Cabin fever (kinda R/WP)

I think I'm suffering from cabin ffever or something. Well, that's the best way to describe it. In fact, it's the only way I can think to describe it!

Over the past year or so I've hardly been out. Actually, the last time I went on anything close to an outing was when we went to meet Carl from the station at the end of August last year. The only times I've been out since then have been to go to medical appointments or for a rare - and very short - walk with Kelly and Kero.

I feel like I've not been out in forever; like I've been stuck indoors and now I'm suffocating and need to get out so I can breathe again!

Menu: June 26th 2013 - July 1st 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: Vegetarian mushroom quarter pounders with cheese.

Thursday: Curry and chips.

Friday: Potato wedges with cheese.

Saturday: Baked potato, cauliflower, cheese, and caramelized onion & sweet chilli chutney.

Sunday: Veggie bake.

Monday: Leftover veggie bake.

***

Kelly now goes shopping on a Tuesday instead of a Wednesday, because it was hard on him getting up early to go shopping after being up really late for the roleplaying game he has most Tuesday nights - well, early hours of Wednesday morning here - with some of his online friends. That's why this menu only goes to Monday.

Fairy Day and The Great Tadpole Rescue

Today is Fairy Day.

Yes, really!

I decided to publish my book "The Great Tadpole Rescue" to celebrate Fairy Day this year.

Here's the synopsis:

"Lily is a water fairy, which means it’s her job to make sure everyone who lives on her pond is safe and happy, so when Mrs. Frog’s tadpoles are stolen it’s up to her to rescue them.

Will Lily be able to find the missing tadpoles and get them home safely to Mrs. Frog?"



ISBN: 9781301282746

It's already available via Smashwords in all formats they offer, and will be available via Amazon in the next day or so (exactly when depends on which Amazon you buy from). It will also be available via other retailers - such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Blio, Diesel, Kobo, Sony, and WH Smith - in the next couple of weeks!

Super Moon 2013

Tonight is the "Super Moon" apparently.

Going to get Kelly to take a photo or two of it. Assuming it's not too cloudy to see it, since it's been stormy recently and I'm not sure if the clouds have thinned yet.

Wish I could see the Super Moon like everyone else is able to... They're all excited about it, and I feel like I'm missing something important!

*Sigh*

Cover artists

Until now, all my covers have been created by my Dad under the name "Gendrill Publishing" or by Karl Mousley. I'm pleased with their work, and I do plan on using them for more covers in the future, but I now have a third cover artist.

His name is Jacob Blackmon, he's a freelance artist, and he's already created the cover for "Snowball The Oddball Kobold" for me, which is a story I plan to publish on September 2nd 2013.

You can check out the cover at http://prodigyduck.deviantart.com/art/Snowball-the-Oddball-Kobold-379891363 if you like.

Menu: June 19th 2013 - June 25th 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: Chinese take-away.

Thursday: Chips, cheese and gravy.

Friday: Eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans and toast.

Saturday: Mango mash (mashed potato with mango chutney) and broccoli.

Sunday: Minted quorn, potatoes and vegetables.

Monday: Pasta with sauce.

Tuesday: Potato wedges with sauce.

Book sales in to triple figures

My book sales are well in to the triple figures now!

As of today,I've sold 105 books on Smashwords, not counting the 22 copies of "Frank The Friendly Ogre" people have in their libraries, since that one is free so sales of it don't count. Plus I've sold about a dozen via Barnes And Noble (mostly due to Iggy).

Those aren't huge sales figures, especially when compared to the big name authors like Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, Kim Harrison, J K Rowling, etc, but it's a great start; my books are starting to get noticed! :)

All I can say is... Thank you to the readers who have made this possible!

Degu update

The degus are settling in well. Though Jenks remains quite nervous, and I have scratches from when he panicked while I was holding him. But he was just frightened at how big the room was, I think. None of them have really tried to hurt us intentionally. Unless you count Jasper checking if we happen to be edible, which we don't as he does that to everything and everyone, LOL!

Jacob is the only one brave enough to be nose to nose with Kero though, although Joshua came close when I was holding him earlier.

It's OK for them, it's not their life! (Kinda FD and R/WP)

This healthy eating thing isn't going too great. We're not having as many take-aways, but I'm pretty sure most of our meals wouldn't count as "healthy" really.

After the letter I got from the hospital today though, I really don't care right now. OK. That's not strictly true. I do care, because I know I need the weight off. But I also could do with the comfort of some of my favourite foods right now too!

Apparently it's fine if I die, as long as I don't do it on their operating table where they can get the blame for it happening.

OK, so they didn't say that exactly, but they might as well have.

What they actually said is that they refuse to do a hysterectomy because of the risk I might stop breathhing during surgery.

I know of that risk, and still wanted to do it, because if I make it through the surgery things will be better for me afterwards. But apparently what I want doesn't matter.

I'm not too sure right now if I'm more angry or upset, or if it's because they won't do it or because they told me via a letter rather than face to face at an appointment.

It's OK for them, it's not their life!

Sure, the tablets are keeping the bleeding light - I've even had a few days in a row with no bleeding a couple of times. But with two vitamin supplements for iron (one giving me 100% of my RDA, the other giving me 33%) as well as these tablets and what I get from some of my food, there should be no bleeding. Actually, there should be no bleeding just with the tablets, especially since a normal dose is 2 a day and I'm on a 3 a day dosage!

My point is though, even with the bleeding only being light now, the fact it's taking so much to make it so should tell them it's a big enough issue that I should get the go-ahead for the surgery... Even with the risks.

Plus, it's my body!

I've had enough, and they don't care!

Menu: June 12th 2013 - June 18th 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: Quiche with potato stars.

Thursday: Chips, cheese and gravy.

Friday: Potato wedges with korma sauce.

Saturday: Veggie burger and chips.

Sunday: Korma-quorn, potato lattices and vegetables.

Monday: Pasta with tomato sauce.

Tuesday: 4 cheese pizza.

Spotlighted by a story reading ape

I was spotlighted by Chris The Story Reading Ape today.

You can see the page where he put me in the spotlight at http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/spotlight/victoria-tori-zigler-author/ if you want.

He's a bit behind on the list of my books, since he mentions the last Toby's Tales book being published "next month" and I published that in February, but I appreciate the effort he put in to the post, and am honoured he considered me worthy of being in his spotlight section.

Kero's World, book 3: Kero Gets Sick

"Kero isn’t feeling well at all, and that means only one thing: a trip to his least favourite place in the world... The vet! What will the vet do to make Kero feel better? And will Kero think it was worth the trip to the vet in the end?"

That's the synopsis for Kero's third book, which was published today.

It's already available via Smashwords in all formats they offer, and will be available via Amazon in the next couple of days. It will also soon be available from sites such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Sony, and WH Smith.

We have degus

We did get the degus.

We planned to get two, but the litter they had in was four males, and the pet shop didn't want to seporate them. At first I wasn't sure we should have taken all four, but after watching them I'm glad we did. Their personalities are such that if they were paired off wrongly they'd be as miserable as if they'd been alone.

We've called them Jacob, Jasper, Jenks and Joshua.

Jacob is a Hebrewname that means supplanter, Jasper is a Persian name that means treasurer, Jenks is a Hebrew name that means God is gracious, and Joshua is a Hebrew name that means God is salvation.

We didn't name them those things for the meanings though.

Jacob and Jasper were chosen when we thought we were only getting two. They're the main werewolf and my favourite vampire respectively from the Twilight books and movies. Jenks is after the pixie in Kim Harrison's Hollows book series. And Joshua was the first "J" name we thought of when trying to decide on a fourth "J" name

Anyway, we got them on Monday (June 3rd 2013) and as of yesterday they're 13 weeks old... If we understood what they said at the pet shop about how old they are right, at least. So that makes their birthdays March 9th.

Menu: June 5th 2013 - June 11th 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: 4 cheese pizza.

Thursday: Chips, cheese and gravy.

Friday: Mango rice.

Saturday: Bean burritos.

Sunday: Vegetarian shepherd's pie.

Monday: Leftover vegetarian shepherd's pie.

Tuesday: Eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and toast.

Thinking of getting degus

We're thinking of getting a pair of degus.

They're rodents that look something like rats with furry tails.

Kelly saw some in a pet shop in Hastings and fell in love with them. He's talked of nothing else since he saw them on Wednesday, LOL!

So, we looked up information about them, and both like the idea.

We've been reading stuff all over the internet, but mostly on www.degutopia.co.uk, which is a site I found while looking up their dietry requirements.

There are a lot of rules for their care, but they're not that difficult to deal with as long as you make sure they get plenty of exercise and stay away from fatty and sugary foods as a rule (some can be given as treats from time to time though). They essentially need high fibre vegan diets, with the least fatty nutts (like hazelnuts) and least sugary fruits (like apples) being OK as treats from time to time, but only as rare treats (like once a month or something). It'll be nice to have someone else in the house not eating meat, LOL! They have to have their weight monitored closer than mine though.

They're very social creatures who love getting attention.

They need sand baths a couple of times a week to keep their fur in good condition, and must NEVER be grabbed by the tail, because their tails will fall off, hurting them a lot in the process (it's a defence thing from in the wild).

Menu: May 29th 2013 - June 4th 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: Vegetarian pizza.

Thursday: Chips, cheese and gravy.

Friday: Mushroom stir fry.

Saturday: Bean burrito.

Sunday: Honey quorn, potato lattices and veg.

Monday: Pasta with cheese sauce.

Tuesday: Eggs, potato stars and beans.

Celebrating our anniversary and Kero's birthday 2013 (FD)

We had a great time celebrating our wedding anniversary and Kero's birthday!

We had some nice weather, so Kelly, Kero and I went for a couple of walks together. Though they had to be short ones, because I get tired and dizzy easily (if the hospital would hurry up, I wouldn't have these issues). Still, short walks are better than no walks, right?

We also watched the first two Tinkerbell movies together. They're really cute movies. I'd seen them before, but I didn't mind watching them again, especially since Kelly hadn't seen them and wanted to.

I helped Kelly put some of his figures together too. Well, I just put them on bases, but that's helping... Kelly says it counts! They're called tyranids. I think that's how you spell it, anyway. They're sort of rapter looking things.

Also, Kelly had pasta with tomato sauce and cheese with me without adding meat or anything, so we actually had the exact same dinner on our anniversary! Usually even if he has what I'm having he'll add some meat or fish, but not this time. This time he ate a fully vegetarian dinner with me!

We had some cheesecake too, though it took us until the following evening (Kero's birthday) to eat that.

Kero's World, book 2: Kero Celebrates His Birthday

To celebrate the 9th birthday of my West Highland White Terrier, who the books are based on, I published "Kero Celebrates His Birthday" yesterday, which is the second book in my "Kero's World" series.

Here's the description:
"It’s Kero’s birthday, and his humans are doing everything they can to make it a special day for him. What will Kero think of all the fuss and attention? And what exactly makes a birthday special for a dog anyway?"

The book is already available via Smashwords in all formats they offer, and is currently in the process of being published on Amazon. It will also become available via other retailers in the near future, such as Apple, Barnes And Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Sony, and WH Smith.

Menu: May 22nd 2013 - May 28th 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese.

Thursday: Vegetable fingers, chips and beans.

Friday: Egg fried rice with sweet and sour sauce.

Saturday: Baked potato, asparagus and cheese.

Sunday: Lemon-ginger quorn, mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Monday: Pasta with cheese sauce.

Tuesday: Mushroom burger, potato wedges and beans.

10th wedding anniversary tomorrow!

I can't believe it, but it's true!

Tomorrow marks mine and Kelly's 10th wedding anniversary!

Where has the time gone?

I can't help wondering why he's put up with me this long. I'd have gotten sick of me years ago, LOL! I'm glad he has put up with me though!

Menu: May 15th 2013 - May 21st 2013 (FD)

Wednesday: Take-Away.

Thursday: Vegetable fingers, chips and beans.

Friday: Soup and bread.

Saturday: Cauliflower cheese grill, roast potatoes and peas.

Sunday: Tomatoes, eggs, toast and beans.

Monday: Pasta with cheese sauce.

Tuesday: Mushroom burger, potato wedges and vegetables.