Okay, some of you already know I decided to use a different publisher for “Shades of Remorse”. At the time I did so, it was primarily because of a marketing package they were including. The trailer they developed is nice, although I’m not sure I’m seeing any effect from it. https://youtu.be/wXUthErPzh0

The essence of my displeasure is the delays in publication. The interior design took longer than I am accustomed to, plus there were some alleged software glitches that caused further delay. Then physical production of the book – which does look nice – took me past the holiday market I wanted. Then the Kindle version took another absurd amount of time and was only made available Monday. That put start-to-finish time from when I sent the file in from Sept 6th to February 10th. They were pleasant enough people to deal with and the cover came back quickly which is part of why I didn’t anticipate these other delays. In truth, over the years I have used seven other publishers. The one I really liked suffered the common situation of successful small businesses. They were acquired by a very large business with the usual line of, “You can operate much as you always have; just as part of us.” Right, that lasted for about two years, then they were completely absorbed by the large entity.

Anyway, the e-book is out and I will have to see if maybe the publisher also did the format for Barnes and Nobles. That doesn’t usually happen and I don’t really expect it as Kindle definitely has the major market share. Ah well, another lesson learned.

It is a known expression and with some of the recent headlines about Big Pharma, lifestyles, etc., this is not about politics, but more about life choices.

Those who follow the blog know I often talk about being overweight and finding foods that are carb friendly. I am not diabetic, although my sister and nephew are. The lower carb issue is for basic weight. In essence I have been a yo-yo dieter since age seventeen which means a lot of years. Back in the day it was a constant struggle with 5 pounds and that amount steadily increased as I aged. Being in the Army was tough because that was an unrelenting thing and yes, after I retired, I slipped up until the struggle was with an extra 10 pounds. Then, for reasons that aren’t important, I really went out of control about 18 years ago. I came back down some, but still need to lose another 30 pounds.

What does that have to do with the above subject? High blood pressure does run on my paternal side and my doctor put me on medication years ago. She added a second one and later a statin for cholesterol. We have these constant one-way discussions about how if I would lose the weight and cut out more foods that I like, we could reduce the meds. Yes, I know that, and yes, I do still work at it. I have an exercise program of six days a week and I have given up greatly on a number of foods I enjoy. The simple fact is I don’t want to go to the kind of diet that I know will work. I did enough of that. Will I someday say, “Yeah, okay, I’ll  do it again”? Maybe. I certainly won’t do so because of lecturing. On the other hand, I am not big on lots of medications, but these are a conscious trade-off for me.

Okay, having now realized the long gap between posts, it’s the usual story, plus a little. I had hoped this year after the holidays, things might be a little slower and I might have resolved a couple of issues that demand so much of my time. Apparently not.

I did have good reason to think this; I merely miscalculated being able to accomplish tasks that are linked to resolution of the issues. Since these tasks are out of my control, that means – news flash! – I have to wait on other people. Sigh! In other words, I may or may not get my resolutions so will try again next week to set things into motion. One item has been resolved, but that was an extra “pop up” anyway. Another I thought was resolved has come a little unraveled and might perhaps be back under control after a meeting next week. Ah well, this is why I have a category in my topics of, “When Real Life Interferes”.

I do have an author presentation this evening which is the first one in a long time. I  enjoy these and I am going to contact the nearest County library branch to see about maybe doing one there. While libraries won’t carry my physical books, I will see if the local folks have a choice about e-books. If controlled at County level, I don’t think I’ll have much of a chance, but I won’t know if I don’t ask.

Anyway, the topic this evening is, “Mechanics of Murder”. I’ve discussed this in previous posts about how to decide which victims will be killed off and how. I may have mentioned when I began “Shades of Remorse”, I hadn’t planned a large body count. Turns out I had to kill off six more than the original two. This is the kind of thing that can happen as they story develops. However, only one of the extras was sort of a good guy.

We once again were fortunate – although twice is more correct. Hurricanes Helene and Milton went north and west of us with rain and wind here. While there was some flash flooding, a few tornadoes, there was no appreciable damage in the area. Our hearts go out, especially in the “perfect storm” disasters of Tennessee and North Carolina. Many within the farming community here have strong ties because even though we grow amazing things all year, summers are too hot for most produce. Traditional produce like lettuces, tomatoes, corn, etc., come here in the summer from those states. That’s why there are the connections a bit north. In addition, a lot of people who have lived here for years decide the summer heat and cost of living are too much and relocate into Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. In Mother Nature’s way of irony, another reason for some who moved was to get away from hurricane areas.

On the municipal side, we send power people and as many first responders as can be spared. These are the times you hear heart-warming and heart-breaking stories and in the instances of those who loot or otherwise try to take advantage, we only hope they will all be caught and dealt with accordingly. We do still have the rest of October to get through and while November is still “in the season”, storms that late are really rare. Of note, that does not mean I am challenging Mother Nature to prove me wrong.

As holidays approach we have some yearly tasks to attend to. I have one of our friends who has a cleaning services and moving/storage company come clean up the exterior of the house and the hardscape in back. When we put the pool in, we took out the little grassy sections from the edge of the house to the fence. Even though we sweep periodically, enough dirt builds up to require power washing and while Hubby has done it in the past, it really is worth the money to hire someone. Plus, it helps out friend’s business.

I am in the midst of both trying to catch up from trip and discovering the errors I made in thinking I had closed the loop on certain thing prior to our departure. So far, of the two, both have been recoverable with a dollop of embarrassment.

In reality, in setting the dates I did, I overlooked one other critical task I would need to deal with in September/early October, but back when I set the dates, I thought both the major events of Sept 28th and Oct 17th would have taken place in July and August respectively. Changing those dates due to unexpected issues are actually what jammed things up so badly. While we do intend to plan the annual Art and Artisan Show for the first weekend of October for 2025 onward, the museum fundraiser (if we have one next year) will be held in July. That separates the two enough to give me breathing room.

Hubby continues to post wonderful photographs from the trip and people are really enjoying them. As always, he has to work through the 1,500 he took to decide which ones to actually process. That’s the whole deal of digital cameras where a photographer can take hundreds of shots quickly, then use different software in post-processing. That is the extent of my knowledge of the subject. He plans to do another book of our trip like he did of the trip to Disney. I don’t remember which company he uses for it, but they do a nice job and it’s not terribly expensive.

We have the rain bands from Hurricane Helene. It’s going up the Gulf side and way up into Georgia and Tennessee. That means lots of rain, not much wind for us and at least this time, Houston may be spared. Not sure about my brother and sister-in-law in Mandeville though. Will check on them later this morning.

In the week since my return, it’s been fairly jammed as I dealt with the most critical things first. Everything was productive and it was worth the time spent. In the 2.5 things I was able to accomplish for myself while gone, I completed the post-beta read changes to Shades of Remorse and my primary editor for scuba-involved books is available. I sent her the manuscript yesterday and she’ll be able to start next week. Hooray! My intent is for the book to be out the end of October/first part of November.

Sequencing in this one was tricky as was the use of a triple point of view (POV). As I mentioned in some previous posts, the long gap since my last book was I have never tackled a triple POV. There are different ways to do so and I don’t care for a couple of those techniques. It took a while for me to decide and quite frankly, it is complicated. Sequencing was difficult as well and in fact, even after the beta-read, something still felt “off”. I figured out it was the sequencing of four chapters toward the end. I had to move those around just a bit for the right flow. I’ll see if the editor responds in the same way.

Unlike most of my books, there is no view point from the “bad guy/woman” and so the reader doesn’t have the same insight as I’ve provided in the past. There are numerous linkages to “pick up on” as Detective Bev Henderson is faced with her first cold case as the story opens with finding a skeleton in the water. After the dead man is identified, there is more than one viable motive, but with forty years elapsed, there is no supporting forensics to help. Much is set against the backdrop of an old motel converted into apartments where four older women reside; one of whom is the widow. Added to the mix is the sudden appearance of the owner’s niece whom she had never met due to the estrangement of the two sisters.

You can see why this novel is especially complex.