Mondays Always Get My Goat, Or How Dudley Got His Own Goat

It's been a crazy few weeks here. And not just regular work crazy, but life and animal crazy.

There was a car incident - a major breakdown as my son started a road trip from CT to PA. It was a bit stressful while he figured out how to get everyone to where they needed to be and working out what to do with the car. He did get it all worked out (thank goodness!) but it turned out the head gasket needed to be replaced. So that had me a bit out of sorts.

But then the fun really started.

So, on Monday, I took my dad to pick up his rental car.  My parents were leaving the next day to travel to Nashville for the Women's College basketball Final Four (Go Huskies!).  He'd had a busy day, including the birth of the baby goats they'd been expecting.  Apparently it had been a bit of trouble and they had to call the vet to assist with the birthing.  But they eventually got everything to work out and had new baby goats: Esau (a boy) and Jackie (a girl).  Jackie was doing really well, but Esau had been the one in trouble during the birth.

My mom told me to keep an eye on him as she hadn't seen him nurse much.  I checked on him in the afternoon; he seemed okay and responded to my voice.  He'd walked around; I tried to get him to get under his momma (Georgie) to nurse, but he didn't seem to get it to work.  I checked a few hours later.  But this time, he wasn't so responsive.  I made a quick call to my mom; she told me to call the vet and see what they wanted to do.  I made the call and then I had to rush him up there.

They took a look at him and got right to work: Warmed him up with blankets and heated water bags.  Checked his suckling reflex.  Determined his weight and prepared some glucose shots.  At that point, he wasn't doing very well.  The vet said she'd tube feed him and see how he responded.  After a quick discussion, I left Esau in their care for the night, unsure what the outcome would be.

I got a call in the morning.  Esau made it through the night and was doing well.  He needed more of momma's milk, so I went to get him and see if he'd nurse.  If he wouldn't, then I'd have to bottle feed him.

Amazon does deliver anything!

Yeah, well that nursing thing didn't work out so well.  So, my life was now going to be bottle feeding a baby goat...every three to four hours.  Now, I haven't done that type of thing in more than twenty years, so I'm a bit out of practice! Plus, to keep an eye on him, I needed to check his temperature.  (And yes, that is as fun as it sounds.)

Now, I live behind my parents so it's not far.  But I wasn't too excited about visiting a barn every three or four hours, especially in the middle of the night.  So after consulting with my mom, I set up the dog crate (so graciously donated by Dudley) for Esau at nighttime.

Dudley has always been pretty fond of my parents' goats, and Esau was no exception.

So, every day I've been making goat formula, bottle feeding every three to four hours (although I did get to stop the temperature after it became clear he was making a full recovery), and juggling work in between other goat duties.  All while dealing with mommy brain from lack of sleep.

Esau is pretty cute and fun to watch.

But I'm still looking forward to when my parents get back, though. 

Dudley, on the other hand, might miss his own personal goat-friend.

We're hungry! Where's breakfast?

Author Interview - Kevin Hardman

This month's Author Interview is with Kevin Hardman, author of the Kid Sensation and Warden series.

Thanks, Kevin, for stopping by.  Let's get to the questions:



1)      What were your favorite books growing up? I would be hard-pressed to designate specific books as “favorites.” Basically, I had a profound love of reading as a kid so anything was fair game – everything from Encyclopedia Brown to Donald Duck and the Witch Next Door.  That said, most of my early reading consisted of myths, fables, legends and the like.  Thus, in addition to standard fare like the Arabian Nights and stories by the Brothers Grimm, I also read a lot of mythology (Greek, Norse, what have you), the fairy tale anthologies of Ruth Manning-Sanders, and more. As I grew older, that naturally segued into fantasy and sci-fi (although, again, I read all genres).

2)      Now that you have, let’s say—some life experience, what would you tell your younger self? Ha! I have to laugh at that, as there are about a million things I’d like to tell my younger self (the most important of which is probably to buy Apple stock at 3 bucks a share). 

With a focus on life in general, I’d probably steal a line from an old Marine recruiting commercial and say: “To compete, you’ve got to be strong. But to win, you’ve got to be smart.” To me, that quote always emphasized the whole person concept: Develop yourself in body and mind. Fully nurture and promote all your skill sets, because you will probably have to rely on more than one if you want to thrive.

With respect to writing, I’d probably simply advise my younger self to keep at it and continue producing manuscripts – even if no one else is reading them.  That way, you’ll continue to hone your skills and learn your craft. I essentially took a multi-year hiatus from writing (although that had more to do with my career than anything else), and I just keep thinking about all the manuscripts I could have produced during that time, regardless of whether or not a traditional publisher was interested in me.

3)      Describe your typical day. Ideally, I get up around 5:00 a.m. and write for an hour or so. Then I get ready for the day job - breakfast, grooming, etc. – before heading to the office. I have a notebook that I keep with me at all times, which I use to jot down any good ideas for novels that come to me during the day.

After work – assuming I get home early enough – it’s dinner with the wife and kids. (If I’m late, it’s dinner by myself, usually in front of the television.)  Following this, there’s typically a bit of family time and finding out how everyone’s day went.  By 8:00 p.m., we try to get the younger kids into bed, at which point I start writing again. (Somewhere in there I also try to blog, respond to email, interact with other authors, etc.) I usually keep at it until around midnight, at which point I retire for the evening.

Rinse and repeat.

 4)      Who is your favorite character in your books? Tricky question. (It’s almost like asking a parent which child is their favorite.)

I’m still essentially new to the self-publishing game, so I only have two series out at the moment, with my Kid Sensation novels being the more popular of the two.  Limiting my selection only to what I’ve actually published, I’d probably say that my favorite character is that of Mouse in the Kid Sensation series, which are superhero novels.

Mouse isn’t the primary character. He’s the leader of the world’s greatest superhero team, although he doesn’t seem to have superpowers himself. Still, he’s won the respect and admiration of his colleagues, and shown himself to be a capable leader and formidable opponent.

In short, he’s extremely competent, and that’s why I like him; even with his “limitations” (i.e., the apparent lack of superpowers), his resourcefulness is an incredible equalizer.



5)      What do you do when writer’s block shows up, settles in, and makes itself comfortable? For me, stories tend to tell themselves; often when I’m writing, it seems like there’s a voice in my head orchestrating the action and I’m merely taking dictation. Thus, I’m probably lucky in that if I can just get to the computer and start typing; the rest seems to take care of itself. Thus, my challenge is typically just having an adequate amount of time to actually sit down and start banging on the keyboard.

That said, there are occasions when – after spending 12 hours staring at a monitor for the day job – I just can’t stomach the idea of sitting in front a screen again. So, instead of immediately trying to write, I’ll convince myself to simply go back and read maybe the last couple of pages that I completed. Needless to say, there will be some edits that have to be made, and as I read over what I’ve done and make some tweaks, that “voice” I mentioned earlier will usually start making itself heard again.  Before I know it, I’m typing again and continuing the story.

Beyond that, there are simply times when a scene simply won’t come together in a way that I’m happy with. I don’t really know of a solution to that except to bull your way thorough it – keep trying different things until you come up with something satisfactory.

6)      Do you find yourself pulling details from “real life” or does your imagination rule the roost? I absolutely pull details from real life and incorporate them into my work. Even though fantasy/sci-fi is my wheelhouse in terms of writing, I think it’s important to have those “real life” moments in my work – things that readers can connect and relate to because they are universal in a sense.

For instance, in a couple of my books I have scenes where characters compete against each other in sports. My oldest son loves those, because he considers himself a jock and he can relate to things that the characters are doing/feeling when they face off against each other.



7)      What was the first manuscript you wrote (even if it never saw the light of day)? That’s another question that I don’t really have a direct answer to. I didn’t really start out writing novels. I initially wrote short stories, poems – anything that I thought had a chance of getting published. 

I suppose the first thing I wrote that could probably be considered an actual manuscript was a children’s book.  Of course, nobody was interested in it. Moreover, since this was in the days before everyone had a computer at home, I had actually typed it up on a typewriter. Eventually, unwanted and unloved, the manuscript got buried amongst a mass of salmagundi as I moved from place to place. In short, while I’m sure I still have a copy of it somewhere, I’m really not in a position to put my hands on it. (But if I ever do, I will definitely publish it, as I still think it’s a great story.)

That said, what I personally consider to be my first manuscript was a screenplay adaptation of the sci-fi classic Logan’s Run. Lest there be any confusion, let me state that I’m not talking about the 1976 film (I’m not that old), nor am I speaking of the remake that has been in development hell for roughly two decades. Basically, I read the book and it completely blew my mind. I’ve never read anything like it before or since, and all I could think was that – with modern-day special effects – it would make a fantastic movie. So I wrote a script for it, without any options, rights, etc.

(Just to show that I was trying to be aboveboard, though, I did reach out to the studio that owned the rights. However, they were going through an organizational shift at the time, and their legal department told me they wouldn’t be willing to discuss the sale of any such properties for about six months. Unfortunately, we never reconnected (which is probably just as well since, had they given me a price, I would have found myself scrambling trying to raise the money). Thus – while I still have the script I drafted – I never obtained the rights and therefore never came close to having my script considered for an actual film.)

After the Logan’s Run script, the writing bug bit me hard, but my focus was now on movie screenplays. I cranked out a couple of them and was even lucky enough to land an agent (although it took me a year to get representation), but I never sold anything. Eventually, my agent and I parted ways, and as I got settled in my career I basically stopped writing for anything other than the day job. It’s only in recent years that the idea of becoming an author actually arose in my brain again like some specter from the grave, making me start to write again.

8)      Have you ever pursued traditional publishing? Or did you go straight for indie publishing? As I mentioned earlier, I did try the traditional publishing route ages ago. No one was interested, so I moved on. This time around, I didn’t even bother; I just decided to go indie and haven’t looked back.



9)      What Works In Progress are brewing?  Any target dates for publication? Well, I mentioned earlier that I have two series out; one is Kid Sensation, and the other is the Warden series. I’m close to finishing up Warden #3 (haven’t firmly settled on a title yet), and have high hopes of getting it out soon.

In addition, I’ve started on Kid Sensation #4 (the working title is Revelation), as well as a separate book about the character Mouse from that same world. 

Furthermore, while I don’t know if I would consider them works-in-progress (since in some cases there are only a few paragraphs), I’ve started on:

1)      No less than three different paranormal series;

2)      Three different dystopian series;

3)      Two sci-fi/space opera series; and

4)      Two epic fantasy series.

And, as if those weren’t enough, I also have a western, a romance, and a mystery/suspense story that I’ve begun. (That last one I could probably finish in a few weeks if I actually devoted some serious time to it.)

Long story short, I’m a writer and I feel like I have a lot of stories to tell. However, as said stories are in various genres, I’ll probably adopt a few pen names in order to protect my brand (to the extent that I have one).

As to release dates, it’s a little hard to say. If I could write the way I know I can, I’d be trying to get something new out every 6 weeks or so. However, life (usually in the form of the day job), has a tendency to get in the way. That being the case, I’m more comfortable giving a publication order than release dates. But even then, nothing is set in stone, since I tend to write the story that’s making the most noise in my head, clamoring to get out.  Bearing that in mind, the next book is sure to be Warden #3.  After that, I may go ahead and tee up one of the sci-fi novels, since it’s been gnawing away at my brain recently. After that, the schedule is a bit up in the air, although I’ll probably finish Kid Sensation #4 and the Mouse novel.



10)   How can fans reach you? I’m honestly humbled that anyone would even be that interested, but I’m most easily reached via the following:
 
Blog: http://kevinhardman.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.hardman.967

Twitter: @kevindhardman

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Hardman/e/B00CLTY3YM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

 Also, anyone interested in finding out when I have a new release can sign up for my email list: http://eepurl.com/C5a45.  (FYI: I only email you when I have a new release.)


Finally, let me say thanks once again, Faith, for allowing me this opportunity to be on your blog.



 

Doggie Dilemma

This is only very vaguely about editing, or rather my editing business. So if you are looking for some wordsmithing, this ain't that post.

Just over a year ago, Dudley joined the Atwater Group.

Dudley's the one in the purple collar. 

He's been doing a bang-up job of getting me away from my keyboard for walks, as well as successfully protecting the premises from squirrels.  (Hey, somebody has to do it!)  As a reward for all his hard work, I take him down to the local doggy daycare.  He gets to pal around with the guys and run free in the fenced-in yard (hmmm, I guess that's not technically "free," but whatever).

The moments leading up to the realization that 1) he's going for a car ride and 2) it's to a fun place (where he gets to sniff doggy butts and not where they do unspeakable things to his butt) are amusing and frustrating.

The first clue that he's headed for a car ride is the simple act of picking up his car harness.  I've decided, after several dogs and several instance of less than safe driving, that dog harnesses are the way to go. The harness sits on a little cart by the kitchen door.  Now, we don't actually take Dudley out the kitchen door, so I'm not sure why the harness lives there, but that's where it is.  And God forbid you accidentally touch it while reaching for something else on that cart.  Dudley is trained...attuned, if you will...to hear the soft clink of the snaps on that thing.

This morning, I picked up the harness, and as expected, Dudley appeared at the top of the steps in the office and looked at me.  The stubby tail went swoosh, swoosh, swoosh like a rapid-fire windshield wiper. At my nod, he shot down the stairs.  He preceded to run around in circles at my feet - the international sign of Yes! Yes! Yes!   I called him into the bedroom, had him get up on the bed so I could get the harness around his squirming body. This process takes a few minutes.  He cannot stand still - at all.  He wiggles; he jumps up to kiss my face; he jumps off the bed to head to the door - even if the harness isn't completely on him yet.

I finally get the harness hooked up and the leach on him.  I suppose I don't really have to put a leash on him for the purpose of getting him to the car.  He's so jacked up at this point, any vehicle will do.  In fact, he'll often try to run to ANY car in the driveway...kind of like the Price Is Right - which door will magically open and transport him to heaven on earth?  But, I err on the side of caution because he still doesn't respond all the time when we call his name.  He's improved over the last year, but he's inconsistent in his listening skills.

I open the front door.  This is the door I always take him out of, but when it's car ride time, he drags me down those two front steps and turns towards the parked cars instead of meandering down the path for our walk.  A new addition to our regular walking path is a bird feeder.  And you know what bird feeders mean, right?  Squirrels, of course!  Just as I had opened the door, a squirrel dropped down from the bird feeder and took off into the woods.

In his excitement, Dudley pulled and yanked and dragged me toward the scurvy coward.  In the two seconds it took to get halfway down the path, where we had to veer left to go to the car or right to continue the squirrel hunt, I said, "Dudley, we are going to DAYCARE."  I didn't shout.  I didn't yell.  But I let that last word hang in the air.

The forward momentum stopped.  His face contorted.  I could see the debate in his mind: Squirrel. Must protect against squirrel.  Must chase squirrel.  Daycare.  Must go in car.  Must play. 

Without loosing any enthusiasm, he veered left and ran to the car.

So I am working without my assistant today, but I know he'll be back on duty tomorrow.

Looking to Alter the Altar

Today's confusing word choice: alter vs. altar

An altar is a table or place which serves as a center of worship or ritual — often used with the to refer to the act of getting married.  Here's the altar at my little church at Christmas:

Sometimes people will talk about it a bit more figuratively:

A raised structure (such as a block, pile of blocks, pillar, or stand) on which sacrifices are offered or incense burned (as in the worship of a deity or of the spirit of a deceased ancestor) — often used figuratively to describe a thing given great or undue precedence or value especially at the cost of something else <He sacrificed his family life on the altar of career advancement.>


But when you use alter, you are performing an action - to cause to become different in some particular characteristic (as measure, dimension, course, arrangement, or inclination) without changing into something else  OR to become different in some respect :  undergo change usually without resulting difference in essential nature.

So if you want to see what happens when you alter an altar, here you go: 

The Tension I'm Feeling is Palpable and I'm Looking Forward to a Palatable Meal

Let's review:

 PALPABLE

 

And trust me when I say that searching images for this word can be a bit Not Safe For Work (or your delicate stomach).  Palpable is also something doctors talk about - as in, palpable tumors or bumps or cysts.  So I don't recommend looking too much at those pictures!

 PALATABLE

Here's a picture I swiped from my hubby's Facebook page (thanks, honey!) of a meal he was eager to dig in to.  I don't particularly find sushi palatable, but hey, he likes it...and so do plenty of other people.

When you are describing something yummy, delicious, or that will go down easy, PALATABLE is the way to go (think table, where you'd sit for some of that deliciousness.)

When you are describing something you can feel (either in reality or perception), PALPABLE is the way to go.  It's a cliche, but most often I see it used as the tension in the air was palpable.

Why Books Matter

This post has been circling in my head for a few weeks now.  I mostly think of the awesome things I want to say about ten seconds before I fall asleep.  So, it's taken awhile to get it down on paper (or, on the blog post, as the case may be).

{And here it is, February now, and I am just getting back to this draft to finish my thought.  Hmmm, must have been busy with holidays.  And snow.  And more snow.  And maybe a few books...  So please forgive the November and December references four.months.later <hangs head in shame>.}


Thanksgiving has just passed and in that tradition, I've seen lots of Facebook statuses, Tweets, and blog posts on what people are thankful for. And you wouldn't be surprised at the type of things listed: family, friends, good health, the Internet (well, okay, maybe that's just at my house...).

As this Thanksgiving time has been in the forefront, I've also been working on getting the newsletter (sign up here - I'll wait!) ready for December.  This month's Author Interview is with Rick Bettencourt.   As I read through his answers to the question about his favorite books growing up, it amazed me that there were some books we both loved and we both would read well past bedtime.

It started me thinking about what I read as a child and how it impacted my world. In an earlier post, I shared my love of reading, snuggled up to the heat vent in the kitchen.  But just as often, I'd be reading in bed.  At the kitchen table (if no book was available, the side of the cereal box would do in a pinch!). While watching TV.  And sometimes outside, in the little hiding places I found on the property.  (Although I never did get the hang of reading in a tub.) I could read in the car (I wish I still could without getting a headache and wanting to throw up! I can't even read a map in the car without feeling queasy now!)

Without books in my childhood, I'd never have imagined worlds with wizards and brave little girls from Kansas (The Wizard of Oz and all the sequels).  I'd never have tried to make maple snow candy (Little House on the Prairie and all the sequels).  I'd never have envisioned a family with two sets of twins and the adventures they had (The Bobbsey Twins). I'd never traveled the world with a reporter and his trusty dog Snowy (The Adventures of Tintin). I'd never dared to think a girl could live on her own and dare to defy the adults in her world (Pippi Longstocking). I'd never start to think of people of different faiths, different backgrounds, different genders as people just like me.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my love of, well, love stories.  I used to go to Whitlock's Book Barn and convince my mother (ok, whine and whine and whine until she agreed) that Harlequin romances were exactly what I needed to read.  (It also probably helped that she never read them - she'd probably never let them in the house if she'd actually read some of that stuff!) Of course, I got my hands on a Judy Blume book - I can't remember if it was Smart Women or Summer Sisters - that she had in the house, so she's not totally off the hook!

The person you are today is because of the things you have experienced in your life: the good, the bad, the boring, the exhilarating. And that includes reading: reading about different places, different people, different lifestyles - or even people just like you in similar circumstances -  and making that part of your human experience.

So, to all the authors out there, thank you for brightening your readers' worlds.  You are the magicians who make it all happen.



   

Author Interview - Pamela Fryer

Let's welcome this month's Author Interview, Pamela Fryer. She is the author of One Snowy Night Before Christmas, Once Upon a Christmas Carol, The Lost Finder, August Unknown, Last Rights, The Midnight Effect, and contributed to Romance Super Bundle and most recently, Love, Valentine Style.

I am especially happy to have her featured this month because she is the gracious winner of my 2013 Favorite Goof Contest!

Take it away, Pam!

1)      What were your favorite books growing up? Oh gosh, so many! I have to thank my mother for instilling in me my love of books by encouraging me to read when I was young. I read everything; Nancy Drew Mysteries, all the Lord of the Rings, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Charlotte’s Web…there are too many to list all my favorites here, but one series stood out to me: Barbara Van Tuyl’s A Horse Called Bonnie books. Rumor has it they will be released in Kindle soon!

2)      Now that you have, let’s say—some life experience, what would you tell your younger self? BUY STOCK IN GOOGLE!!! Oh, I guess that’s what I would say if I could time travel back to my younger self. So I guess if I could send thoughts back to my younger self, it would be “Be less afraid of failure and more afraid of not trying.” And BUY STOCK IN GOOGLE!

3)      Describe your typical day. Seriously, it’s totally dull. Being a writer is one of the most unglamorous jobs there is. In fact, I like to joke that when I worked as a receptionist, my day was much more glamorous. I always had a nice manicure, wore nice clothes and makeup, did my hair, and put on my most professional persona to greet my customers during the day. Writing is done in my sweat pants, no makeup, with my hair pulled back in a messy clip just to get it out of my face. I intersperse housecleaning to break up long stints in the chair.

4)      Who is your favorite character in your books? I know most writers say this, but my favorite character is always the one I’m currently writing. If I didn’t love them, (heroes and heroines alike) I couldn’t write about them. If I had to pick one favorite, I would say it was Celia Brown from Once Upon a Christmas Carol. I threw so much bad stuff at her, but she still didn’t lose her sanity.

5)      What do you do when writer’s block shows up, settles in, and makes itself comfortable? Writer’s block is my constant companion, even when I know my story’s beginning, middle, and end. Because I’m always looking for that element that will make it bigger, better, more. I’m always searching for the WOOHOO moment, the thing that makes a reader hold their breath or shout in excitement. What is a woohoo moment? Here’s an example (and you’ll have to be a Justified fan to get this) Raylan Givens finds himself across a table from Fletcher “The Icepick” Nix, an assassin who toys with his victims by placing a gun on the table between them and giving them until the count of 10 to grab it. When the victim reaches for the gun, Nix stabs the other player in the hand with an ice pick before taking the gun and killing them. We’ve already seen him kill someone this way, so I’m on the edge of my seat holding my breath as Nix counts down across from Raylan. I’m watching this thinking “No, Raylan, don’t do it! He’ll kill you!” But what choice does he have but to try? OMG how will my sexy hero get out of this one? And then, instead of reaching for the gun, Raylan pulls the table cloth toward himself, causing Nix to stab the table with the ice pick, and Raylan grabs the gun and shoots Nix in the shoulder. I threw my hands in the air and shouted WOOHOO! Honestly every time I watch Justified I say to myself, I wish I could write like that. Justified is constantly giving me my WOOHOO moment.

6)      Do you find yourself pulling details from “real life” or does your imagination rule the roost? It’s a mixture of both, because I have a wild imagination, but seriously, real life has some crazy shit! It really is true what they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

7)      What was the first manuscript you wrote (even if it never saw the light of day)? An 800 page rambling, implausible fantasy about a bounty hunter who seduced her skips, drugged them, and brought them back to the police station unconscious. Needless to say, it was not something that would give Janet Evanovich a run for her money.

8)      Have you ever pursued traditional publishing? Or did you go straight for indie publishing? I am what’s known as a Hybrid author. I made my first sales to small presses: Samhain Publishing and The Wild Rose Press as myself, and erotic works to Loose Id, Ellora’s Cave, and Lyrical Press under a pseudonym. There are a lot of benefits to being with an established publisher, and I am fortunate to have had wonderful experiences with all of them. But there are also a lot of benefits to being Indie, too. Ultimately, going it Indie fits perfectly with my personality because I like to be in charge, especially where my own career is concerned. I use the skills from previous jobs to handle much of it myself: I’m an expert in Microsoft Office, I write HTML so I can format my own books, and I spent twelve years as a professional web and graphic designer so I can create my own art. I learned valuable lessons from my publishing houses, one of which the value of quality editing. As an Indie author, I make a promise to my readers that my Indie books are as well edited as my contracted books, if not better. I always start with beta readers, I hire a technical editor and a content editor, and finally, I bribe an eagle-eyed relative to give me a final read before I push the giant red PUBLISH button.

9)      What Works In Progress are brewing?  Any target dates for publication? This is one of the things I love about being Indie; I can write whatever I want. I’m putting the finishing edits on a dystopian fantasy set in the future in which vampires have come out of the proverbial closet because of a zombie plague that threatens the human race, i.e. their food supply. My heroine is a virus-immune bounty hunter who hates vampires. When she’s hired by the richest man left alive to find his missing kids, she’s forced to work in tandem with a vampire. They get into all kinds of trouble. I loved writing this one because my heroine has some serious snark, and I got to use my potty mouth.

10)   How can fans reach you?  I have a website that I do keep updated. I can’t say the same about Facebook and Twitter. But I put it all out there on my website and my blog, and I have a newsletter readers can sign up for to get notified when I have a new release. http://www.pamelafryer.com, www.facebook.com/pamelasbooks. Thanks for having me! Like I said earlier, as a writer I just don’t get out as much as I should anymore.