“Whatyadoing, Lucy?” “I’m Taking a sunbath.” “You sure no one can see you?” “So what if they can.” “You’re not dressed.” “Neither are you.” “Boy now that you mention it.”
Yes, it is Friday. Pretty soon, the cares of the week will be history as we take a breath over the weekend.
A few activities are going on in the neighborhood that I will be covering for the month’s balance on Views of the Neighborhood. For those who follow that feature, we usually have food, drinks, and music to go along with the tour. I have the bus all decorated for the holidays so it should be pretty festive.
This week we will be visiting a local Holiday Fair sponsored by Emmaus Church. I’m looking forward to seeing people and taking some shots of the gift possibilities. I will be in my Hazmat suit with the self-contained environment.
Next week Lakeway has set up a light scavenger hunt. There are twelve locations, so the Producer and I will be in our nighttime ninja gear capturing that scene.
The following week is the Sunday before Christmas, so I will be doing the Trail of Lights. The producer and I will again don the nighttime stealth equipment.
Since Christmas eve falls on a Thursday, I have asked Twiggy and Lucy to stand down while I finish some neighborhood decorations.
Now the schedule is set, so at least I can relax and enjoy the festive spirit. Today’s JohnKu talks about the spirit of the holidays. I hope you all have a great weekend.
“What’s going on you two?” “I want the chipmunk toy and Twiggy won’t share.” “Um-hum. Twiggy?” “Well, I guess.” “It’s Friday Ladies. Time for fun.” “Chipmunk is fun.”
It is Friday and hopefully, you are as glad as Twiggy. We can now look forward to a couple of days to recharge. At least that’s what I do.
Not too much going on this week. We have increasing cases of Rona (I believe I know her well enough to call her by her nickname) and our county just upped the severity level to four. That means restaurants and bars need to go back to 50% occupancy and large gatherings discouraged. The parks remain open so mostly it is business as usual.
This weekend is the anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was over fifty years ago but to those of us who were in college at the time will never forget those days. The country came to a standstill as we mourned the death of the man we considered as “Our President.” Now the event has passed into history and those of us who were there are relics as well.
Today’s John KU talks about history. I hope you all have a great weekend.
“Yes Lucy it’s Friday and I’m taking the day off.” “Okay, Little One. You relax I’ll get the kibble.” “What kibble?”
It is Friday, which is known as Saturday Eve around here. Well, we have heard that the Rona Virus Vaccine is 90% effective in third stage trials. That is pretty good news. I noticed Ticketmaster has decided to start setting up procedures for concerts once the vaccine is released. I think it will be good to get these pesky teens away from books and back to the music scene. (Spoiler alert: That was a joke)
The lull between inauguration and voting day is a blessed piece of peace so far. I can’t tell you how much nicer it is without having to listen to the right and left sprew hate at each other. Of course, the pundits some blogs, and Twitter trending posts are still full of it, but they are easy to avoid.
I, for one, am glad some of the shows I enjoy are back. I can only watch HGTV for so long. (Well, dummy, it has been almost nine months, so you have at least that much stamina.) I have to explain. I only watch 45 minutes of entertainment a day. I prerecord everything and then playback. An hour network show takes 45 minutes to play. Then I watch the news for twenty. I guess I shouldn’t exclude news from the entertainment category, but I’m really after the weather because our local news follows the same pattern. 1. Hit and run, assault, or murder (If it bleeds, it leads) 2. Local school district and/or teacher angst. 3. Rona virus update (With no context) 4. Weather highlight. 5. Report from Washington (usually an insult to average intelligence) or Austin city report, which usually will include an update on those experiencing homelessness along with the mayor or city council members explaining why nothing can be done about whatever the issue happens to be. 6. The full weather report including the five day forecast. 7. TV off.
So you can see the time is precious and I want pure entertainment. There are ten shows recorded regularly, and I can only watch seven in a week. My viewing then usually lasts until well into summer.
Today’s JohnKu talks about rest for the mind. I hope you. all have a great weekend.
“Hold on Little One. I think it is here somewhere.” “What is it?” “Friday.”
Well, it is Friday and a nice milestone in the week’s travails. As I write this, I still don’t know who has won the election at the presidential level. Before I make any comment,let me be clear. Whoever wins should receive the support of our entire country.
I have been appalled by some of the vicious personal attacks written by fellow bloggers. There is one blogger out there who calls those who vote for other than her candidate A-holes. Unfortunately, the followers of that blog provided supporting words for that outrageous statement. Why is it outrageous? Anytime Americans are denigrated for voting for their choice, one more piece of freedom is threatened. Instead of A-hole, what if this person called those choosing the other candidate ‘traitors?’
We need to think about how we handle disagreement in this country. Do we continue to shout it down or listen and respond? Anyone out there who has written a slanderous statement about either candidate or their supporters should be ashamed of themselves. It is now time to knock it off and get back to being a decent society again.
Today’s John Ku talks about the freedom to choose. I hope you all have a great weekend.
“Yes, indeed, ladies, it is Friday.” “Oh, good Boss. Can we have the car keys?”
Good to see Friday here again. It lets us know that time is, in fact, marching on. That is always a good thing. (Not that time marching on is a good thing but knowing it is marching is helpful)
Ahem. Now that I got out of that circle, I can talk about significant things. I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking forward to daylight savings time. Sheesh. With the “Fall back” situation, it will mean the pups will decide at 5:30 that it is time to get up. The only way to prevent that is to keep them awake for an hour later the night before. Yeah right. Ever try to keep a sleepy dog awake. So maybe if everyone stays quiet, they will lose track of time and snore in. I’m not counting on it.
Eternal Road has 17 ratings on Amazon for a 4.8 overall. I’m so pleased with the reviews and thank everyone who took the time. A reminder that the 99¢ price on the Kindle version goes up to $2.99 on November 1st. Here is the universal link once more.
“Twiggy. You still after that Squirrel?” “I figured Friday would be a good time to catch it.” “I can see that plan is going well.”
Another Friday is here and that means the weekend is a mere eight hours away. Oh happy day.
This week has been quite busy with odds and ends. I have begun thinking about the sequal to Eternal Road and have a couple of plot points in mind. You have to woder about what kind of circumstance could possibly bring two souls who are happily spending their eternal time as they envisioned, together again? You have to believe it would be something major. Well it is. Before I spill the whole story let me just say, “Workin on it.”
Halloween is sneaking up on us for sure. If you have followed the Views of the Neighborhood you know we have been taking tours and looking at Halloween decorations. Well this week is the last look since Halloween is on a Saturday and by Sunday when Views is posted it will be old news.
Reviews for Eternal Road continue to arrive. I’m so grateful for them and loved that the fact that all of the readers enjoyed the book. This makes the job of an author so rewarding and certainly makes me feel good.
The 99¢ price on Kindle ends on November 1st here is a link if you want to take a look.
I am so pleased to have Fellow Story Empire member and author Marcia Meara with me today. She is here to discuss Book Three of her Emissary Series. Marcia the floor is yours. (Well, the walls too.)
Thanks so much for having me here today, John. I’m pretty excited to be sharing the news of my latest release with you and your followers, and I’d like to take a moment to chat about angels in today’s fiction.
I don’t know how many of you have noticed, but angels on book covers in recent years do not look like they did when I saw pictures of them in Sunday school. Nope. Not at all. For one thing, they aren’t wearing robes and carrying harps. Mostly, they’re bare-chested with those washboard abs that are so admired these days. This always leaves me wondering how they have time for typical angelic duties, what with all those workouts over at the Cloud 9 Gym. (Poor Clarence from “It’s a Wonderful Life” was robbed. 😉 )
And though the term “Nephilim” is mentioned in Genesis, and sometimes defined as the offspring of an angel and a mortal, that was another concept that wasn’t bandied about much in popular fiction decades ago.
Regardless, love affairs between humans and angels, with or without offspring, are themes that have been pretty popular in many of today’s romance and urban fantasy novels. With those trends in mind, I had a lot to think about before beginning my Emissary trilogy. Just how did I want to approach my own angelic-themed tales?
My decision was to go in a very different direction. While this little fantasy doesn’t pretend to be any kind of serious religious work at all, I still wanted my featured angel to be very different from most I’ve seen gracing book covers today.
Is Azrael’s chest finely sculpted and utterly swoon-worthy? I have no idea. He wears a long white robe. Always. Even on the beach. But one thing I know for sure—he doesn’t cavort with mortal women. Ever.
Azrael is the archangel in charge of all things connected to helping souls cross over into Heaven after death, and he has always had far more important things on his mind than any sort of tom-foolery like that—especially in recent years. Due to the drastic over-population of the planet, the constant strife between countries, and the plethora of unsavory temptations everywhere mortals look, Azrael’s current problem is what to do about angels being desperately overworked. In an attempt to ease this impossible situation, the archangel believes hired help is the answer. He decides to form a team of emissaries from Heaven-bound souls he’ll pull directly out of line at the Pearly Gates.
Jake Daughtry is his first choice. Giving him some new powers, including a limited form of immortality and an ability to help humans avoid making very bad choices, Azrael sent his first emissary back to earth on a sort of trial run. It goes better than the angel expected, and before too long, Jake is joined by a second recruit named Dodger. From that point on, the growing Emissarial Team has been Azrael’s main focus. That, and trying to keep the disapproving Council of Angels from ending his experimental program outright.
Over the course of my three novellas, the archangel’s stern and righteous character has expanded to encompass a new understanding of human beings, and his strong connection to his two first emissaries has resulted in some surprising insights on his part. But though he has gained a lot more understanding of mortals and his temperament has mellowed somewhat, Azrael continues to enjoy seeing Jake’s startled reaction when he pops up behind him unexpectedly. And he still has not learned to use contractions.
Azrael’s emissarial program was growing daily, but it still met with stubborn opposition from many on the Council of Angels. Dodger’s request to be allowed to experience what falling in love was all about didn’t help matters, but Azrael thought the boy was onto something. He agreed emissaries who’d shared a loving relationship during their mortal lives would have a deeper understanding of human emotions and motivations, thus enhancing the skills they needed to do their jobs.
With that in mind, Azrael gave Dodger one chance to search for true love. He then laid down a daunting set of stringent rules and guidelines that could not be broken under any circumstances lest dire happenings occur. But while the angel sincerely hoped Dodger would find a way to make this endeavor work, he feared an avalanche of unintended consequences could be in store for his youngest emissary.
Sometimes even angels hate to be right.
Click Image for Amazon
~~~
Will Azrael ever tire of popping up behind Jake just to see his first emissary fall out of his chair in shock? Will sharp-eyed motel owners ever notice a big red and white semi mysteriously appearing and disappearing from their parking lots overnight? And will Dodger be able to track down the mystery girl who caught his eye two weeks earlier to see if she’s really The One?
To find the answers to these and other angelic or emissarial questions, come along on one last adventure with Jake, Dodger, and that ginormous, glowy-eyed archangel, Azrael. They’re waiting for you!
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Bio
Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years and four big, spoiled cats.
When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. She enjoys nature. Really, really enjoys it. All of it! Well, almost all of it, anyway. From birds, to furry critters, to her very favorites, snakes. The exception would be spiders, which she truly loathes, convinced that anything with eight hairy legs is surely up to no good. She does not, however, kill spiders anymore, since she knows they have their place in the world. Besides, her husband now handles her Arachnid Catch and Release Program, and she’s good with that.
Spiders aside, the one thing Marcia would like to tell each of her readers is that it’s never too late to make your dreams come true. If, at the age of 69, she could write and publish her first book (and thus fulfill 64 years of longing to do that very thing), you can make your own dreams a reality, too. Go for it! What have you got to lose?
“Dad. Lucy won’t ruckus with me.” “I’m sure that’s not true, Twiggy.” “Believe her, Boss.”
Well, it’s Friday at last. I hope you are glad the day is here. I know Twiggy seems to think it is pretty special. I’m still trying to figure that out. Her treats don’t change and there is nothing special about her menu that would warrant a celebration. Maybe she senses a finish to the week that Friday represents. That is a good feeling.
Since it has been relatively quiet the last two days you can assume the tour for Eternal Road is over. I certainly want to thank all the bloggers who were kind enough to invite me to their blog. The scope of the tour was quite impressive. We traveled to eight countries, and the message was delivered to over 100,000 followers of the blogs. Yes, there were some duplicates but the figure still blows me away.
In addition, I used universal links on this intro, which meant I could track the clicks on those links. Again, there is an unknown amount of duplicates but during the period of the tour, over 3200 clicks were reported from nine countries.
So when I’m asked how the tour went, I respond with high praise.
To those who visited all these posts, I am also very grateful that you did and hope you found some interesting folks to follow.
So that’s a wrap. I’m going back to work on the next one. (yeah, I took a half a day off) Thanks everyone. Today’s JohnKu talks about support. Have a great weekend.
“Why are you at the door?” “I think Friday is in there.” “Little one. Friday is a day, not a being. Friday is everywhere.” “Yeah, isn’t it great?”
Here we are having arrived at Friday again. I hope you all had a super week. I have been touring with some of the best bloggers. It has been an exciting experience. I suddenly realize why I only publish one book every 18 months. This is a lot of work. I also feel so much gratitude for those who have volunteered to host me and especially for those who continually stop to comment. I get a real sense of Family with this process.
Come the 30th of September, and all this tour stuff will be done. Then on to the dreaded AMS (Amazon Marketing System) for some fun with ads. I was so confused this week I put the TGIF moniker on the Wednesday Hump Day post. All of you were so gracious in not mentioning it.
Today’s JohnKu talks about promoting a new book. I hope you have a relaxing weekend and a good one next week.
“What? I’m just asking if Lucy wants to play.” “It just looked like you were going to pounce on her.” “Who me? Pounce on this water buffalo? Not a chance.”
I am over at Story Empire today. I’m talking about a review link to your book on Amazon. Here is the link. (speaking of links)
Friday is here, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out a good reason to be overjoyed at the prospect. For those working, of course, it is a good thing to take a couple of days off. So I guess I’ll celebrate for you. 🎶 toot 🎶 (love that party horn.)
Not much going on around here. Yes, I’m still touring and am grateful for all the support. The last stop will be on the 30th, so there is a little way to go. A quick reminder that the price of Eternal Road will go up mid-October. It will go from 99¢ to $2.99. As I have said before, the price will never go below 99¢.
We have to keep Hurricane Sally victims in mind today. There is no such thing as an inconsequential Hurricane. Think of the last time you dropped some water on the floor. A Hurricane drops so much more water that usually everything on the main floor of homes is destroyed. Also, without power and A/C, the mold starts to grow immediately. These folks have a tough road ahead.
Today’s JohnKu talks about facing tough times. I hope you all have a beautiful weekend.
