MURDER BOOK (Chapters Flying)

 I'm taking a wee break before I get back to writing, and I have to say, this book is not going to be the same type, style, or even size as the last one.  I am still going to have the publisher print the book in size 12 font because I think people should be able to read the words without squinting. Maybe that's just me, but I am all but not going back to reading book books, physical books, because the font is set at 11, and where that may seem like only a bit smaller than 12, which is it, it's monumental to me. I can read 12 without issues. I just can't focus on the line I need to be focusing on when I read something smaller. OK, yeah, so it's just me.

    I am on Chapter 15. If you read yesterday's blog you know I was on Chapter 12 when all hell broke out at my house after the computer ate my work. I had put in over 6000 words and the damn thing just stopped working and ate my manuscript. I had the OLD manuscript saved and I had been saving my work as I went along, but NOPE, it was gone. I thought I was going to have a conniption. I really did. God prevailed, and I found the other words just sort of hanging out in a file where they should not have been. I have zero clue as to how it happened, but I quickly copied and pasted them into a new document and then I saved that document a few times. That was incredibly scary and I hope I never have that happen to me again.

    Today is a new day. I've written another three chapters today, and am about to write Chapter 15 soon. I have 90 written pages at this point, but by 90 it is closer to about 150 in the actual book. The pages online are bigger. I think I did the math once and it was like 310-320 words per page when I'm typing them, but when they get sent off to be formatted, there are about 240-260 words per page, and that's a 9x6 page; it may be that there are fewer words on the other sizes of books. I don't want this book, the Murder Book, to be a 9x6. I want it to be a regular-sized book. In fact, when I send off the manuscript of "Of Kilted Pleasure" to be redone, I think I'll have it done in a smaller-sized book as well. I have NO clue why I agreed to the 9x6 for it. Now, I need to go measure the books I like so I can see what size my book will be. I'll be right back.

    Now, I know. The books I buy, or the ones I used to buy, that are murder or mystery-type books are either 7.5 x4, or they are 8x5.  I like either of those better than 9x6. I just can't understand why I would have succumbed to the thinking that a 9x6 book would be OK. It's just not. I don't like it. I pick up my book to read it and say NOPE...I don't like it. The problems an author must face. I know, they are so very very trivial, and I need to not be so bothered. I just think, and now I know, that I prefer the 7x4 size and 12 font.  It may end up being a 400-page book, but John Grisham does that all the time. If it's good enough for John, it's good enough for me.

    Chapter 15 will be really cool. I'm about to introduce the actual book which gives my book the title of "Murder Book".  It is a book about a detective solving a few murders, but there is an actual book where the prominent murders are listed and there are some that haven't happened yet. Oh no! I'm giving it all away. It's OK, even if someone steals my idea I have more. I am never without a good story. The fact that this book will have to wait until I'm flush money-wise (again) sort of makes me sad, but then again, it gives me the chance to go through it a number of times to be sure I've corrected all mistakes, big and small, fat and thin, pretty and ugly. I have to say, this time, I am taking it upon myself to be a bit more attentive in the initial writing stage(s) and I'm finding that I'm fluffing and stuffing more up front too. When I do go through the thing I won't be adding too terribly much.

    Right now the character of Eoghan MacRae, a Scottish singer and songwriter, who has been faulted by his wife, and is about to be fired by his employer, is privately asking himself boundary questions which he'll have to come to grips with either before the end of this book, or at the beginning of the next. He'll end up being a sort of side-kick and pseudo detective in these books; maybe one day he'll even go so far as to get his license and put his name on the door. Nick doesn't even have a door at this point. He travels and is loaned out quite often. Not one to settle down too quickly, Posh finds the love of his yester-life is available again. He may have a second chance. That may be at the end of this book or the beginning of the next.

    The good news is, I'm on Chapter 15!  I will write another two today probably, and another 3 or 4 chapters tomorrow. I'll be at least 1/2 way through by this time tomorrow, and I'll know more about what will end up in this book and what will be carried over - - I think the murders have stopped in this one now, and now it's all about the disposals, the reasoning, the clues, and the gusto it takes to step out of ones comfort zones to make things click!  (Oh, and there's a really cute dog in this one too. Really cute.) 

Bye!!

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com 

    

    

Murder Book SCARE.

 I am sitting at the computer now, just thanking Jesus, and really just saying over and over again, how very thankful I am. I was about to have one of the biggest personal breakdowns I have ever had, but to most people, my little fit would have seemed to pale by any comparison. I am a writer. I write. I am in the middle of writing my first murder novel when today, after writing over 50 pages of over 300 words per page, (let's do the math) about 15,000 words, when out of the blue the computer decided NOT to save the words to the file. WHAT? It was GONE.  Just GONE. 

    I use Word, so I checked the three (yes 3) separate places where I always save my work. I tend to save every 15 minutes or so, and I thought I had. I never don't do that. I am, if nothing else, consistent. I was 100%, absolutely sure, that I had in fact saved my work, and it was GONE. Talk about hitting the lowest key possible. I was just really so very upset not only with myself but with the machine I was using, with the software, and with life in general. I was even about to yell at my dog who, for some damn reason, wouldn't stop woofing under her breath at whoever it was outside, someone I personally could have throttled if I was downstairs. I was not. Again, thank you, Jesus.

    I decided today, to get back into the mix of writing "Murder Book". It needs to be done, but for about a month I have not felt it. I have not been in the right frame of mind. I didn't have the same urgency writing this book, as I did when I wrote "Of Kilted Pleasure", but I can at least say that with this book, while writing "Murder Book" I am taking my time to be sure I don't misspell anything, and I'm double checking all historical points, places, names, dates, etc.  I'm trying to do more of my own due diligence now before it is published, and that makes a great difference.

    Anyway, I'm over here writing, and I wrote Chapters 9, 10, and 11 and I was just about to write Chapter 12 when the computer just decided to blank out and keep my words. I have NO IDEA what happened. I literally couldn't find it anywhere. I was just livid. I checked by date to see if I had saved it by another name; which wouldn't make sense, but you just never know. Stranger things, right?  I had not. It just wasn't there. It wasn't on the flash drive, it wasn't on the desktop, it wasn't in Documents. I don't know what the hell happened to it.

    I don't remember what I did, or where I went to look for it, but in Word itself I somehow managed to find a document that looked similar, a ghost-like copy, and I pulled it up. It was my document. I decided to CTRL+A and selected the entire document, then I pasted it to a new document, renamed it, and saved it. Then I saved it over the other document that I could find, the one I wrote a month ago, the one I thought was using to write the last several chapters. This darn thing is more than saved now. It is not going anywhere! 

    Murder Book is taking on legs of its own really. I'm finding myself branching out and doing a bit of the fluff and stuff now, rather than writing it and then doing the fleshing of it. Speaking of fleshing. Damn, I am actually creating a thread that I had no idea I would be writing. It's a little macabre but it goes along with the content and intent of the book itself. It's a side-line murder, one that has nothing to do with the others, but it gives the characters something to investigate, and it gives the readers an insight into the deviant mind of a killer who isn't part of the main group the main characters are focused on; so it's a thorn in the side, but viable. I love it.

    I decided to write three chapters today, and another three, maybe four tomorrow. I'll write the same on Monday, as it is a holiday, and then if I feel like it, I'll carry it over to Tuesday. Let's see, I'm on 12 now, so that'll be 15 tomorrow, 18 on Monday, and maybe 21-22 by Tuesday.  At this rate, the book should be finished by the end of June or around the first weekend of July. I can't have it published yet, so it's not that big of a deal really. The thing is, as soon as I get it done I'll begin to tweak it, and then go over it a dozen times to be sure I didn't miss anything. By the time I do get it published, I'll have written the sequel to the romance novel, and I'll be in the middle of writing Pinball, a book that just sort of came to me in the middle of the night. I have to put it into its place one day.

    Chapters 9, 10, and 11 of Murder Book were fairly easy to write. I've not gone into much detail really, and that's because I typically write then I fluff and stuff.  I am outlining, and getting things set up, but again, I seem to be adding more to each chapter now rather than waiting to do so later. I think the book could end up being closer to 400 pages; who knows. I have to introduce Nick Posh and set up the series, so this book may be slightly thicker than the ones to follow. The Nick Posh books will be written on a somewhat regular basis so I can have one book or maybe two out each year. That's the goal. It won't be hard to do once I get all the other books out of the way.

    I have the trilogy of the romance books, "Of Kilted Pleasure", "Of Kilted Love" and "Of Kilted Memories", then there's "Pinball" which I think will end up being the sequel to "Murder Book" actually, and there is a third that I'm already formulating in my skull -- and then, there's "Stollen" and "1211", and they have nothing to do with either series. Wow. I have some work to do. I need to get off this computer before I lose it. I came so close...so close.  Say goodnight....goodnight.

Photo Credit: Shanon Fagan

Changes Made (to the book)

 If I had not made such monumental mistakes in the book before I sent it off, and only discovered them afterwards, I would not have had the opportunity to do what I just did. I changed a small part of the book upon making the corrections; and now, when I resubmit it, the first book will become a collector's item for sure. Let me explain.

    The book "Of Kilted Pleasure" is a Highlander Romance novel. Being so, it had a sort of guideline set by other authors, so that my book, so as to keep up with said genre, would be romantic and even sexual at times.  That being said, I think I may have gone a bit overboard with one particular scene at the beginning of the book. I wanted to catch the attention of the reader and keep their attention. I have to admit, I've always been able to write erotic passages, but that doesn't mean I need to. I guess I sort of got caught up in it, and I wrote it, then I published it. Once the book actually came out and I read it for the first time in print, I have to admit again, that it may have been stepping over the proverbial line...just a touch. (pun intended)

    Basically, what happened was, I was given 20 free copies of the book, and while reading through it I was reading for my own personal pleasure, but realized I was actually not that happy that I had said what I said. Yes, people have sex all the time. Yes, what the characters were doing wasn't gross, or unnecessary. They were engaged with their passion, they were sharing it amongst themselves, but the problem is, I let the audience in on a moment that may have been better received as a fantasy and not as a fully detailed description of what exactly was taking place. There's something to be said about innuendo. I blew that concept out of the water.

    So, and this is good. I realized upon reading the entire book, that there were 12 undeniable mistakes. Some I had made, some that were made by the publisher when I did not pay for their editing process. I don't want to get into that right now, but it actually worked in my favor, because I was able to correct a HUGE and unforgivable mistake that I had made; I had given the wrong name of a historical person who I said performed a duty when he had been dead about 98 years. My bad!! I was absolutely thrilled that I could make that correction for sure. I was also able to make the other corrections, and then today, before writing to the publisher to see what I need to do to resubmit the book, I decided to correct one of the more graphic sex passages.

    The book has about three sexual passages I think, all within the context of being a fantasy of the heroin Aria.  There are other sexual mentions, but they are not fantasies. Two are things that the bad guy says, and they are graphic, crude, and rude intentionally so that the reader realizes who they are reading about. They will not be pleased with his callous and disrespectful demeanor. Another deals with the natural order of things, and just is what it is. There was no need to change it in any way. We all come to that point in our lives about the same time the protagonist comes to that moment in the book. All is good.  Still, there was the first encounter that needed a bit of taming. So I tamed it. It's still good. Don't get me wrong, it's just not in-your-face sexual.

    To be honest, I do feel better about it. I can't stop the sales of the books right now, but when I am able to resubmit it I will. For now, the books with the mistakes and the more sexual wording will be collector's items, and believe me when I tell you I already get emails telling me I have random "ww" in places. Yeah, I know. I can't fix it, I can't help it. I am doing what I can, it is what it is, and no, I'm not an idiot. I just don't have a magic wand I can wave to change things. It doesn't work that way. You have to ask to resubmit, then stop the press on one book before you can submit the other. I'm doing that. I can't stop the global presses as easily, that will have to take place at the publisher level. I wish I had reread the book before submitting it, but then again, the first publisher I hired did that for me, and they intentionally left the mistakes in it. Yea!

    Well, life is interesting, and we learn as we go. I'll read and re-read and then triple-read every book I submit from this point. I'm happy to learn, and happy to be a part of the changes and challenges of the business. If a misspelled word is the worst thing that happens to me in this life, I'm good.

    

    Photo Credit: Peakpx.com

    

Deployment. (Not THAT Kind)

 A few weeks back I had the fun of telling my son, an E6 Staff Sgt. in the U.S. Army, and Oklahoma National Guard, that I was going to be "deployed" soon. I knew it would make him laugh.  He goes on real deployments.  He's been commissioned to do so a number of times, and every time he does, he's gone for a year or close to it. The last time he was deployed he came over to my place in October and he set up the Christmas tree. He did it for a good reason. It was (is) his personal Christmas tree, and he set it up, decorated it, and told me that he would be back in a year or so to take it down. It was his promise to his mother, that he would be returning from the war zone. In September of the following year, I greeted my son at the reunion celebration, a few days later, he returned to my place and took down his tree. Thank you, Jesus.

    My deployment, the one I will be commissioned and contracted to do, will be of a different sort altogether. I am a licensed insurance Claims Adjuster and at the time of this writing I am licensed in five separate states. I am licensed in my home state of Oklahoma, then in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and in Florida. Let me tell you, getting on with Florida was not the easiest thing to do; nor was it the cheapest state to sign up with either.  To get on with your home state you take a test if your state has an exam to take. Study guides can run upward of $100, then there are three-day classes you can take, which are $245 or so. Your test is $65 or $70 I don't remember, but when you get it, you pay for the license as well. It's another $45 or so. That's your home state, and mine is Oklahoma. Yours may vary. 

    Getting on with Florida was like pulling the proverbial teeth. Some states have reciprocal agreements and Oklahoma is one of those states. I had to pay $68 to get the license, and then $50.75 to have my fingerprints sent over digitally, but you can't do that yourself you know, you have to set an appointment and then drive to wherever it is that they do them; for me, it was Norman, OK. I'm OK with that. Norman is my little slice of heaven.  After the $50.75 I had to pay another (additional) $60 for a self-appointment, and you must be appointed. So, roughly $180 to get on with Florida...dang!  Alabama isn't too far off with their $120 bill, I think Mississippi is a close 3rd at $118.  Thank you Texas and Louisiana for not raking me over the coals!

    Anyway, back to the deployment. As a Claims Adjuster without actual experience in the field or the industry, I am subject to being trained in one of three ways. I can be hired as a staff adjuster and be trained by the carrier, or the insurance company. I can be trained as an independent, catching all the free and paid classes I can on my own and just wait to be deployed by someone, or the third and much more realistic way of being trained this late in the "season" (it's actually the beginning of the hurricane season, but late for training) I will be caught up and employed by one of the 40+ companies I am registered with. I will be sent their equipment after I sign a contract stating I will work for them exclusively during the deployment, and they will train me on the fly. That's how about 68% of all Claims Adjusters become experienced Claims Adjusters. We wait to be deployed!

    If you know me, and some of you do, you know I am both an overachiever and I don't wait for things to happen. I make things happen. I've been registering with more than an average amount of companies to all but guarantee that I will be chosen. I am racking up the states' licenses and then sending my updated resumes to all of these companies so they keep in touch and they know I'm moving up the invisible ladder!  I also take as many of the free classes as I can through Alacrity, Pilot, Pacesetter, and State Farm; others offer training as well.  There are many independent adjusting firms that offer training both for their own and for anyone who wants to register on their roster. I am one of those people. 

    There aren't enough hours in the day to take and complete all the training that is available, but I'm trying. The thing is, it's good practice for the hours I'll have to keep when I am deployed. Most companies work either six or seven days a week, and they work either ten or twelve hours a day. After 40 hours you get paid time and a half, and most of the companies start a person out around $30 an hour; it depends on the deployment and the client carrier. Do the Math!  I'll stay on deployment for a while to ride the tide and save what I can; if you do it long enough you can work a year, stay off work a year, travel, write books, and go back to it. Or, if you want to, after the first deployment, you can stay with the company and do day-to-day (daily) work if they have it, or you can become an independent adjuster, get your EIN and work the dailies for several companies. NEVER get bored!

    I applied for my EIN online and am waiting for it, I thought it would be here by now, so I may have to call the IRS tomorrow and get an update. Until it does come in I can work under my personal social security number, but it is best if you can work under the EIN and have a name for your "company". My company is one I've had for years, but I had to let it go and the EIN dropped. At least I think it did. I'll find out more tomorrow. My company is Stringfellow Agency. So original. I was going to call it Reulaca, I have used that name in the long distant past when I operated out of my home before it was cool to do so. Reulaca is a mix of my three kids' names: Reuben, Laura, and Caity.

    Over the past two days, yesterday and today, I've filled out four separate onboarding packages for four separate companies that are all gearing up for the 2023 Hurricane Season.  One company texted me with a happy little text saying "Are you ready for a great hurricane season? We are!"  My first thought was, should I be sad that I'm hoping for a catastrophic event? Maybe that makes me a really bad person. Then my next thought was, I can't control God, but I can prepare myself to help others when it happens. I like that thought better.  I've been involved in the industry since about April, so three months. I've been watching YouTube videos by Chris Stanley of IA Path, Matt Allen of AdjusterTV, and all the others that give great insight and podcasts to describe what a day in the life looks like. CNC or Catastrophic and National Claims have a good channel to learn from. They are actually the first ones I saw! (Hi Guys!)

    I watched the videos, found a few of the "actors" on LinkedIn, and connected with them. Their HR set me up with State Farm's HR which houses in the same building they do in Mobile, AL, and I was immediately put on their roster and started training. They get dibs on me first; I thought that to be only fair. As soon as one company offers me something I'll let them know so they'll have an option to pick me up or let me take the other assignment. One thing I can say, there are so many, so so so many nice people in the Claims industry. It's as if everyone is willing to help everyone. There are Facebook groups to join and become involved with. I'm connected on LinkedIn with more than 2000 Claims people from the adjusters to the CEOs of the companies. EVERYONE is so helpful and wants everyone else to survive and thrive in the industry. You can't say that about a lot of industries.

    When I deploy I will so do as a remote desk adjuster. I'll wear the uniform of my people; jammies. I'll literally move from my bedroom to the office in my apartment, and that is where my setup is. They'll send me their equipment, and I'll hook it up to my other two monitors, and be ready to call people, be called, work claims, review claims, examine claims, write claims, and just be the trainee they deserve to train. I want to be both helpful and resourceful. If you know me, and like I said, some of you do, you'll know I'm already reading up on the processes so I'm at least familiar with it. I'll be sticking to AUTO rather than property for now. I want to start slow, build it up, and keep it going. If I like auto I'll stay. I can this, after only two or three months of really getting into this, I know my car inside and out like I've never known it before. 

    I'm not sure I'm "looking forward" to a "great" hurricane season, but I know it's coming and I know there are wildfires, hail, wind storms, tornadoes, heavy snow and ice, as well as other catastrophic events that can take place. Earthquakes are another big one that can happen instantly and we need to be ready and on the rosters! Before long I'll have another four to six licenses and be that much more ready - - can't wait. Fun times...well, times!! Time times!!  I may not be thrilled, but my bank account will thank me later.

    

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

Hey Lady, Your Dog Only Has One Ear!

     We are members of the local rehoming page on Facebook so that when we find, foster, or find the need to rehome one of our animals, we can go there, write up a post, and be more selective as to who answers the call to further rescue or home the animal. With that being said, we had a cat that we rescued about three years ago, and he was for all purposes OUR cat after that long of a time. We called him our cat, fed him, took him to the vet when he needed to go, and all those things. Lately, however, he had developed behavior issues that warranted that he be rehomed; perhaps to a home without as much stress. We have other animals; some animals do better in homes where they can warrant the most (if not all) attention. I placed the post asking for someone to take him in. We didn't charge a rehoming fee, we just made sure their vet and character references checked out; it worked out.

    While my daughter was removing the post today, she came across one that caught her eye, and she decided to call me up and ask if I would mind if we took in a deformed puppy that seemingly no one wanted, or perhaps (as the foster parents put it) they couldn't continue to keep him as he would need to be an outdoor dog and with his particular deformity, it would be impossible. The puppy, a 10-week-old German Shepherd/Rotty mix male, only had ONE ear. When I say he only has one ear, I mean the dog only has one ear. The right ear is perfectly sound, and normal, and is where it is supposed to be, but the left ear has no outer flap, and the inside of it is closed up and even a tiny bit of it is protruding from where the ear hole would be. He has one ear.

    If he were to be left outside in the rain, the rain could definitely penetrate into his ear without any protective covering, and he could become infected for sure. It was not something I wanted to think about; of course, I told my daughter we would take him. We've been fostering a couple of puppies lately, hoping to find my daughter a dog she can train to become an emotional support pet for herself. She won't take him to work, but use him when she feels nervous, anxious or depressed about things; which happens from time to time. Giving up her horses has caused a great deal of separation anxiety for her, but owning a dog is far less expensive! Believe me, the old saying "I used to have money, but now I have horses" makes a whole lot of sense to anyone who has horses.

    We called the home after speaking with them on Facebook. We drove 18 miles to get him, and we immediately fell in love. He made himself very comfortable on Laura's lap as we drove home, and trust me when I say he has had zero difficulties acclimating to his new digs. He came into the place, saw the others, made sure they saw him, and he's been chewing on their toys ever since. I think he'll be just fine. Laura named him Hugo after a wolf-type character in some anime show that she watches. He's a tough cookie, and this pup fits that bill to a T.  He's 100% confident in his demeanor, and that sort of reminded both Laura and me of another deformed pup we came across some 21 years ago - Faith, my famous two-legged dog; the one you saw on all the shows. Faith, despite having only two back legs, didn't let anything stop her. If she wanted something, that dog took it. This dog seems pretty close to what I remember Faith being like -- alpha much?

    Well, the good news is, I think Hugo is going to be a good cuddler and he'll make an ace of an emotional therapy dog soon enough. We just have to let him know who the boss is - - that is once we stop cooing over his squishy sweet face long enough to be firm and commanding. Yeah, probably not going to happen. He'll run all over us like all the others do. It's a pattern. We don't mind.

Photo Credit: Me

That Would Suck Donkey Donuts!

 Come to think of it, and yes, from time to time, I think about things, I haven't written a good old-fashioned Southern blog in a minute or two. I'll do that now, so you don't have to. Shall we? The thought occurred to me today, while driving down to  Norman, OK from Oklahoma City, that there are a few ways to get to the Football Capital of the Southwest. You see, Norman is considered somewhat more holy than other cities, and from time to time you'll want to make your appearance if only to say you've been there. I was traveling to our fair city of fine football funness because I needed to get my fingerprints run on a digital contraption so I could send said fingerprints to the state of Florida, where they'll use them to register me as a licensed insurance claims adjuster. Things happen, things need to be done, and I respond accordingly.

    While driving down to Norman, taking an alternative route, I realized something else that may or may not be a bit Southern by nature. People drive in two specific caste systems in my state. They either drive like the proverbial bat out of hell, or they take their sweet tea time and sip along the highway as if they had all gosh darn morning to do so. I'm typically a sipper, not gonna lie, but the highway is a place where one should at least attempt to keep up with the others. I remember once being pulled over by a cop in Indiana for going too slowly, but the sign was clear...it read a minimum of 45 miles per hour, and that's about what I was doing. I didn't need to get anywhere quickly. The good man only gave me a warning, but we did have a nice talk about his two favorite uncles who had moved to Oklahoma in the late '50s when they got married. (That sounded funny. They married two separate women.)

    In the South, as you know, we cook. The Southwest is no different. We cook here too, but we throw in more spice, a few chipotle peppers and maybe we don't use as much celery; that's my thought. I think we double up on the B's as well. We put in more bacon, more butter, more bananas, and certainly more breadcrumbs if the casserole looks a bit thin from the side. Did I say "casserole", yes, I did. Here, we are prepared to feed a few folks who may just happen by; so we always have a 9x13 glass pan ready to go - - God forbid we run out of stuff to put in it! If that ever happens to you, no worries, you can thaw whatever is in the freezer, but throw in a bit of butter and maybe even a bit of basil to cover up any freezer burn if it's been there a while. Cook it in a hot oven until it's done, and don't ask me how long that will be. I can't even read a recipe because no one ever taught me that. You cook it until it's done. The reason behind that statement is clear enough; if it ain't done you can't eat it. I should say you shouldn't eat it.

    I mentioned recipes. Don't need them. We don't call anything (down here) by its recipe name. If you want an Italian cream cake you say you want Aunt Wilma's white cake with nuts and coconut. If you want a yam pie instead of a pumpkin pie you say you want the other orange pie; and if you want to know what goes into a stew, well I may have to hug you some and tell you I'm really sorry for your upbringing. You put what your daddy put into the pot. Didn't you watch? OK, if you didn't, and this is your first time, I understand, but I do have to shed a tear or two when you're not looking. Maybe even say a prayer. Cornbread goes with stew, by the way, and if you think I'm using a glass pan for that you must be from up north.

    Grannies in this part of the world probably need to invest in iron skillets so that each of their grandkids ends up with one; that would be the solution, rather than waiting until she dies to see who she loved the most. My poor granny had 23 of us, so yeah, I was really happy to steal, I mean, take the big crock bowl when my own mom wasn't watching one Thanksgiving afternoon. She wasn't using it. I let her know about four years later that I had it and that there was no way I was gonna bring it back, not even for a selfie. It will stay in MY KITCHEN for the duration. When I die it goes to Caity, she has the grands, and they need it more. Laura gets my skillet; not because I love her more, but because Reuben may end up putting it in the dishwasher. He can't be trusted.

    OK, so besides all that, I had time to think about my fingerprints as well. This is where it gets my goat. It sucks donkey donuts too. I had to pay an extra $50.75 to the state of Florida so they could have a set of my digital prints. I didn't even get a hard copy. They get them by email, and since they are of record and have been of record since before I don't know when; they should be able to call up a database, pay $5 and have them sent. Hell, I'd pay the $5! Why am I driving 30 miles to have my prints run again, only to pay $50.75 to have them emailed? It's a scam. It's a money-grabbing no good scam, and it really burns my grits. I'll get over it, I mean, I did already. I drove to Norman. When you go there you know you're a bit closer to God so it's all good. 

Boomer Sooner!

Photo Credit: FoodNetwork. com

    

Another Time (Part of the Story)

 Niall Wilson lay in his bed in the shared flat that he had found at the last moment, the moment the government had given him to either find a place or they'd find one for him. If he had left it up to the council he wouldn't have been homeless exactly, but living in a dormitory-type hostel wasn't what he wanted at his age. Hostels, he felt, were like shelters for younger men; places you end up when you haven't got a quid to spare, so the good-natured desk clerks usually turned their heads when it came time to collect your weekly rent. Sometimes he may have had it, but not most of the time, not now, not after his divorce. Not after his stint with the hospital, the rehabilitation center, and the court-appointed mentor, he had to see twice a week. He lay in his bed in that shared flat wondering why it was that God wasn't listening to him. He asked again.

    God wasn't listening; that's what it felt like. He could stare at the ceiling for all God cared. He couldn't find the right words to even describe what his head was telling his soul. Even the inside of his own heart seemed to be on vacation, it wasn't taking any calls from his brain and he just felt so disconnected all the time. He didn't feel as if he belonged in the flat; he was the old man. At forty-three he had lived a bit longer and had far more experiences than the other addicts that happened upon the place before they too, were shuttled off to the wards of Hosteland. "Find a bed! Find somewhere, and get an address so we can count you done. You're out now, you're no longer our responsibility!", that's what he was being told by the good nurses and doctors who had forced him for weeks and months on end to eat whatever they told him to eat, to drink whatever they gave him, to take the meds they pushed, but God forbid he smoke a cigar! God forbid he spoke of drinking again. 

    This was his fourth trip to the gallows, the end of the line for him really, as the council attendants made it clear to him that his last prayer had just set sail. If he failed again, he could be a permanent resident; he knew he didn't want that. He found a place to lay his head. The second-floor flat occupied the same street as the best-kept secret in Edinburgh; Lola's Breakfast Bar. Every morning just before dawn Lola MacLean and her crew fetched, found, and floured some of the best sausage rolls, pretzel buns, doughnuts, and pastries ever cooked. The smell rose and infiltrated his room; gloriously waking him and reminding him for a brief moment that there was a God to pray to. Would today be the day He finally heard the prayers of the beaten sinner? It wasn't as if the man didn't already know there was something between him and the Almighty; but what it was, he couldn't put his finger on it. 

    Another day, another sleepless late night into the earlier dawn hours, finally being aroused by the succulent scents of seasoned sausage and the pleasant aromas of pastry dough boiling in oil.  What was it holding his prayer at the ceiling, he questioned; what held him in the misery that he knew he had personally created? Without warning there was a rap, three strong thumps on his door. He knew who it was on the other side of the door. Immediately, and as clear as the sunlight now making its way across the diamond-paned window, cascading over his small wooden desk, over the chair, across the rails of his bed, and finally upon his face. There it is. There he is. His sin.

    Before rising to answer the door, Niall Wilson called to his mate on the other side of the oak barrier to let him know he wasn't dressed. Some sort of call was returned, a laugh, a half-meant and half-joking call, something about it wouldn't be the first time both men had seen each other "otherwise disposed of". Nevertheless, it was painfully present, the knowing, the absolute knowing that he had been living not only a lie but a lie that when coupled with what it really was, was an abomination unto God. Niall's mind, as well as his heart, were finally communicating. It only took a second; the time it takes one to see the flash of lightning in the distance, or the time it takes for a heart to break; he knew.

    Given that, only a second or two had passed, and only a few more would pass before the man on the other side of the unlocked door would make his entry, Niall knelt beside his bed in prayer. His few but pointed words were whispered as he asked his true Refuge to not only forgive him but to give him the strength to stand alone in the next decision he felt (and he knew) he needed to make. Upon entering the room Scotty Riggs stopped short of moving forward toward his lover; something wasn't the same, he knew it the moment he entered the room and saw an unusual light surrounding the bed where Niall had been kneeling and was now standing fully to his feet; his face nearly glowing from the light of the sun.

    Niall didn't have to say a word. Amazingly, the moment wasn't his to share, but the battle belonged to the Lord and to His servants. Forgiveness had been shown, it had been given to the man who had repented and had asked freely for it. Nothing needed to be verbally proclaimed. Without a word, without a single word, Scotty turned and left the room alone. 

    

Photo Credit: Unsplash.com

Summer Lovin' (Well, it's Close Enough)

 I am so, NOT a Summer fan. I hate the heat with a purple passion. I am more of an Autumn in Edinburgh kind of person, to be honest. I really, really, don't like sweating before I wake up in the morning. I prefer to snuggle with the blankets a few minutes longer and then maybe talk to the dog about the possibility of getting up and taking her for a walk.  Summer, to me, is way too much work to breathe.  This summer, however, things are a bit different than they were last summer. I should back up and tell you what has happened to me just before, during, and after the big, bad, pandemic, so you'll understand my hatred of all things over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

    Before the summer of 2020, I worked from home, so being asked to stay home and social distance was really never a problem for me. What was a problem for me, was when the sales and prospects of insurance sales dried up and I was forced out of my job. The good news is, I had not been renewed as a teacher from the fall semester (why is that a good thing) and I was able to live off the money the district had to pay me because the principal chose to lie about me, and my union rep not only found the lie, she exploited it to the point that I was given full contractual pay throughout the school year. That would be until June 2020. Summer meant applying for jobs, working out, and getting prepared for another job where I would be questioned about what I brought to the table even though my 20+ years of being a professor weren't enough. Online work isn't "work" to many people. You have to be out there sweating it out or at least trying to make the best of the season...but I hate the season.

    I began working for an insurance company sometime in March I think, but by June when they closed their doors. I was out of work and hadn't spent the money I was given, so I was able to live off of it until it went away, then I filed for unemployment, and we all know what happened then. Donald Trump was in the Office and we got not only our original money but another $300 a week to boot.  Yes, the summer of 2020 was not bad! Not bad at all. Then reality hit, and I was forced back into the workforce, but just like everything else, no one was going to work. I was forced to work for literally half the pay that I was used to making, but at least I wasn't spreading germs you know, that so very much matters! It was summer again, out of work again, beating the streets again...in the heat again, driving and trying not to look like I was drenched after I left the comfort of my car's A/C.  I live in Oklahoma! 

    Fast forward to the fall of 2021, I was again teaching, and again, I was lied about, but this time it only took about eight weeks! By the end of September 2021, I was placed on Administrative Leave while the school "investigated" the allegations about me being a serial killer or something to that effect. I may have exaggerated there, but it's for dramatics, and it works.  I was lied about, I let my union rep know, he took the ball and ran with it, and in the end, I was released from duty, but paid through the entire year for being ridiculed needlessly and put through unnecessary duress. I had parents calling my house and threatening me because I write about murder.  I'm a freaking published NON-FICTION NOVEL author, and my Master's degree in English Literature and another one in Creative Writing should have been a clue before they hired me, but the books on Amazon bearing my name could have been another clue! Here's a thought, when a teacher you're about to hire hands you one of her books to read and you KNOW she writes about murder, it shouldn't come as a surprise to you when a parent of a student is telling you so! Your answer is, or should be, "Yes, she's published, isn't that exciting?"

    Anyway, by the spring of 2022, I decided to go back to work since I could do so. I was hired by a major insurance company that most have never heard of. They deal with catastrophic events; I wanted to learn to become a desk adjuster. I was promised I could be. I was not given that opportunity. The woman who hired me decided to hire her best friend and she terminated me after 30 days. No worries, I have good-ole unemployment to get me through the summer right? (and the last of what the school district owed me.) I should have written another book, I have no idea why I didn't. I just stayed inside and worked out, read books, and applied for every claims adjuster job possible. I was never hired.

    A trading company hired me to be a financial back office person, with the promise to move me up onto the trading floor. That didn't happen. After my 90th day on the job, I was approached by two department heads to move into their departments. So I could not actually do that, my own manager fired me without cause so I couldn't apply for another six months. She had just made the Board of Directors and wanted to flex her little boo-bear muscles to the men she had beat out (paid out) of the position. They were furious, I was unemployed. This time, I took the severance and stayed home and wrote: "Of Kilted Pleasure".  I didn't waste any time either. I put it out there and got it published!

    About the first of February, I got a call from an insurance man who wanted to go full-blown Claims Adjuster in the future, and he wanted me to help him do that. OK. I liked the sound of that. I worked for him, examining claims before he submitted them to the actual Claims department. I have NO IDEA why he didn't go the traditional route of just learning the modules and putting in the time, but there are lag times in Claims, and he didn't want to just quit his day job. Well, it didn't take me long to discover his...shall we say... discrepancies? When I brought them to his attention, I was out of a job. Go figure. No severance, and since the unemployment claim from the last year hadn't run its course, I was FLAT out of luck! That's OK, luck is for the Irish. I have God!  Jesus makes sure I'm OK. ALWAYS

    I looked into becoming a full-time full-fledged Independent Claims Adjuster. Turns out it's not hard to do. You don't even need much experience either. That made me happy. I connected with over 200 employees from all the different agencies on LinkedIn. I found Chris Stanley at I.A. Path, Matt Allen at AdjusterTv, and Master Adjuster James Mathis; I call them the Three Amigos. Together, they helped me find the videos for training, the modules, the programs, and all the free stuff so I don't have to put out any money while I waited for the right to file for unemployment. I still had a bit of money in the bank, and my sweet daughter Laura took an outside job making more so she could pull more weight than she had in the past. Let me just say she has really stepped up to the plate on this one. So proud.

    So, right now, as it sits, on June 2, 2023, I'm a licensed Claim Adjuster in the States of Oklahoma and Texas.  I am State Farm Auto certified, and about to become State Farm Property certified. I missed the cert by 2 questions. I'll take it again after I learn how to measure a room correctly for new flooring. There are Facebook groups that help you, there are thousands of great people in the industry willing to help, and they give of themselves just for the asking. I am so happy I am making this change. I will be one who helps others as much as I possibly can. It's cliche to say "We are all in this together" but if the pandemic taught me anything, it's that we can do a hell of a lot more than we used to do for one another.

    I don't say this lightly. It's no fun being broke. But, I've learned to live for so long on so little that I can do just about anything with next to nothing. I don't overspend. I don't buy things I don't need. I eat at home. I don't go anywhere. I am on the computer learning the industry from the time I get up until the time I go to bed, and it's OK, I may end up being "deployed" from my desk and working seven days a week and 12 hours a day for the next year, and I may end up working less; but the fact is, I'm finally able to say that my summer will be GREAT. One of the reasons is because I'm not stepping out into it, but other than that...I have a plan, and the plan is to drill down as much as I can to learn the auto claims side to a fine science. I'm learning to examine, review, estimate, and make decisions and I know more about my car now than I ever did. I KNOW what the 16 digits on my VIN actually mean!

    I guess what I'm saying is, when you have a plan and it gets disrupted over and over again, and you can't figure out which way is UP, you can turn to self-employment as an Independent Adjuster with a minimal upfront cost. You can be hired onboard a company, or work for several at one time. There are too many options, and the pay is really really (no, seriously) really good.  The average first-year adjuster without experience can make over $60,000.00 on the conservative side. No, I'm not kidding.  The average first-year teacher in Oklahoma makes $36,000.00; let that sink in for a minute. The first-year cop in Oklahoma makes $44,000.00 with no experience but they have to have a degree and pass training. With the Claims Adjuster route, you don't. 

Here, go here and see what it's all about:  www.adjustertv.com (Let Matt know I sent you. He'll laugh)

Go  here too:  www.iapath.com (Tell Chris I say hi)

    This is a field adjuster. I work from my desk in my jammies. People will send me photos of the damage.

Photo Credit: Forbes.com

    

Books Are Flying!!

 I think it's hilarious when I get emails out of the blue from my publisher saying how many books I've sold over the past 30 days. I thought it was just at the end of the quarter, but no, this one reports the sales at the end of each month, and I have to say, it made me smile. Now, don't get me wrong, I haven't sold thousands upon thousands of books, and in fact, if truth be known, I want the sales to cease until I can make the necessary corrections on the book, but there they are, being sold. People are reporting back to me saying they love it, and that makes me happy. I still wish I could pull it, make the corrections and put it back up for sale. I'll do that when I get the money to do it; believe me when I say it's not as simple as asking them to stop the print of it for a minute.  

    Who knew that a disgruntled employee could get a burr up under her saddle and decide to write a really good book in about a month's time? Then, I took the next month to tweak it, and make changes and corrections before sending it off to a really bad (I mean BAD publisher); that was before I knew better. I know better now. I wrote to release the one, and took the PDF file back, sent it to the new publisher, and I never thought to check it for multiple mistakes because I didn't realize there were any. Oh yes, there were...and are.

    The thing is, I see the mistakes even if the typical reader won't. I mean, three or four of them are impossible to miss, and that's too many as it is, but there are time mistakes, and then I didn't capitalize something; no...say it isn't so. It is. I missed about four grammar iron-clad rules, and that's not counting the HUGE mistake of saying women when I meant one woman, and the time I said the dog was found under HIS buggy when it was some random buggy. I hope no one decides to do the white glove test on my page counting boo boo, where at first I said a man wrote a single-page letter, then later said the separate pages! OH MY GOODNESS! I suppose, when all is said and done, the great sex scenes will make up for these minor issues. One would hope.

    I have to confess, I'm in the middle of writing another book, and it is taking far longer than this one took. I'm only on Chapter 9, whereas that was nearly a month ago! I literally haven't written anything in three weeks. I must be going mad. I am writing the blogs of course, but the book isn't coming along because I need to focus on getting hired and being "deployed" as a desk claims adjuster. Sometimes work must take priority if you're used to eating, paying bills on time, and putting gas in the car. It's OK, I'll survive. I'll just write between breaks and before I go to work after I get off work, and then, when no one is looking, I'll squeeze in a murder plot, twist, or backstory right in the middle of the day when I should be examining something dealing with auto collisions.

    The hope, of course, is that the books take off and I'll never need to work again, but until that happens, I at least have a good Plan B to fall back on; that's for dang sure.  Once the murder book hits the streets I think it may sell more than the romance novel does; at least that's the other hope. I'll follow up the romance novel of course, with a sequel and possibly a third book in the series. The murder book will be an ongoing thing, with as many books and stories as I can possibly squeeze out of my brawny somewhat tainted Southwestern hero.  Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll grin ear to ear when I see that the murder book (titled "Murder Book") has sold as many copies as the novel has already. Woot!!  No worries, before it hits the press I will go over it 100 times to be sure the mistakes are minimum; non-existent if possible.

    For now, I'm just beamingly happy and thrilled to know that Ewan and Aria are spreading their cheer and interesting lives among so many in the U.S. and in Europe. So far, according to the records, the U.S. is buying the bulk of the books, with Italy following a close second, the UK in third, and France not doing too badly. I'd love to see it hit the presses in India too!! Woot!  It's a great feeling to know the words you wrote (no matter how quickly or slowly you wrote them) are being read, understood, liked, and commented on. It makes me giggle and feel all warm and fuzzy...I hope I never lose that feeling. EVER.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

    

I Decided to be Positive Instead.

 I was literally here, at my desk, about to write a scathing blog about the treatment I received at (and from) the people at the Half Price Books store near my house when it dawned on me that I am in control of my emotions. I don't have to be mean; I don't have to be rude. I don't have to complain. I don't have to lower myself to the standards of those people who get really pissy and then go off half-cocked on the internet, thus making a complete spectacle of themselves. I can just be informative, tell my side, and push through. Are you ready?

    My friend Jeannie came over yesterday, and we cleaned out so much clutter from my room and from my master bathroom that I felt as if my spirits were lifted over a dozen times higher than usual. That's saying something because I'm usually pretty happy!  I found myself carrying on the same activities today as she and I had been obliged to carry out, and I decided to clean out the bookshelves in my hallway and my living room.  I'm an author; I read. I collected way (way) too many books along the way. I gave about 200 of them away last year, and this year, today, I found another 43 that didn't need to be sitting around my house.

    I took the books to Half Price Books. I thought I could sell them to the store, get a store credit, maybe pick out a few LPs, and finish the chore. That didn't happen. My daughter helped me take the books into the store, and we walked around while the manager and/or assistant in the returns and resell section went over my books. You trust these people not to take a book or two, keep them or try to shaft you. That's not what happened.  I was called back to the counter, and I was offered an amount of money for the 43 books I had to sell.  Actually, that's not a true statement. I was offered an amount of money for about 25 books, and the rest they had decided they couldn't use, but they would take them as a donation if I didn't want to take them back with me.  The amount of money that was offered for books totaling more than $400 was $3.26.  I am NOT kidding you. It was insulting. EVEN if you offer .50 per book it's $21.50.

    I decided to take all of the books back and donate them to Goodwill. There they can be sold for $2-5, and they can be enjoyed by folks who otherwise couldn't have afforded the prices that Half Price Books would have slapped onto the used books; some were Harry Potter books, others were professional training manuals such as how to get your SPHR and how to trade on the stock market. The trading book was a Dummies series and still sells on Amazon used for about $14.00, so yeah, the caliber of books I brought in was not bad. I had about six murder mystery types from people like John Grisham; don't tell me $3.26 is a fair assessment for 43 books. Six were recipe books, and four of them were in the pile they said they couldn't find a buyer for. No worries, I'll give them to the Goodwill. Someone will want them. 

    I decided to go through one of the recipe books again before I gave it to Goodwill because it was one with pictures! I love pictures. This was a simple recipe for kids and/or young people who haven't had much experience in the kitchen. Something caught my eye, and I decided to memorize the recipe and mimic it tomorrow morning! Here we go.  I'm going to make cinnamon cream cheese rolls! You take flat white bread and cut off the ends. You roll the bread FLAT, and spread butter, and cream cheese in the middle.  You dip the whole thing in butter, or you can brush it on, but you roll it in cinnamon sugar and bake it for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. DONE. What fun. Don't tell me people in their right minds wouldn't want to know that. You want to know that! I know you do. You're welcome.

    I'm not saying I think you should boycott your local Half Price Books store; nothing like that, but you can talk to the manager and let them know that they need to work on that policy of reselling. To tell a customer we won't pay you for these books, but we'll put them out on the shelves to sell them, and keep 100% of the profit if you want to donate them, is silly.  Well, it's a bad practice if you ask me. I won't go back into that store now. I won't. I'll go somewhere else, anywhere, really. I have a Kindle, so I don't buy books anymore that I have to hold. I can get my cards and my LPs at other shops. I have NO reason to darken their door again. If I did want to hold a book in my hands again, I might sneak in and buy the Waverley novel set that I saw. But no, I have the entire collection on my Kindle.  I'm good.

    Can't wait for tomorrow to get here now. 

Photo Credit: Pinterest