Hens Lay Eggs
food for thought
“It will cost you” #MFRWhooks
Cassia
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Branch 2 in the Tree of Life Series
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Excerpt
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n“I speak English,” he replied after a moment in an intriguing accent, his cool eyes alight with interest.
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n“Oh, God, not again,” she muttered beneath her breath. She took another breath to compose herself, smiled her most professional smile, and asked if someone was available to escort her clients into the hotel so they could return to their conference.
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n“You don’t know what happened, do you?” he inquired with a faint grin that concealed the sudden surge of rage wanting to be unleashed at whoever had been foolish enough to insult this woman. His woman.
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n“No, I’m sorry, I don’t. My clients were touring the city. We’ve not heard the news.”
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n“Someone attempted to assassinate a visiting government official in the hotel lobby,” he explained. “We’re not supposed to let anyone in or out the building.”
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nCassia extracted her hotel room card from her pocket and held it up. “I am a hotel guest, as is each of my group. We have no interest in interfering with the investigation. We just want to return to our meeting.”
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n“It will cost you,” he said with a grin that no woman could misunderstand.
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nCassia’s face went white with rage. “I will not whore myself. We’ll go elsewhere.”
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nShe turned on her heel, but the man’s hand shot out and grasped her arm and swung her back around. His grip was gentle, but unbreakable. Cassia recognized the enormous strength that he could wield and wisely quelled the urge to struggle. Besides being undignified, it would do no good and only amuse the boor. She brought flashing eyes to his glittering ones and could not have answered as to whether the emotion in his sky blue eyes was amusement or offense.
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n“Those two will go blind for cash bribes,” he explained with a subtle nod of his head to the two armed men standing at the door. “I’ll settle for dinner with you.”
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nHer wary glance held him at a small distance. She paused, then simply asked, “How much is the bribe?”
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nHe named a figure that would have had her laughing if she were watching the situation on television. Surely, she thought, the execs carried sufficient cash to cover the bribes. Or maybe not; they seemed to believe in the ultimate efficacy of credit cards. Even prostitutes accepted credit cards. In any case, she didn’t have the money.
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n“Dinner? You’ll require nothing more?”
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n“I demand nothing more.”
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n“But you’ll ask,” she shot back with disgust.
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nHe grinned at her and said, “A man cannot help himself. I give you my word that I shall do nothing you do not want.”
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nShe harrumphed and thought it over, then asked, “When?”
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n“Tonight.”n
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nOctober 11 – 13 | 2:00 PM Fri – 5:00 PM Sun
nRamada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, Louisville, KYn
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Off the rails
nThe past few weeks have been incredibly busy. Between working long hours, trying to get laundry done (and not succeeding), trying to cook dinner a few times a week (not a lot of success there either), and more, I’m forgetting a lot of routine stuff, like:nn
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- Tuesday morning blogs
- Friday #MFRWAuthor blogs
- Feeding the lovely Lady Anastasia her lunch.
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nLuckily, Stasia’s looking good. She regained much of the weight she lost over the summer, and her winter coat is growing in. She also regained the sparkle in her eyes and the spring in her step. I no longer fear she won’t make it through the winter; regardless, winter will be hard on my beloved geriatric mare. I must do better about ensuring the constant (and large) caloric doses she needs to maintain a healthy weight. Equine senior feed’s expensive when you go through 18 – 24 lbs. per day for just one horse. No one ever said caring for a 34-year old horse was cheap or easy.
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nWe also discovered that Stasia doesn’t like Rural King’s house brand of senior feed. It has no–or not enough–molasses. So much for that experiment. Back to SafeChoice Senior Feed. Or Purina Equine Senior. She likes that one, too.
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nI’ve lots to do yet to prepare for winter. Folks who don’t have large livestock don’t really understand the logistics. There ain’t no app for that. It’s all elbow grease and money spent. Good thing I love these animals.
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nSo, the logistics. Consider forage. The average 1,000 lb. horse requires 20 lbs. of food daily. The average square bale of hay weighs 40 – 50 lbs. When I had a full complement of livestock (3 horses and 14 llamas and alpacas), I calculated the need for 15 tons of hay necessary to get them from December 1 through April 1. That’s a lot of hay and didn’t include the round bales purchased and deposited in the pasture for free choice “grazing.” Round bales, by the way, incur a lot of waste. Expect to lose 30% (approx. 200 lbs.) of a “small” round bale to animal depredations and inclement weather.
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nThis year’s growing season favored rice, not hay, so hay is really expensive this year. I’m glad to enough left over from last year’s crop to feed Stasia through the winter. Of course, hay deteriorates and loses nutrients–and Stasia’s dentition isn’t what it used to be–so that, too, requires supplementation via concentrated feed. Anymore, Stasia gets most of her nutrition from the pelleted senior feed which she can “gum” if necessary.
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nBut you’re tired of hearing about good “horsekeeping.” So, let’s segue into another 4-legged critter living at Karen’s Home for Wayward Animals.
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nBrutus got his monthly depo shot on Monday morning. Brutus is one of our six indoor cats and a true asthmatic. The veterinarian warned us that monthly steroid shots would shorten his lifespan. Well, not breathing will shorten it even sooner and quickly, too. Brutus is tolerant of many things, not the least of which is the harness and leash. Getting him into a carrier is really difficult, so harness and leash substitute for confinement and control–well, as much as one can control a cat. The next two months’ shots are scheduled, as well as the dog’s annual checkup and vaccinations.
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nSo, what gives?
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nApparently, I do as shown by missed blog entries.
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nLast week I made no progress on any of my own manuscripts. Paid work is hitting my desktop hot and heavy with writing two newsletters due this month and editing for a magazine due this month. I sent off a new ghostwriting contract to a current client who wants me to write a nonfiction business guide for her. I expect project to start in November. Other ghostwriting project proceed apace. And, in the meantime, I try to keep up with the limited social media in which I engage.
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nI’m not complaining. Having a full platter is good. It pays the bills and keeps me off the streets and out of trouble. I think I’ve somehow inherited the elder son’s time management skills. He claims he has the time management skills of a carrot. Time management skills, like my handwriting, have devolved into general chaos. After triple-scheduling last Saturday, I’m making more and better use of Google Calendar to keep me on track.
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nI have committed to releasing a fifth book yet this year. That means I need to get my butt in gear.
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nWish me luck.n
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Guest Author Pamela Thibodeaux
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nWhen Holly invited me to write a post for her blog, I wondered what on earth could I say that you haven’t already heard or, for that matter, something I haven’t already said and/or written about. So I thought I’d just recap some of my most valuable writing advice. Here goes…. n |
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nEdit. Most projects need a minimum of three edits. Initial where you layer in descriptions, the five senses, etc. Second pass is where you check for plot holes and pacing. Third round is where you check for grammar, punctuation, etc. Make sure you take at least two weeks to a month between edits! If you don’t, chances are you’ll miss mistakes that could cost you a contract or precious time in edits after the contract. While you’re letting one manuscript cool, start another! Keep several projects in the works at all times, so you don’t worry that one to death.
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nQuery/Submit. At some point you’ve got to turn that baby loose. Even if your initial submission is to a critique partner or group, don’t let fear stop you from getting the feedback necessary to help you grow as a writer and produce the best work you can. Read the last two sentences above – they apply here, too. Keep writing while you wait to hear back from your submission.
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nRevise, Re-submit, Resell. This applies mostly to articles and essays, but sometimes you can even revise/rewrite a story and sell it elsewhere. Make sure you abide by any current or previous contract limitations. If someone doesn’t normally take reprints, be sure to let them know the extent of changes you’ve made that add a whole new twist to the version you’re querying about or submitting to them.
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nPromote. Okay you’ve sold a book or two or a dozen articles. There will be no (or very few) sales, reviews, or new opportunities if you don’t let people know! Set up a website, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon Author Page. Spend a few hours a week building your fan base and readership. When you do a book signing or speaking engagement, ask for the name and address (email, too) of everyone who buys a book! This is your readership. Ask to add them to your mailing/newsletter list. Don’t bombard them, but keep in touch on a regular basis, whether that is monthly, quarterly, or even annually.
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nThese tips and hints apply to the craft of writing but here are a few more …n
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nKeep good records. Writing is a business, and even unpublished authors can claim business expenses such as office supplies, ink, business cards, etc. Check with a CPA or tax preparer and don’t miss out on these valuable deductions especially when you begin to make money!
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nTake Care of Yourself. Sometimes life throws us a curve ball or hand grenade, and we have a hard time focusing on writing. Don’t worry about your career at this point. Take the time you need to recover and/or regroup and start over. Real writers never quit. We may take an extended leave of absence, but, at some point, we always return to our passion.
nAnd last but certainly not least …
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nDon’t Quit! Writing is a gift and a talent given to you by God. Don’t hide your gift or bury your talent.n
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