Sunday we’re going shopping for a king cake and a muffuletta. Going to watch the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. And maybe the James Bond movie Live and Let Die.

Happy Mardi Gras, y’all.

Here are some of my book covers. All done in collaboration with Streetlight Graphics.

I love each and every one of them. Thank you.

I love horror and have written (three?) horror books, but until now, not any that involved ghosts or haunted houses. So, now that I am scant chapters from finishing my first ghost story novel, well, I’m excited. The working title isn’t going to cut it, but I have an alternative that should work.

Normally I don’t have any trouble with titles. Mostly I have the titles all worked out before I even put the first word down on page one.

When I finish this book I’m going to write a series of short stories. Then my plan is to go back to the Boo Radley mystery series of mine and write the third of them. Books one and two are Talking to the Dead Guys and Tea with a Dead Gal. They are about two sisters with a huge dog that pulls them into mysteries taking place in Lockhart, Texas (famous for its barbeque).

Wish me luck.

Let’s make this upcoming week a better time for everyone.

My sister and I spent the night at the Menger Hotel (San Antonio, of course) to see the Teddy Roosevelt re-enactor show, which was great fun. We’d taken the trouble to watch the PBS documentary (Ken Burns) about him just days before. In case you didn’t know, the Rough Riders were recruited and trained in San Antonio, and Teddy himself was a familiar presence at the bar (which was very loud and rowdy-sounding as we approached it down the hall with our overnight bags.)

Why am I telling you this. It’s because the Alamo is right across the street from the hotel. And being so close, and since we had about three hours to spare before the show, we went over to take a peek.

What a difference from when we were kids. Then, old ladies shushed you if you talked and they had a Texas Ranger (probably not, just a sheriff’s deputy) escort you out of the building if you touched anything or got boisterous. No so, now. There are a couple of proctors prowling the interior of the church, but the respectful-behavior police are long gone.

And did we find that a good or bad thing. Pretty much, neither. For a long time we’ve been aware that our hotel, the shopping mall by the hotel, the Alamo and the park around the Alamo were once the site of a bloody battle where many men died. And I believe the Alamo shrine itself is over an Indian graveyard.

One of my goals long ago was to one day visit the area of the Somme in France where so many died in World War I. Not anymore, though. Some of that interest was slaked by the Anthony Price books I loved.

Anyhow, if you’re at the Menger or the Crockett, take the time to pay your respects at the Alamo. Or just realize you’re standing in the middle of a long-ago battle right where you’ve paid to sleep.

Sweet dreams.

While I wait for 10:00 pm to find out if I won the >a billion-dollar MegaMillion lottery (Ha! Ha! Ha!) I’m also putting off finishing my WIP, a haunted house novel. I can almost see the ending, and will take it up tomorrow morning with dashed hopes off more money than anyone needs.

When someone finally wins that prize, I’ll likely cut back on buying lottery tickets. But for now, it isn’t any day we have a chance at a billion dollars, is it.

Here’s my latest book link

READ NOW, NAP LATER https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGYRJW4Y/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28L41ELN7Q3BO&keywords

Writerly advice.

There are a few great blog sites that will help you, and here is one:

http://thepassivevoice.com

The Passive Voice is normally daily news and advice for writers, and sometimes just interesting stories. Well worth your time. I’m not sure how I first found it and suspect it was from J.A. Konrath back when he was actively blogging about the publishing industry. (Thank you, Joe.)

Hope your first week of 2023 was a good week.

I’m not doing resolutions this upcoming year, but I hope to do a lot of writing, publish what I write, and have a fun 2023. Starting with tomorrow. We’re going to take the dog to a great park along a river. Then drive back to eat at Top Notch. This evening we watched the end of season three of The Sinner and are going to cap it off with the Twilight Zone SyFy has going on.

For those of you in Great Britain who are reading this, I have a lot of free Audible codes for my playful mystery novel Talking to the Dead Guys at https://www.freeaudiobookcodes.com

Best wishes to everyone.

Free Audiobook Codes

I’m going to have to start blogging more often. I’ve lost the knack of it.

Sad news. We had to let our precious cat Yukon go. She was too ill to have any quality of life. Kidney failure and old age. She was somewhere between 18 and 20 years old. Had been our cat as long as I’ve lived in Lockhart. Let’s see if I can bring up a photo of her.

There she is.

I published two books in 2022. A Resurrection of Starlings, probably the best book I’ll ever write. And Read Now, Nap Later, short stories I felt deserved a chance of getting read.

For the time being, all of my books are on sale for 99 cents (except the one that is the 3 book collection of the Goodall Mutiny series and it is $1.99). I don’t know how long I’ll let this go on, but they will never be cheaper than this. Take advantage of it.

My sister and I are in good health. And right now, although my computer tells me is is 25 degrees outside (and was 15 this morning), we have heat, we have lights, and we have food and water.

Merry Christmas. We hope you are well and have an even better New Year.

I’m pretty sure I look like this now, even though it’s a four or five year past photo.

That’s our mimosa tree John that I’m hiding behind. We’re in drought mode now, so it’s not so green (plus it’s almost winter season).

The Texas Book Festival is next weekend. In Austin. Near the capitol grounds. Come out and visit. Buy a book. Buy a couple of books.

Next week is also the annual sale event put on by the Methodist Church in Lockhart located on San Antonio Street. The one with the Jesus statue. The one that was featured in the movie Where the Heart Is.

It’s also the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival. Saturday up in our city park. Sunday at our courthouse square.

Busy busy. Lots of things to do. Including voting.

Vote. It’s important.