Cliffhangers & Cocktails by the Caftan Coven
I was privileged to be interviewed by these two wacky writer witches, and it was pure joy. Go and check out their podcast! I reckon it’s on YouTube, too…
youtube
A Literary Game Night Proposal
Have you ever read a physical book with hand-written annotations? It’s a trend, and a great one, I think.
I am considering starting a game night/book club thing where we play some kind of mystery game or other RPG and pass around a book. Everyone would get a turn taking the book home and adding their own notes, and then when the book has been annotated by all, everyone would get a chance to read the other notes.
Then we would pick out a new book and a new game to go along with it. Does that sound like fun? It could also be done virtually, but I feel like in person would be better.
If you’re interested, please leave a comment and any other pertinent info (preferences of book type, game type, in-person or virtual, etc.).
Time to give Thanks
Friends! What a season, huh?
I am preparing to send out a newsletter today, and it includes so many swell tidings! A new audiobook release AND an exclusive very cool giveaway just for Red Tash fans. Just my way of thanking you for reading my cozy fantasy mystery series, even though I have been a very slow writer these past few years.
To that end, I was actually looking through my backlist under my three biggest pen names, and it seems I have had a habit in the past of working in fits and spurts. During a “fit,” I would write, edit, and polish multiple works. I really have gotten on a roll in the past, sometimes for months at a time.
It has been my good fortune to know many writers who are able to work steadily at their careers, but until lately, I have not had the luxury of time for that. In October, however, I believe I found the tipping point. I finally have more time to write, an office of my own, a diagnosis of ADHD and the Rx to match, and a female role model I can relate to professionally, even though she’s younger than me and lives a completely different lifestyle.
Who?
Oh, you know who.
Whenever I feel myself at the crossroads of “Should I goof off?” or “Should I try to work for at least 15 minutes?” I ask myself, “What would Taylor Swift do?”
Go on and laugh if you must, but hear me out. She’s achieved all she has by relentlessly making her art her way, diving deeply into her life experience, and fearlessly sharing with the world. Her talent would not have taken her as far as she has risen were it not for her habit of DOING the thing. And, hey, sometimes she cries in between. Finally, a successful woman who is not afraid to show the world that her sensitivity is NOT a weakness, but an actual requirement of being a human being!
Perfectionism has its place, don’t get me wrong—but it has long discouraged me that women have attempted to hide their inherent womanly tendencies in the pursuit of artistic success. It is so backward! Thank you, Taylor, for showing me the way!
And it’s not just Taylor. I made myself an old fashioned vision board to remind me of where I’m headed, and why. I haven’t had to look at it much, because so far I’ve not gotten myself that far off track, but I will share it here in case you are interested in what my dream looks like in collage form. (I used to teach a journaling & collage class, and BOY do I hope my former students have checked out Pinterest’s new collage function.)
Well, that’s all for now. Make sure you’re on the email list! And happy November. I am grateful for you.
Apple butter cozy yummies
In case you missed the November newsletter, there’s a recipe for apple butter included.
I’m still relatively new to MailerLite, so if that link doesn’t work, try this pdf version:
Of course, the email newsletter looks best in your email inbox! So make sure and sign up (it’s free and I won’t spam you or sell your address), and you can unsub any time. Topics include: Miss Fitz mystery novels, audiobooks, non-fiction kitchen witchery, and product recommendations from the gang at the Treehouse. Oh, and UnicornPuzzles, of course.
Right now I’m recovering from a nasty cold, so my voice is ragged and I will likely NOT have a newsletter for December, but you never know! In the meantime, enjoy some holiday ambience videos:
AMP is dead, long live…?
AMP will be no more as of 10/31/2023. I’m still waiting on my last payment from them for hosting shows. Le sigh. It was a truly great gig while it lasted. Lots of great music, great people, even a lot of new friends made. What more can you ask for?
AMP by Amazon music was a fun platform. I will miss the playful interaction with a steady group of a few dozen people who I got to know reasonably well, all while earning a decent hourly wage. Several folks have moved their shows to StationHead, which has a far less lucrative payment model. I have been thinking about how I might work a StationHead show into my busy slate of work. Between the coffee shop, narrating an audiobook (the sequel to this one), Unicorn Puzzles YouTube channel, and other work-at-home projects, I can see some opportunities…but the lack of actual immediate income from the shows makes it lower priority, you know?
One thing I’m picking up more of now that AMP is taking less bandwidth in my life is writing product reviews and doing sponsored posts. Tonight I wrote a review of Four Sigmatic’s Think organic coffee. If you’re interested in mushrooms and herbalism, you might like this product line. (I liked the elixir best). See pics and read my review on Instagram or Facebook, or just jump right to the coffee and all the Amazon reviews here.
And if you’re into homemade vanilla extract, stay tuned. I have a review coming up soon from a company that graciously sent me some beans to try out.
Tomorrow, back to school! And back to narrating Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder. I’m looking forward to it.
I’ll miss AMP, but what do you think about Stationhead? Ever tried it out?
The latest from Planet Tash
Hallo! Long time no update, I see. Regrets!
I assure you, we are open!
It’s been a lovely six months or so since I updated you on our doin’s here at The Treehouse. Let’s hit it:
Work continues on The Treehouse, getting it ready to market. As I type, Tim is gleefully perusing the real estate listings in Bloomington AND in Brown County, so obviously we’re still oscillating over which community would suit us best as a new home.
Unicorn Puzzles celebrated its 500th puzzle last month. Subscribers have reached over 400, but we’ve got a long way to go before we can monetize on YouTube. (If you’re reading this, please subscribe!). We are monetized on Facebook already, and I *think* Instagram. We are also getting a lot of views on TikTok, but we could use likes/follows/subscribes on all of the above. *raining magic sprinkle dust on you*
My AMP show continues to be fun, when it’s fun. My low battery has gotten in the way of fitting to a regular schedule, and unfortunately, radio shows do best when they don’t have to be canceled at the last minute due to health reasons. Le Sigh. That does get me down a little, but I’m trying to push past those feelings of “not being as capable as my peers.” I have over 500 awesome followers on AMP, and plan on doing a show today (5/30/23 at 1:11 pm ET). If you enjoy live radio, give me a listen sometime. Right now this is my main project, so I’m very tuned into the AMP community. You can download the app for free on any iPhone or iPad, or listen via your Amazon Alexa speakers, or even listen via the web browser. (The web browser is a little glitchy–you may have to reload if it doesn’t go directly to me the first time.)
Miss Fitz Discovers Midlife Magic has been fully recorded on audio. Next, I need to re-listen to the entire book, because it took me eight months to record it. (Again, health reasons, mostly.) Once I re-listen and re-record any parts that need to be done over, then I will be reading/listening along to the original Kindle version, because…I did find a few typos that missed all my editors/proofers/betas. (It always happens! But why not fix them right now?) My audio engineer will do this magic, then I’ve got to get the PDFs for all the recipes from Miss Fitz 1 organized…make the cover…and then I should finally be ready to publish it. (Note: since Audible.com lowered their prices across the board, my audiobook royalties have dropped by about 75%. I should probably release this book wide, but I likely won’t, because I haven’t researched that just yet. If you use an audiobook service OTHER THAN AUDIBLE.COM OR AMAZON, please weigh in with your thoughts. I’d love to hear from my readers/listeners.)
I will start recording Miss Fitz and the Hot Patchouli Murder when I’m done with all that! That means that Miss Fitz and the Hard No November probably won’t be finished in 2023, but who knows? Weirder things have happened.
Writing and releasing this series has taken longer than I thought it would, but I’ve decided to take my time and enjoy the process AS THOUGH I am blissfully ignorant of my author peers’ blisteringly fast publishing schedules. I’m not able to publish a book a month. I have never really wanted to do that. So…as I grow older, the dream of becoming best buddies with Stephen King in the Rich Authors Club dwindles, but it is what it is. I’m writing stories that I’m happy with. Things I’m proud of, that I can relate to. I’m finishing them my way, in my own time. The money is bonus. The self-esteem hits are no longer welcome in this arena!
To the end of job stuff, I’m studying Artificial Intelligence now, so who knows…maybe I will change career directions entirely.
I’ve been focusing on my physical health this year. 2023 is the year of getting as much energy back as possible. To that end, I’ve been going to exercise classes a couple of times a week. My goal is to get there three times a week, reliably. I almost hit that goal last week, then ended up sleeping all day Friday. I wish I had some control over my energy level, but I’m coming to terms with the fact that I probably never will. My best bet is to try and gain some stamina and strength, so the days when I do have energy, I can use it to the best of my ability.
Tim is supposed to be walking/working out, too. If you talk to him, ask him how that’s going.
Our adventure to Italy is coming to fruition soon. We’ll likely post a lot of photos, so follow our Instagram.
As far as the rest of the family goes…Sean graduates in a few days. He’s living with his dad and I miss him very much. We all do. Seamus is thriving at a new job, and living with Sean and their dad at the Bachelor Pad. Sam is still here at the Treehouse, and proving to be a delightful adult roommate. He is still at his beloved RecBar 812. The non-binary baby of the family is growing up before our eyes. We do our best to keep them entertained, and they are patient with their “old” parents. (50 is the new 30!!!)
I think that’s about it, for now. I’m cleaning the oven and the smoke alarm just went off…again…
If you’ve read this far, thank you. Don’t forget to like/follow/subscribe on all the links above, and by all means, sign up for our email list, because when we have something big to announce (like, an audiobook release!), that’s the first place you will see it. Right in your inbox! If you think you’ve signed up in the past, but you aren’t getting emails, look in your promotions folder, your spam folder, etc. Move us to the inbox, mark us as a contact, etc. Don’t spam me, bro!