What I'm Currently Reading
![What I'm Currently Reading What I'm Currently Reading](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/The%20Starless%20Sea%20audiobook_w140_h140/The%20Starless%20Sea%20audiobook_06030500.jpg)
I'm reading several books at once at the moment. Don't you juggle books, too?
Book Gatekeeping is for the Birds
![Book Gatekeeping is for the Birds Book Gatekeeping is for the Birds](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/geekhouse_a_gate_made_out_of_books_300cbf77-6e91-45b3-972e-33475c0a4390_3_w140_h140/geekhouse_a_gate_made_out_of_books_300cbf77-6e91-45b3-972e-33475c0a4390_3_05051105.png)
People who gatekeep books can kiss my oversized buttocks.
Horror Audiobooks and Work Don't Mix
![Horror Audiobooks and Work Don't Mix Horror Audiobooks and Work Don't Mix](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/geekhouse_dark_cabin_alone_in_the_woods_on_a_deserted_island__5f474fe5-fd20-4208-a562-a811371707cd_3_w140_h140/geekhouse_dark_cabin_alone_in_the_woods_on_a_deserted_island__5f474fe5-fd20-4208-a562-a811371707cd_3_05050819.png)
I don't recommend listening to a horror audiobook when you work alone. You would think the reason would be self-evident, but this idiot (me—I'm the idiot) did just that...
I Need More Gray Shirts
![I Need More Gray Shirts I Need More Gray Shirts](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/20240319_211624_w140_h140/20240319_211624_03240601.jpg)
Cat love means never going without a bit of extra fur on your person.
Damsel Movie Review
![Damsel Movie Review Damsel Movie Review](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Damsel_2024_poster2_w140_h140/Damsel_2024_poster2_03220932.jpg)
The movie Damsel, featuring Millie Bobby Brown as the lead character Elodie, released March 8th on Netflix. It's a hoot!
A Little Serenity
![A Little Serenity A Little Serenity](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/neat%20rock%20formations%20in%20colorado_w140_h140/neat%20rock%20formations%20in%20colorado_03040605.jpg)
I originally wrote this post back in July 2013. I was trucking through Colorado, and stopped at a rest area with some really unusual-looking rock formations. Honestly, they looked like so much fun to climb that I really struggled to force myself to get back in the truck. I had a delivery, after all, and couldn't lolly-gag.
My 12-year-old son, when he got to go with me for several weeks of one summer, had a very succinct way of describing trucking after his experience. "It's all go and no stop." I suppose it's more accurate to say it's all go until you have to stop some place completely out of the way with nothing interesting to do for three days.
Anyway, the story is about my struggle between my inner child and my responsible grown-up self.
Inspiration and Ideas
![Inspiration and Ideas Inspiration and Ideas](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/geekhouse_a_seedling_growing_out_of_a_human_brain_with_the_leav_692859cf-8d83-4be0-8de0-6793125baa44_w140_h140/geekhouse_a_seedling_growing_out_of_a_human_brain_with_the_leav_692859cf-8d83-4be0-8de0-6793125baa44_03040453.png)
For writing, success = ass in the chair. For inspiration, sometimes it's the same.
When Did I Become a Troglodyte?
![When Did I Become a Troglodyte? When Did I Become a Troglodyte?](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/geekhouse_a_conspiracy_theory_cork_board_with_strings_leading_t_59f8f623-e3d5-42cf-877f-47261119eb92_w140_h140/geekhouse_a_conspiracy_theory_cork_board_with_strings_leading_t_59f8f623-e3d5-42cf-877f-47261119eb92_02040545.png)
There is no arguing that computers have made our lives so much better. Yet, I think in some ways, technology has also made our lives harder. If a person (me—that person is me) can't keep up with the changes, it is really easy to fall behind.
24 Hour Writing Contest and Short Stories Are My New Jam
![24 Hour Writing Contest and Short Stories Are My New Jam 24 Hour Writing Contest and Short Stories Are My New Jam](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/writing_w140_h140/writing_01180926.jpg)
I participated in a story writing contest over the weekend, and discovered I actually enjoyed writing a short story with a small word count. (Small as in less than 1000 words or less.) What a novel idea! (pun intended)
Capping Off the Year With a Little Inadvertent B&E
![Capping Off the Year With a Little Inadvertent B&E Capping Off the Year With a Little Inadvertent B&E](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/New%20blog%20post_w140_h140/New%20blog%20post_01010431.jpg)
Back in 2013, I was a long-haul truck driver. This is the story of how I broke into a big box chain store on New Year's Eve. (Edited for spelling/grammar/clarity.)
Misfits of Carnt Book Series
![Misfits of Carnt Book Series Misfits of Carnt Book Series](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/My%20three%20year%20old%20is%20a%20barbarian_w140_h140/My%20three%20year%20old%20is%20a%20barbarian_12140527.jpg)
Check out the Misfits of Carnt series by Aaron Frale. They're humorous fantasy, and a lot of fun! In this blog post, I review the first two books in the series.
From NaNo to NoNo!
![From NaNo to NoNo! From NaNo to NoNo!](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/geekhouse_cozy_fantasy_illustration_elderly_halfling_woman_read_8ab46fe7-b0bd-4cd6-9dc1-94f309216b1e_w140_h140/geekhouse_cozy_fantasy_illustration_elderly_halfling_woman_read_8ab46fe7-b0bd-4cd6-9dc1-94f309216b1e_12040721.png)
National Novel Writing Month is over, and I have never been so glad. The last two NaNo’s I managed to win, one of which was by the hair of my teeth. I completed last year’s novel, though it was very, very rough and still needs to be torn apart and re-written, LOL. But at least I got my ideas on the page and wrote something that was very difficult for me to write.
This year, however… This year started off really well. I had an outline and everything. I stumbled on the first night, falling asleep at my computer after only typing 55 words, but I more than made up for it in the following days and weeks. By the end of week two, however, I was in trouble.
Going Silent Until December
![Going Silent Until December Going Silent Until December](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Untitled%20design%20(11)_w140_h140/Untitled%20design%20(11)_10220144.jpg)
NaNoWriMo is right around the corner! I plan on participating, do you?
December Tales II
![December Tales II December Tales II](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Curious%20Blue%20Press%20sale%20announcement_w140_h140/Curious%20Blue%20Press%20sale%20announcement_10090112.jpg)
Progress and NaNoWriMo Plans
![Progress and NaNoWriMo Plans Progress and NaNoWriMo Plans](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/NaNoWriMo%20(1)_w140_h140/NaNoWriMo%20(1)_09300829.jpg)
Progress on Cooking Up Magick and plans for NaNoWriMo. Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month this year?
I'm a Terrible Mother
![I'm a Terrible Mother I'm a Terrible Mother](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/The%20Shining_w140_h140/The%20Shining_08210744.jpg)
(To prep this blog for current consumption, I proofread it a little and updated my kiddo's pronouns and their name.)
A Baby and a Wedding
![A Baby and a Wedding A Baby and a Wedding](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Untitled%20design%20(10)_w140_h140/Untitled%20design%20(10)_09220501.jpg)
No, I'm not writing about a shotgun wedding...
Gruncheys
![Gruncheys Gruncheys](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/bacon%20grunchey%20edited_w140_h140/bacon%20grunchey%20edited_08200423.png)
Today is National Cheese Toast Day. My family called them grilled cheese sandwiches when I was growing up, and I always loved them. But my kiddo and I call them gruncheys.
Audiobook Review of Sweet Dreams by Beth Dolgner
![Audiobook Review of Sweet Dreams by Beth Dolgner Audiobook Review of Sweet Dreams by Beth Dolgner](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Sweet%20Dreams_w140_h140/Sweet%20Dreams_08190456.jpg)
I love to listen to audiobooks while I work. It occurred to me that as an independent author, I should do more to support my fellow indie authors, especially for their audiobook productions, because they are so expensive to make! So I took to my writing groups to ask for suggestions on good audiobooks to listen to. Beth Dolgner suggested I try out her audiobook series.
I’m not usually into cozy mysteries, but sometimes they are fun to read. Her series has the added benefit of ghosts, and I love ghostie anything, really. I especially loved the book title and title of the series--Sweet Dreams: Eternal Rest Bed and Breakfast Cozy Mysteries, Book 1.
Picture a rainy day, curling up in an easy chair with a mug of hot chocolate and a lovely book. Perfection. Except that I live in the high desert. It’s summer, and hotter than Satan’s asshole. Smoke from the fires of hell fills the sky (technically from the forested mountains around us), so… what I’m envisioning in my mind is a much nicer scenario. Instead, I grabbed a large mug of iced mocha, pulled down my blinds, blasted the A/C and used my writer’s imagination to pretend it was fall weather already. Then I jumped on her book.
World Letter Writing Day
![World Letter Writing Day World Letter Writing Day](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Dear%20Aunt%20Higgie_w140_h140/Dear%20Aunt%20Higgie_08190552.png)
World Letter Writing Day is September 1st.
In honor of World Letter Writing Day, I thought I would include a letter from Paisley Dell to her Aunt Higgie back home. It’s funny how when we write to our loved ones, we don’t want them to worry about us, so we send sanitized versions of our lives, putting the best possible light and spin on our activities. Paisley is no different here.