I went to Barnes & Noble today and removed all my self-published books. I dislike removing options, but I don’t see the point in publishing with them anymore. It’s simply not worth the time and effort to even publish books there. All of last year, I literally made less than $50. My last book did not sell at all. 

And I can understand why. I went to their site and did a search and could not find my books. Books in the same series were not grouped together. A toddler could do a better job of organization. Thus far, finding other publishing options has not gone well. I did put a couple of books on Google Play to see how it would work. Result? I can’t see that it does work. In the meantime, I put the entire library (with the exception of those two books) on Kindle Unlimited. 

I’m very close to finishing Her Lone Wolf (Matt’s story, Book 3 of the Stone Pack). At the moment, I’m debating a final chapter or just going straight into an epilogue. I always think of details I want to add once the book is finished. And especially after a book is published. 

Also, I’ve been looking at some of the AI covers. I know some people have a thing against them, but I really like some of the covers. I don’t want to read an AI written book. I think I’ve accidentally read a few lately and they seem…soulless. 

As long as it takes me to publish, you know I’m actually writing my books. I am trying to improve my work ethic, but life seems to constantly throw me off course. I have seriously thought of using one of the covers to save time. But we'll see. AI and I haven't really done well together. I've actually gotten into a couple of near arguments with Copilot. In my defense, Copilot can be snippy!

I’d love to hear thoughts on any or all of this. Hopefully, the next time I write, it will be with a pub announcement.

A Very Short Update

I had really hoped to finish Matt’s book, book 3 in the Stone Pack series, and have it published by October. Those plans were derailed. I’ll discuss that at a later date lest I begin to sound too much like a cliched country song. Matt’s book is coming along slowly, but I’m still hoping to have it finished before the year is out. 

Hope to be updating you with good news soon!

A Very Unspecific Update

I hope everyone has been enjoying summer. I haven’t accomplished as much as I would have liked to have done. I don’t know what fills the hours of the day when I’m not looking.

The other night as I was playing Sims 4 on my laptop, filling in a picture in Happy Color, reading a book on my Kindle, and watching television, I thought that perhaps I need to stop trying to do so many things at once. Screen savers are so frustrating!

I’ve been streaming entirely too much Come Dine with Me. So much so, that I tried to make my own ice cream without an ice cream maker. As with many recipes, a second try is going to be needed to perfect it. It’s slightly over churned and similar to whipped cream in texture. This explains why I don’t like some brands of ice cream with a similar texture.

Lest I have you believe that I’ve completely given up on working….

I’ve been working on the third book in the Stone Pack series. This is Matt’s book. As further motivation, I’ll try to start updating the word count at least once a week. I’m always so eager when I start a book. It’s the later parts that take forever.

For fans of the Bioexpa series, I do have plans to write more. I have ideas for at least two more books already and who knows what ideas will follow those.

I’m still working on other places to sell my books. Setting up new accounts as a self-published author is a pain. There’s also the matter of deciding which books to publish. It seems rather pointless to do the old ones again, but we’ll see how it goes.

And lastly, I got my dog a new bed. It’s very comfy. I know because it’s large enough for me to curl up on it with her. And my dog can often be seen lying on the floor in front of her bed while the cat lounges on it taking a nap or giving herself a bath.

What I am about to tell you sounds like a scam. Frankly, I wish that it was. I debated writing about this here at all because it’s not fiction. But I couldn’t stand the thought of another family going through this and if I can save one person this pain, then it would have been worth it.

When my mom passed away earlier this year at the age of 93, she had no debt. She lived in her own home, but she did receive assistance from Medicaid. She had home healthcare workers and she received free supplies such as adult diapers. A week ago, we received a letter from Medicaid asking for repayment of almost $400,000 from her estate. Well, if she had that kind of money, she wouldn’t have qualified for Medicaid. In lieu of payment, the government plans to place a lien on her home. The house isn’t worth even half that.

From research, I found that this is actually a method of recovery in many states. There were steps the family could have taken prior to her death to prevent this. If you or a loved one are on Medicaid, do your research and find out what you need to do to protect your assets.

Here's an article about this happening to another family: When the State Comes for Your Estate

Audiobooks

 I’m happy that most of you seemed to enjoy Anaya & Niall. As always after a book release, I worry about, well, everything.

I just dropped by to post a quick bit of news. Amazon made it possible to sell the audio versions of e-books. I’ve made several of my books available. I only added the audio version for three books at first but added that option for several more today. They should be available within a few days. 

If I skipped a book that you’d like to purchase in the audio for, please let me know. For older books, the price for the audio is higher than the e-book because that’s as low as they will allow. Inflation, I guess. Hope you’re enjoying your summer!

Release Day!

 Anaya & Niall is out today! It's easy to find on Amazon, but even with a search I couldn't find it on Barnes & Nobles. Fortunately, they sent me a link. For convenience, I'll share them with you.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

I wanted to include another excerpt, but I've been debating what portion all day. I still haven't made up my mind, but let's give this a go.

     His communications slate pinged with an incoming message. His reaction was automatic—he pulled it out of his back pocket and checked the screen.

     Wes glared at him. “Don’t.”

     It was too late. “I just need to respond to this message. It’ll only take me a second.”

     “What is it this time? Did she misplace her comb?”

     Niall shot him a nasty look. “She’s not a nitwit. She wouldn’t message me if it wasn’t important.”

     A frown marred Tiffani’s brow. “Is there a problem?”

     “No,” he said at the same instant Wes said, “Yes.”

     “Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a sec?” Wes asked, with an urgent jerk of his head.

     Scowling, Niall stood and followed his brother through the swinging doors to their kitchen. “What?” he snapped, anxious to get this conversation over with and read the message from his boss.

     “Can we have one evening when you don’t dash off to brush your boss’s hair?”

     “You’re exaggerating. And do you see me going anywhere? I’m simply checking a text.”

     Wes crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the countertop. “First it starts with a text. Then there’s a phone call. And then another. And then you announce you have to leave.”

     He couldn’t deny it. It’d happened before. More than once. “Anaya only contacts me when it’s important.”

     “She can’t go a single evening without your help?”

     “This is my job,” he pointed out.

     “Your job got you dumped.” Wes threw his arms up in the air. “Or have you still not figured that out?”

     “Anaya runs a multi-million-dollar company. She built it up from nothing—” 

     “And you want to fuck her. Jill knew it. We all know it.”

Time for an Excerpt

There are times when I begin a book with an idea and I write down a moment before I forget it. That moment can't be the beginning, but I just love it so much that I can't let it go. For Anaya & Niall this was that moment:

Niall stalked up to his wife and cupped her delicate face between his hands. “Let’s get something straight. Outside of our home—”

     “My house,” she pointed out with raised eyebrows.

     “Our home,” he said firmly. She’d never made him feel unwelcome or even as a guest in this house. She was simply being petulant. “Outside of our home, I’m your assistant and you can boss me around, send me to fetch your coffee or tea. But inside this house, we are equals. If I get you coffee or massage your shoulders, it’s because I choose to do so as your husband.” He ran his thumb over her juicy bottom lip. “And in our bedroom—”

     “Now wait just a damn minute. Niall, I—”

     “In our bedroom,” he raised his voice, drowning out her objection, “I’m in charge. You’ll do what I say.” He was pushing it, but they’d been heading in this direction from the beginning. Anaya never objected to his dominance in bed. He wasn’t the sort of dominant that required spanking or toys, but he did like to be the one in control. “If I want to fuck, we fuck. If I ask you to suck my cock, you swallow. If I want to lick your pussy, you’ll spread your legs with a smile.” He stepped closer until he could feel her breasts brush against his chest with each of her rapidly indrawn breaths. Her dark eyes blazed up at him, partly with fury, but passion lurked in the brown depths. His hands dropped from her face. He slapped her on her plump bottom. “Now take off your clothes and get in our bed. I’m in the mood to ride my wife’s pussy.” She jumped a little at the tap to her behind. Her mouth opened and closed but no words emerged. Finally, she nodded and scampered off toward their bedroom. A grin stretched Niall’s lips.