Projects and other maybe-exciting things: thinky thoughts 88
Big doings here at Herkes House—I upgraded my new computer’s system! I still think of it as new, but it’s a 5+ year old laptop running on a retired chipset, which is why I waited 9 months after release before attempting the upgrade. New software/old hardware compatibility is never a guarantee no matter how many assurances the developers issue. I’d rather let someone else discover the bugs and post solutions before I try it.
ANYway. Other than an annoying change in file & folder permissions I haven’t figured out how to fix yet, the upgrade actually is an improvement, solving longstanding screen resolution issues as well as adding useful system and app features. Based on the fan action during and after the installation, this’ll be the last upgrade, though. (I was clicking around new features and got an apologetic pop-up “Application not synced. Will resume when Mac cools down.”)
The yard is in full summer growth explosion mode. And I have my first harvest. Well first other than lettuce. Lookit these l’il cuties. They’re tasty, too!
(Image: two freshly washed, bright red radishes with perky greens attached and two slim radishes culled for extra greens.)
Other ways to tell the swing into summer is well underway:
transplanted the year’s first batch of volunteer perennials
made the season’s first batch of refrigerator pickles
bought a watermelon, which was surprisingly good for an early one
made from-scratch buns for grilled sausages (Spouseman does the grilling)
and as of today, have switched to hanging no-dryer laundry outside.
Not sure how often I’ll be able to dry laundry outdoors, depends on the smoke levels. Today they’re good. Two days ago, the sky was as orange and hazy as Los Angeles County in the 70’s. (There’s a distinctive quality to smog-filtered sunlight, makes it easy to tell which movies & TV are filmed there.)
Lessee. What else is going on? WRITING, of course. I have a great big master file for the Ghost Town series now, and I’m exceedingly pleased with it in an “I DID A THING” way.
I would love to show off a bit of it, but a) I haven’t asked my co author if it’s okay for me to share materials here yet, and b) I do worry I’m boring people stiff by clogging the blog with details about a world setting for books that don’t exist yet.
I know, I know. If you’re subscribed to this blog, you’re probably at least mildly interested. I mean, rationally I know it.
But the default wariness and reluctance to have my soul flayed to shreds by apathy? Yeah, that won’t be changing any time soon. Too many social situations have devolved into glazed eyes, painfully polite “interest” comments followed by awkward silences and swift subject changes for me to ever shake the feeling. These are imaginary people and places that I LOVE—and I will continue to be very careful about exposing them (and myself) to the world’s damaging disdain.
ANYway. In happier news, Relics From A Traveling Show is up to six reviews on Amazon.com, which is still the main showcase market for ebooks. SIX! Big thanks to T. Skippy, who, like me, has a special love for “the little girl meets gargoyle” opening story in the collection.
Yeah, that’s a nice happy point to wrap up. Have a Pippin pic!
Pippin was being a goof while I worked at the desk. Refused to sit on a couch or a window seat. Wedged himself into the corner behind the plushie-filled rocking chair and stared at me.
That’s it until later.
What’s on your bookshelf?
This is the part where I talk about my books.
Relics From A Traveling Show
The newest of the new! A collection of all my short fictions in one handy volume, available now from your favorite booksite or local shop.
Or! OR! if you like your local library, you could request a purchase. Free for you, sale for me, everyone wins.
Most libraries need the following info for ordering print books:
Title: Relics From A Traveling Show
Author: K. M. Herkes
ISBN: 9781945745201 (paperback)
Every library system does things a little differently, but most want their collections to serve their communities, so most of them are very responsive to patron requests.
If you like novels more than short stories, I recommend my series The Rollover Files for hopepunk tales of about an alternate world where moms with midlife crisis superpowers have been saving the world and making the military nervous since 1943.
I also have a completed, quirky slow-burn science fiction thriller duology with a romance chaser: The Stories Of The Restoration.
All my titles are available from Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Hoopla, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Overdrive and many other fine booksellers.
Support your favorite independent bookseller! Find a local shop via Indiebound
Be a potato.
" Fear is strange soil. Mainly it grows obedience like corn, which grows in rows and makes weeding easy. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground."
Terry Pratchett (Small Gods)