Crunching Words

We are still dealing with oppressive heat here in west central Alabama, and with temperatures predicted to be in the triple digits most of this week, it’s a good time to stay inside as much as possible, which is exactly what we are doing.

There’s only so much goofing off I can do, especially when I’m confined to the house like this, so I decided it was time to start on my next book, Jackpot. This will be the 12^th  book in my John Lee Quarrels series about a sheriff’s deputy in rural North Florida. I’ve written a chapter a day in the last three days and hope to get a few more chapters knocked out by the end of the week. So far it’s off to a good start and I’m looking forward to seeing how the story develops.

Speaking of books, on Sunday, one week after Big Lake Assault, the 22nd book in that small town mystery series came out, it was ranked at #745 in Amazon’s Kindle Store out of all the millions of e-books available on Amazon, and #11 in the Police Procedurals category. Scarlett is working on formatting the print copy of the book, and once she gets that back to me in a few days, my cover artist, Elizabeth Mackey, will get the print cover ready for me and I will get it uploaded to Amazon.

In a blog a couple of days ago I talked about the delicious hammered chicken that Terry made for dinner. Several readers messaged me asking for the recipe. Terry told me that she takes boneless chicken breasts and splits them in half parallel, or uses chicken tenders, flattens them and then rolls them in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and Konriko Greek seasoning and sautées them a couple tablespoons each of olive oil and butter. Trust me, try this recipe at home and you’re going to have some smiling faces around your table. 😊

As nasty as the heat is right now, the good news is that the weatherman says this is the hottest week of the year and probably the last blast of summer. Temperatures next week are supposed to be in the mid-80s, and not a moment too soon! We’re supposed to have some rain and occasional thunderstorms but that’s fine with me. The grass needs it, and I’m more than ready to spend some time outside.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. All I can say is this must have been one hell of a honeymoon!

Thought For The Day – My body is a temple. Ancient, crumbling, cursed, and probably haunted.