Category: Blog

Some days are like that, Mrs. Miller. . .

Business first: Those who have recently read/re-read the Fey books in their original form, may now review the books as one work under their omnibus title, The Fey Duology, in the venue of your choice. Given the Fair Mess this release has become, reviews will help considerably.

Once again — Spanish Aunts, and many, many thanks for your support and patience.
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I did finish enough research that tomorrow, I believe I will begin to write down words in the book file, so that’s good.

After that, things kinda went downhill. Possibly because the book I’m writing is the last of the Jethri arc, and Jethri was Steve’s buddy. OTOH, I wrote the first one, so it’s fitting that I write the wrap-up. Hear that, Brain?

I went out for some Alpaca Therapy, which helped a little. I think, but I’m still not Top of the Pops, so I’m shutting down for the rest of the day. I figure to do some coloring and listen to The Talisman Ring, go to bed early, and try again tomorrow.

Everybody stay safe.

In case anyone else is in need of Alpaca Therapy, here’s a picture:

Books read in 2026

29  A Gentleman Far from Home (Lord Julian 11) Grace Burrowes (e)
28  Black Sheep, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Natalie Simpson
27  Cotillion, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Raj Ghatak
26  Platform Decay, (Murderbot) Martha Wells (e)
25  A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles (e) (bookclub)
24  Fair Trade (Jethri Gobelyn #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
23  Ribbon Dance (Liaden Universe #26), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Alex Picard
22  Trade Secret (Liaden Universe #17), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (e)
21  Sea Wrack and Changewind, Sharon Lee, narrated by Alex Picard
20  When the Wolves are Silent (Sebastian St. Cyr #21), C.S. Harris (e)
19  An Heir of Distinction (Bad Heir Days #5), Grace Burrowes (e)
18   Longeye (Fey Duology #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
17   Duainfey (Fey Duology #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
16  *Crystal Dragon (Liaden Universe® #10), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
15  *Crystal Soldier (Liaden Universe® #9), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
14  Seeking Persephone (Lancaster Family #1), Sarah M. Eden (e)
13   Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (e) book club
12  *Balance of Trade (Liaden Universe® #8), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
11  *Scout’s Progress (Liaden Universe® #6), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
10  *Local Custom, (Liaden Universe® #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
9   *I Dare (Liaden Universe® #7), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
8   Cuckoo’s Egg, C J Cherryh, (audio first time)
7   *Plan B, (Liaden Universe® #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
6   Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Crusie (audio first time)
5   *Carpe Diem (Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4   *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve    Miller
3   *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve                 Miller
2   A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace             Burrowes (e)
1   Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)

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*I’m doing a straight-through series read in publication order

**I screwed up and moved right on to I Dare from Plan B, therefore deviating from publication order.  I will now amend myself and go back to pick up Local Custom.

***I’ll be re-issuing Duainfey and Longeye as an e-omnibus later this year, and so I need to read them!

And so it’s June

Business first! The Fey Duology, including dark fantasy novels Duainfey and Longeye, is now available for purchase in electronic format from!  Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and Baen.

The paper edition is for sale at the Amazon link.

Go forth, Big Book, and Find Your Audience.
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So! Monday. Sunny and cool-but-not-cold.

Did some good start-up work on the new novel. I still have to find a few names of planets and locate a couple spaceships, but so far, all the Signs and Portents are positive.

The cats were very supportive.  Photographic proof.

A couple people asked me what I “usually” do with a completed jigsaw puzzle, and the answer is!

The puzzle the cats completed for me yesterday is, I believe, the very first jigsaw puzzle I have assembled as an adult. My spatial sense — by which I mean, the ability to recognize what will fit into where — does not exist. So! While it’s very lowering to read that a 500-piece puzzle ought to take, eh, up to five hours to assemble, I’m kind of astonished I actually got one together At All, despite it very likely absorbing 3 times that many hours (I didn’t time myself, really, but I do know that yesterday alone, it took 4 hours to finish.)

The completed puzzle is taped up safely in its portfolio. It being an Accomplishment of its kind, I may glue it together eventually, as a trophy.

Lunch has been et, and in a moment or two I will start in with emptying trash cans, and staging the trash bags and recycling, so that it can easily be moved from the garage to the curb tomorrow morning. Also up for my exciting afternoon is doing my duty to the cats, taking a walk, and making two phone calls. Sigh.

Since last week, I’ve listened to Georgette Heyer’s Cotillion and Black Sheep. Yesterday, I started listening to The Talisman Ring, and I’m … a little shocked at how very menacing Basil “The Beau” is, listening to him being read, professionally. Of course, I read Heyer as comedies, and the narrators are obliged to read them as if they were serious.

So, that’s me caught up on the first day of Back To Work.

How’s everybody doing?
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So, that’s enough excitement for one day. All the to-do list items are crossed off, including the one where I had to remove Steve’s name from the sock-drawer credit card (new cards arrived in the mail today; I’d forgotten he was even on it).

Also? The altered state that newly bereaved people exist in is an impressive coping mechanism. I made dozens of those calls right after Steve died, and they were hard, but today was gut-wrenching.

And, apropos of nothing much, I don’t talk to many people from Texas, and that accent falls odd on the ear.

So, anyway. Knocking off for the day, having Done Great Deeds. I have a mid-morning dental appointment tomorrow, and after that? We’ll see.

Everybody stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

Books read in 2026

28  Black Sheep, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Natalie Simpson
27  Cotillion, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Raj Ghatak
26  Platform Decay, (Murderbot) Martha Wells (e)
25  A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles (e) (bookclub)
24  Fair Trade (Jethri Gobelyn #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Eileen Stevens
23  Ribbon Dance (Liaden Universe #26), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, narrated by Alex Picard
22  Trade Secret (Liaden Universe #17), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (e)
21  Sea Wrack and Changewind, Sharon Lee, narrated by Alex Picard
20  When the Wolves are Silent (Sebastian St. Cyr #21), C.S. Harris (e)
19  An Heir of Distinction (Bad Heir Days #5), Grace Burrowes (e)
18   Longeye (Fey Duology #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
17   Duainfey (Fey Duology #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
16  *Crystal Dragon (Liaden Universe® #10), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
15  *Crystal Soldier (Liaden Universe® #9), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
14  Seeking Persephone (Lancaster Family #1), Sarah M. Eden (e)
13   Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (e) book club
12  *Balance of Trade (Liaden Universe® #8), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
11  *Scout’s Progress (Liaden Universe® #6), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
10  *Local Custom, (Liaden Universe® #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
9   *I Dare (Liaden Universe® #7), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
8   Cuckoo’s Egg, C J Cherryh, (audio first time)
7   *Plan B, (Liaden Universe® #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
6   Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Crusie (audio first time)
5   *Carpe Diem (Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4   *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve    Miller
3   *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve                 Miller
2   A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace             Burrowes (e)
1   Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)

________
*I’m doing a straight-through series read in publication order

**I screwed up and moved right on to I Dare from Plan B, therefore deviating from publication order.  I will now amend myself and go back to pick up Local Custom.

***I’ll be re-issuing Duainfey and Longeye as an e-omnibus later this year, and so I need to read them!

Vacation winding down

Sunday, chilly so far, and slightly cloudy. The weatherbeans are calling for rain a little later.

Slept badly, which is becoming A Theme, and am therefore a mite muzzy-headed. Which reminds me that I ought to put the kettle on.

The Plan for today, insomuch as &c, is to finish the laundry, finish the puzzle, talk nonsense to the cats, have a good night’s sleep (sigh), set the alarm (!) and be ready to go back to work tomorrow morning. This will consist of reading my notes, deciding on sections and maybe even making a start on listing scenes to be written for each section.

Trade Lanes, here we come.

Tomorrow, I will be returning to the New Work Schedule of writing in the morning and tending to blogs, business, housework, shopping, baking, and various whatnots in the afternoon. I am, going forward, planning to make any needed appointments in the afternoon, though I have a long-standing dental appointment on Tuesday morning.

I’m told I need to send a “picture” to Adult Ed to accompany my course listing, but I’m not completely clear on a picture of What, so I will be writing that email today, as well. If it’s a picture of me, I’m thinking I’ll send along the portrait that was taken with Zander and Obie.

Else?

. . .

Nothing else occurs — ref putting on the kettle.

What are your plans for the day?

Home again, home again…

While I always enjoy other people making omelettes for me, I did miss the homestyle breakfast conversation while I was at the ocean.


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Saturday. Rainy, cool, and blowy. I guess a piece of the gale that was bearing down on OOB yesterday found its way inland.

Station Air off, heat on. First cup of tea brewing.

First — many thanks to everyone who has offered to adopt, and in some cases, buy, my Stuff, but — I’m not selling. I still want my jar of marbles. What I  don’t want is for them to be treated like the Incomprehensible Garbage collected by A Crazy Old Woman after I’ve gotten done. I wish, in a word, to provide honorably for them. I also have a jar with some bits of sea glass in it. I feel less strongly about it, but still want it to be creditably established with someone who knows sea glass — especially sea glass that isn’t brown (beer bottles) — for the small miracle it is.

We can do a tour of the marbles at some point, if there’s interest, but I’m not adopting them out, just yet. I need them.

This is related to my determination to stay in this house. Though Steve and I didn’t live here anywhere near as long as we did in the house in Winslow, Steve made sure to create a space that would help us both remember ourselves. It’s also the reason he took so many pictures of just everyday life. This house is my memory palace, if not actually a carapace, that keeps me from ‘sploding out in all directions at once.

Well. It’s Saturday, as they say, and I’m just back from vacation so that must mean!

Yep. Laundry.

What’s everybody else doing today?

Below, the jar of marbles. You may be able to see that some of those items? Aren’t marbles.