Ramblings of a Middle Aged Lunatic

                Thursday, August 29 th ,2019.                 This date had significance for me.   It was the day I planned to release my seventh book, Sins of the Child.   It was also the day for my office’s summer outing.   We were going on a sunset sail and my boyfriend, who is disabled due to MS and doesn’t leave the apartment often, was excited to attend.                   I awoke at 6:38, before my alarm went off at 6:45 AM.   I lay in bed contemplating staying there until it was time to get up, but I thought, “you have a very busy day ahead of you,” and heaved myself up.                 Eight minutes later, at 6:53 AM, (this was the time recorded by ou...

                It’s that time of year again.   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W6S1GC8 , my newest offering, Sins of the Child , is available for pre-order in the Kindle store.   The E-book will be launched to all markets for $2.99 on August 29 th .   It will also be available in paperback for $7.99.   I’ve been a bit remiss in the past about releasing paperback editions, but I am committed to improving this because I know a lot of you still prefer a physical copy.   Stay tuned for the chance to win a $25 gift card for those who follow my Facebook page and the opportunity to win a free copy of the paperback.                 I wanted to take some time to discuss the back story behind Sins of the Child. I started working on an earlier incantation of this novel all the way back in 2011.   Back then, it was tent...

It is a picture that twists your heartstrings and brings a lump to your throat.   A dog, huddled into himself, emaciated, his ribs showing through his coat, nearly catatonic from starvation and neglect.   The name attached to the photo is a familiar one-Michelle DiGenarro, and her age is the same as mine, 44.                   I may know this woman, although I can’t place her.   I might have worked with her at one of the retail jobs I was employed at in the nineties.   If she’s who I’m thinking of, she gave off massive crazy vibes.   But that may not have even been her.                 My boyfriend thinks he may have gone to school with her, but he’s not sure either.   If so, she would have been a year or so ahead of him.             ...

  We're all looking for our money's worth these days.  After all, if statistics are to be believed, our salaries have not significantly increased since the seventies, and yet inflation has risen over a 100%.  It costs thirty dollars to buy two cheeseburgers from your neighborhood greasy spoon.  We're all looking for ways to save money, and when times are tight, entertainment is the first category to take a hit.  In that spirit, and also in an effort to help my fellow authors (writing a book is hard work-marketing it, ten times harder), I'm going to share the best Indie books I'd read occasionally on my blog in a new installment, Shannon's Cheap Book Picks.        I discovered Dylan Steel's Sacrasvita series purely by accident.  I stumbled across the first book in one of the daily emails I receive for cheap books and downloaded it, since it sounded interested and was free.              The day my mo...

Ponderings on The Playground                 My first book, The Playground , https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072823WZ9 is free this Easter weekend April 19-21, 2019.   Although it seems unbelievable, it’s been nearly two years since it was first published on Amazon.   Publishing it was a whim.   I had been trying for three months to get an agent, and I had just read that once an author accomplishes this, it takes another six months to find a publisher, and then another two years until the book is available for sale.                   I’m an impatient person.   That was too long of a wait.   I uploaded the book to Amazon, hit publish, and went to bed wondering if I’d regret it.   I haven’t yet.                 The Playground was ...