Sunday Sundries--Some Military Things

One of my characters is based upon my much older brother, who graduated from The Naval Academy. He was a trainer pilot and was killed in 1969, buried in Arlington, near The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I think I channel Joe sometimes when I write. He was quite the horn dog, but when he found the woman he loved, he knew. I'm honored to give some voice to veterans with my story and I hope they will find it authentic. I thank every one for their service.

Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
I didn't forget the kitties:

Or the puppies:

My one hero graduated from The Naval Academy, then went into The Marines Officer Candidate School. He works on veterans' issues and tries to be there as his fellow solders come home.

I have another novel planned with two Marines that were in his unit in Afghanistan, both injured in the line of duty, but still serving.

Because every veteran is still serving:

Though some are more active duty than others:

So, thank you to all those who served and continue to serve.

I pray I will be able to do you honor in my fiction and in my heart. Everyone have a great week, ok?

Sunday Sundries--November Already?!

Can you believe it's November already? Can you believe the election will be Tuesday?

 My husband works for a TV station and lives to argue with the TV, newspapers and magazines. Me, not so much. But, come Tuesday, I will be proud to post this:

And I hope you will too. I have to admit, I've hidden many hateful, wrong posts. I really wanted to do this:

I'll be glad to get back to cute kitties and handsome men. Speaking of:

It's true--you may bask in my fabulousness. Here's some eye candy:

Hugh Jackman in "Kate and Leopold." It's one of those movies I've probably seen the whole thing, but not all at one time. I can watch it with the sound off, though and drool.

This was one of my favorite Halloween costumes:

That's right--50 shades of gray. Clever and cute. But, back to the kitties:

OMG--attack mode! This jumping kitty is cuter:

Speaking of running and jumping:

What a good-natured dog, right?
I took today off of work to catch up on some things. I've organized a box of retirement and bank statements into folders, getting a whole bag of recyclables and another pile of stuff to shred. I organized on a flash drive 168 (!) pages of notes I'd transcribed from my notebooks and cleared out a couple of flash drives that were duplicates. I did some grocery shopping, visited a craft fair and I'm making some chili tonight. I've also written a couple of scenes for future stories and made two bracelets. All in all, a good week.
I've been driving a lot. I'm grateful that we're not suffering the gas rationing my friends on the east coast are living with and I hope all of you and yours are safe and warm and dry. But I liked this one:

I am trying to continue on with my mission of service, while doing things I love and want to do, because:

Have a good one--love to all who stop by here. Let me know what you did this week and dammit, go vote!

Sunday Sundries--Halloween Edition!

While my husband and I both have to work Halloween night and we no longer have a black cat to love on at home, we'll give this friendly feline the chance to say Happy Halloween! It's amazing that we're looking at the end of October, isn't it?
While there aren't many kids around here for Halloween, there's been a lot of candy around. We've discovered the joys of Almond Snickers bars. Sad to say, none are left for the kids.

We only have the tabby twins now. Every once in a while, we see an odd look from one or the other. Could it be:

We've had some great Halloween parties. Our science fiction convention held Contact 13 on a Friday the 13th in October, so we promoted it with different room parties. My favorite was "Prom Night Massacre (Follow the Trail of Blood to Contact 13)":

Crazy stuff. While I haven't carved a pumpkin in forever, these always make me laugh:

On the other hand, they can be pretty too:

I was always sick with allergies and sinus problems, so I didn't get to go trick-or-treating much as a kid, but thought this was super cute!

Too fun! Wouldn't this be a great party idea?

Freeze water in a glove and float in a punch bowl. Here's another decorating idea:

Gotta love Pinterest. This made me laugh too:

Here is another pumpkin, a little more gruesome:

So, have a fun week--those of you out on the East coast and Hawaii stay safe, okay?

Sunday Sundries--Moodiness Edition

Okay, I'm feeling pretty good, because I just did a good edit on the first 188 pages of one of my novels and it's reading really smooth. I also did some date and fact checking to make sure the movies and TV shows I referenced all were running before when the book occurred. Nailed it. I also used Google Translator to put a phrase I had into French.

So, I've also got a bunch of new music coming and did some organizing of my music files. At Big Lots, you can get an 11 GB flash drive for under $12 and while organizing some of my older files, I found some old files I thought I'd lost. Then, I was able to get some family pictures over to family members in my hometown.  All in all, it was a productive weekend, unless you factor in that I need to do some dishes and still need to get out and organize all my winter clothes.

Never enough time in the day. I'm just grateful I'm writing again. Let me share some files with you, so I can get this folder moved onto my flash drive:

Did I mention I also wrote a whole section of what will become the third series of books? Since it is fairly explicit, I plan on marketing it separately as a stand alone short story. While in the grand scheme of things, it's not much, but I'm pleased to be productive. Not like this guy, but still|:

On the other hand, I've stayed off Facebook and Pinterest a little more this week. Probably a good thing. For a few weeks there, I seemed constantly on one or the other. Something to consider:

In part of one of my novels, I send a character to Japan. A friend is a Godzilla fan and this made me smile:

I was trying to download some music from our local library's Freegal site, where they allow you three free downloads per week, but I was told I had to "update" my library card. We'll get that taken care of tomorrow. This totally rocks:

Gotta love smart people, right? This made me think and laugh:

And I needed to laugh this week. Had a little case of the blues. I promise myself, my husband and my doctor and you that if need be, I will go on The Better Living Through Chemistry plan, but right now, I heeded Lucy's advice:

This was just a great picture, though sometimes, I feel it:

I took a couple of philosophy classes a long, long time ago. I forgot this theory:

I also skimmed through a Silhouette Romance novel and grabbed a whole bag full of used books at one of the local stores. Reading always makes me feel better.

And I hope I've been able to bring a smile to your face--have a great week, everybody!

Sunday Sundries--Faithful Friends Edition

I was watching a program today called "Too Cute" on cable TV and it really was too cute. It follows dog or cat litters for the first few months after their birth, giving a little idea of the personality of the breed. While this particular episode followed a litter of puppies, I felt nostalgic for my stripey twins when they were kittens.

We're coming on thirteen years since they came to live at our house and they have been such an important part of our lives. We got them less than a month after our tortie tabby cat passed away and we thought we were going to lose our other cat, a Manx. I knew I wanted kittens, plural, preferably a brother and sister. We found them at a regional shelter and they were small enough that when we brought them into the house, they both fit in the same carrier. Now, they're both kind of cranky, moving a little slow, hesitating before they jump up on the bathroom sink to drink water out of the faucet. But, they are my very good friends and I am grateful for them.

There have been a few dogs in my life too, those at friends and relatives' houses.

When it's my time to go, I look forward to visiting with all the cats and dogs I've known and loved, because:

Here's a picture of Bear, my brother's dog, making friends with my mom. I spent the summer with my brother and sister-in-law and Bear (who was a girl despite her name) was one of the sweetest dogs ever. She's long ago passed over the Rainbow Bridge.

I've worked dogs and cats and even a bird into my fiction as minor characters. Boris and Natasha will live on as Irish Wolfhounds that Ethan and Alex are raising. I've always been fascinated by them and I've done a little research to make my writing authentic. I love this picture:

It's sad that the larger dogs have shorter lifespan, but they are brave and true. They also think they're lapdogs:

One of my favorite dog breeds is the corgi. There are two different types, one with a tail and one without. They just seem to be so happy and sweet.

And here's another baby one:

Too cute! My Uncle Bob and Aunt Louise had a Boston Terrier named Tammy. I thought it was funny, because Uncle Bob started looking like Tammy as he aged, with the jowls and protruding eyes. But, she was a sweet dog too. This gentleman looks rather spiffy:

Here's one that hasn't seen the light of day in over fifty years. My brothers with a neighbor's dog:

My two main heroes are about two years apart and I'm bringing some of their stories into my fictional characters. He




re's a picture of my grandfather, who passed away about the time I was born. This is another mystery dog. No clue what the name was:

Thought of this little guy as I saw the trees starting to turn color today:

So, give the animals you love in your life a scritch on the head for me. We gotta love our dear friends and fur babies. Have a great week, everybody!