Enjoying a few moments of relaxation

Spring is a busy time for me in terms of the day job and gardening, but the garden and yard work part hasn't kicked in yet because we're still thawing out a bit. However, my daughter informs me that Spring Break starts tomorrow so surely we must do something. My version of doing something is this:

sitting with my feet up in my comfy chair with a book and a couple beers.

Apparently that's not age appropriate for my sixteen year old so I'm doing that now. Tomorrow, we're heading across the state to enjoy a small aquarium, though the largest in Michigan, because she's considering going into Marine Biology. We're also planning to check out a science museum, because she's a science nerd. I say that lovingly. She's a smart kid. Who knows what other stops we'll make. I'm loosely planned road trip kind of person. 

April is full of big things so I'm going to get my day or two of relaxing in now while I can. What things you ask? Come on, pretend you asked.

April 3 is release day for the very long awaited (for me, at least) Trust: Book One of The Narvan. You can pre-order your print copy from the publisher if you'd like to beat Amazon to their cut.

April 6 my first child does become age-appropriate for drinking a beer or two. Surprisingly, this doesn't make me feel old, but does explain why both my husband and I have so much grey hair for being in our thirties. Which is how old it seems like we are until we think about it. The fun hair color (currently blue and purple) does a nice job of concealing that.

April 6 is also Fandom Fest in Benton Harbor. This is fun little con put on by several local libraries and is totally free to attend. I'll be there with many other authors, selling and signing our books. My daughter will be joining me to sell her artwork. Illustration is her second choice if the Marine Biology thing doesn't pan out.

April 13 is a local craft show at Zeeland high school where I hope to find some new readers with fellow author, Diane Burton. She's got a new book out too. If you have any young readers looking for sci-fi adventure, check out Rescuing Mara's Father.

April 20 will be long day up in Traverse City with author Ingar Rudholm at both a craft show and a book signing at Bookbrokers and Kramers.

April 28 will be my first time at my hometown con, Tulip City Comics and Toy Fare, also with Ingar Rudholm.

If you're around Michigan at any point this year, I'm all over with an assortment of other authors. Check out the places to find me over here --->

March post post IWSG

Apparently I never set my IWSG post to actually post. Duh. I swear, this whole long drawn out illness thing has eaten my brain.

So now that's come and gone and I figured I'd better prove I'm still alive. I'm doing better now, just trying to catch up on the weeks of stuff I let slip by while I was coughing my lungs out.

Last weekend was a long tiring one, but I met some new readers at Alma Con, a small con put on by the students at Alma College. It was a lot of driving for me, back and forth to the three days of the con, but not far enough away to warrant getting a hotel room. The drive was not much fun on Saturday night as there was a storm moving through that coated everyone's car in a good layer of frozen rain. The roads were also covered in a layer of sleet. Good times. I'm glad that part of the adventure is over.

The next two weekends of events are closer to home and I'm looking forward to spending some time with my gang of local authors.

Trust is scheduled to release on April 3. Watch for more about that very soon. I supposed that means I also need to get posts ready for those of you who have graciously offered to host a blog post. So much to do. So little time.

In other fun news, I've been working on sewing some pop up tent covers for a few outdoor events I'm doing this summer. No more boring white tents for me! Unfortunately, that means my writing space, which is also my crafting space, is full of fabric and half finished tent covers. Did I mention, I'm also in the midst of sewing a cosplay costume for my daughter and a ren fair dress for her or me - we haven't fought over it enough yet to decide. Maybe I can find a way to make it fit both of us (not at once, that'd be weird), but she's a size 0 and I'm...not. I'll have to get my brain on that in the few minutes a day that it's creatively functional lately.

Until next time...

This weather blows

Quite literally. Today's winds are averaging around 30 MPH. It's cold. It's blustery. At least it's not snowing (at this moment). So far we've only lost power for a minute.

Most of the high winds overnight helped melt some of our current snow, so hey, that's a plus. As you can see we've lost a few pieces of trees, but nothing big or house endangering as of yet. The high winds are supposed to continue until tomorrow morning so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Earlier this week, we ventured over to Detroit, a two and half hour drive, to see Peter Murphy and David J perform a host of Bauhaus songs. I was fortunate to see Love and Rockets in concert in the early 90's, but never Bauhaus. It was funny to realize I still remembered almost all the words, despite not hearing many of these songs for roughly twenty years. What did I have to eat yesterday? Why am I in this room? What was that important thing someone just said two minutes ago? I often have no answers for that. So useful, the knowledge we retain.

Because I'm still sick...yes, still - it's down to being generally exhausted all the time and this persistent chest congestion though, so I'm feeling fear less likely to contaminate anyone - we splurged upgraded our general admission tickets to get balcony seating directly facing the stage. This seriously hurt my thrifty Dutch sensibilities, but was so worth it. Not only did it mean I wasn't spreading any lingering germs with the generally crammed together populace, but I got to sit down and have a clear view of everything with great sound. Saint Andrews Hall is a very cool venue and having the VIP lounge and bathrooms, along with seats and a table, was really nice. I did still get the true concert experience of having a large drunk guy (sitting) next to me that deserved a neon shirt saying 'say it don't spray it' and a super annoying chatty woman behind me whose purse kept knocking into my arm every few minutes as she leaned against the railing behind me to talk to some guy. But really, it was a great concert. Peter Murphy's voice is still dead on and amazing.

My intention to participate in the February edition of 30K in a month didn't pan out very well due to the fact my brain has been mostly mush and all I want to do it sleep. Being sick for nearly three weeks straight does tend to hamper the whole productivity thing. Instead, I've been working on a rewrite of a 10K word short story. It's going so very slow, but any progress is good so I'm not going to complain about it too loudly.

Since I haven't been very good at writing this month, I'm (also slowly) working my way through Nick Wilford's Corruption. I haven't read the first book, but it's been pretty easy to follow along.

Now then, I suppose I should get some writing done.

Guest Post: Nick Wilford's Corruption Release

Hi Jean! Thanks for hosting me as part of my blog tour. Today I'd like to introduce your readers to Ranglebuck, the chief of a Loretanian village, who's going to show you around his manor. This is before the scientists arrive to deal with the disease that's got the place in its grip.

Hello! My name is Ranglebuck, and I’d like to welcome you to my humble village. Well, I’m not so humble – I’m very proud. We don’t have much but we definitely make the best of it. You can see a lot of houses with mud walls and thatched rooves. There’s no shortage of mud around here, it bakes up pretty good in the sun, and we can usually carry out any repairs with no problems. Mine’s the biggest house, that nice long one. On special occasions – like when someone’s killed a nice big animal like a wild boar – we’ll all gather in there for a feast, and those who can’t fit at the table sit on the floor.

And that’s about it, really. In the middle of the village we have a gathering place where people meet and exchange gossip. I’ll make any necessary announcements there. Maybe we don’t have an easy life, but it’s the only one we know, and we’ll love and protect each other until the end. Of course, there’s that pesky disease that takes most of us before we’re thirty. It’s a part of life and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere – not unless something drastic happens. I’m waiting for my time myself, and I’ve already chosen a successor as chieftain. It just means there’s no problems here apart from that – no divisions, no squabbles, no animosity. With the short time we get, what would be the point? 

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a bit about our way of life. You’re welcome at my table any time.

Title: Corruption

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: YA dystopian Series: Black & White Series #: 2 of 3

Release date: 11th February 2019

Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing

Blurb:

Wellesbury Noon and Ezmerelda Dontible have found themselves in a position where they can make their native land somewhere that lives up to its name: Harmonia. However, they’re setting their sights further afield for their number one task: eradicating the disease that has plagued the neighbouring country of Loretania for generations and allowed the privileged Harmonians to live in a sterile environment.

After dispatching a team of scientists to Loretania, armed with cratefuls of an antidote and vaccine and headed up by their friend, Dr George Tindleson, Welles, Ez, and Welles’s brother Mal – who grew up in that benighted nation – start to worry when they hear nothing back, despite what they had agreed. Commandeering a fishing boat to follow the science team over the sea, they soon find that, while the disease may be on the way out, a new kind of infection has set in – the corruption they thought they had stamped out in Harmonia.

Can they get to the root of the problem and eliminate it before even more damage is done to an innocent people?

*** Warning – this book contains themes that some sensitive readers may find upsetting. ***

Purchase Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

Add it on Goodreads

Meet the author:

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at his blog or connect with him on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, or Amazon.

Down with the Sickness

For those of you who normally follow my sporadic blog posts, you may have noticed I neglected this month's IWSG day. I got hit with the plague, okay, maybe not quite that, but that wicked cold/flu hybrid thing from hell. I've been mostly in zombie mode since last Tuesday when I contracted this lovely condition from my husband who picked it up from someone at one of his gigs the weekend before. And now my daughter has it too.

PSA time, if you're feeling like hell, or like you're coming down with something, for the love of all that's holy, stay home and keep your germs to yourself. Do not go out and infect the musicians who then have to cancel their upcoming gigs and possibly the couple hundred other people who will be in the germ zone with you. As much as we love to see everyone, that's just not a cool thing to do.

So yes, we've both been sick all week. Much nasty coughing, heavy chest congestion, many rounds human furnace vs. chills, headaches, and so much more. I left my bed for a couple hours yesterday to go be a zombie on the couch. Today I've mostly been in my comfy chair. Not that I'm writing like I want to be, my head hurts to much for that, but I've been getting a lot of things cleared off my Netflix watch list. So hey, that's something I can do with one eye shut and a hand pressing on my temple.

According to my husband's recovery rate, I've got about two more days of this before any major improvement. Mmmm goody.

Stay tuned for a guest post from Nick Wilford later this week with his new book release. Until then, I hope you stay healthy!