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| Clockwise from upper right - A day in the life in July: (1) checking on my Sims over coffee; (2) unclogging a drain aka fun science experiment with baking soda and vinegar; (3) editing; (4) checking for packages up by the marina office; (5) procrastinating with some toenail painting; and (6) making dinner chock-full of vegies. |
July was a very focused month. Focused also means boring. Not much happened on s/v Tickety Boo other than working on writing-related projects. I even took a "blogcation" during the month, only posting the occasional cat picture here, not really visiting other blogs, and trying to limit my time on social media. My sole focus has been on trying to get a draft of next book in my cozy mystery series, Bodies in the Boatyard, ready to go out to beta readers. Of course, ugly plot holes and defiant characters made this challenging, but I'm hopefully getting closer to the finish line.
So here are the rather random and boring things that happened last month in numbers:
- 12-18 months - How long it takes a mama manatee to wean her offspring. Four manatees paid us a visit in the marina and some friends swore they saw one give birth right near my boat. Very cool!
- $2.64 - How much a medium iced coffee at McDonald's costs. When you live in Florida during the summer, hot coffee just isn't that appealing. Iced is the way to go.
- 4 - How many sea turtles there are at the Florida Oceanographic Institute. A friend and I had a fun outing there to do some research for my book. One of the characters is a marine biologist.
- 2 - Number of days I had sugary treats. I was trying not to eat any during the month of July, but a friend sent some delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies down to me. How could I say no? But I did do fairly well the rest of the month.
- 6 - Number of books I read. My fave was Terry Prachett's Going Postal - hilarious! I also beta read a fascinating sailing memoir. Can't wait to see this one published.
- 2 - Number of new coloring books I bought with a gift card someone gave me. Plus some new markers! It's like I'm five years old again. All I need is a box of crayons and my life will be complete.
- 17 - How many Sims I have. One of my latest time wasters if The Sims Free Play. It can be a total time suck if you're not careful.
- 2 millimeters - How big the ants are on my boat. They're so tiny that they really don't bother me, but I have been debating whether or not to put down ant traps as they're getting more numerous. Oh, how powerful I feel in control of whether my Sims and tiny ants live or die. {No, I didn't really measure them. It's a total guess.}
- Nil - How many hurricanes we experienced in Florida. Yes, it's hurricane season again which means regularly checking the National Hurricane Center forecast. It's still really early in the season, but fingers crossed we don't get a doozy like we got last year.
- 3 - Number of paperbacks of Murder at the Marina that the Portland, Oregon library system purchased. The Los Angeles library system also bought an ebook on Overdrive. I love the fact that you can find my book at a library! {BTW, if you want to suggest to your local library that they get a copy, you can find the details here.}
In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month both here and on my author blog:
Cost of Cruising & Living Aboard a Sailboat
Validation & Smiles
Release of Murder at the Marina & Thank You
How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?
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That's cool the libraries stocked your book.
ReplyDeleteWhen Simon starts complaining about the ants, you'll know it's time to do something.
It's very cool and what's even cooler is that people are checking them out :-)
DeleteI'm so with you on the iced coffee, but I get mine from Dunkin Donuts. Dark roast with light cream - aaaaah! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm crossing my fingers, too, for a quiet hurricane season....
Dunkin Donuts is good but I'm always tempted to get a donut to go along with my coffee.
DeleteLast month was HOT. It's a bit cooler now, but that won't last very long and it will be HOT again. It's the way of things.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to our upcoming cruise to Benicia. It's a fun destination and there are a great group of folks that are going.
Have a fabulous day and weekend, Ellen. ♥
Have fun on your cruise - I bet it will be a great time :-)
DeleteNot really that boring, you had plenty to get done and you did it!
ReplyDeleteWell, it could have been a tad more interesting. Maybe this month will be :-)
DeleteThat is great you can find your book at libraries. The manatees must be fun to watch. Have a nice weekend!
ReplyDeleteIt's a neat feeling to know that they're on a library shelf somewhere.
DeleteI love manatees. We timed one of our visits to FL a couple years ago to increase our chances of seeing some come into one of their favorite wintering spots. (Crystal something-or-other, maybe... not sure) Anyhow, it worked out beautifully for us. My hubby kept checking the report online, and they arrived a couple days before we had to head home. We saw lots of them. It was soooo exciting.
ReplyDeleteVery cool about your book being in some libraries!
They are such fun animals to watch! Glad your timing worked out for you.
DeleteCongrats on getting your book (3 nonetheless) in the Portland, Oregon library. That is huge and unbelievably awesome! Whenever I head back east, I will look into promoting it at the local library. It might be a while, though.
ReplyDeleteWhat are Sims?? A friend gifted me an adult coloring book and crayons as well and I'm looking forward to relax (I think it will come close to meditating) with it one day. So far, no extra time to do so at all!!
Good for you to have your priorities right, focusing and being "boring" last month! :-) Looking forward to the draft of Bodies in the Boatyard when it's beta reader-ready. And, of course, thanks again for reading my memoir and even mentioning it here.
I find coloring to be a really meditative activity - it's great when I'm stuck on a plot point. I color while my mind works it all out.
DeleteSims is a video game. I've had different versions of the game over the years. You build houses and create people and then watch them as they live their lives out. I've even got a pregnant Sim right now :-)
Going to the Florida Oceanographic Institute is so totally not boring! Now all your new characters are going to have to have interesting and unusual jobs so you can research them and go to cool places.
ReplyDeleteHere is how many books I've read in two months - 1/2. I am such a slow reader - which is especially bad when I am reading a Terry Pratchett book. Sometimes I get to the end and although the book has been totally entertaining, suddenly there seems to be a point to the story relating to some small sentence in the very first chapter I read weeks or months ago and have completely forgotten about. So glad you are enjoying the Disc World.
Congrats on no hurricanes, few sugary treats, and of course having your book in a library!