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.
New Kitty Bed
![New Kitty Bed New Kitty Bed](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Tribble%20in%20Cat%20Cave_w140_h140/Tribble%20in%20Cat%20Cave_07300510.jpg)
Last month I showed you all the La Croix box the kitties liked to share on my desk. Well, I got a new little cozy catcave for them, and they both squeeze in there all the time now. They love it!
Character Driven Stories
![Character Driven Stories Character Driven Stories](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Paisley%20Dell%204_w140_h140/Paisley%20Dell%204_08171250.png)
I Sold a Short Story!
![I Sold a Short Story! I Sold a Short Story!](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Untitled%20design%20(7)_w140_h140/Untitled%20design%20(7)_07300423.jpg)
Great News!
In July, I submitted my short story “Black Velvet Ghost” to December Tales II, an anthology of ghost stories set to be published by Curious Blue Press in November. The very next day after I sent the email, the editor contacted me and told me he wanted it! Woohoo! A few days later, we signed the contract.
Here There Be Spiders--Or, Sometimes I Wish I Had A Penis
![Here There Be Spiders--Or, Sometimes I Wish I Had A Penis Here There Be Spiders--Or, Sometimes I Wish I Had A Penis](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/THROWBACK_w140_h140/THROWBACK_07300723.jpg)
I just came across some of my old writings, and I thought it would be fun to share them. Some are funny as hell, and are experiences based on when I was a truck driver. Others are about life in general, our obligations, and some pretty deep thoughts. I figured I’d post them on the occasional Thursday as Throwback Thursdays.
For this Thursday, I thought I would share something I wrote this back in September of 2013, when I was a long haul truck driver. One of my favorite lines in this piece is, "Death by urine. How cool is that?"
Official Kitty Work Space
![Official Kitty Work Space Official Kitty Work Space](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/20230606_213404_w140_h140/20230606_213404_07100151.jpg)
Because my kitties have insisted on being within an arm's reach of me most of the time, they always tried to sit on my keyboard while I'm at my desk. Sometimes they switched it up and slept in my in-box. I finally got smart, cleared off an official spot for them, and placed a box with a little fleece blanket there. It fits one of them comfortably. But since cats are actually made of water, they both flow in and around the box until they make themselves fit. Now Meli and Tribble snooze while I get my work done. Though sometimes they still get out, stretch, and demand scritches.
Reading List
![Reading List Reading List](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Cleaver's%20Edge_w140_h140/Cleaver's%20Edge_07081107.jpg)
I wrote a blog post in January about my reading list and how I was trying to read more of the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy Award and Goodreads Reader's Choice award winners and nominees, so I could get a feel for what makes a book award worthy. So far this year, I've read from that list:
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Loved it!)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (inriguing)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Loved it!)
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (meh)
Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (3.5 stars)
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab (LOVE LOVE LOVE. I reviewed this one in a blog post.)
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (Excellent, if angry making.)
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar (intriguing)
To see the full list of books I've delved into since the last post I wrote in mid-April, read on!
Humbled By A Creativity Block
![Humbled By A Creativity Block Humbled By A Creativity Block](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Untitled%20design%20(3)_w140_h140/Untitled%20design%20(3)_07080656.jpg)
Threads--Haven or Not?
![Threads--Haven or Not? Threads--Haven or Not?](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/proportion/Untitled%20design%20(2)_w140_h140/Untitled%20design%20(2)_07080504.jpg)
Featuring J.L. Henker
![Featuring J.L. Henker Featuring J.L. Henker](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/blog/proportion/written-with-pride_w140_h140/written-with-pride_07010531.jpg)
According to the blurb: "Created in opposition to Florida's Don't Say Gay bill, Written With Pride is an anthology exclusively filled with short stories by authors who all belong to the broad and beautiful spectrum of the LGBTQIA+ community. The stories range in style and subject matter, as well as genre-from contemporary to speculative fiction. Not all of them have happy endings, but members of our community who still believe in their voice penned all of them
Life Stuff...I'm Baaaaack!
Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
![Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/blog/2023_04/proportion/image_w140_h140/image_04280134.png)
Written by V.E. Schwab and published in 2020, Addie Larue isn’t a new book. But it was new to me, and I imagine there are some of you out there who haven’t read it yet, so I decided to review it, anyway. I’m glad I found it. It’s not my usual fare–I like books that have a lot of humor, or action, or are cosy, or… whatever this isn’t. But this book was so engrossing, I couldn’t stop listening to it.
The narrator, Julia Whelan, does a spot-on French accent, and a number of other accents, besides. I’ve always had trouble with female narrators taking on the male voice, but in this one, she does a wonderful job, and it doesn’t...
Reading Update
![Reading Update Reading Update](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/blog/2023_04/proportion/Untitled_design_19_1024x1024_w140_h140/Untitled_design_19_1024x1024_04280134.jpg)
I'm still plugging away at my goal of reading one book per week this year, and I've handily surpassed that count. I've read over 22 books! Below are some books I read or listened to from the end of February through now. You can see the blog post I wrote in February to get a list of the books I read the first two months of the year.
Hilarious stuff!
This was okay.
I did a review on this one last month!
Classic
Good, angry stuff.
Three stars
Best book ever!
More angry stuff! (I sense a theme...)
Honor Among Thieves Review
![Honor Among Thieves Review Honor Among Thieves Review](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/blog/2023_04/proportion/tix_to_dnd_movie_scaled_e1680661991896_1024x508_w140_h140/tix_to_dnd_movie_scaled_e1680661991896_1024x508_04280134.jpg)
AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH! I went to see the movie with my kiddo and I have been fan-girl gushing all day.
Wait, sorry. Let me step back and put on my serious reviewer's face. Ahem. (You can't see it, but I'm still smiling.) Nope. Can't do it.
This movie was fun. Did it stick to DnD RAW? Hell, no. Who cares? Probably some rules-lawyer sort of player who I probably wouldn't want to play with, anyway. For me, DnD is about imagination. It's about making the impossible possible. This movie did just that. It made me believe, just for a moment, that magic was real. Toward the beginning, the choices they made with the cinematography lent it a campaign-like feel, as...
Bunkom and the Enchanted Spectacles
![Bunkom and the Enchanted Spectacles Bunkom and the Enchanted Spectacles](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/blog/2023_03/proportion/Untitled_design_18_1024x1024_w140_h140/Untitled_design_18_1024x1024_04280134.jpg)
#2
#3
#4
I played around on Canva to come up with some covers for a short story I've got on Book Funnel. My favorite is number two. He looks like he's got a colander on his head. Most other people I've talked to say they like number four. What's your favorite? Put it in the comments!
My discord writing group ladies are a fabulous bunch. When I ask for help, they are always happy to give it. This time, I asked for a prompt, because I want to write more short stories. I was given this: a dwarf character named Bunkom, enchanted spectacles, and a bit of dialogue, "I didn't see that coming." I had to incorporate all three into my story. That...
Book Review: The Wandering Inn
![Book Review: The Wandering Inn Book Review: The Wandering Inn](images/hlbernabe/cache/images/hlbernabe/blog/2023_03/proportion/Wandering-Inn_w140_h140/Wandering-Inn_05030210.jpg)