It’s Winter Again (Still?)

March is such a fickle month. Last week, we had temps in the 50s and the 30s. Just a few days ago, it was 60 out there. Today, I am looking out the windows of my office at 23 degrees (that’s F for those not in the US), wind, and multiple inches of snow. March is bi-polar, I think.

It is also Daylight Savings month, where we lose an hour’s sleep tonight. It’s a silly convention that has lived long past its usefulness. We should get rid of it, and stick with Standard Time all year long. We get the hour “back” in the fall, but it really is unnecessary and more trouble than its worth. Arizona and Hawai’i are the smart states that don’t change to DST. I think all of them should.

I had to get a new smartwatch. I had a really pretty rose gold Fossil Q Venture that I liked a lot, but the back kept falling off of it. At some point last weekend, I lost the back completely. It’s somewhere here in the house, but it has effectively disappeared. Without that, I can’t charge the watch, and damaging it would be easier. So, I went looking. The BaldMan and Middle Daughter both have a Tic watch and are happy with them. I could have gotten another Fossil very much like my old one, but I honestly was hesitant about the back getting loose again. I tried to order a Tic watch C2+ in rose gold like my Fossil, only to find out that the only available color in the US is black. I didn’t want black at first, but ultimately decided to go with it. Most smartwatches seem to be black or cutesy. And a lot of other brands are more focused on fitness tracking, and I don’t need that. Plus there is the expense. Smartwatches aren’t cheap by any means, but the Tic watch is pretty reasonable, considering. So, I ordered my black C2+.

What do I think? Well, I have had it about a week. I like it. It’s a fairly low profile watch without all the bits and bobs the more sports style watches have. It’s sleeker and fairly plain. Battery life is about the same as my old one, so it needs to go on the charger daily. I do use it at night with the Sleep like Android app to track sleep, so I put the charger here on my desk and while I am just sitting here typing, reading, doomscrolling, or rabbit hole jumping, the watch can charge. I am happy with it, though I still would have preferred the rose gold! Ah, well, in the immortal words of the Rolling Stones: You can’t always get what you wa-ant!

As for writing, I am giving the stories in Crossed Wires a last read through and polishing up the ebook formatting so I can get them uploaded and ready to go for the preorder period. Most of the ebook publishers want something there when you set up the preorder so that they can be sure they will have something to give anyone who does order the book. It can be changed up to a few days before it goes live, but I don’t think this one will change much after this run through. And the cover needs finishing up, also. That should definitely be uploaded before the preorder starts. I pushed the titles and synopses for the twelve fantasy stories last week here on the blog and on social media. The twelve scifi titles and synopses will drop next week. And there may be a teaser or two from a few of the stories in the pipeline. We’ll see.

I have also started rereading and making notes on a project I started for NaNoWriMo in 2018. I hit the 50K goal for NaNo, but never finished the book. I hit a big plot snag and never really untangled it so I let it sit. I think I have a better handle on that part but in reading through what I do have, I found a rather large chunk of story time that is missing and was never written. Guess that’ll have to be worked on, too. Still, I think the bones of the story are good. Just gotta flesh it out more.

So, that was my week. Forging ahead into a new one, and hoping for some real Spring weather to arrive and stick around for a while.

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Coming May 17, 2022

“Crossed Wires and Other Very Short Stories”. Twelve scifi and twelve fantasy short stories that can each be read in minutes

I have written science fiction, fantasy, and urban fantasy stories. There are novels, novellas, and shorter pieces to fit everyone’s reading time. There are even some free stories, both here on the site and in other places. You can go here to find out more about the books I have published. They are available at Amazon, Smashwords, and most ebook retailers. Thank You!