Every year, I tell the hubs we need more lights. Every year, he says he can fix the ones we have. Every year, it takes up hours of our night and I lose another bit of my sanity.
Hey Roguelings! I'm winding my day down and Jill just sent me this photo, so I figured I'd get my weekly check-in posted.
I have been in the author world for 13 years, and I have a lot of author friends, though most of them live far away - east coast, overseas, many live in Texas - pretty much anywhere but near me. Ha! BUT I made a new author friend last weekend and she lives in one of my most favorite places in California - you've heard me talk about beautiful Tahoe? Yeah, lucky her. Anyway, it's not exactly close, but what's four hours of a beautiful drive, right?
Some of you may know Jill Shalvis. She's been around for years and her books are bestsellers! Heartwarming, spicy, and sweet. And she is so sweet too. So, if you're looking for a new romance author, or have been wanting to read one of her books, she has a new book coming out soon, and I just picked up a signed copy of He Falls First.
Also, the hubs and I did something new recently - Secret Movie screening. That's right, we went to a movie and we had no idea what it was, only that it was a movie that hasn't released yet. It was really fun. We saw "Eternity" and it gave me and the hubs ALLLL the feels - happy, funny, heart-wrenching.
ALSO, I finally saw Predator Badlands! I have so many thoughts, which I'll post about separately. But I enjoyed it and highly recommend watching it on the big screen if you're a movie monster fan like I am!
Other than that, I'm lost in Darkborn awesomeness (more than halfway through book two), and being thankful for my readers. You always have a way of putting a smile on my face.
Thank you for being you, and have a good week. It's raining cats and dogs here - stay warm and dry wherever you are and let me know how you're doing. I think of you all the time.
Linds
Hey, Roguelings!
I'm not sure if you saw this, but if you've read Skies of Fire this might be interesting to you...
First off, I always try to write seeds of reality and fact into my stories. I'm not a science major and I don't retain half the information I research, but I don't put anything in my books that doesn't have a meaning or purpose either. And most of what I write, especially in my survival stuff, is plausible.
i.e. Fact - over 200 "extinct" volcanoes can be found under Texas. So of course it was the perfect setting for Skies of Fire, a story about reawakening and new volcanoes unlike anything the world has ever seen. Yellowstone even makes an appearance, especially in book two.
As I was writing, my question was - what makes a volcano extinct? And why can't it wake up?
And so, with a dash of gravity shifting and the Earth thrown out of whack, I created a catastrophic climate event that sent parts of the world ablaze (among other devastating natural events).
And here we have it, an extinct volcano that hasn't erupted in HUMAN HISTORY aka 710,000 years, is beginning to rumble in Iran.
Here's an article: https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/an-iranian-volcano-appears-to-have-woken-up-700-000-years-after-its-last-eruption
Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX8FExkB5b8
🤯
I'll write more about the realistic goodies I add to my stories in a Rogue Letters Substack later, but for now I thought I'd share this in case you missed it!
Interesting times, indeed!
Linds
Okay, where are my monster peeps at?
The hubs and I finished Alien Earth (TV show on FX) and it started off slow but boy, by the end, it was pretty awesome.
Why? I'll tell you but that means there are spoilers....read at your own risk.
First, I love that the aliens are finally on Earth. That provides so many new storytelling opportunities that being in space for the past 20 movies (I'm exaggerating) has limited.
Second, the aliens are portrayed differently in this series. This is the first time I've ever "liked" them. Ha!
I love that Wendy can communicate with them, showing they aren't only evil - but animals, predators.
And more than anything, I LOVE the octopus eye. Is that weird?
I know, I'm a loon, but I can't help it.
Let me know what you think and if you enjoyed the series.
P.S. The guy who played Boy Prodigy - great job. I wanted to punch him in the face the entire time. Hahahaha
Ta-ta!
Linds
Hey Roguelings...
I've had a...day. It started off really really heavy and then turned brain numbing dealing with California tax law and banking and blah blah blah in preparation for some business switches I'm making - all to make my life easier, hopefully, and none of it will affect you.
This morning, though, was sad, unexpected, and surreal. I'm still in shock about it, I think. I'm processing "out loud" here, so I apologize if this is heavy for you too - but it feels important to share for some reason.
My sister called me crying, and told me a man my mother was engaged to for a number of years (before and during my elementary school years) had passed away.
We had good memories with him - he was like a stepfather to us - but still, I was surprised she was so emotional. Sad, yes - of course. But to the extent she was broken up didn't seem like my sister. We haven't spoken to or seen him in at least thirty years. I figured he'd long moved on from us, maybe even started a new family of his own. I don't even know where he lives.
Then she told me the story...
Apparently, he found out he was terminally ill on his birthday, June 1, 2025 and was admitted to the hospital. He had been searching for us to reconnect for a while. To what extent, I don't know.
My sister was contacted by a friend, of a friend, of a friend, asking her to reach out to a women neither of us have ever met or heard of, and when they finally connected, the woman (his wife) told her than he'd passed away on September 1. She told my sister that he never stopped loving us, that he talked about us all the time, wondered what we were doing, and that, when he couldn't find us to put us in his will, he set something aside for us.
It hurts my heart to think he cared so much for us and was never able to reconnect. And that if we had known, we would have loved to see him and talked with him one last time.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing this with you, other than to be real and vulnerable. To process that it feels like a dream and a story that isn't my life - like something I would write about, not live.
And to mourn and recognize a man who I have happy memories with - going on road trips, being in the redwoods, teaching me how to play backgammon at 7 years old - I'm still really good!
He had an infectious laugh, reminded me of Hulk Hogan, and now he's gone. I am sad I couldn't say goodbye to someone who had so much love in his heart for me and my sister.
It's another reminder that time is precious. Memories mean something. And we all leave our mark on people in one way or another. This is a reminder for myself as much as for you, I guess.
I hope you find something to be grateful for this week and celebrate the good memories. It's easy to forget them, which is sad in and of itself.
I'm going to work on Darkborn tomorrow, so that will make me feel a little brighter. :)
Thank you for reading this and supporting me. You're are some of my favorite memories.
🩵 Linds
