#WriterWednesday - October 31st 2018 - #HappyHalloween!

Writing, real writing, should leave a small sweet bruise somewhere on the writer . . . and on the reader.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Happy Halloween! If you're doing anything to celebrate, I hope you have fun. I know this is officially a writing related post, but feel free to tell me about your Halloween plans in the comments, if you have any. I'd love to hear about them.

OK. Let's get back to writing related stuff, shall we?

First of all, there are stories in your heart - set them free.

No matter what you're writing, you need to take breaks regularly. It's not good for you to sit at the computer for hours on end. Then again, you also have to be careful that your quick break doesn't turn in to something distracting you for so long you don't come back to your writing any time soon. Yeah, I need to learn about both those things myself. So, for all our benifits, here's a post on how to take a writing break without getting distracted.

Oh, and here's a potentially useful post that explains how to be super efficient by batching your work.

So... It's 8pm. Why aren't you writing? Or, maybe it's 8am...? Look, just substitute the time for whatever time is meant to be your writing time. The point is, sometimes you just have to work with whatever writing time you can, even if it's not your best time. Yeah, I know. This is another thing I need to work on. This year really hasn't been a good one for me when it comes to getting my writing time in though, and it's more than just a scheduling issue in my case. Sometimes that happens though, and sometimes you have to let it. Sometimes you have to make sure your writing happens when it can be scheduled in, sometimes you have to snatch whatever moments you can, and sometimes the other stuff in your life has to come first, and writing has to take a back seat. Only you know which is the case right now in your own life.

On a similar note: here's some advice on finding the time (and words) to write, and writing when life is more trick than treat.

Writers do not live one life, they live two. There is the living and then there is the writing. There is the second tasting, the delayed reaction.
~Anais Nin

Though the reading or writing of mysteries and horror stories isn't limited to this time of year, it does seem like the perfect time to discuss tips for writing mystery, horror, and suspense, or writing terrifying horror fiction and monster stories. If your scary stories are aimed at children, you might want to take a look at this post on writing horror for kids, which bases its tips on quotes by R. L. Stine.

Regardless of the genre or age range you write for, if you write flash fiction, or would like to try doing so, here's a post on introducing the problem in few words.

Have you picked a title for your book yet? If not, check out these tips for naming your novel to help you find one.

Now your book has a title, do you need some marketing ideas? Check out this post on how to make use of locations in your marketing, even if the locations aren't actually real places.

Finally, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) starts tomorrow. I'm not participating, but if you're participating... Good luck! Remember to take care of yourself while writing though. That goes for those not participating in NaNoWriMo too.

A #Weather Report, A Week Of Organizing, And A Little #Crafting

Mother Nature: our lives sprung from her life, our health from her health. So we look for that gentle, reassuring rise and fall of her breathing that tells us she is alive and well, that to-and-fro movement that carries her through the seasons.
~C.R. Milne

For those who like to know about weather in the rest of the world: the weather in my area has been sunny most of the time, with a mild storm or two, lots of frosty starts to the days, and a couple of misty mornings thrown in for good measure. But it's been kind of chilly a lot of the time. Not that I'm complaining about the temperatures. I quite like when cooler temperatures arrive. Plus, it's nice after the heat of the Summer. It's been ranging between 3 degrees C (about 38 F) and 16 degrees C (about 64 F). Towards the lower end of that scale more often than not, especially at night, and in the mornings and evenings. In other words, appropriate weather for the time of year. At least, it's what I think of when I think of Autumn weather, and what I think the temperatures should be at this time of year.

Anyway, either we were much more motivated to unpack than pack, not having our movements so restricted made a huge difference, my feeling better helped a lot more than expected, some other forces were at work, or some combination of these things, because we got a lot further with sorting things around here than I thought we would over the past week, even though we were actually taking the time to properly organize everything as we put it all on shelves this time around, and rearranged some furniture too.

That's not to say we're completely done sorting things. We aren't. But our home office now resembles one, our bedroom is only a bedroom again, and a lot of what we had packed is back to being on shelves instead of in boxes.

I think the furkids find it all rather strange. They were watching us closely, as though trying to figure out what we were up to. Especially Lilie, who had to be shut the other side of the babygate for her own safety more than once, since she was supervising a little too closely at times, and we didn't want to either hurt her, or get hurt ourselves trying to avoid doing so.

Anyway, apparently both of us wanted to just get it done as quickly as possible, since Kelly and I both devoted most of our time during the past week to moving furniture, unpacking boxes, and organizing the contents of said boxes on to shelves. There are a few things we didn't get a chance to do that we'd planned to, but the bulk of it is now done.

As I'm sure you can imagine, it gave my muscles a good workout, so I went to bed sore and achy quite a lot during the past week, and am still feeling it now. I don't mind too much though, because it's nice to be able to actually do stuff. It's also nice to have so much of it done already. The rest will be done slowly, as we get the extra shelving and things, sort the household repairs that are our responsibility, and replace items that need replacing. Or, in the case of stuff we just ran out of energy to tackle, when we have a few free moments to deal with it.

The rest of my time during this past week - what little there was of it - was devoted to keeping up with the usual day to day tasks as best as possible, playing with the furkids, and that kind of thing, with a little time for working on one of my craft projects thrown in. Though not as much as I'd hoped of the latter.

I've finished the kit from my first Makerly Crafts box, which was also my first attempt at quilling. I had fun doing it, even if I had to have a little help from Kelly to start with, and with some colour identification. But I'll tell you about that properly another day, since that's the one where I promised to review the box. Watch for that review coming very soon; since it's a sugarskull quilling kit, I'm posting the review on the Day Of The Dead... November 1st.

I'd planned to start on some of my other projects too, but all the organizing and unpacking took up a lot of time. Plus, it wore me out so much I was going to bed early. Since I had some reading commitments that needed to be met before the end of the month, I made those and the quilling kit my priority. Then I ran out of time to do anything else, despite the clocks going back and giving me an extra hour. It doesn't matter though. I finished what was most important, and got some rest in when I needed it. That matters more.

#MondayMotivation And #Inspiration - October 2018 Edition

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
~Buddha

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
~Mother Teresa

However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.
~Stephen Hawking

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
~Anne Frank

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.
~Robert Louis Stevenson

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
~Jim Rohn

Hastings Bonfire Celebrations 2018 - Part 2

Here are the rest of our videos from the Hastings Bonfire Celebrations (October 13th 2018). You can find part 1 here, if you missed it last week.
















































There would have been more firework videos, because there were plenty more fireworks. But the camera's battery died.

Anyway, the last thing I have to show you for this event is a photo of the pin badge (button to some of you) that Kelly brought home for me, which he picked up at the event. So, here it is:

#FurkidFriday: Maizie Talks About The #Chinchillas' Fears

Hi everyone. This is Maizie the chinchilla.

Last week, our degu brother, Joshua, told you about the things that scare him, because that "Halloween" holiday is coming up. At least, the human caretakers say it is. So we decided we'll all tell you what we're scared of. Although, since my chinchilla sister, Mollie, is scared of the same things as me, I can just tell you what both of us are scared of.

So, what are Mollie and I scared of?

• Sudden movements and noises. We can deal with loud noises and people moving about, but if they happen suddenly, we'll get scared.
• Being grabbed unexpectedly. We don't mind being petted, and will sometimes even agree to be cuddled - more with Mummy than with Daddy - but we need some warning that you're going to touch us, otherwise we get really scared, and will panic.
• Bad storms. We don't mind the little storms, but the bigger ones are scary, and will send us scurrying for our log house to hide.

Basically, the thing that scares us the most is things happening suddenly. Take things slowly, and we'll be OK.

Well, as long as there are no bad storms.

Or spiders.

Yeah. I'm scared of spiders. Mollie isn't. But I am. Even if they're on the TV.

The Mummy human is too, so at least I'm not the only one.

Squeak soon,
Maizie

"Abby and Holly: Unfortunate Events" by @janice_spina - #KidLit #Mystery #BookRelease

Abby and Holly: Unfortunate Events.
By Janice Spina

Abby and Holly are cousins who are more like sisters. They enjoy doing everything together. Holly lives with Abby and her family in a haunted Victorian.

Holly must deal with some difficult decisions in her family when unexpected and unfortunate events come to pass.

Abby is there to lend support to Holly along with two ghostly apparitions, Felicity and Minerva, who live in Abby’s house. These specters provide some magical and helpful advice along the way as they watch over Holly during this difficult time.

The girls’ friends, twins Davey and Derek Donato, from their own series, pop in to support Holly and bring some fun and comical relief to the story.

Buy the book from Amazon, or click here to buy it from Amazon UK.

About the author:
Janice Spina is a award-winning author with eleven children’s books, Louey the Lazy Elephant, Ricky the Rambunctious Raccoon, Jerry the Crabby Crayfish (won Pinnacle Book Achievement Award), Lamby the Lonely Lamb (won the Silver Medal from MOM’S Choice Awards), and Jesse the Precocious Polar Bear, Broose the Moose on the Loose (won a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award), and Sebastian Meets Marvin the Monkey, and Colby the Courageous Cat. Jeffrey the Jittery Giraffe, Clarence Henry the Hermit Crab Davey & Derek Junior Detectives Series (Book 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5) is a middle-grade/preteen series. Book 1, The Case of the Missing Cell Phone (won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and an Honorable Mention from Readers’ Favorite Awards). Book 2, The Case of the Mysterious Black Cat, won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and Book 3, The Case of the Magical Ivory Elephant, also won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and Book 5 won a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and a Silver Medal from Authorsdb Cover Contest.

Janice has published three novels under J. E. Spina, Hunting Mariah, a thriller/mystery, Mariah’s Revenge (Sequel to Hunting Mariah) a paranormal/mystery/romance novel, How Far Is Heaven, and a short story collection, An Angel Among Us, all available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She is working on a children’s book, and a mystery series for YA girls to be published in 2018. She needs to edit a YA fantasy series which will be published in 2019 and beyond. Her husband is her illustrator and cover creator.

Connect to Janice
Website: http://Jemsbooks.com
Blog: http://Jemsbooks.blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janice.spina.9
Twitter: @janice_spina
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7222888.Janice_Spina

#WriterWednesday - October 24th 2018

'Tis the season to be writing. Yes, really! Autumn - or Fall, if you prefer - is the best season for writing. At least, according to these five reasons why Fall is the best time to write. Depending on your area, if you're inspired by storms, the colours of the changing leaves, and that kind of thing, that might make you doubly eager to be taking advantage of the season and writing a lot right now. Not that you really need an excuse to schedule in some writing time, of course. But maybe one of those reasons might be enough to make you make a start on writing that book you've been meaning to write, or do some more work on one you've already started, or whatever.

No matter when you do your writing, your real life will always bleed in to your fiction, whether just a little, or a lot. But that's OK. In fact, it's a good thing, as the post I just linked to explains.

Regardless of how much of your real life is in your story... Do you outline? If so, these are the three elements to include in your novel outline - just in case you need a reminder.

Whether you outline or not, do you need to show time passing in your story, but don't want to keep having to mention clocks, days of the week, etc? Try using the Lady Bird way to show passage of time.

Regardless of how much time passes in your story, don't forget to watch out for unlikely simultaneous action in your story, and fix it when you spot it.

While you're focus is on editing, remember to check that you're using the parentheses correctly. Also, watch out for these dialogue downers.

Are you planning on adding an epilogue to your story? First, check out the pros and cons of using an epilogue.

Do you write for children? If so, here are some ways to make your children's story sparkle.

Finally, here's an excellent post that explains how to follow your dreams through writing.

Of #HarryPotter Boxes, #Crafting Kits, The #KindleFire8, Neighbours, Organization, And #Sewing Projects

Those who know me well won't be surprised to hear this, but... I did end up signing up for the Harry Potter box. I wasn't sure if I should, so Kelly made the choice for me, and signed me up for it. It asks you to pick a house, because it customizes some of the items based on your house. We picked Ravenclaw, because that's what Pottermore says I'm in. The sorting hat has put me in Ravenclaw in the past too, when I was sorted on the old Harry Potter site that used to exist. My first Harry Potter box will arrive any day now.

I've had lots of fun post this week.

On Monday - as in October 15th - my first Mr Maker box arrived. It's got kits to make both a pizza and a doughnut. Not real ones. Ones made of foam that are either decorative or for use as play food, depending on the situation or who has them. There's also an activity book and a sticker in it. I'm not sure whether I'll keep the sticker or not, but I'm planning on collecting up the activity books, and sending them to one of the people I know who can actually use them with a child. By the way, if you like the sound of the Mr Maker box, and decide to sign up, can you do so using this link, please? In theory, if you do, you get your first box for free (though they still charge you the £1 postage) and I get a half price box for refering you. I know the free thing works, because I got my first box for just the cost of shipping, having used a similar sort of link from the subscription boxes website.

Also, the nice people who do the Makerly Crafts boxes sent me one to review for my blog. It arrived on Wednesday. I'm now signed up to get their boxes regularly, and will be posting a detailed review of the box they sent me some time soon. The kind of craft their kit is for each month varies, and this month the kit in it is a quilling kit. A skull themed one, in honor of Halloween. I'd never tried quilling before, though I'd heard of it, and my Nan (Dad's Mother) has tried it. Anyway, more on that soon.

I also checked out the My Gecko Box kits. But I only liked one or two of the things they do, so I won't be subscribing to that one. It looks like a great box for teaching children, but not so much for someone like me who's just looking for some fun craft kits and goodies to enjoy each month. I did order their owl sewing kit and heart dream catcher kit though, since I liked the look of them, and they didn't cost much. Those arrived on Friday. I'm calling them an early birthday present to myself.

Then there was my early birthday and Christmas present from Kelly. You see, on Monday evening, it took me three hours to get my Kindle to open a book and start reading, and then it wouldn't read for long. For a while now, it's been slow loading books nine times out of ten. It's also been doing this thing where it starts reading a book, and then stops and closes the book and returns to the home screen. It does the same with apps sometimes too. I'll be using it, and suddenly I'm back on the home screen. My Dad had another kind of tablet that did the same kinds of things shortly before it died. We suspect that's what's happening here. In all fairness to it, I've now had it for four years, and it really is used a lot. As in, pretty much every single day (there has been the odd day I haven't turned it on to read, but those days are few and far between). Well, at least that helped me with deciding what I want for my birthday and Christmas from Kelly. Plus, the newer Kindles have more storage space on them to start with, as well as a mini SD slot, so I have more book storage on my new one. Silver linings and all that. *wink* Yes, I've now got a new one. My old Kindle was a Kindle Fire 7. The new one is a Kindle Fire 8. More storage, faster processor, slightly different size, better sound quality. Other than that, it's basically the same in my opinion. Well, other than the fact my old one isn't working properly any more, and it was a purpleish-pink colour, where as my new one works properly, and is blue. Yes, I could have had red, but we'd just signed me up to the Harry Potter box, so I felt like sticking with Ravenclaw colours. Oh, and there's the fact it has a "restart" option, which I keep accidentally pressing when I go to press the "power off" button, which is really annoying, though it's something to do with me, and not the Kindle's fault (I know it is, because Kelly can press the right button, and he's not very good with touch screen as a rule). Anyway, it was meant to arrive on Friday or Saturday, but actually came on Wednesday, which was an excellent thing as far as I was concerned. Kelly got me a case for it too, since my old Kindle's case would be too small. That's blue as well, to match the Kindle, and also arrived on Wednesday.

Like I said, I've had lots of fun post this week!

I also had an iron come. My Mam is still laughing about my needing to get an iron. You see, I always refused to get one. I can iron, but I don't see the point in ironing laundry, so I didn't see any reason to own an iron. I've always refused to get one, and wouldn't let my Mam buy me one. Anyway, the craft kits in the boxes come with everything you'll need to do the kits, except for items they assume every home will have. Items like irons. So, we start checking out what we need to do for the Autumn themed table runner, and it turns out we need an iron to make the special paper stuff become sticky, so it can help hold the fabric leaves to the runner. Except, as already mentioned, we didn't have an iron. Now, we could have improvised. Skipped that step and just gone on to the stitching part. But the leaves will be more secure with the sticky stuff as well as the stitching. Plus, we do want to do these kits as close to how they're meant to be done as possible. So, we brought an iron. It arrived on Thursday. It's not a fancy one. It's just a cheap little travel iron. After all, I only want it for crafting. Hey, just because I now own an iron, doesn't mean I'm about to start ironing my laundry. *wink* Here's a photo of my iron, for the benifit of anyone who might want to see it:

In other news:

We already have someone new moving in downstairs. Kelly's spoken to him some, and so have one of our other neighbours, and he seems nice. Plus, he was there a couple of times when Lilie was racing around like a maniac when I was playing with her, or she was playing in general, and he didn't complain about that, and hasn't complained that we walk about too loudly, even if we have some reason why we're walking around at night (such as bathroom trips). So that's a great start. Let's hope he stays this nice, since we've decided not to move now that nasty neighbour is gone.

Yes, we were still planning on moving. In fact, that was the plan right up until this past Friday. But then we had a long chat about it, and decided we didn't really want to move. We no longer have to, now that nasty neighbour has been moved, so the real reason for continuing to move now would be the stairs. Kelly doesn't consider them a problem for him, and I don't struggle with them so much now the dizziness isn't an issue, and will likely struggle with them even less again when my body gets used to exercise again. So we're just going to stay here.

When we were packing boxes before, we weren't paying much attention to how we stored them. The result was a mess of boxes blocking our access to half the stuff in the spare room - the room that's officially meant to be our home office. So, not this past weekend, but the one before, we started organizing the room better. That was what I was doing that meant I didn't have more than a few moments here and there to snatch to make a start on one of my craft projects. We didn't finish sorting it that weekend, and started doing more during this past week. We started doing it with being able to access stuff to pack it in mind, and ended up doing it with restoring the room to its intended use in mind instead. It's still a bit chaotic in there, despite our having done more in there this past weekend, but at least we can actually get in there now, rather than leaving the room to the spiders who - judging by all of the cobwebs - considered us not going in there to be an invitation for them to claim the room as their own. The spiders won't be pleased to hear this, but we'll be continuing to sort things out in there this week, and reclaiming the room from the spiders in the process.

I guess it's a good thing we never got around to packing all the boxes in the end, because we now need to unpack the ones we did get around to packing. We're making a point to properly organize things as we put them on the shelves this time though. We'll need to get some more shelves, and there are things in our home we need to replace, but we already knew that was the case, since it's something we'd have to do whether we move or not. We'll use the money we'd saved towards moving to make a start on sorting that, since we won't be using it for moving after all.

Anyway, in between all the unpacking and organization - and evicting of spiders - I managed to get about half the purse kit completed during last weekend. I even managed to watch some TV, including a new to me movie, while doing part of it on the Sunday (I'll be telling you about the new to me movie in another post). I managed to finish the purse this past weekend, so here are a couple of photos of it:

The inside fabric isn't the same one the Sew Mine Box people gave us for the inside in the kit. The one they gave us was white with purple-ish polkadots. But I had a bit of trouble with the template at first, and ended up using a different fabric. They would have replaced it if requested, but I didn't think it was fair to ask them when it was an issue caused by me not being able to see what I was doing, so we replaced it instead. We couldn't find identical fabric at short notice, so went with a solid purple instead.

Anyway, I'd planned to also do the quilling project this past weekend. I was going to do that one, and see if I could start the Autumn themed table runner too, though I was doubtful I'd get to the table runner. But time got away from me, so I didn't do more than start the quilling kit. I hope to have both the quilling and table runner projects done by this time next week. I'd like to be able to post about them around Halloween, especially given their themes. I might work on the quilling one on and off through the week, instead of waiting until the weekend, thus freeing up a bit more time to work on the runner over the weekend. We'll see what actually ends up happening though.

#MusicMonday: Monster Mash- Bobby "Boris" Pickett

"Monster Mash" seemed to be an essential addition to any Halloween music playlist when I was growing up. Seriously, I don't remember having a Halloween party without it playing at least once. So, with Halloween coming up fast, I just had to post it. Here you go... Enjoy!

#Hastings Bonfire Celebrations 2018 - Part 1

October 14th is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Every year, on or around that date, there's a local bonfire celebration. It's sort of a joint celebration of the anniversary of the battle, and early bonfire night celebration. This year they seem to have been giving a shout-out to WWI too. Anyway, this year it happened on Saturday October 13th.

Lilie couldn't go, because dogs aren't allowed. Plus, with the drums, she would have totally freaked, since she really hates drums. So I stayed home with her, and Kelly went by himself. He got some photos and videos for me to share with you all though, so at least I got to hear the videos.

Before I start sharing the photos and videos with you, here's a photo of a neighbour's Westie Kelly took on the way to the event:

(Kelly said he just couldn't resist).

OK... Well, there are a lot of photos and videos, so I'm sharing some with you today, and the rest next week. Here you go... Enjoy!

#FurkidFriday: Joshua The #Degu Talks About His Fears

Hi everyone. This is Joshua the degu.

The human caretakers say it's nearly time for that "Halloween" holiday. I don't really know what it's all about - despite remembering it happening before - but the human caretakers seem to focus on scary stuff when it's coming up. They even usually cut a scary face in to a pumpkin (which is an edible orange ball, for non-human readers who may not know).

This year, we thought we'd join in the fun. Well, we usually get involved in the eating of pumpkin seeds, but this year we thought we'd do a little more and tell you about the things we're scared of. So, that's just what I'm going to do today.

At one point, after my brothers went away, I was scared of the human caretakers. You can read about that in my book "How To Trust Your Human" - which I write under the name, "Buddy" - if you haven't already done so. But I'm not scared of them now. I even let them pet me regularly, and sometimes let them pick me up for a short cuddle.

But here's what I am scared of:

• Storms. Not the little ones, just the big ones. I don't squeal with fright like my brother Jasper used to. At least, not unless it's a really, really bad one. But I do hide in my nesting box when there's a big storm.
• Sudden noises or movements. I don't like when things happen suddenly, especially if they happen near me. If that happens, I squeal a bit - I can't help it - and run to hide.
• Birds. I don't mind hearing them, but I get scared if I see them hanging out too near the windows, especially if the windows are open. If you were my size, a species birds hunted in the wild, and looked up to see something as large as a seagull, you'd be scared too.
• Shadows looming over me. It makes me think of birds, and scares me.
• Silence. I don't know why, but I get scared when it gets really quiet. My brothers used to as well, especially Jasper. Even Jacob did a little though, and he was the bravest of all of us. The human caretakers have to keep the TV or radio on for me all the time.
• The dark... Sometimes. Some nights I can handle the dark, but some nights I can't. My brother, Jenks, used to be real scared of the dark, so I got used to having a light on, and will sometimes get scared if the humans forget to put it on for me.

I know, I'm scared of lots of things. I can't help it. I'm just a little guy.

Squeak soon,
Joshua

#WriterWednesday - October 17th 2018

"Where's Noodles?" will soon be available in audio, since Judith has already completed production of it. As long as it goes through the part of the reviewing process that ACX are responsible for without any issues, it won't be long now. Personally, I love it! I especially love Judith's voice for Lilie!

Also, the new narrator for "Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt" is Matt Jenkins, who you can learn more about in this recent narrator interview of his. Matt has done so well with production progress that we'll soon have that one available for you to buy in audio too.

Oh, and I recently updated the page on here that lists all my published works. It now also lists the narrators beside the titles - though only in cases where the audio versions are available - providing direct links to their ACX profiles. I'll do the same for the rest as the titles become available in audio. I thought it would be nice to list the narrators beside the titles they've narrated. At some point I plan to send a list to the person in charge of my website, and have him list them on my actual website too.

That's all the personal writing and publishing news I have to share today, since none of the other audio books are finished yet, and I don't have anything worth saying when it comes to actual writing progress, since there really hasn't been much of that. At least, not enough to make it worth talking about.

Have your adventures, make your mistakes, and choose your friends poorly — all these make for great stories.
~Chuck Palahniuk

My mind is full of ideas. Finding time to write all the stories and poems is the problem. But, if you aren't so lucky, and you're struggling to find your next idea, try one of these 7 places to find novel ideas. Yeah, it really is that simple. Ideas are everywhere. The trick is to find the one that speaks to you, and turn it in to a story people will want to read.

Speaking of which, this is how to turn an idea in to a plot - in case you're struggling with that, or want to make use of those steps to ensure you're totally ready to write your story when it's time for NaNoWriMo (which is only a couple of weeks away now).

Sticking with the subject of NaNoWriMo for a moment: this is a great post on how to achieve NaNoWriMo success - even if you're really busy.

Oh, and... If you have an idea, but feel you can't write about that, because it's too boring, or weird, or whatever. Well, just write it anyway. You can always improve on it later if you need to.

To help you with that, here's a post about how to describe settings, and why it matters, along with some tips for improving show, don't tell, tips for invoking the five senses, fixes for microblocks and miniglitches, and tips to help pantsers get moving again when the story stops.

Anyway, to keep things realistic, chances are you're going to want to do at least a little research. In fact, with some genres - historical stories, whether fictional or otherwise, for example - you may find yourself using research as your novel outline, even if you don't usually use outlines, just so you can keep your facts straight, and make sure nothing gets missed.

Cram your head with characters and stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you're working. Tell them it's research. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.
~Jennifer Weiner

You need to make your characters believable too. So, to help you do that, here are some tips for how to write grieving characters, and writing the teenage protagonist.

By the way, sometimes impostor syndrome will try to sabotage your writing career - dont let it! Yes, publishing has gotten easier, and success has gotten harder, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
Sylvia Plath

Your answers to these three questions will determine whether writing is your true calling, or if you just like the idea of being a famous author, but should probably go do something else instead.

On a similar note: these are five things every writer should have, to help you on your writing journey. Those following other creative paths could do with having those things too.

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
~Erich Fromm

Here are some ways to keep writing when you're struggling with your mental health, because sometimes you need to, and a lot more people deal with that kind of thing than you might think. The image of the depressed writer may not always be accurate, but sometimes it is, and there are a lot of people suffering from depression, anxiety, or some other mental health issue. Not just writers, but other creatives too. In fact, plenty of people in general. In short: you're not alone in your struggles. With that in mind, here are some self care strategies for authors, which will either help you avoid the issues, or help you deal with them, depending on your state of mental health.

Remember: sometimes you need to press that reset button.

Finally, check out these ways to support writers (and other artists) online, and maybe consider doing some of them.

#Halloween And #Christmas #Movies + Themed Treats

I don't often do much to celebrate when the holidays roll around. But, one of my favourite ways to celebrate various holidays is to read or watch something that relates to the holiday in question on or around the date of it. If I can pair that experience with eating or drinking something holiday appropriate too, so much the better.

If you feel the same way, or if you're looking for a fun activity to make a part of your celebrations this year, why not check out this list of Halloween movies and themed treats, and this similar list of perfectly paired Christmas movies and treats.

The posts provide links to the recipes, so you know what you need to do to make the treat that matches your movie(s) of choice.

By the way, my website's recipe section contains some other recipes that could work for some of these movies too. For example, why not try making some banana ghosts to enjoy while you watch Casper, some butterbeer to drink while you watch the Harry Potter movies, or some pumpkin-shaped Halloween biscuits to eat while watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.

#Music Monday: Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle of the road

Since my brother, Carl, celebrates his birthday tomorrow, I thought I'd post a song he's loved since he was a toddler... Maybe even since he was a baby for all I know. The song is "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle of the road, and here it is... Enjoy!








Oh, and... Happy birthday for tomorrow, Carl!

3D Unicorns, Accessable Dice, Subscription Boxes, And Other Random Things

My Dad got a 3D printer. Not a posh expensive one, but a reasonable one. Apparently he's having a great time with it. He's made several things, including a unicorn keyring he sent me recently, which you can see in the photo at the top of this post.

He's also made some tactile dice, which are pictured below.

One is just like the usual kind of tactile dice you get, where counting the dots gives you the number you rolled. The others are actual braille dice, where the letters of the braille alphabet is used to represent the various numbers. The regular tactile dice is a D6, the others are two D10s and a D20.

Right now he's trying some different templates to see which types work best before he makes a full set. I'm helping him test them out. Checking which ones roll best, which ones are easiest to read, etc. When we get it figured out, he can make accessable dice for me and my brother, Carl, for all the games we play that need dice, especially the various roleplaying games we play.

There is a company called 64 Ounce Games that does braille dice, as well as accessability kits for some card games, etc. But a lot of their stuff isn't cheap. Just like everything else you can buy to make things accessable. While I'd like to support their efforts, I'm also happy to help Dad figure out a less expensive way to get some accessable dice.

***~~~***

We have a certain amount of money we set aside each month spacifically for us to spend on things for ourselves. It's sort of like an allowance, only we don't get it taken away for bad behaviour. Yeah, we could go without this spending to move quicker. But it wouldn't make a lot of difference to timescale. Besides, we can now take as long as we need to with nasty neighbour gone.

Anyway, Kelly uses his for magazine and game subscriptions. I mostly use mine for books, sometimes also DVDs, since I can no longer see to play the games, or read the magazines. I mean, there have been some magazines I've had anyway, for the stuff that comes with them, like the gems and minerals one I got for the samples that come with it. The ones out now though either don't interest me, or have nothing with them I could enjoy despite my inability to read the magazines.

But, I miss having things come in the post. I like getting post, and the only fun mail I've had in months is the package from Dad with the unicorn and dice in it. Everything else has been bills, copies of medical letters, or stuff for Kelly. So, either not for me, or not the kind of post to get excited about.

I know my DVDs sometimes come in the post (unless I get Kelly to fetch them when he's in town). But I've not been getting many DVDs, because I have a huge stack of them to catch up on as it is. Yeah, I know that's the case for books too, but they don't end up in piles all over the livingroom while waiting for me to get to them, since I mainly buy eBooks. Plus, only not having the money available can stop me buying books. *wink*

Anyway, as I said, I like getting things in the post to open, and wanted to have that happening regularly.

I'd heard about boxes of goodies you could get sent to you regularly by subscribing to the companies. The idea sounded like a fun one, so I figured I'd go see if any of them appealed to me, and were also accessable to me. I mean, I knew there were ones filled with food and drink products, like one for tea, one for healthy snacks, etc. But I didn't really want a food and drink one. Although, I'd have ordered the tea one if I couldn't find anything else, just so I had a regular package to look forward to.

Anyway, we found this site that lists the various subscription boxes in the UK. They have loads of great ones.

I was pleased to see all the different catagories. It didn't take me long to pick which one I wanted to look in to most either, because I also miss doing crafty projects. In fact, I mentioned earlier this year that I wanted to get back in to it, but just couldn't decide where to start, what to make, etc.

I'm sure you've figured out where I'm going with this, right?

Yep. I subscribed to a couple of the craft boxes.

One of them is officially meant for children, but I didn't see why I couldn't have it too. Besides, those kinds of simple craft projects are ideal for me to manage by myself, even without being able to read the instructions. Actually, if I know what I'm meant to be making, I'm pretty good at figuring out most craft kits without reading the instructions. But crafts aimed at kids are always easiest. Plus, some of them are fun. The activity book that comes along with the craft project in that particular box won't be any good to me, but I want it for the kits. Yeah, OK, so I'm a big kid. Whatever. The kits sound fun, and I want them.

Anyway, I've already subscribed to Mister Maker Club, and the SewMineBox. The first being the one that's officially meant for children. I'm also planning to subscribe to Makerly Crafts, since I like the sound of their boxes too.

I was going to say that my first boxes should come in the next week or so. But I got my first Sew Mine Box already. It arrived on Friday, and Kelly's still laughing about how excited I got when it arrived. It's got two kits in it. One is for an Autumn themed table runner, and the other is for a purse (a little coin purse with a clasp).

It won't be long before I get more fun post. I'm looking forward to having a go at making the things. Not just the kits in this box - one of which I've already made a start on - but the others that will be coming too.

I like to keep my hands busy while watching or listening to things, so I enjoy doing crafts while watching movies and TV shows, and sometimes while listening to books (assuming I'm not listening to the books in bed). That's what I did when I was doing crafts a lot before. So my plan is to work on the kits while catching up on the things I want to watch and read. Especially the things I want to watch.

I've got plenty to catch up on too. I've got NCIS and Ghost In The Shell to finish watching, as well as a stack of Disney movies to rewatch (which I'm rewatching because they're among the DVDs in the boxes my Mam gave me). There are a few other things too, but I actually don't even remember all of what I need to catch up on. Yeah... That just shows how long I've been meaning to watch these DVDs! I have a long list of other stuff I want to see too, so I'll have plenty of options for things to get hold of to watch when I finally get through all those DVDs. Plus, I also need to catch up on watching past episodes of Critical Role, since I'm still quite a few episodes behind with that too.

I made a start on the first kit yesterday (Saturday). I started to work on the little purse, while reading part of a book for a buddy read. Although, I didn't get to do much work on the purse project, because I was also doing other things, and only finished as much reading as I did because of reading for a while in bed before settling for sleep.

I'm planning to work on it some more today. The kit is officially simple enough to complete in a couple of hours easily, which should have meant I either did it all yesterday, or was close enough to doing so that I'd be finishing it today for sure. But I'm doing it in bits between other things this weekend, since I'd planned to be sorting some things around the flat this weekend with Kelly, not expecting any kits to arrive until next week. I don't suppose it matters how long the kits end up taking me to complete though, as long as I enjoy doing them.

Oh, and... Yes. Of course I'll get Kelly to take photos of the projects when I finish each one. I know some of my followers at least would be very disappointed if I didn't do that. *wink*

I'm considering getting this Harry Potter themed box too. Because... Well, it's Harry Potter stuff!

There I was, worried I wouldn't find one that appealed to me, while also being accessable enough that I could really enjoy it, and now I find I'm spoiled for choice. Haha!

***~~~***

Apparently the last time we had the police out because of nasty neighbour - just before she moved away - was the last straw for the police.

We got a call from victim support a few days ago.

Yeah, I know. Better late than never though, right?

Anyway, I figured there's not much point in doing anything now she's gone though. We've not seen or heard anything from either her or her guy since she moved, and nobody else is hastling us. So I told him she'd finally moved.

He asked if we were OK now.

I told him we were, and thanked him for checking in, since it seemed like the right thing to say. Besides, what else could I do? She's gone, nobody else is threatening us, so there isn't anything he could help with, and it was good that they followed up, even if she'd already gone by the time they did.

Well, I suppose I could have asked him to help us move too. But usually they only help with that kind of thing if the situation can't be resolved another way, so it seemed pointless to ask.

***~~~***

We went to Oscars in the evening this past Thursday, instead of for our usual Friday lunch, and were the only people there.

We usually eat outside, but went inside because it was trying to rain. So we were in there chatting with the people who own and run it while enjoying our meal. They're lovely people, so it was nice.

I'm assuming the weather was why it was so quiet. It's always quieter near the beach when the weather isn't so good. It probably also helps that most of the Summer visitors will have gone, so it will be mainly locals around for the next several months.

Anyway, Lilie loved our trip to Oscars too. She always does, but was really excited about being able to go inside (they've always told us we could take her in, but we never did... Until now). They think she's adorable, and she knows it. She loves attention, and they always give her plenty of it.

As it happened, the rain did start while we were having dinner. Not that there was much rain. To be honest, we didn't even get all that wet on the walk home.

A warm front came through here on Wednesday, and decided to stick around. So we had a couple of days where it was about 19 or 20 degrees C (about 70 or 72 F). As I said, it got rainy on Thursday evening, but it was like a warm Summer rain, because it wasn't really that cold out.

I think we're supposed to get some storms soon though. Parts of the UK have had them already Not that I'm complaining. I mean, I wouldn't be so eager for storms if our storms were like the really nasty ones that keep hitting the US, and I'm certainly not hoping for those kinds of storms. But a mild storm would be nice. I expect we'll get plenty of them over the next few months though. We usually do.

As I said in a comment towards the end of last week, I wish I could order certain types of weather. This would be my order:

"I'd like to order a mild thunderstorm please. A bit of gust to the wind, and a reasonable shower of rain, but nothing too heavy. Also, can I pre-order some snow for the holidays? Nothing too deep. Just a few inches of the kind of snow that's perfect for building snowmen. Thank you!"

What would your weather order be?

#FurkidFriday: Mollie The #Chinchilla Turns 3

Hi everyone. This is Mollie the chinchilla.

Today is my birthday!

I'm three years old today!

You know what that means, right?

EXTRA NIBBLES!

I'm so excited! I love when we get to have one of these birthday things. The human caretakers always give us a special treat, and sometimes even a new toy as well.

This is one of those times with a new toy. I got a willow ball:

You only get a picture of the toy right now, since they haven't put it in my cage yet. They're going to give it to me later. I haven't decided if I'll let them take a photo of me with it yet. We'll see how I'm feeling when the time comes.

Anyway, I bet they'll make it an oatmeal day too, because they know I love oatmeal. They might hand out raisins today as well. I hope so, because I love those too! They're usually good about remembering stufflike that, but I'm crossing my paws anyhow.

Whatever my birthday treat is, I'm sure I'm going to enjoy today!

Squeak soon,
Mollie

#Vegan And #Vegetarian #Jokes

Can I tell you a vegan joke? I promise it won’t be cheesy.

***~~~***

Q: What do you call it when one chickpea murders another?
A: A hummus-cide.

***~~~***

Q: Why did the tofu cross the road?
A: To prove he wasn’t chicken.

***~~~***

Q: Why did the tomato blush?
A: Because he saw the salad dressing.

***~~~***

Q: What did the lettuce say to the celery?
A: Are you stalking me?

***~~~***

Q: What does a vegetarian zombie eat?
A: GgggrrrRRAAIIiinnnNNnnSss!

#WriterWednesday - #Quotes About #Writing - October 2018 #WednesdayWisdom

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
~Maya Angelou

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.
~Beatrix Potter

Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.
~Neil Gaiman

Never, ever use repetitive redundancies. Don't use no double negatives. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
~William Safire

First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!
~Ray Bradbury

You can make anything by writing.
~C.S. Lewis

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.
~Robert Frost

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
~Anton Chekhov

A synonym is a word you use when you can’t spell the other one.
~Baltasar Gracián

Of Fluffy Socks, Pinkness, And Other Random things

We've had lots of fluffy socks weather lately.

For those who are new here: I hate having things on my feet at home. I own slippers, and a selection of fluffy and wooly socks. But I only wear them when it's really cold, because my feet like to be free. So, if I'm saying it's fluffy socks weather, that means it's cold enough that I need to wear socks indoors. If it gets cold enough, I'll put my slippers on too.

Anyway, I've not been keeping proper track of temperatures, but it's been quite cold most days. We've had some days where it warmed up by the afternoon, but it's been frosty most mornings, and I'm told it was foggy a couple of mornings too. No storms in this past week or so though, which is both good and bad. Good because it means no storms have been doing damage in our area, but bad because I haven't had any storms to listen to. That's not to say that we haven't had any rain or wind, because we have. Just not enough that you could really call it a storm. Although, it certainly tried to become one on the weekend.

Anyhow, my friend, Lorna, came for a visit at the start of last week, and said I look, "More normal... More human... More sort of pink." I took it as a compliment, even though it had me imagining that I'd looked like some kind of weird alien creature before. I know what she was trying to say is that I have more colour in me now my anemia is under control. I'm not usually a big fan of pink things, but even I have to agree that this is one time that pink is good. YAY for pinkness!

I've been feeling a lot better. No dizziness, which is nice. I still tire easily though, and am still working on regaining muscle strength from all the time I wasn't doing much because of the dizziness. That's going to take a while to fix.

It's a shame my weight loss attempts aren't going so well.

I got weighed again when I went for this month's shot this past Friday, and it turns out I've done that annoying thing where you were doing so well, and suddenly you put a load of weight back on. I don't understand why, because I certainly ate better and exercised more than I had the previous month, and yet I lost weight then. I'm going to look at where I can make more tweaks to things, and see if I can get at least some of it back off in these next few weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to get it back off before my surgery date rolls around. Since there's still no sign of that, I've got a good chance. Of course, now it means I'm torn between hoping they take their time with my surgery date so I can get the weight back off, and hoping they hurry up with it so I can have it done and out of the way.

They tried to make me have a flu jab, but I never have that. Some people get sicker when they have it, and I'm one of those people. I get sick either way, but it seems to be worse on years when I let them do the flu jab, so I stopped bothering. Kelly doesn't have his either, since he's another person that happens to. If they make it that we have no choice, we'll submit to it. But while it's optional, we don't see the point.

I'll be going to see the nurse on November 2nd at 12:10pm to have my next hormone blocker shot though. I was a bit worried I'd have trouble scheduling it, because the gynecologist letter that requested I have the shots in the first place only mentioned me having three or four of them (the plan being that I'd be in for surgery before more would be needed, though that looks like it's unlikely to happen, unless I'm getting a short notice call to come in between now and the date of the next shot). But I booked it no problem. Although, I did have to call yesterday (Monday) to do so, since I forgot to book it when I was there on Friday having this month's shot. I'll have to send Kelly to sort my prescription for this month too, since I also forgot to ask for that, and they prefer you to do that either in person, or by talking to a nurse or doctor. I didn't want to ask to speak to a doctor just to do that, especially when Kelly's got to go to town this week anyhow, and I have enough pills that I won't run out in the meantime, and have a spare set of inhalers if the ones I'm using run out. I usually sort the repeat prescription when I'm there for my shot, but didn't this time. I blame the fact the nurse I usually see wasn't there. Well, that and the fact we were discussing my weight, and just plain forgot.

Other than that, attempts to catch up on sleep, and random routine daily stuff like housework and walks - none of which have been eventful enough to talk about - I've just spent this past week or so slowly working on catching up with watching the episodes of my NCIS DVDs that I keep not getting to for various reasons, as wel as attempting to catch up on episodes of Critical Role. I've also been watching the Ghost In The Shell TV series with Kelly, since I hadn't seen it, and he loves it enough to watch it again and again. Like with the movie, I'm enjoying the Ghost In The Shell TV series, but not as much as Kelly enjoys it. Probably because he's more of an anime fan than I am. I'd give it four out of five stars though.

#Music Monday: Relaxing Pan Flute Music - Calming Sea

We're now in October, and pretty soon the chaos of the holidays will be upon us, no matter how hard we try to prepare for it all, and insist we'll be more organized this year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... Or whatever else you celebrate over the next few months... It doesn't matter. Even those of us who keep things simple feel some of the stress.

So, before we have to deal with all that, let's take a few minutes to listen to something relaxing, shall we?

Panpipes and nature sounds are perfect soundtracks to relaxation and meditation, so here's one I enjoyed listening to and thought I'd share. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a few minutes of soothing sounds.

Tori's September 2018 #Book #Reviews - #AmReading

It's time to take a look at what I read in September.

But first, here's a post about why good books deserve more good reviews.

Anyway...

As with the previous posts like this one, if you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question.

Don't forget: the format I've reviewed may not be the format I read. Also, please remember that I read across multiple genres and age ranges, so you should always check if a book is suitable for the intended reader, especially when children are involved. Sometimes reading the book's description on its Goodreads page will be enough for this, but other times you may need to check elsewhere to figure out the genre and/or recommended reading level.

OK... On to the reviews!

The Writer's Pen and Other Poems by K. Morris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Having read previous poetry collections by the author, I was eager to read this one. I was not disappointed. This is a great collection of thought-provoking poems. “Indefinable” is a particular favourite of mine from this collection.
*NOTE: I was given a free advanced copy of this book by the author. This has in no way influenced either my opinion of this book, or the contents of my review.

Samantha by K. Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A powerful and well-written story.

Missing in London by Rita Lee Chapman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was an enjoyable read. The plot was captivating enough to grab my attention and hold it well throughout, and the characters were well-rounded and believable. I did sort of feel like Anna forced her way in to this mystery though, so it didn't feel quite as natural for her to be involved in seeking answers as in the first two books, and part of me was agreeing with her husband's comments about how she should let it drop, even as the rest of me wanted her to keep seeking answers so I could find out what happened too. Still, that was my only real issue with the book.

Abby & Holly, School Dance by Janice Spina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was a fun and entertaining read, with a great cast of characters, an interesting plot that moves at a nice pace, and a fantastic message to teach.

Gray: Part I by Lou Cadle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a realistic story with a believable plot. Also, the main character and how she manages to survive are as realistic and believable as the plot. I'm enjoying this story so far, and curious as to what the "event" was.

Gray: Part II by Lou Cadle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm enjoying this series for the most part. However, though there were parts of this book I really liked, there were also parts I struggled with. Nothing to do with the writing style or anything. I just found certain parts hard to read, especially with being such a big animal lover.

Gray: Part III by Lou Cadle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I had trouble picking a rating for this book. I found it to be well-written, and I liked it better than part two, but not as much as part one. I also found some parts of it hard to read. There were parts of the story I loved. But there were also parts I had issues with. Plus, I still have some questions. Why was almost everyone who survived crazy, apart from the two main characters? Also, did Coral's family survive? It would have been nice to find out what happened in the community after they left it, and get some hint as to the potential chances of the survival of the human race as a whole too.

Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond by Kim Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a great collection of stories, which makes for an enjoyable companion to the main series. I loved "Two Ghosts For Sister Rachel" and "Million Dollar Baby" especially.

What's in a Name? Volume 2: Stories of Life and Romance by Sally Cronin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As with almost every book of this sort, I enjoyed some of these tales more than others. However, they were a great collection of well-written stories, containing a variety of well-rounded and interesting characters, and I found something to like in every one of them. Lily's story in particular was a favourite of mine, since I thought it was really sweet. As I said though, there was something to like about every story in this collection.

Leela The Chinchilla: An adventure story of how to make your dream come true by David Emil
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a really sweet read. However, there were a few things wrong with it. For one thing, the family Leela belonged to didn't seem as bothered as they should have been about her being gone; I know this was Leela's story, but a real show of emotion would have been nice. For another thing, Leela's character description and how she actually behaved didn't match; Leela was described as being fearful and never having tried to escape before, and yet she's suddenly now boldly exploring the world... It doesn't fit; she should at least be showing obvious signs of fear while exploring the world. Chinchillas are cautious creatures, and I can tell you for a fact even the bravest of my own chinchillas would never be that bold. A few other points: a cage big enough to be considered spacious for a chinchilla wouldn't be easy enough to transport that it could go in the back of a car like that. Leaving a chinchilla overnight in a carbboard box is just asking for trouble, since they'll likely have chewed their way out of it long before morning. Also, you'd think any animal would know for his or herself that it's supposed to be nocturnal, even if they've not met any other animals of the same species since soon after their birth. I get that this is a fictional story, but some accuracy in facts would have made it easier to enjoy and believe it could happen.

True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole by Sue Townsend
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The part of this book where we actually got to hear from Adrian was pretty good, though it felt more like a collection of random letters that were gathered together than the diary format I'd enjoyed from the previous two books. The part from the author was vaguely interesting, but I'm unsure why it was added. The part from Margret was boring, more immature than Adrian Mole's first diary, and didn't seem like it even belonged in this book.

Thief by Barbara G.Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Hariel is a great character, who brings new meaning to the phrase, "A lovable rogue." I enjoyed getting to know him, and reading his story.

Angelica, Scholar by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book had an interesting main character, who is your typical writer, living in a world that isn't quite as typical as it seems. It also has a fascinating plot. Plus, getting to see some idea of the author's original early pieces of writing was a fun addition to the book.

Otherside by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Having not read much steampunk, I can't say how well this does for a steampunk novel. I enjoyed the fantasy and romance elements of it though, and thought it had a great cast of characters.

Record of Blood by Sabrina Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fascinating and well-written mystery, with a wonderful cast of characters. I enjoyed getting to know more about the main characters' pasts, while at the same time attempting to solve the case they were on. The attention to historical detail was excellent too. The only thing I disliked about the book was the "to be continued" cliffhanger style ending... I always hate when authors do that.

#FurkidFriday: Joshua The #Degu With A Reminder To Keep Your #Pets Warm This #Winter

Hi everyone. This is Joshua the degu again.

Although some days it's still been warm, it's starting to get colder here, especially at night. Since that's the case, it means Winter is coming. With that in mind, I wanted to give you a little reminder about keeping your non-human family members safe and warm this Winter. You may not need the reminder, but I'm going to give you it anyway.

We may have fur or feathers, but we still feel the cold. Some of us more than others. Because of this, we can get sick, or worse, if we get too cold. You don't want that to happen, do you? I thought not!

So, here's what you can do to try and stop it from happening: keep us warm.

Yes. It really is that simple.

The temperatures most comfortable for us will be different depending on species. Sometimes there may even be some extra things you need to do to help keep us warm, especially if you have non-human family members who prefer different temperatures. But keeping us warm is all it really comes down to.

My human caretakers, for example, have a small electric heater they use to give me a bit of extra heat on really cold days. This allows them to warm up the area near my cage a little more than the rest of the room, keeping me warm, while at the same time making sure my chinchilla sisters, Mollie and Maizie, who live on the other side of the room, don't get too hot.

Even Mollie and Maizie need a certain amount of heat though. All living things do in order to survive.

If you aren't sure what's best for your furry or feathered family member, ask your vet. They'll know. If they don't, maybe you should get a new vet. Just saying.

Squeak soon,
Joshua