round feeder this afternoon.

 

I was most grateful yesterday for my evening knitting with friends. We shared a pizza and a delicious home-grown caprese salad. I brought cheese and crackers from Aldi, which is an excellent place to find such delicacies and KE brought the chocolate cake because we were celebrating two birthdays. 

 

 

In the afternoon, the Red-bellied Woodpecker visited the refilled suet nuggets feeder but didn't pose as nicely as it did yesterday when there were hardly any nuggets there. Not very considerate.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Rose. I was leery of that because a rose is such a complex flower but it wasn't too bad. The first one on the left doesn't look very rosy, I think, but the others are okay. She drew another one but I'd run out of room so I didn't draw that one.

 

At Friday Night Knitting, I added a bunch of rounds in the Tangelo color. I was going to switch back to the Pale Orange but I weighed what I have left of that color and I'm not confident I'd have enough if I switched now. So I'll keep going with the Tangelo until I run out.

 

I spent a lot of the afternoon on Substack reading other writers' stories and subscribing to some of their Substacks. I've learned that if I comment on people's posts, they read mine, and either "like" them or follow or subscribe, so my subscriber number has jumped over the last couple of weeks. All good. The stuff I write isn't high art but people seem to enjoy it so I'll keep doing it, keep reading theirs, and commenting. Little by little I'm building up a readership. Slow but steady. I also posted my September Writing Progress letter on Substack (with a few edits) which has earned a few "likes." Makes me feel good.

--Barbara 

Determined

This squirrel was determined to get at the birdseed. It was poised on the top of the patio chair, coiled, ready to spring. Then it launched itself at the feeder, clung to it while exploring ways to get some seed to eat, and finally gave up. 

 

It didn't leave for long, though. Pretty soon the nice lady at this house refilled the feeders. When she does that, seeds and powdered suet nuggets fall onto the patio table. She leaves them there for any scavengers that come along. There's one now.

 

Before I filled the suet nuggets, the Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up and wasn't deterred by the lack of easily reached nuggets. It spent a lot of time moving around on the feeder until it finally was in a position to stab its beak through the mesh for a morsel. I took eight shots before it moved where I could really see it. Finally.

 

Leaf was the drawing prompt today. I did pretty well until she came to the maple leaf. I can't draw a maple leaf to save my soul. I start out okay and then lose it when I have to draw the other lobes of the leaf. I'd rather draw the plain, smooth sided leaves. Those I can handle.

 

The big news on the gratitude journal page was the new fridge. Also getting the flu shot and my arm barely hurts. Hooray!

 

I stepped out to take pictures of the Dad's roses that have bloomed overnight but first I had to take a picture of the little tiny yellow mums. They're so small, barely the size of a penny. I wish more of them would bloom. It'd be amazing to see the whole plant covered with flowers.

 

Here's the floral star of the show--Dad's roses. They bloom every year and every year I am thrilled to see and smell them. Thanks, Dad.

 

I had knitting tonight at DM's house and, since Tuesday was my birthday and Saturday is CS's birthday, we had cake with a little ice cream. And KE brought us flowers. Wasn't that nice of her? 

 

I finished knitting the ribbed brim of the Pale Orange Hat and added on a couple rounds of Tangelo, a darker orange, because I don't have enough of either to knit a whole hat. So I'm making stripes. 

 

CS brought tomato salad to share and extra tomatoes for us to take home so I stopped at Meijer to get another box of turkey bacon because I'm running low. It was very odd to be in the grocery at 10 o'clock at night. There's hardly any people in there then. I zipped in, paid, and zipped out because it was raining and late and I was tired. I'm still tired. I think I'll turn in.

--Barbara