Lots of stuff!

We have a lot to cover, and as you will see, time is pressing me so let's get going.

First, Ghosts is finished on this blog. I've had a small handful of dedicated readers -- whom I appreciate and will reward as I can -- but for the most part, unique visits on my blog dropped off drastically as the story continued. I asked a couple of the people who weren't dropping by as they used to find out why. 1) They didn't like reading long stories online, 2) they didn't like horror and 3) they stop by the blog to see what's going on with me and all I'm posting is the story. Well, I can understand those reasons. Also, because Ghosts is a book, I need to be able to go back and correct earlier mistakes. I'm thinking it's better if my readers see a finished product rather than my fumbles and missteps. So no Ghosts. But if you really like the story, have no fear. Come February or March, I will make it available to you to read, either on Lulu.com or other venue.

Second, I hesitate to share this with you because somehow letting you know about it means I will be committed -- and probably should be to some nice mental hospital -- but I am participating in National Novel Writing Month. Or as it is known by the fellow inmates, NaNo. Lord help your addled child. This means writing 50,000 words in November. Ghosts is actually my NaNo novel, but it's obvious to me now that most of what I've written is too far along in the story, and I need to recast the whole thing. A major difficulty is the lack of dialogue or really the opportunity for dialogue among the characters. And since I'm aiming for 65,000 to 70,000 words with 50,000 in November(!), I've got to get moving.

Third, I've become a member of the Blastoff! shopping and entertainment network, and I'd like you to join, too. Becoming a member is fast and free and requires no personal information. You can join here. It offers a customized home page where you can easily add feeds from news sites, plenty of free games, a shopping mall that offers access to over 400 online merchants, and discounts and cash back checks up to 15 percent. Several of my friends have already started shopping on it because of the discounts and cash backs. If you shop online much, you can save money using Blastoff! With Christmas looming before us, I think it's a good thing.

Fourth, I had a very good Saturday. Got up late, did a bit of housework, and worked on my family newsletter. Around noon, I joined some of my friends to watch our local college's homecoming parade -- which lasted over an hour! Afterwards, we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant. And for those friends, might I say ... GRRRR! (You had to be there.) Then my roomie and I decorated the front porch a bit for Halloween -- yes, we were running behind -- and we watched football all night and gave out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

Fifth, a good Sunday, too, although I caught a bit of a cold. For lunch I sauteed chicken breasts in olive oil, minced garlic, chives and turmeric and then added rice and organic chicken broth to the pan. Delicious! Served it with the Brussels sprouts and asparagus spears. A great and fairly quick meal. Then I spent most of the day doing laundry, napping, writing, finishing the family newsletter, etc.

And now it's Monday and time for work. Talk to you later. Have a great day!

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