Cornucopia

Today is a blog of various things, so bare with me.

First off, ALL FOUR ebooks of the Sabrina Strong series are on sale at .99 each. You can go here for that. The sale has just begun, today, February 26 and continues through March 3.

Yesterday a copy of Cat Whisperer came in the mail. I sent for it for my husband. This is a true account of a female feral cat which wandered into our yard and we began feeding. The story revolves around my husband, who was always a "dog" person. He took care of her, her litter, and the litters that follow from one of the off-spring. It's something of a "love-triangle" between the cats, their behavior, survival, and our own emotions over helping them survive.

The paperback is just under $10, and would make a great gift for those who love cats, and other animals.

So, there you have it. My quickie post today.

Of Tornadoes, Yard Work, Athlete's Foot, and other maladies

Hi, everyone. How's your weekend so far? 
I usually post something on the weekend. And normally I do my Sunday post on my other blog, but I think I'll do it here. 'Kay?

Well, I've a laundry list here, so maybe I should do the most devastating one first.

Fairdale, Illinois is possibly 15-20 miles from us. I remember that day vividly. We were expecting storms, but to be honest, it didn't feel that humid, like something so powerful would develop, but it did. And we had more than one tornado in Illinois. However, this one that hit the small community of Fairdale was an EF-4 with winds as high as 200 mph. The town took a direct hit. People in a nearby restaurant--one we have passed many a times on Route 64, was hit, and 12 people were trapped in a cellar where they went right before it hit them.

photo by Anghard Urch

This is an actual photo of the tornado. Really, if something like this was heading my way, I would not--I repeat I WOULD NOT STOP TO TAKE A PHOTO!

2 people did lose their lives in this. I recall when we had our weather radio on, and the description of the tornado (rotation), and where it was headed, the mechanical voice said things that made my blood chill. "total destruction" was something I'd never heard said about any tornado that came near us. It came true.

Well, here is what is left of that small town that is barely five or six blocks--or was at one time.

courtesy of DeKalb Co. Sheriff's Dept.

If you want to follow this thread from a news station, feel free. Some of the accuracy with the stories varies as it always changes as they get their stories straight.

The people are now trying to get themselves back to some normalcy. Of course the Governor has declared the aria a disaster, and they'll eventually get relief. What they need now is cash. A lot of donations of everything from water, to canned goods to clothing came in from generous people, but they've got enough of that. 

In the past week we've had wonderful temperatures--had 70's all week. I got out and worked my a$$ off, as though I could work off my winter fat in a few short hours. Not happening. As a result I got the worse case of Athlete's foot. Not sure that this is what it is, because it's not like anything I've ever had. There was a blister between my small and next toe (which I drained), and this rash on top of my foot that seemed feverish, and it's been marching slowly across my foot. The itch has been minimized by the use of a spray that has the same ingredient as Tenactin. I'm not 100% sure that I didn't get some sort of bite, or something else. I mean I wore shoes, how the heck would I'd been bitten? 
An interesting side-note, one woman I spoke to said her feet sweat too, and she uses deodorant on them. I thought that was a good idea, but would want to get a separate deodorant on my feet. Hmmm.

And after having purchased a new mattress, it's kinder to my back, but I know I just can't do the things I used to do and it's frustrating! Getting old is overrated! I'm turning 61 this year. Boo on birthdays, unless it involves a vat of chocolate I can bathe in.

In my writing, I've been working on my mystery. I didn't rush into it, as this is different from anything I've ever tried. It's good to try something different. Give myself a challenge. Maybe find a different brand of people who want to read mysteries instead of urban fantasy.

And, for the first time ever 50 ebooks sold in 2 weeks! It may not have put any one of my titles in the top 100 seller's list, but I don't care. Now, if only I can get more sales, and shave off the debt of what is owed to my publisher who made this possible. Then, maybe I'll see a royalty payment.

Here is the two top sellers Ascension and Trill over at Novel Rank. This is how you find out how many books you've sold, in case you've never heard of this.

That's all my news for now. Forgive me if I haven't been around. I've been having a creep hounding me on facebook. I need to do something about him. Soon. Any suggestions?

TRICK or... TREAT?

Hello, my pretties. Oh, I see you are all dressed in your Halloween costumes! How wonderful! Well, this calls for a treat, I believe. Just let me look for my plastic pumpkin for some treats... oh, yes. Here it is right next to my coffin. *grinning as wide as in the picture of pumpkin above*

Now, if you were paying attention to my blog this past week you'll remember I said I would be reducing the price of some of my books. Well, I lied. I reduced them all!

But, before we get to this I want to do a few announcements. As of today, only a few of you have made comment on the blog "In Search of Dracula" in which you are eligible to win any one of my eBooks for free. I've so far got four names to draw from. Poor turn out, my dears. I would love to have a few more of you stop by and join in the discussion. In order to get on the list of possible winners you must leave a comment on the blog. It's a very simple contest. Nothing else is required for you to do. You don't have to come and "Like" me on facebook, or jump through hoops.

Halloween is only a few days away! I will be picking a winner from my plastic pumpkin (which is an antique because I've had it since childhood), and will be announcing the winner on November 1st. So, if you haven't done so, and would like to get a free bee (your choice of the following titles), go on and leave a comment at the post mentioned above. (just click on the title "Searching for Dracula")

But there's more...

FOR ONE WEEK THE FOLLOWING BOOKS' PRICES HAVE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN TO .99!!! 
That's right! From October 27th Until November 3rd, the prices have been reduced and you never know when I'll get the itch to do so again!
Vampire Ascending
Vampire's Trill
Vampire Nocturne
Spell of the Black Unicorn



You've only got 5 more days to join in on the giveaway contest, so if there is a title you have not gotten yet, and want to get it for free, go and make a comment at the blog above. Or, in case you are not the winner and sure did want one of these books you've got until November 3rd to grab it while it's .99!

(Prices in other countries may take longer to go into affect, so if it hasn't been reduced, wait an extra 12 hours for Amazon to make the change.)

There you have it, my pretties. Happy Halloween to you all!
Oh! almost forgot... here's my costume...

It's Friday, and I'm posting as if it's the 13th again!

I know it isn't the 13th, but it is Friday. And things are still screwed up here at blogspot, but I'm able to post, and so will do so, and need to let you all know: I CAN'T LEAVE A COMMENT UNDER MY NAME/GOOGLE ID. Thus I must use "Anonymous" but I will try and remember to place my name into the comment at end so you know it's me [=

Be that as it may, I've started up my 6th blog here at blogspot. "WHAT?!!!"

You heard me. My sixth one is simply called Lorelei's Journal. It's my writing journal. You can pick it up by clicking on the above link. I needed a place where I could just post/write about writing. My writing, mainly, my thoughts on characters. I might merely be thinking about future books, and maybe even commenting on other author's books in as far as they relate to what I'm writing, or maybe just to mutter boldly about something that may be insignificant to you, but more significant to me. I might even post about how well the book(s) is/are doing. Like just on Wednesday, I saw that my eBook had hit--not an all time high, but it hadn't been quite so high in a while--and it's really confusing to explain it to someone like my husband. But the # is how it ranks against other books out of several thousand individual books which are selling on the same day and in that hour it is posted. It was at #40,508 on Wednesday. It had been really down in the low #180's and even lower for about two weeks. I was nervous. But it picked back up. I know if people find out about the book I'm sure they'll want to buy it. That's why getting on people's blogs as a host is very important if you want to get the word out about your book. Half your work is done once you get the book written. I think getting it published is about 1/4th and promotions another 1/4th.

I'm still at a disadvantage as to how many eBooks sells until I get my royalty statement. Amazon sure as heck isn't going to tell you too much, I guess. But the physical books are shown, for some reason. Sort of a cool tool, and I didn't even know about it until I sort of stumbled upon it one day!

My friend, Sumiko, of Sumiko's Reads on this blog has read the next Sookie book up from what I'm reading. I'm currently reading Dead in the Family. She and I will compare notes on what we thought of this one, and I thought it would be fun to give our individual slants on it here, once we put our heads together. I'm almost finished and will get it done this weekend. I need another book to read!!!! I'm going to go with Cold Magic by Kate Elliott. I sort of need something different to read. And I always like to check out new authors. Besides, I'm on Kate's facebook, so, I feel I owe her some feedback once I get done.

So, there you have it for today. I love blogspot. I just hope they get these things fixed soon. They are aware of the problems (I went to something where it posts about problems they are aware of), so I'm hopeful this is resolved soon.

I'm not sure if my voting thing is working properly (at the left), I know that Heather was going to vote, and I'm sure she did, but I'm not seeing results. I'm wondering if it has gone the way of my "followers"? I can't see them, either. I have no idea who over the last month has joined my following list, unless they've made a comment. So, don't think I'm ignoring you if I have not come over to your blog, I simply can't see who you all are! Crazy Internet!

Everyone have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!