Eleven Days Worth

This afternoon I fired up the old Weber kettle grill and cooked the boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I marinated in homemade teriyaki marinade for a couple days. It's so easy. I just set up the grill for indirect heat, then slap the chicken breasts on there when the coals are ready, and ignore them for 30 minutes. No tending the grill, I just leave them alone, they cook perfectly in that time, and then I bring them into the house on a big plate. I had the smallest one for supper tonight with some frozen broccoli and cut the rest of them in half to have over the next 10 days. Yum.

Another Downy Woodpecker showed up today, this time it was only one. I went out and filled all of the feeders, even put out the new, not moldy Hummingbird feeder, and the Chickadee was the first visitor calling out the news that the feeders were full again.

Today's Daily Practice was drawing Sunshine, she said. I couldn't imagine how we'd draw sunshine but it turns out that it's just various ways to draw the sun with the shine included.

Then I pulled out Drawing Cute and drew cherries and grapes. They turned out well, I think, and those things are always fun to draw.

I spent the rest of the day rereading the 2021 NaNoWriMo manuscript. The body of the book is better than the beginning. I did a little research on hiring a professional editor to help get this one ready to publish. It'll cost about twice as much as I anticipated but I'm thinking about it.

I also got the first draft of the cover I ordered last week. It's very different than I thought it'd be with a fancy, flowing font and a much busier picture as the background. The woman in the picture looks too young to be my middle-aged character and she's left-handed which bugged me more than I can say. So I emailed back my thoughts and got a response that they'll go back to the drawing board.

I got a text from Lala congratulating me on my book sales last week and she asked how many books I've sold. So I went through my orders and added up how many I've ordered and subtracted how many I have on hand and I've sold over 100 copies of all three titles combined. Suddenly I feel really good about the way this whole book marketing thing is going. At least the in-person part of it.

--Barbara

Not What I Meant To Do

I got a new cable/TV remote the other day and thought I was so smart getting it programmed but this morning I discovered that the DVR buttons weren't working. I read through the instructions and thought I was doing the right thing but I screwed it up. I called the cable company and talked to a nice tech woman FOR 50 MINUTES but nothing she suggested fixed it. *sigh* That meant I got to have a visit from a nice man named Steve around 6pm and he fixed it with one or two presses of buttons, so fast that I didn't see what he did. And I was watching. As a matter of course he checked all the connections, fiddled with the cable to make it work better, and gave me a new, simpler remote. All for free. No charge for the service call. Amazing.

Today a Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes and by the time I got the camera up and ready there were two more! So I got a picture of the two new arrivals, one on the ground and one on a Slinky, the one on the suet cakes flew off. I suspect that these are fledglings sticking together like a pack of teenagers cruising the neighborhood.

I drew out of 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly (aka Things With Wings) and had fun drawing a rooster, a hummingbird, a hang glider, a heron, a flying pig, and a swallow. Just when I think that the figures are in alphabetical order they aren't. I like the hummingbird today.

I spent most of the afternoon writing a new beginning for The Seaview 2. At first I thought it was too tame but now I think it's good to start slowly and have the conflict ramp up though the manuscript. Right? I'm kind of conflict-averse in life so it's a struggle for me to put it in my writing.

Did I remember to tell you that I got another sale on Amazon yesterday? It's funny, just when the accumulated ad spend reached the level of my first sale another one showed up. I'm happy just to break even.

--Barbara

Over 30 Years

This afternoon DS, LC, OJ, and I drove down to Sheboygan to witness the renewal of vows of my brother AJ and his wife K. They had it at the yacht club so Lake Michigan was the backdrop. They had drinks, hors d'oeuvres, cake, and dancing. We didn't stay for the dancing because the kids needed to get home and into bed at a reasonable time. We didn't manage that either but we tried.

This morning on my way to the grocery store I tootled around to four Little Free Libraries in the neighborhood and dropped off a book in each one. I know it's not a sale but it is another way to get my books out there.

Still no Japanese Beetles on Dad's rose.

First thing this morning a Downy Woodpecker showed up on the suet cakes again. Yesterday's male visitor must have spread the word.

While waiting for my ride to Sheboygan I sat down and drew a few things out of 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. Which one is my favorite? I think maybe the sea serpent is the one I like best.

I bought a family pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I have marinating in the fridge overnight. I'll fire up the grill tomorrow and have 10 days worth of suppers. I'm doing that because I'm just not in the mood for a week of Investment Cooking. I've got one week's worth of suppers in the freezer yet so I can eat chicken until it runs out and then maybe I'll feel like cooking.

--Barbara

Thunder and Rain

We're having it right now. I hope it rains all night because everything is so dry but I know that it won't. I just looked at the radar and there's a green, yellow, and red glob over Green Bay but it's moving so the rain will move away. But I guess any rain is good rain.

There's another rose blooming on Dad's rose bush and there are three little, totally green buds nestled around it. I went out to look at the rose today because I saw that the Botanical Garden guy posted a video on how to deal with Japanese Beetles which usually munch on my roses. Not so far.

I thought I'd tackle the next flower in 10-Steps: Flowers. It's a Gerbera daisy. I'm not very good at drawing foreshortened petals but I tried. I like the coloring.

In 20 Ways to Draw a Tree I tackled a flower, a cloud, an apple, grasses, and a tree seed. I know that you don't need me to tell you what these are but I do because I want more text to go with the picture, that's all.

 

I still haven't gone out and trimmed back the purple mums. Is it too late? Should I get out there on Sunday and hack them back? If I leave them will they keep blooming until September? I just don't know.

I'm one round away from being done with the Kestrel Sock gusset, then I can knit the stitches back onto Magic Loop and ditch the DPNs. I don't mind the double pointed needles but I like Magic Loop better. I am amused at the way the colors of the yarn are pooling. It made nice stripes on the leg and it'll go back to making nice stripes on the foot but the gusset is a whole different story. I don't mind, it'll be in my shoe anyway.

I spent part of the morning going back into the metadata of all of my books and taking out any reference to Romance in the Categories and Keywords. I've learned that Romance has an expected framework of action and reaction that readers look for. I don't have that so I'm limiting myself by claiming it. It seems like every day I learn something new. Part of me wishes that I'd never have started this odyssey. Marketing is hard.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon rereading my 2021 NaNoWriMo manuscript. I've been letting it marinate for a few months so that I'd fall out of love with it and could look at it with a more objective eye. I've read to page 84 and, honestly, I can't tell if it's any good. I've got lots of conflict, I think, but maybe not the right kind. Editing is hard too.

--Barbara

So Much Better

I got up to OtherWorlds Books & More around 9:30am, got my book display set up, and waited. There were five of us inside in the a/c and five poor souls outside under a canopy. Traffic at the sidewalk sale was down due to the excess heat and the dodgy economy (mostly the heat and humidity, I think), but eventually people trickled down the hall and bought books. I swapped one copy of Better Than Mom's for a copy of another author's book, sold four books to customers, and sold four books to OtherWorlds to restock their shelves. That means I came home (after 3:00pm) with nine fewer books than I left with in the morning. Woohoo! And in conversation with the author sitting next to me got an idea of a better way to start The Seaview 2 so it was a very productive day. I got a lot of laughs saying that I write "menopausal chick novels" and handed out a lot of bookmarks so maybe I'll generate some sales that way. Every little bit helps.

Right after I got home a Downy Woodpecker showed up at the suet cakes. It's been a while since I've seen one of those so it was a good thing.

After supper I sat down and drew a little out of 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly. I had a lot of fun drawing a beetle, a dragon, a fairy, a peacock, a gargoyle, and a dragonfly.

Sitting in that hallway all day ready to smile and chat with any passersby was tiring. There are no more tour buses (thank god, those were a bust) and the next scheduled book event up in Sturgeon Bay is November 4 but they may contact me for other not-yet-scheduled events. I hope they do.

--Barbara

Such a Small Thing

Over the last month or so the turn-on-and-off button on my TV/cable remote has been going. I've had to aim it carefully at the cable box and it took a dozen or more presses to get it to work. All the other buttons worked right, it was just the on/off button that was the problem. Last night I had enough so this morning I went to the Spectrum store, signed in, and waited my turn. All I had to do was brandish the defective remote and he gave me a brand new one. With batteries included! There were clear instructions on how to get the remote to work with the TV and cable box so I got them paired up and I'm in business. Such a small thing made me so happy. I must have turned it on a dozen times over the course of the day just to see it light up.

It was raining when I woke up this morning. It didn't rain for long but I figure that any rain helps. As long as it doesn't rain when I'm driving up and back to Sturgeon Bay tomorrow I'll be happy.

 

I was happy to see a Goldfinch stop at the round feeder today. In fact two males stopped but I only got a picture of one.

Today I drew out of 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. I drew a lobster, an otter (sideways), a narwhal, a nautilus, and an octopus. Fun stuff.

The Daily Practice today was Lamp. I thought it'd be harder to draw lamps but it was a snap. Even the articulated arm of the desk lamp was easy to draw. I think it makes a difference that we're not drawing a particular thing, just an imaginary one. Maybe I'm getting better at this after all.

I've been working on the Kestrel Sock gusset a little. It's my least-favorite part of sock architecture and therefore I dawdle knitting it and it takes longer. I don't know why I don't like knitting it, I just don't. That's why I sometimes use the Strong heel rather than the flap, turn, and gusset heel but I like the way that last one feels on my feet.

Today was the last day of this month's Amazon Ads Profit Challenge. Today's video was all about profit and I'm nowhere near the 100 clicks on any of my books that he talks about for gathering data. I went on a website called GetCovers to see if they could design a better cover for Horizon. It's only $35 so I thought it might be worth it to see what they come up with. It's only supposed to take a few days to get the first draft of the cover. I'm anxious to see it. I don't know what I can do to get more clicks and sales on all of my books. I've tried rewriting the blurb, adding a subtitle, tightening the keywords, and changing the categories. Something has to make a difference.

--Barbara

Not One

Well. I went back up to OtherWorlds Books & More in Sturgeon Bay this afternoon for another tour bus stop with high hopes only to have them dashed. It was another busload of non-readers. I'm committed to go back on Thursday from 10-6 for sidewalk day although we'll be indoors, not baking in the heat outside. I'm disappointed about today but I have a feeling that Thursday will be better. I can't stay home and not try. The 50 mile drive seemed shorter today--both ways.

This little Chickadee was having a great time on the suet pellets feeder this morning. I'm entertained by all the time the birds that aren't woodpeckers spend on there. Every once in a while a woodpecker shows up and manages a few pecks on the pellets but most of the time it's Sparrows, House Finches, and Chickadees. They're mad for the stuff, not the suet cakes, just the pellets.

Here's one of the Black-eyed Susans that managed to bloom without a weed canopy over it. Like I said, when it cools off in a few days I'll go out and see if I can't cut back some of the weeds to give them a chance.

A week ago or so I found that a &*%$# chipmunk had dug up one of my geraniums. Instead of throwing the plant away I let it lay there on the dirt for a couple days and then decided to try replanting it. Well, would you look at that. See those green leaves? It isn't dead after all. Nature is amazing.

 

The Daily Practice today was Seashells. I like lettering the pages and drawing the figures. The shells turned out okay and they're from her imagination, not real life. I was amazed at the difference the dashes and dotted lines made in how they looked.

I opened Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers to the next page and found this quartet of zinnia-looking flowers. I was a little intimidated by all of the petals but I think they turned out okay. I especially like the one in the lower left with the windblown looking petals.

I spent an hour this morning watching the next Amazon Ads Profit Challenge video. It was about comparing your ad spend with your profits. Ha. What profits? Since I started running Amazon Ads I've made all of one sale. Makes me think that either there's something terminally wrong with my books or I'm wasting my time trying to sell them to strangers.

--Barbara

Two Varieties of Salvia

One is an annual and is red, my favorite color. It's thriving despite the drought we're having and my lackluster watering habits.

The other is a perennial and is purple, not my favorite color. It's one of the plants that the landscaper planted despite my request for red, orange, and yellow flowers. I'm trying to get over being peeved at that but I'm not being very successful.

The Black-eyed Susans are thriving despite the drought and the overhanging weeds. When this next blast of heat straight from the southwest corner of Hell has passed I should probably grab some cutters and go out and at least cut back the weeds that I can reach. I'm too darned short to reach back to the privacy fence so a lot of weeds are out of my reach.

This morning I sat down and drew the Daily Practice, Boot. I'm liking lettering the pages and again I took more time to try to make the drawings better. I think it's working.

I spent most of the day working on marketing my books. This week is another Amazon Ads Profit Challenge so I've got a video to watch every day and homework to do. Today I tried to write ad copy that will hopefully drive more people to click on my book's sales page and maybe buy a copy. Since I just wrote it and the ad was moderated only today so far there are no impressions. Hope that changes soon.

When I needed a break from writing ad copy I pulled out 20 Ways to Draw a Tree and filled a page with the figures of a feather, a winter tree, a daisy, an owl, and a beetle. I like the beetle the best but I'm not unhappy with any of them.

 

This evening I finished knitting the heel flap, turned the heel, and picked up the gusset stitches on the Kestrel Sock. I tried but couldn't wrap my mind around how to keep knitting the heel using the Magic Loop method so I switched to Double Point Needles which is the sock heel architecture that I understand. I'll switch back to Magic Loop for the foot and toe. It's only the heel gusset that confuses me.

Tomorrow after I'm going up to Sturgeon Bay to the bookstore where another tour bus will be stopping. I decided that I don't want to miss the opportunity just in case there are readers on the bus. And when I spoke with the bookstore owner this morning he didn't remember if there will be room for me to be there on Thursday for sidewalk day so I'm going tomorrow just in case I can't on Thursday. I get to wear some of my new "author" clothes too! Fingers crossed that I sell at least one book.

--Barbara

It's Warmer Here

I had a great weekend up in Pickerel Lake. The weather was perfect, warm with a little breeze and cool at night. It threatened rain so we didn't go on a boat ride. I sleep on a futon in the "living room" and this is my view when I wake up in the morning.

In the afternoon on Saturday we had Cosmos while we sat and knitted on the screen porch. I'm not much of a drinker, have no head for spirits, so that half glass was all I had. It was enough. There were snacks and we went to a local tavern for really good pizza for supper. We all overate and most of us had Tums for dessert but there were no regrets.

We did a lot of knitting and a lot of talking. Yesterday I got through the leg of the Kestrel Sock and this afternoon I got started on the heel flap. I love the colors of this yarn.

I also finished knitting the Pink Lemonade Warshrag this morning. I don't know what I'll do with the washcloths I keep knitting but there's bound to be a charity that needs them, right? I'll ask around. Maybe LB knows a place.

When I got home this afternoon, after I unpacked and went to the market for bananas, grapes, and watermelon (oh, I'm addicted to those watermelon chunks they've got), I sat down to draw. First I drew the next Daily Practice. It's imaginary house plants. I tried to slow down and take my time so I think that they turned out a bit better.

Then I dived into 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly or Things With Wings and enjoyed drawing a flying fish, a bee, a dove, a moth, and a vintage airplane. There are 20 examples of each thing so I try to choose a different one each time I work through the book. Some are more challenging than others, all are fun.

I was happy to have leftover Farro Salad from the weekend to have for supper. KE's friend thought that she said I was making Sparrow Salad and wondered where I got the sparrows. Yikes! I told KE that I had plenty of them at my birdfeeders but that they're a bear to pluck all those little feathers. No sparrows were harmed in the making of this salad.

While I was away the day lilies came into their own. The orange ones are blooming big time...

and the shorter red ones are having a blooming good time too. These are also ones that I wish I could paint because I love the dark brick red of the petals and the vivid yellow centers.

CS has a Hummingbird feeder that hangs just outside her screen porch so we got to watch the little birds come and go all weekend. I saw one at my feeder this afternoon late but it didn't stay long enough to have its picture taken. There were too many other birds flying around for it to feel comfortable landing. Dang it.

--Barbara

Bloomed

That rosebud that I showed you last night opened up today and it's gorgeous. We had a rain shower this afternoon and I went out afterward to take a rose picture and the water droplets sparkle in it.

I also took a good long look at the rose bush and found this biggish bud with two smaller ones nestled below it so maybe I'll be having roses for a while yet. Thanks, Dad!

Rain. Hooray, we had rain. It looked like it was going to rain and then it didn't. But just as I was getting ready to go on an errand I heard something, looked out, and it was pouring. Instead of going out in the rain I ran a sink of dishwater and washed up a few things waiting until the rain stopped. A better plan than going out dodging raindrops.

This morning I made the Farro Salad to take up to CS's cottage tomorrow. I was able to snip a couple stems of basil from my neighbor's plant and made a double batch of dressing for the salad. It's so good but I only had a nibble. I'm saving it for tomorrow night. Cross my heart.

The Daily Practice today was Spice Jars. Not my first favorite thing to draw and I might have trouble with straight lines and symmetry but they're not too bad. I think I need to slow down. As you can see I ran out of the big drawing pad so now I'm down to drawing one day's worth a day. Making it last.

Then I picked out a few pages in 20 Ways to Draw a Tree and drew a leaf, an acorn, a snowflake, berries, an herb, and a snail. Most of them turned out the way I'd hoped.

And I did laundry today. Ugh. Four loads of laundry and I had to fold sheets. Double ugh.

I didn't make a new category ad for Horizon yet today but I did spend some time checking out other titles in the same category and realized that my blurb was missing some things--like the romantic partner that puts it in the romance category. So in between laundry loads I worked to rewrite the blurb and got it changed on Amazon. I'm focusing on Horizon because it's the one that gets the fewest impressions and clicks hoping that I can give it a boost. Now I'll go do my homework and make a new ad.

Oh, I'm off with knitting friends tomorrow and will be away for the weekend. I'll see you back here on Sunday night.

--Barbara