THE END...

Hello Dear Readers!

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate whoever is reading this blog.  I appreciate that you have taken the time out of your day to stop by.   This is to be my last post, possibly for a while, or possibly forever.  Well, most likely...forever.

I've grown concerned that an entity of a possibly and/or not-exactly-legitimate nature is somehow using this blog as a stepping-stone of sorts.  I don't have all the particulars yet, but something didn't make sense, and something didn't add up.  So, I have a security person looking into it, but until I get the info back from the aforementioned security master, I thought I wouldn't waste anyone else's time reading stuff that probably doesn't even need to be written, let alone read.

Another reason for ending this blog is the precursor to ending my writing in its entirety, at least for a while, once I get one, possibly two more books up on Smashwords.  I won't even bother putting anything else up on Amazon as those sales are so few and far between, and I won't ever see a payment from them anyways. 

Not that it held that much weight with me, but I did today receive yet another less-than-stellar review of one of my books, and the question, "Why do I bother?", is once again running through my head.  I know, I know, Roman wasn't built in a day, and I do have my handful of readers who seem to honestly like my books, but I've received too many signs, signals and comments lately from people who HAVE sold their fair share of books, that yes, my writing is far, far, less than stellar, and I will never get any more of a readership than I already have, which is that handful of people, as in...count 'em...five.   

So, I too, will be finding other things to do with my time, like designing the cabin of my dreams, right down to the minutist detail for my ranch in New Mexico.   A lot of other things in my life have actually become reality because of all my time spent dreaming about them as if they were real, until they in fact became reality.  I will make it so.  Well, or at least I will die trying to make it so! 

So, Dear Readers, I bid you adieu and once again, thank you for stopping by!  I now return you to your regularly scheduled life.   Take good care, and God bless!

kTd...over and out.

THE END

THESE HAUNTED GEMS...

I finally finished These Haunted Gems, and I believe that it will be the last in my These Haunted...series.  I hope to get The Collectors written, which is what These Haunted Gems segues into. 

I'm telling you this, Dear Readers, because I've heard from one person already that the ending to These Haunted Gems came up "a little short" for them.  But knowing that Chris's adventure will continue down in Edwardsville, with her friends, Patricia, Eric and Scott...well, let's just say they are anxiously awaiting for me to get The Collectors finished and up on Smashwords so they can read more of the stories that began back in These Haunted Coins, and continued in These Haunted Gems.

I hope to get a bit more writing done on The Collectors while I'm at my ranch in New Mexico this weekend.  I also hope to get a bit more inspiration for a future book, already started, as are several other stories I have in a file folder next to my desk...the future book being... The Broken Window.

And speaking of heading to The T-Square Ranch...we're off!  Hope you enjoy your weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

HEAD'S UP!...

If you don't know it, there's supposed to be a spectacular meteor shower tomorrow, with the best viewing starting the evening of April 21st, carrying over into the morning of April 22nd (that's for the U.S., Dear Readers)  I'm not sure who in the world will be able to see it, or who in the U.S. might be able to see it better or best.  (I almost wrote, good, better or best, but knew that would just be wrong from a grammar standpoint.  I'm really trying to be better about my grammar, really I am.)

So, while the Southwest can usually boast clear skies day and night for weeks, if not months, on end, (I probably still need to work on my punctuation, don't I?) our skies will probably fill with clouds on Monday, as it always does when a meteor shower is supposed to happen.  I can only recall being able to sit in the yard, staring up at a cloudless sky, to hopefully watch a meteor shower TWICE in the last 23 years.  The same thing happens at the ranch.  Meteor Shower = Cloud Cover. 

And just the "sitting in the yard" part is a feat in and of itself, due to the fact that Fountain Hills, Arizona is home to many a wild animal, such as javalina, bobcat, coyote and mountain lions that like to roam the streets at night looking for a tasty morsel, such as the plethora of rabbits and quail that also try to co-exist in this little town of 25,000 people (I guess I really should check the stats, because I have no idea how many people live here now, but it's a lot more than when we first moved here 23 years ago!)

So, Dear Reader, it's my hope that whatever State in the U.S., or Country around the world that you're reading this from, that you will be able to see the show that Mother Nature is providing for us, that is, providing that she also remembers to take care of the curtain-clouds that she also provides.

With all the earthquakes, tornadoes, now a meteor shower, she certainly has our attention.

Stay well, Dear Readers!   Have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by!
P.S.  Don't forget to make a wish on one of the meteors as it goes zipping by!  Granted, they are just chunks of ice, and not stars, but what-the-heck, give it a shot anyways!

GOTTA LOVE THOSE AUSSIES AND MY LATEST TITLE...

I had a very pleasant surprise at the end of March, when I saw that there had been a dozen copies of my book, A Secret Within purchased via Apple for the wonderful readers in Australia and New Zealand.  I just checked in again yesterday, and lo and behold, there was another two dozen copies purchased, mostly out of Australia!  

Needless to say, I'm extremely appreciative for those new readers, and especially Apple who picked up my book, when they didn't have to.  And the fact that more were ordered...it just floored me.  If anyone knows any media folks in Australia, I will gladly do an interview!!!

Until then...I thought I'd tell you all about the book I have been working on this past week.  It's part of the These Haunted...series, and this one is called, These Haunted Gems.  It features, of course, Christine Marie Bay, the great little gal who is sensitive to all things paranormal.  She is a cross-over character, as she is the love interest of Scott Bennett who is one of the main characters in A Secret Within.  Chris is down in Edwardsville helping out with a couple of special projects, and she happens to pick up a ring in an antiques shop (no, not THAT antiques shop!) and she actually gets the impression that she has met the woman who previously owned the ring! 

Because These Haunted Gems is part of the series, it is a quick, easy read of approximately 11,000 words.  It is also a bit of an introduction to The Collectors, which is part of my Edwardsville series, and which brings the characters of that book, and Christine Marie Bay, and introduces friends Jan and Leigh Jackson (which I have permission to use their names and put them in the book pretty much as themselves, but since Edwardsville doesn't exist, well, what they do in Edwardsville is just a figment of my imagination!)  

So, where was I?  Oh, yes... if it will help pique your interest...here are the "before & after" pictures of the cover, which I think I'm going to go with.  Still have to do some tweaking of the manuscript and then to do a final proofread, and then, it goes on Smashwords and Amazon! 

Which reminds me...I probably should get the other two books in my These Haunted...series (These Haunted Hills and These Haunted Coins) back up on Smashwords and Amazon!  I'm going to be a very busy girl today!

Oh hey!  Did anyone catch my five star review on Smashwords of Stealing Back The Moon?  I honestly don't know this woman.  She's a wonderful soul who has lived in Alaska for thirty years and actually used to live in Arizona.  I think using Arizona in my "cloud" on Smashwords caught her eye.  Maybe those "cloud" words really do help get readers to take notice of your book.  I know I actually received a comment on this blog from someone who I don't know, maybe it was due to the words in my labels on this blog.  That was so fun to read your comment!  Thank you for taking the time to write, Dear Reader.  I wish more of you Dear Readers would throw in a comment from time to time so that I know who is out there reading the words that pour out of my head.

And I'd greatly appreciate reviews of my books if you have purchased them!  Even if only to say that you're disappointed in the ending of Next Time, which one reader actually commented on the Barnes and Noble site, so...well, I guess you don't have to write that again, because he already did!  But maybe if you read the book you will not be disappointed in the ending and can write a glowing review! 

Okay, that's all for this week folks.  I have to get back to These Haunted Gems...

Have a fabulous weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

THE HAUNTINGS ON HUNTER...

The title of this post is, for now, the current working title of a book idea I hope to propose to a publisher.  Of course, anything can and most likely will change, but yes, I have yet another book idea in the works.  Who would have guessed. 

Flitting from one project to the next and back again is a way I divert myself and step back from a project when I feel like I'm getting too bogged down, slogging along in whatever it is I'm working on.

And the book manuscript I'm currently working on, if you're not already aware, is Ghost Rat.  The current version turned out to be a total redo, oh, and then another total redo, of something that I wanted to put up on Smashwords, what, about three years ago now?  I think being able to get away from the spirits at the market gave me perhaps a new, different, or even better perspective on that story. 

Yes, it may be a total re-do. rewrote. but I do like this re-do, this rewrite better than the last one.

It was because of a former co-worker at the market that the idea for this new book came into being.  For the past year or so, she had been sharing with me the goings-on at her home.  Yes, the ones of a paranormal nature.

One thing led to another and I contacted a paranormal group, Arizona Spirit Paranormal Society (A.S.P.S.) and they were kind enough to come out to my former co-worker's house to do an investigation.  While it was my first paranormal investigation with professionals such as A.S.P.S., it was obviously not theirs.  They were a perfectly insync team of three, with the standard equipment used by those in the paranormal field.   It was great to see them in action, not just viewing this type of investigation on my television screen.  This team was calm, respectful and professional.  I'm really looking forward to hearing of their findings in this house.

And it is the paranormal experiences that been relayed to me by my former co-worker, and the findings of the A.S.P.S team that will be the basis for this book...The Hauntings on Hunter.  When I have a general outline I will send off the proposal to the publisher. 

So, stay tuned!

Hope you'll stop in again next weekend, and have a great week! 

EASTER SUNDAY...

I woke up this morning thinking about Easter's past.  Yes, the one's growing up on Roosevelt Street.  Hunting for eggs around the house.  Eating the ears off the chocolate bunnies in my Easter basket.  The ham and Kielbasa dinners, going to church, seeing all the lilies on the alter.  Believing that Christ had risen and a yet another miracle had taken place.  I had the priviledge in my youth to actually be in the same spot where Jesus had died and was buried and had risen from the dead. Thanks be to dad.

A couple of posts ago, in one of the Q&A sessions that I had with someone recently, I mentioned some memorable places.  I had forgotten to mention the place where I had felt the most peace. It was on the same trip where I had the priviledge to be in the same spot where I believe Jesus had died, was buried and had risen from the dead. 

Even now, decades later, it is still the most peaceful place on earth for me.  I think about it, and how it felt when I need to calm myself, and envelope myself in utter peace.  In my mind I simply go back to...

King David's tomb.  The peace that I felt may have had to do with reverence, but it was not at all like the feeling I would get in other places, like churches or cathedrals, or even when I was in the tomb of Jesus.  I don't know if it had to do with the shape of the room, or the color, white, or the people in the area with me.  I think my father and I may have been the only non-jewish people in the area. 

I will admit, I do not know history, world or religious history, although I've obviously studied it over the years while I was in school.  King David is someone I should probably study up on once again, because it was in his tomb that I came to know what peace actually felt like.

And however you, my Dear Readers choose to spend your Easter Sunday, eating the ears off your chocolate bunnies, going to church or just reading books, taking long walks...

I wish you Peace.

How Many Have YOU Read?

FYI, Dear Readers... Currently, for everyone's reading pleasure, I have three books on Smashwords and Amazon.  For those of you who come here to read this blog have not yet read them, you can get them for a reasonable price on either distributor.  If you haven't already, please give them a read!
Thank you! 

A SECRET WITHIN

An inheritance...That’s supposed to be a good thing, isn’t it?

It is not until the death of Mr. Jon Bennett that several people in the small town of Edwardsville, Arizona learn their interwoven lives have been based upon lies, deception, and fear. They also discover that hate can transcend time.

More importantly to those going about their lives in Edwardsville, they all come to learn that no matter how deeply buried, secrets can be very dangerous things.

Ah, the lengths people will go to keep a family name neat and tidy.

And because of all the secrets that have been kept buried all those years, by all those people, Patricia Patterson's life is about to be turned upside down after receiving a simple letter telling her that she has just inherited a house and some personal property from... Mr. Jon Bennett.

A Secret Within could have happened to you. Just be glad it didn't.

NEXT TIME

An attack at a renaissance festival brings a photographer and reporter together in pursuit of the story. They also realize they seem to share the same dream they've had throughout their lives. A dream which includes the haggard creature who is wanted for questioning regarding the attack at the festival, and who knows why the photographer and reporter love clocks, fear water and why their dreams started in the first place. And especially why they both have yet to find their soul mate.

Sometimes it takes soul mates forever to get together - especially when someone is trying to make sure they never do.

 

STEALING BACK THE MOON

A vacation of a lifetime turns deadly, as a couple from Arizona are caught in the middle of a centuries old silent war between two native tribes in which each hope to gain possession of a gift that the moon once gave to the people of the earth. Long ago, when the tribes were united, this gift was their most prized possession throughout the centuries.

A gift that could bring life...or death.

For those of you who have read my books, a heartfelt thank you.  For those of you who have read my books and actually liked them...please tell your friends!  Word of mouth endorsements are always appreciated!