Brain Dead

I’m brain dead. That’s the only excuse I can come up with for not giving the simplest answer to one of the questions in yesterday’s Q&A blog. When describing different author styles, I said a pantster, such as me, is somebody who just has an idea to start with and takes it from there, and the story develops as they write. While that’s true, as several readers pointed out, the simplest explanation is that a pantster flies (or this case writes) by the seat of their pants.

I also messed up the other day when talking about the mini-split we had installed in the garage. I said the garage isn’t insulated, and I don’t know where I came up with that. I must have been thinking about the garage at the Alabama house, because this one is insulated and the walls and ceiling are covered with sheetrock. Don’t judge me. I’m old and senile.

But there was one place in the garage we needed to address. At some point before we bought the house, someone had cut a crude hole in the sheetrock to access the area above the ceiling and just left it that way. Yesterday, Terry squared off the opening and then framed it, using some scrap 2x4s and leftover trim molding we had laying around. We need to get a piece of wood put in the opening that we can push out of the way if we ever need to access that area. By the time we finished, it was late in the day, so we put a piece of heavy cardboard in it for now until we can get to the store.

It’s been hot and we haven’t had much rain for the last couple of days, so yesterday evening we were watering our plants and Terry’s raised garden beds. I was pleased to see that one of the rose bushes out front has some very pretty pink roses on it.

Congratulations Pam Junker, winner of our drawing for an autographed copy of Havasu Palms, A Hostile Takeover by Bobbi Johnson Holmes, it was featured in an Author Spotlight back in May. It’s the true story of one hard working pioneering family in the 20th century, and how their life’s work was stolen – a theft sanctioned by the United States Government and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe.

For the Johnson family, 1968 was the beginning of a new adventure in a remote desert community in Southern California. They believed in the American dream, where hard work and honesty have just rewards. The family put their trust in government promises, in spite of the fact the common belief among the country’s youth was that the federal government could not be trusted. Perhaps, the family should have paid attention.

We had 33 entries this time around. Stay tuned. A new contest starts soon! Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 30 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

Did you know that you can find all of my books and sign up for my free author’s newsletter on my website at www.nickrussellbooks.com?

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.

Thought For The Day – I don’t think bad things only happen to good people. I think bad things happen to everyone, and the way good people respond is what makes them good.