December, 2015, Newsletter #1

As Joni Mitchell said in her lovely song “River,” “It's coming on Christmas….”

People in our neighbourhood started putting up Christmas decorations right after Halloween. It’s a ‘thing’ here. Down with the skeletons and up with the inflated santas. It’s also nippy. It was -12 Celsius (feels like -21) when I walked Suzy this morning at 6 am. That’s 10.4 Fahrenheit for those of you who still speak the old language. I don’t get the ‘feels like’ reference. Is it or isn’t it? Commit weatherperson!

Suzy was rescued from the Texas border, but loves the cold. Not a hot-weather pooch. I like to think positively. Only 4 ½ months to May.

It’s taken me forever to get to the point of writing a newsletter and posting it on my very own website. To put this very simple website together, I’ve spent months testing several website developers.

This one, Hostinger, is the best I’ve found. They all use AI to ‘assist’ with your design. For the uninitiated, AI can be helpful with quick, simple questions. Designing a website? Not so much. The biggest problem is that after you’ve made a mess of a design, with your boxes and text and images all over the place, the bot can’t actually see your mess; it just tries to talk you down from the tower. It sends you to a button that doesn’t exist, that supposedly resolves all. When you text back, “that key doesn’t exist,” the bot says, “You’re absolutely right! (AI bots are also fake flatterers.) The information you want is under ‘Martian’s toenails.” I’d text back, “But…I just want to change the size of my text.” The AI bot would text back, “Under the key labelled ‘Martian’s toenails’, you’ll find this option, press that, follow the instructions, then press the next key, etc.” I would point out that none of these keys exist on my presentation of the site, and what do Martian’s toenails have to do with text size anyway?” The bot maddeningly responds again, “You’re absolutely right! Text resizing is under Sheep tails. Here are the detailed and complicated instructions to find that key.”

I drank a bit of scotch putting this site together, and it’s not fancy. But…here we are. I finally got it “Absolutely Right.” No thanks to AI. Obviously, I made up those key names…but you get the idea.

2026 challenge – audiobooks. You're welcome to come along for that ride.

Moving on, I can now return to the book I’m currently working on, Wolf, Inc. I’m planning to make it a detective series with returning characters. I’ve provided a quick peek on the book page, but I won’t give anything else away. Lots of murder, intrigue and suspects. Like my previous two books, it’s becoming untamable, with new characters appearing out of nowhere and new plot lines threading off. Writing really is an adventure if you don’t mind your characters waking you up in the middle of the night with a new idea to consider.

I’ll talk about the process of self-publishing, marketing and sales in future newsletters. People who’ve done it already know. People who are thinking of doing it or just wonder how it works might be interested. Also not a ‘breeze.’

Dog news:

Suzy is 7 ½, and it was time to have her teeth cleaned again. She had her two front top and bottom teeth extracted. We don’t have a firstborn son because we left him at the vet’s in payment. Ouch. Last time, she had projectile diarrhea all over the house in the middle of the night. Surprise mom! I pulled up all the carpets in preparation. This time…nothing. She sailed through it all and was back to eating regularly that night. Phew for all of us. She also got a pedicure while she was knocked out. She’s been refused by most of the groomers in town. Don’t touch my feet! Her big winter shed is almost done, which means nothing really. We still have to vacuum every day. We don’t know why she isn’t naked. She’s a heart-healthy pooch, though. We walk her over 10,000 steps most days (20,000 in her case).

Music for December when you’re thinking of July https://youtu.be/EPEqRMVnZNU

If either of my current books intrigues you, you can get a taste with a free chapter of either Invisible Rider or Go Away, or both. Please email me at the contact link on the front page, and I’ll send it to you.

Welcome to my site. I hope you enjoy my newsletters and of course, my books. I promise not to blather on too long. Links to where to buy my book are on the book pages and the front landing page.

Have a happy December and New Year, and I’ll be back in January. Stay warm if you’re in cold weather; if not, lucky you.