I'm Back in August! You There?

Glad we got some rain, but it makes things sticky. I hope the month has been treating you well. If not, we will speak harshly to it. If that's not enough, steps will be taken!

Book News:
• Murder by the Mile is NOT sinking into the swamp, but it is a slow slog through murky waters and biting insects. I suspect the characters are trying to kill me, which is weird since, after all, it is a murder mystery and another character is trying to kill them. I hope they're not blaming me. After all, I did not tell XXXXX to take vengeance on BBBBB or encourage WWWWW to ZZZZZ that money. I am innocent! INNOCENT! Huh, I sound like DDDDD when questioned by the police. Weird.
• Floozy Takes A Ramble may get a new title. I'm playing with several different ones. I want it to be exciting, intriguing, mysterious, inviting, charming, funny, and intelligent. Apparently, I'm trying to date the title. Well, I'll know what the title is when it gets closer to publication sometime in 2025 or 2026.
• You can find all my books, including Floozy Goes Forth, Murder by Dewey Decimal, Murder by the Acre, Floozy Comes Back, Tales from Bethlehem, and Floozy & Other Stories at online retailers and Your Independent Bookstore. 
Here's the link to my author page on Amazon.
Here's the link to my books on Books-A-Million.
Here's the link to my books on Bookshop.org.
Here's the link to my books on Thrift Books.
Here's the link to my books on Powell Books.
Go buy several. Perfect for gifts for anyone except those weirdos who don't like to laugh or enjoy a good mystery. They do exist, I hear.

Personal news:
• I enjoyed my birthday last month. Lunches with friends, funny cards, and a gift or two made getting older...well, not fun, but bearable. The next time I get loot--ah, I mean sincere tokens of people's affection for me will be at Christmas. Looking forward to the holiday season.
• My six cats are doing generally well. Gypsy, the mother of four of them, has been sick and taken to the vet a few times, but she is doing better. Hoping for a clean bill of health the next time she goes in for a blood test.
• Speaking of doctor's visits, I will be going to the doctor at the end of the month for my trice-yearly diabetes checkup. No, it's not the vet, but I wonder if that would be cheaper.
• Trying to take up my walking program again. Get those steps for health. Probably should have begun before the soles of my shoes started melting from summer's unrelenting heat.

Jokes of the Month: 
A man walks into a seafood restaurant and sees a sign saying “Lobster Tails $1 each.” The man goes up to the waitress and says, “Those must be tiny tails if you’re selling them so cheaply.”
“No,” replies the waitress. “They’re normal size.”
“Then they have to be pretty old,” says the man.
“No,” replies the waitress. “They’re fresh today.”
“Okay,” says the man. “I’ll have one.”
So the waitress takes the man’s money, sits him down, and says, “Once upon a time there was a big red lobster…”

The manager of a garden center overhears one of his employees talking to a customer.
“No, we haven’t had any of that in ages,” says the employee. “I don’t know when we’ll be getting any more.”
The customer leaves, and the manager walks over to tell the employee off.
“Never EVER tell a customer we can’t get them something,” he says. “Whatever they want, we can always order. Do that again, and you're fired! Do you understand?”
The employee nods.
“So what did he want?” asks the manager.
“Rain,” replies the employee.

Quotes of the Month:
“Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great, too.” ~ Mark Twain
“When you give joy to other people, you get more joy in return. You should give good thought to the happiness that you can give out.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Take care and be safe. We'll chat again in September.