Sharon Lee's Blog

I mentioned that today I bought a coloring book. In particular, I bought Urban Anna’s From Paris With Love, featuring 21 shopfronts to color in. What attracted me to this is that the complete artwork is on the page facing the page to be colored, where the colorist is free to either ignore or emulate. For my first attempt, I have decided to emulate, and I’ve spent the last, oh, hour? going through the . . . hundreds of colored pencils in this house in order to arrive at the closest approximation I can manage of the colors used by the artist.

Yes, this is fun; I have a Weird Brain. I believe I may be learning something about color, though I don’t really have a clue what that might be — my brain rarely shares stuff with me. But as of this moment I have a key listing 20 colors, that ends with the following note: “color list incomplete.” Because, yanno, I have enough colors to get started coloring, and I can get back to matching later.

Ah. And my brain has just now informed me that no, I never AM going to match the color of the stucco wall because the original work was done on pebbly art paper and the book is printed on smooth paper. Well, there.

Anyhow, tonight, I intend to serve up Coon Cat Happy Hour, pour a glass of wine, and color. I’ve never done such a thing, but maybe I’ll put on a movie down low, so there will be voices in the background. That seems like a Thing that ought to be tried.

Tomorrow! I will do my very best to get the Fae Duology uploaded, formatted, and tagged with a preorder date.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

Below is my coloring project:

Saturday. Rainy and cool.

Just back from the TJ Maxx members party. I’m old enough to remember going with my Flapper Grandmother (as distinct from my Church Grandmother) to the big department store galas in downtown Baltimore.

This? Was not that. For the Big Department Stores (for students of history, that would have been: Hecht Company, Hochchild Kohn, Hutzler’s, and Stewart’s, with Hecht’s being the Lesser and Hochchild’s  being the Greater. My personal favorite was Stewart’s. But I digress.)

For the Big Department Store events, I say, one Dressed. Not in evening wear, but in what my grandmother styled as Afternoon Clothes. For me at that time, it was the pickiest, scratchiest dress in my closet, white anklets, and the good patent leather shoes. For my grandmother, the Season had to be taken into account, but I remember her most often in a flowered frock, with matching hat, purse, and shoes. I’ve never seen a woman before or since who loved a flowered frock quite so much.

There was a catered tea, and fashion shows, and cooking demonstrations, and nicely dressed sales people pleased to Direct You, or even take you to this or that visiting expert — it was quite lovely. Almost worth the scratchy dress.

TJ Maxx’s event was not that, though I noted several members dressed in suits. I was in grey jeans, a nice purple fleece pullover, and the hard black shoes, because — raining.

I did get a Free Gift — an insulated lunch bag which will actually be useful. I did not win a door prize. The group was friendly; I was given a quick rundown on what I could expect from the person ahead of me in the line to sign up for the drawing, which was both useful and very kind of her.

I went with the expectation of not buying anything, but! This morning, I discovered that the refrigerator (the sole appliance that came with the house that is still (fingers crossed) functioning) has stopped making ice cubes. So I did need ice cube trays, and I bought a great pair of Oxo ice cube trays with slide-on lids, so I can stack them on a shelf.

It’s a matter for the philosophers, if I actually needed the bath towel, the illustrated guide to the Victorian Language of the Flowers (which replaces one that I had, but apparently gave away), the coloring book, or the embroidery kit (embroider and assemble a canvas bag!  How can anybody resist that?). I can, however, make a good case for the dryer vent brush, the sink stones, and the adjustable chair sliders.  Oh, and the hairbrush.  One does, after all, need to groom oneself.

All of the above, in fact, demonstrate the danger of this particular event — there were so few of us in the store, I felt no pressure to rush or to get out of peoples’ way. I could just moon about in my preferred style, Stare at Stuff, pick it up, establish a relationship with it, and part friends. (It comes to me that the Mooning About Thing is why I love to visit museums, though of course, I’m not allowed to touch stuff.)

So, in sum — a nice hourish outing. I’m home, have greeted the cats, put my purchases away and eaten a cookie. I’m now free to do what seems good to me until 2ish, when I expect a contractor to arrive.

How’s your Saturday starting out?

Dressed to shop:

P.S.  The Big Question on Facebook was “What are sink stones?”  These are sink stones.  They are not the actual sink stones I bought, because — TJ Maxx, but they’re of the family.

OK, then! Friday evening. I’m sure I must’ve done something today, but I’m not bringing it to mind at the moment.

In re My Dream*, I have one contractor coming out to look the situation(s) over tomorrow afternoon. There are, in fact, two situations, The Dream and the need for roof extensions over the back wall of this house to fend the rain off.

I have heard back from Draft2Digital, which assures me that, if they believe that a Mistake Has Been Made, they will contact me and offer options for Fixing Said Mistake. I will therefore be going forward with republishing the Fey books.

Rookie stamped his feet and demanded to be let outside, so I told him he had to wear his jacket. To the astonishment of everyone, including Rookie, he let me put his jacket on, attach the leash, and take him out to my chair on the deck. He was content to sit on my lap for a few minutes, then squirmed to Get! Down! and did a sllloooowwww exploratory creep-and-sniff of the corner of the deck off of Steve’s office. I brought him inside when it seemed like he was thinking about squeezing through the rail posts to see what was on the other side.

So! Busy few days upcoming — tomorrow, I believe I will go to TJ Maxx’s little party for its members, then the contractor in the afternoon. Sunday, I’ll try to get the Fey Duology up for preorders. Monday, car to Charlie’s for its annual whatnot; Tuesday Dead River to do another inspection (didn’t we just do that?); Wednesday, the much anticipated delivery of the dishwasher, and Thursday morning crack o’dawn, the installation.

Phew. Oh. I need to line up a haircut. For the week after next, is what I’m thinking…

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.
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*Transcription of a post to FB, seeking advice:

Where are my handyfolk?

Handyfolk, I have A Dream.

My Dream is to have a permanently attached screened room with a solid ceiling on my deck, ideally using one of the French doors in Steve’s office as access. This would be both a catio and a place for me to sit out and take the air, while managing to dodge the Evil Solar Rays that radiation therapy has (according the Cancer Ladies, and I’m inclined to believe them on this) Forever Placed Beyond My Reach.

How would I go about achieving this Dream? Which seems fairly modest to me, but what do I know? How much is it likely to cost?

The reason it has to be permanently affixed, is that I have a screen house, but I can’t either put it up or take it down by myself and in high winds it’s a flight risk.

New entry in this sporadic series, in which the author reviews her body of work, for those who are following along

Local Custom is today’s subject — man, I had fun with that book.

Link to the intro/tale of the tale

Link to the summing up

Enjoy!

. . . which was the title we submitted the book now known as Trade Secret under.  Steve thought it was perfect, and as Steve was lead on the book, he got to title it.  Alas, Baen Management for some reason did not resonate to Writ of Replevin, though Madame owned herself to have learned something.

I am back from crafting. The cats are enjoying Happy Hour and I’m about to find something for dinner.

Got a busy few mornings coming up — COVID shot tomorrow morning, after which I’ll pick up a few things at the grocery store (being as I’ll be in the grocery store), come home, change out the cat boxes, and then maybe do some work. Or at least continue reading Trade Secret.

Thursday morning, I need to take the car in for an oil change and tire rotation, hoping that this time they’ll remember to tighten — no really — tighten the oil cap.

Friday morning, Sarah will be by to do her thing, and Saturday! There’s a Members Party at TJMaxx. As I find myself unexpectedly a Member, p’rhaps I’ll go.

All this to say that I’ll be in and out for the remainder of the week.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I will check in as opportunity allows.

The reason for yesterday’s trip to TJ Maxx was to acquire summer weight lap coverings to accommodate the cats. (Firefly and Tali prefer a blanket layer.  Rookie doesn’t appear to care.)

Here you see the lap covering, AKA beach towel, for the comfy chair in my office.

You also see the Tali seal of approval in play.

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LOL!!! Local peeps! If you get the Bangor Daily News, take a look at the Top Maine Towns you Should Live In. Not only does Waterville not make the graphic, but Kennebec County doesn’t even show up on the graph!

Oh, wait.

*whispers* . . . did . . . did Canada adopt us and I missed the memo? Huh? Is that what happened? Tali’s standing on my desk right now, telling me she won’t at all mind being a Canadian Coon Cat.

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So! Tuesday. Which I was for a moment convinced it was Wednesday, but Firefly straightened me out. Sunny and breezy. We here in Kennebec County, Canada, are laboring under a Fire Warning, due to dry air incoming, pushed by excess breeze. Well, there.

Trash and recycling are at the curb, and breakfast has been et.

Today has been A Week, and it’s just past 9 am.

Last night, I noticed that my left ankle, which I had sprained back in God, She Knows. When were we GOHs at ChattaCon? Then. (January 2012; I looked it up. Also — how long ago?) Anyhow, I noticed that ankle was aching last night, but I put it down to having actually been on my feet quite a bit yesterday, In Between It All. Sleep would fix it, I thought.

Well. I woke up this morning and said ankle was swollen, and still, yeah, achy. So I searched out the ankle brace and got that on. Came out and started a cup of chocolate tea, got out the milk while I was waiting for that to finish brewing, opened the windows, prepped the comfy chair, came back to my tea, took it into the kitchen, picked up the milk, absently shook it and!

You’re ahead of me, I can see the smirks.

Yep. Milk everywhere. I did a mop-up, but I still have to wash the utensils (puddles of milk in the kitchen tool holder by the stove. ick.), and make sure I got all the milk, oh, off the wall. Yeah, this may qualify as a Personal Best. I’ll check the record book.

OTOH, there are daffodils.

And how’s Tuesday treating you?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by The Scorpions, “Rock You Like a Hurricane”

Monday. Sunny and already warm. All the windows are open and the cats are lounging in the breeze from the sliders in Steve’s office.

The first load of towels needs to be taken out of the dryer and the second load put in.

The area rugs and runners are outside and over the rails, taking the sun. My deck chair and table are set up and ready for use.

Regarding the deck chair. When I got it out of the closet where it overwintered, there were five springs taking shelter beneath its skirts. FIVE.

For book club, I’m reading A Gentleman in Moscow, which I’m enjoying. It strikes me that this may have been what Theo of Golden was striving for, and, err, didn’t achieve.

Since I just recently read Balance of Trade, I started Trade Secret last night, wherein I note that the Young Gentleman reveals to us The Plan. I believe that Jen Sin reviled the Young Gentleman’s clan in Salvage Right, and also said something about The Plan, which I will need to check.

Honest to ghu, this universe is tight. The authors must’ve have a million databases. *cough*.

I have a couple titles that will fit in the small blank stars on the front of the Starry Shirt, so I’m getting those ready to be embroidered.

And! I have not yet heard from D2D customer service, which is not surprising, and I really don’t expect to hear from them this week.

I believe I need to step out for a few minutes to hit the TJMaxx in-town, and also the Hannaford. P’rhaps I’ll get the car washed. I have a pass, after all.

How’s everybody doing this fine Monday morning?

Sunday. Sunny and again said to be heading into the vicinity of warm.

Today, will be electron-free here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.

And, I’ve hit a snag in the republication project.

Draft2Digital has produced Content Guidelines, to wit:
What are the requirements for self-certifying erotica content?
You must accurately declare the presence of specific erotic themes during the publishing process. You are required to disclose if your work contains any of the following:
Incest or Pseudo-Incest: Sexual relations between family members, whether biologically or non-biologically related (including step-relatives).
Bestiality: Sexual relations between humans and real-world animals. (Note: Fantasy creatures such as shape-shifters or aliens are not classified as bestiality).
Rape for Titillation: Content where the dominant theme is non-consensual sexual relations intended to titillate the reader.
Age Play: Consenting adult characters role-playing or pretending to be babies or children.
Dubious Consent (Dubcon): Scenes exploring the gray area between consent and non-consent where the receiver’s willingness is unclear.
Non-Consensual Sexual Slavery: Erotic depictions of kidnapping, imprisonment, or trafficking. This is distinct from BDSM, which relies on informed consent and safe words.
We do not accept content with pornographic images or content that glorifies taboo subjects such as sexual exploitation of children or rape.

. . . Given the squeamishness of the audiobook company that backed out of its contract because Chapter Whatever-It-Was, I’m guessing that D2Digital will find The Fey Duology to be in violation of its terms of use.

This? Is disappointing. To say the least.

The other, somewhat disturbing thing about this new policy is that books that certify “erotic” content will not be offered to libraries. I’d like to know if the libraries know that they’re being “protected” in this manner. And, I do have right here a review from Library Journal stating that Duainfey is “for most libraries.”
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Sigh. This has been a good day for Stress Eating. At least it was strawberries. Mind you, strawberries and whipped cream, but it could’ve been worse.

So, the Plan. I’ll continue getting the book together while I’m waiting for D2D to answer me (surprise! They warn of higher-than-normal customer contacts. Gee, I wonder why.), and based on their answer, I’ll … figure something out.

You’d think the people who are trying to suppress “erotica” would understand that hiding things in the corner, or forbidding certain things that people want, like, oh, I dunno? Abortion? Oh! Alcohol! Only drives it underground, where it warps and becomes deadly.

Yes, well. Back to work.

This day has not been as productive as I had envisioned.

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Despite the best efforts of the universe, I did get some useful stuff done today. I include washing the dishes and vacuuming the dining room, living room, and bedroom in that.

Tomorrow, I need to research how/how much it will cost to register the copyright for The Fey Duology (we had always assigned and noted an ISBN, and published the copyright notice, which, until the late shenanigans with the AIs, provided protection as it showed Intent. The Anthropic Settlement teaches us that there’s no protection without you spend money for it. Well. Lesson learned.), fill out the necessary forms, and maybe even finish formatting the book.

After which, it can languish until I get some Answers from D2D.

. . .I keep catching myself saying, to myself, or to the cats, or, yanno, to all of us, “Why is everything taking so long?” And, aside the universe being bored, the answer is — today? Today, if I was focused on getting the book formatted, Steve would have vacuumed, done the dishes, and cooked dinner, too. If he’d drawn the book, then I’d’ve picked up the chores, and the book would have been ready for formatting (except we’d probably still be talking about if we’re paying the copyright fee, and wondering to each other WTF D2D has got into its head) right about, oh — now.

I’m never going to get used to this, am I?

Well.

Onward.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

Here, have some daffodils:

Saturday. Sunny. The weatherbeans give it as their opinion that it will achieve “warm” today.

Found one of Rookie’s whiskers — I don’t find them nearly as often as I find the long white sort favored by the girls — so that was exciting. Also, he managed to bank two out of three possible new balls, so I ordered in nine more (3 additional cards) from Petsmart, which declares that they will deliver these essential items today. Guess somebody in Augusta thinks it’s a nice day for a ride.

Next up, putting the kettle on and rustling up some breakfast before I hit the books.

What’s on the books for Saturday at your place?
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And, in celebration of a sunny Saturday, one of my favorite character interactions, in which we learn that Clonak isn’t … quite … a fool, after all. From I Dare:

“You fed me to them,” [Val Con] said, and his voice was, perhaps, not quite steady. “The scouts gave me to the Department.”

Clonak stared at him as if he’d taken leave of his wits. “Well, *of course* we gave you to them, Shadow! Who else did we have more likely to trump them than a first-in, pure-blood yos’Phelium scout commander? Concentrated random action. Would we waste such a weapon? Would you? I didn’t think so. Besides,” he finished, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s the duty of the Captain to protect the passengers. Er Thom can’t have missed telling you that!”

“As close-kin, I ask that you not kill him,” Daav said into the silence that followed this. “I allow him to be twelve times an idiot. But he is also my oldest friend, and I value him.”