I took the dogs for a short walk, did a load of laundry and the usual amount of hand-washing dishes, and scooped kitty litter. I paid a couple bills online and placed a puzzle order for mom.

I started Network Effect, watched some HGTV programs, and attended a group birthday party at my sister’s house (including for my niece Leandra and nephew Ian). That’s what I made the cabbage salad for; mom made pulled pork.

Temps started out at 43.1(F) (it was cool enough in the house that I turned the furnace on to take the chill off; it was definitely a hot tea morning) and reached 59.9. On one end of the spectrum we had some sprinkles, on the other, the sun tried to peek out a few times. (The next three days are supposed to have temps of 66, 76, and 86! Talk about a quick turn around.)

---

Mom Update: My mom had a visit with her oncologist on Friday. She liked him. He told her that the cancer was Stage 1, so she'll need a less aggressive treatment of chemo. They're going to wait until after the surgery (coming up on Monday, June 9) to set it up, but he's thinking two weeks on, one week off for six weeks. (Does that mean only four weeks of chemo total? Or six weeks of chemo around the one week off?) Also, half the usual dose. Hopefully the side effects won't be as bad. (He also said that, no matter what, he'd recommend chemo because this is her third cancer diagnosis.)

My mom's next appointment with him is July 14, so I'm guessing the chemo won't start until after that? Do they normally wait 4 weeks post-surgery to begin? Do they need her to be drain-free?

He also told her that the procedure would be a long one. I joked with mom that we ~do want the surgeon to put everything back together correctly.

That writing advice goes back as far as Aristotle tickled me.

So how it is going? Day one for me was going to be an alibi sentence until I hit a stream of something and now it's one in the morning and I'm just getting this up. And I managed 900 words on my wipbigbang


Day One - cornerofmadness, china_shop, badly_knitted, sylvanwitch, goddess47, trobadora, shadaras, cmk418, nafs, sanguinity, yasaman, ysilme, carenejeans, luzula

Inspiration can hit mid chapter. In my author's zoom meetings you often hear 'my scene took an unexpected twist' which probably sounds bizarre to non-authors. How does a scene go somewhere you didn't imagine? Well I'm here to tell you it does, even for plotters (which two of our number are and it was the plotter and the pantser (me) who had this happen this week).

Maybe it has to do with 'being in the zone' or whatever you like to call it. Authors will know what I mean. Time falls away. The only thing you're aware of it words spilling onto the page and suddenly there it is, something you hadn't thought of until that moment and a lot of times it's just what your story needed (sometimes it isn't but I find writing it out, getting it out of my head, kills that side bar and I can slice it out later.

This week on the fly I decided 'yeah the fantasy-mystery thing isn't flowing, let's try something new.' Another thing in these zoom meetings is at least 3 of us have gotten agents and the publishers are already demanding book 2 before book 1 is even fully edited. So I thought to myself, you're fixing up book 1 now. Maybe you should start book 2 NOW in case you find yourself in this position and you're not stuck crapping out book 2 in a rush (I do wonder if that's half the reason for 'the sophomore blues' in so many book 2s)

Book 2 starts out much darker than I intended (but that's a post for another time) and I have Grace being really rattled. That's when it occurs to me that unlike her three partners in the monster hunting biz, Grace wasn't born into the organization like the others. She's an outsider recruited into it. And a side quest is born. Grace doubting if she's where she belongs can be a decent subplot and give her something more to do (I struggled with her in book one) Sometimes inspiration just goes that way, coming out of nowhere.


Open Call

SmokeLong – Dark Fantasy and Psychological Thriller Call

More Monsters Next Door

Ruadán Books 2025 Novel and Novella Reading Period

America’s Slide Toward Authoritarianism

Deep Anthology

Kozy Krampus

Encounters With Cryptids closing on this is soon

After Dark, Volume 2 honestly I think they're paying WAY too little for stories this long

14 Magazines Accepting Climate and Environmental Fiction

27 Literary Journals with Fast Response Times



From Around the Web

How to Get Back Into Writing

Case Study: How The Coat Check Girl Came to Life

The Development of a Trope By James L Hill



10 Haunted House Places and Creepy Locations That Will Give You Chills

Writing Subtext for Non-POV Characters

5 Reasons a Literary Agent Isn’t Going to Steal Your Story, Make Millions, and Cut You Out It never occurred to me that people were really afraid of this.

Balanced Writer, Balanced Story





From Betty

Communication is the Key to Critique Partner Success

Refilling Your Creative Well with Artist Dates I liked this one

Seven Common Reasons Protagonists Are Unlikable

Five Ways the Honorverse Builds an Immersive World

Six Common Wordcraft Mistakes in Manuscripts

Five Ways to Add Conflict to Your Story

What Cozy Fantasy Is and How to Write It I still want to do this

Show, Don’t Tell, by Scene Segmenting

7 Types of Questions to Help You Define Your Author Brand I still find this limiting and something I could care less about. If I like an author, I'll read most of what they write. I don't pay much attention to brands

Writing Subtext for Non-POV Characters

Secondary Characters: All the Fun, a Lot Less Work


When The Good Guys Must Die

How is it June already? At one year in, it looks like 1/3 of the goals on the list have either been met or adjusted as no longer pertinent.

Big BIG activity month for the goals list, because the renovation started in May. It was delayed a couple of weeks but much progress has been made in very short order. I spent a massive amount of time and effort on decluttering possessions as well.

5. Read Vorkosigan series
Completed three more books in the series and have now exhausted my physical books. The local library only has audiobooks – which, tbh, put me to sleep almost instantly. I think more reading in this series will have to wait until I locate physical books.

17. Figure out financing for porch subsidence issue
Not exactly creative, but basically doing a quicker, less thorough fix (i.e., not demolishing the existing porch and replacing it) that still ought to make the porch more stable and less prone to water incursion. This will probably end up on a credit card after all, which I was hoping to avoid – but needs must.

28. Weight monitoring
Up another 4.8 pounds. I have completely gained back everything I lost in the last year and am now less than one pound off my May 1 starting weight. My only comfort is that I remain under 200 pounds. I am such a stress eater and between personal and political misery, all I do is snack and nibble.

29. BMI monitoring
Back up at 31.

Completed a cluster of reno projects, as follows:

49, 51, 52. Smallest bedroom – Painted ceiling, walls & trim, replaced the outlets,
switchplates and ceiling fan

54, 55, 56, 57, 58. Primary bedroom - Finished stripping wallpaper and repaired walls, painted the ceiling, walls and trim including interior of closet; replaced the outlets, switchplates and ceiling fan

59. Refloored the primary and smallest bedrooms to correct the existing problems and flaws

60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 68. Did some major repairs on the walls in the middle room (destructive teen damage years), primed and painted the entire room – walls, trim, ceiling. Also replaced the subflooring, installed new flooring, replaced the outlets, switchplates and ceiling fan

72. The popcorn ceilings in the upstairs were removed
They used some kind of chemical that softened the ceiling enough that they could pull it down. They are currently patching and sanding the ceiling before painting.

92. Curate book collection
Much progress in May. Most of my books are stored upstairs and I cleaned out the upstairs in its entirety to prepare for the renovation. So I went through all my books, reserved maybe 50 favorites and rehomed everything else. The local library benefited hugely from this cleanout. I am thinking, though, to do one more pass on the books to see if there are any more I can declutter without too much pain.

93. Curate zine collection
I may have counted this as completed in April, but really it was done the first week of May. Overall I rehomed around 200 fanzines and kept only about a dozen favorite beloved Star Wars zines and two MFU zines

Deleted several goals as being unnecessary due to selling/moving. I figured I didn’t need to go the extra mile with some things. If I were staying on in this house, I would definitely do them.

48. Install pullout shelves in kitchen cabinet

50, 64. Install crown moulding in the middle and smallest bedrooms.

102. Schedule advance tasks like survey, appraisal, etc.
I belatedly realized these will be part of the closing process so I do not need to do them separately.

Welcome to June's monthly theme post. This month we're thinking of the smaller areas within a larger space with the theme 'nooks & crannies' - interpret this how you will but a few examples could be little used drawers, shelves you haven't checked through for a while, the space beside a cupboard/chair or behind a seating arrangement.

Basically anywhere that might not get looked at very often will fit the bill for this month - it may be that all the space needs is a clean to be free of dust, or it might actually be an easily forgotten space that we use as a temporary measure for storing things we plan to deal with later - if you are anything like me, they'll be things I've soon forgotten about.

So we'll tackle a different room each week and try to check up on the forgotten spaces or the forgotten clutter. We'll start this week with the bedroom. Here's hoping that unexpectedly most of the spaces will just need a bit of a clean!

Just in case I miss a week or am late posting, here's the monthly plan:

Week 1: Bedroom
Week 2: Kitchen
Week 3: Lounge/Living Room
Week 4: Your choice but could be bathroom/spare room/study/cupboard in the hallway/garage/loft or attic space or even a garden shed! Or if you feel like you're making good progress and would rather revisit one of the earlier rooms that works too.

Have a good month - I'll post as often as I can - tell us how you get on.

I hit the Pharmacy and the Bakery while I was downtown, then Stewart’s (for gas and milk) on the way home. I also stopped by the library to pick up more books (and spent some time later requesting more online). I did not get in a walk around the park, but I did take the dogs for a short walk when I got home. I hate having to carry an umbrella on my walks.

I did a load of laundry, a load in the dishwasher, the usual amount of hand-washing dishes, and scooped kitty litter. I also boiled the pasta to finish off the pasta salad, made cabbage salad for tomorrow, and baked chicken for the dogs’ meals. I grilled hamburgers for supper, to go with the pasta salad.

I watched some HGTV programs, finished the current Clare Fergusson mystery, visited with mom, and placed an online order for Pip.

Temps started out at 54.5(F) and reached 57.4. It rained most of the day and the wind picked up in the afternoon. Thankfully there was a lull in the rain so I could grill.


ETA: After we ate last night, Pip's buddy showed up with more BBQ chicken quarters! Pip was like, I didn't order them, I didn't ask him to get them!!! I've put the fear of BBQ chicken quarters into him, lol!

Hello everyone. My usual followers have been warned about me double posting most days (and invited to join us) so for those of you coming in for WED, I just want to say I'm an active blogger so you will probably have to skim past my daily posts to find the WED post (but hey feel free to read and comment if something I'm saying interests you) and on Sundays I tend to do a writing post anyhow. I'm going to try to post these around Midnight because otherwise they'd go up late (oh for Dreamwidth to have a scheduling post process)

As for me I have so much writing I need to be doing. I have two more original short stories I should be working on. Fanfic wise I still have two stories for wipbigbang to finish, my fandomtrumpshate story, my intoabar story to start and my series for getyourwordsout yahtzee challenge.

If you're not familiar with Write Every Day let me share a modified version of the sticky post zwei_hexen created for the community

What is the Write Every Day challenge?
Write Every Day is just what its name says: We challenge each other to write, every single day. Our goal is to encourage one another and provide the accountability and/or motivation that some of us find very useful in keeping the words flowing. However, there's no obligation and no pressure, and if writing didn't happen for you on any given day, there won't be any judgement, just support and sympathy!

Who can participate?
Everyone is welcome! We’re an open-minded, nonjudgmental group of people who enjoy writing.

What do I have to do?
We’ll post each day with a little bit about our writing and a running tally of participants. All you need to do is drop by the comments on the most recent tally entry to let us know how you’re doing. Please know that you are never obligated to check in. Also, if you'd like to comment on someone else's comment but aren't checking in for yourself, that's perfectly fine too. We're really easygoing 'round here, and conversation is absolutely encouraged.

Is there a word limit or quota?
Nope. Write as little as an “alibi” sentence (just what it sounds like—a sentence you write to say you’ve written, an alibi for the day, as it were) or as much as you’d like. All word counts are welcome!

Is there any restriction on the kind of writing I can do?
Absolutely not! Fanfiction, original fiction, screenplays, blog posts, meta, academic writing, morning pages, reviews, editing, letter-writing, nonsense poems, bucket list: if it feels like writing to you, it counts!

Do I have to participate all the time?
No way! You can come and go at your pleasure.

Because I'm too ill to do anything witty. My sugar went up 325 after breakfast (just eggs and bacon no carbs) by 4 pm it was down to 70 and I was shaking/sweating so I had to take sugar. After dinner my sugar was too high to register on my glucose monitor so it was over 500. I should have gone to the hospital. Now it's back under 400. There aren't words to describe how awful this feels. I'm so tired of this. Might be time to go to a research endocrinologist if I can find one. (and I'm worried about Mom her sugar is also that high thanks to meds and woke up to her dead brother holding out his hand to her. That is not the kind of dream that is going to make me sleep easy tonight)

So here's May's readings. How is it June tomorrow? Speaking of which here's the reminder that the write every day posting is going to start after midnight.


Bodies and Battlements mystery

Trouble the Water horror

Snow & Ink, Vol. 1 manga fantasy

The Flip Side: A Graphic Novel horror graphic novel

We Can Never Leave YA horror

Under This Red Rock YA horror/mystery

Last Dance Before Dawn

Of Manners and Murder historical mystery

I had the final follow-up visit with my surgeon this morning. There is a sore spot on my foot (not where the incision was) that she thinks might be from scar tissue, and there’s a bit of swelling (that I hope will be taken care of when I get walking again), but other than that I’ve been given a clean bill of health!

I hit Price Chopper and Agway while I was downtown and got in a short walk around the park. (And another short walk at home with the puppers.)

I did two loads of laundry, changed kitty litter, and did the usual amount of hand-washing dishes. I grilled country style pork ribs for Pip’s supper, cut up veg for a pasta salad I’ll put together tomorrow, and had a tossed salad for my own supper.

I watched the current eps of Leverage: Redemption and Murderbot, started the next Clare Fergusson book, and talked with my mom.

I didn’t mention this previously because I felt stupid about it, but the day I ate fruit, I ate too much pineapple and instead of just a tingling sensation, it actually burned my mouth, so bad that it created sores on my tongue. So sore. Still bothering me. I’ve never had that happen before.

Temps started out at 54.5(F) and reached 76.2. But it was overcast and breezy, so it didn’t feel like a nice 76. The weekend is supposed to be in the 50s again, with rain at least on Saturday.

I was downstairs in the game room talking to evil_little_dog and I noticed that over the bar where my parents have hanging glasses (like at some real bars) and it's backlit. That's new. I didn't think much of it until I turned off the lights and it didn't go off. Nor did it go off when I left the bar (thinking it might be motion activated) so I go up and ask Dad (he put them in. he was an electrical engineer) and he's like how did they get on? I expected I accidentally hit one of the switches but no, this is on a separate little controller. You couldn't accidentally hit this. We have no idea how it got turned on. Weird.

You're getting a two-fer for fannish 50 today. First up, have I mentioned I'm a fan of plants? I suspect many of you could guess I love plants from my posts. Well I escaped the house to go to one of the three local greenhouses because I needed herbs (and mom is also sick with bronchitis, sorry Mom so she didn't come). There I am, unsupervised in a greenhouse/farmer's market.

Long story short, I got cinnamon basil, bonsai basil, regular basil, lemon thyme, Italian parsley, zucchini and a flower, a torenia. And then they had free tomato six-packs that you could take one. Come with me early girls (not my favorite but hey free). I am a happy girl with all my new plants that I have no idea where I'm putting them.

In good news, my busted open toe is finally sealed over (a week after the fact) I am relieved. It's not red, not swollen so I think I'm past the danger zone.

So let's move on to the rest of the fannish 50, stories and art! I have a story for you this week myself




Title: Holding Out For a Hero

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel


Summary: Even Pentious might have been impressed with Angel’s new steampunk movie and Angel would give anything to be able to make a sequel. That would mean Pentious and his airship were still alive and he wouldn’t be mourning a friend. Worse, the Vees want to capitalize on his pain and force him to betray the friends he still has.

Rating: teen and up

Author Note - Written for the Get Your Words Out Yahtzee challenge. I’m aiming for a large straight in which I have to write a linked story using all five prompts—all five prompts must connect to tell a united story. This is story number two and the prompt is curious. Since they are connected stories it would be better to start with number one.

Also written for the lyrical titles album challenge 2025 using the Footloose album and the song Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler.

Also written for the allbingo prompt of black and blue and for spikesgirl58’s six word challenge. The six words were Fate, Unpleasant, Captive, Colony, Anxiety, & Swap

( story at the above link or under this cut )



Recs


Bright Isn’t Always Beautiful Torchwood

From the Other Side of the Road 9-1-1

snug as a bunny — 31 days of domestic wangxian 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

Exception to the Rule. Stargate Atlantis

A Visit to the Hospital Harry Potter

Someone Who Cares Torchwood

Coming Clean The Owl House

Negotiation a New Treaty Teen Wolf

Maybe We Can Hope Tomorrow Murder, She Wrote/Teen Wolf

darling, please worship me (unless you prefer to bleed) 时光代理人 | Link Click

Sunshine The Murderbot Diaries

Royal Flush Hazbin Hotel wip

It Doesn't Matter if They are Cute! Stargate Atlantis

Sing Me Home 镇魂 | Guardian

Proper Doggy Style X-Men/Deadpool

The Mystery of the Purloined Coin Murder She Wrote/The Unusuals

Protecting the Supernatural Reveal Teen Wolf

Is This Parenthood? Helluva Boss

Friday Plans Torchwood

Operation: Keep Fuuka Warm Persona 3

Breaking the Fidelius Harry Potter

Eating the Local Food Stargate SG-1

A momentary lapse Call of Duty

Anonymous Birthday Present 9-1-1

Stressful Days Stargate Atlantis

Planning the Next Steps Teen Wolf

Is DW being annoying for anyone else, keeps giving me error messages?

TV Talk:

Leverage: Redemption: This ep turned out better than I expected. ( spoilers )


Murderbot: Good ep. ( spoilers )


TV News:

SWAT Exiles: I’m not sure how I feel about this. Only one returning character. And the way he spun it as ‘change’ and ‘taking your lumps’ and being the ‘Tom Brady of SWAT’ made me go WTF?! For that reason alone I’m probably going to give it a pass. S.W.A.T. EXILES: Can Someone Make the Spinoff's Premise Make Sense…? (tvline.com) & ‘S.W.A.T.’ Star Says Original Cast Feels ‘Brushed Aside’ by Shemar Moore Spinoff (tvinsider.com)


Movie Trailer:

*flails* I can’t wait to see this! Love the casting.

It was supposed to be a no-shopping day again, but I ended up going to Walmart to get another wrist brace, since I figured I’d given the other enough of a trial. So last night I slept with a brace on both wrists for the first time.

I did a load of laundry, as well as the usual amount of hand-washing dishes and scooping of kitty litter.

I finished Exit Strategy yesterday and read some fanfic. I stopped by the library to return and pick-up a book. I also took a nap in the afternoon. Why am I so tired?!! It can’t ~all be the weather, can it? (Maybe I should ask my PCP to add an iron test to my blood work next time.)

I visited my aunt (she was getting a perm when I arrived, so I sat in the hair salon room for our visit), and held my daily telephone conversation with my mom.

I baked salmon for Pip’s supper. Once again, not my thing, so I made oatmeal and toast for myself because I was feeling chilled.

I also e-mailed some photos of one of the garage cats to the vet to see if they could give us an idea of what to do (he’s scratched a good sized wound behind his ear; we think he might have ear mites), but they won’t give us any suggestions without a visit.

Temps started out at 53.6(F) and reached 71.1. It was overcast all day with some sprinkles, but the the sun peeked through in the evening.

(Today I have the final follow-up visit with my surgeon!)

I coughed them out and they ran away. I can't say as I blame them.

I'll be hosting write every day starting in June so a) feel free to join us. b) I'll probably be posting two posts a day, just warning you (but seriously, do join us, the more the merrier)

Speaking of joining let me share my community recs for the week. There is a new one starting up, a multi-fandom one seasons_of_fandom It seems rather involved so you're better off reading their sticky post than listening to me babble.

And resharing rewrite_a_fic mostly because I'm sure I'm not the only one out there with old fanfic that you might want to reedit and reshare. I started with one of my old Buffy stories (which are the ones I've been trying to get up on AO3 and got derailed by newer fandoms about 5 years ago) Unfortunately the Buffy story I selected really didn't need much other than some grammar clean up so I don't think it counts as a rewrite.

Today was my writers' zoom meeting and I finished my supernatural infestation story. I need to knock out 200 words. I need a beta reader for this one I think. I also worked on a couple other things.

And I got my cryptid story back to the publisher. So I'm good.

In this poignant, funny, and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.

There’s a madman dog beside me, and the hounds of memory ahead of us . . . It’s love and beasts and wild mistakes, and regret, but never to change things.

What happens when the Zusak family opens their home to three big, wild, street-hardened dogs—Reuben, more wolf than hound; Archer, blond, beautiful, destructive; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm?

The answer can only be chaos: There are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property damages, injuries, hospital visits, wellness checks, pure comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that must be read to be believed.

There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love—and the joy and recognition of family.

Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) is a tender, motley, and exquisitely written memoir about the human need for both connection and disorder, a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty—but also the visceral truth of the natural world—straight to our doors and into our lives and change us forever.

If you’ve ever owned a dog that wasn’t quite perfect, that had issues that you struggled to overcome, a dog you loved, anyway, then this is the book for you. The author brings his dogs to life with every challenge met, but not always won, with every illness that you’re sure will be the end, but magically isn’t. Until it is.

Even though I was reading about someone else’s dogs, I couldn’t help but think of my own, some gone decades, others only a few years. They all were right there with me, as I’m sure Zusak’s still are with him. We love them so much, yet know that we will lose them much too soon.

I laughed at some of the situations that Zusak found himself in with Reuben and Archer. Cried when the inevitable happened. He now has Frosty, but admits that the kind of love that comes with years isn’t there yet. But he knows it will be someday. I know that feeling; that’s what a dog, or a cat, bring to their people. As is so evident in this book, no matter the pain at the end, they’re more than worth it.




( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-20 )

21. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
22. America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War by H.W. Brands
23. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham
24. The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
25. A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen
26. Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris
27. Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill
28. Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I mentioned the bruised feeling after last week’s adjustment and he wasn’t sure why it was sore after. If he’d had to try a couple of times to get it to go back in, then it would be obvious, but that wasn’t the case. So I guess we don’t know and we’ll see what happens after this adjustment, while hoping it doesn’t hurt again this week.

This would’ve been a no-shopping day, but I wanted some fruit so I made a quick stop at Price Chopper while I was downtown and got in a short walk (one lap) around the park. (And another shortie later with the puppers.) I also got Chinese for lunch.

I did a load of laundry, as well as the usual amount of hand-washing dishes and scooping of kitty litter, paid some bills online, and placed an online order (and naturally forgot one of the main things I’d wanted to get). I grilled baby back ribs for Pip’s supper. It’s not my thing, so I had the fruit I purchased.

I started the next Murderbot story and watched some HGTV programs. I typed in ~2,500 words on my intoabar fic and got it edited and posted!

I think I very nearly allowed myself to be scammed by someone trying to get into my computer. I caught on (eventually) and noped out. I got a bunch of flashing error messages with a message that was super loud and everything was locked up and I couldn’t turn down the volume or close out of anything. It told me to NOT turn off my computer or I’d lose data and TO call the number, which I stupidly did. You know what eventually worked? Turning off my computer. Be careful out there, folks!

Temps started out at 47.8(F) and reached 80.4. There was more sun, which was nice.

I can't believe it's already 1 week since I went to Pittsburgh. Wow.

Today I washed towels and the doodad that keeps the hose in the drain tub broke. Didn't know it broke until I went back downstairs to see the thing had drained all over the floor, filling two rooms. Whee!

That's the only interesting thing I did other than answer a lot of work emails that no one wants to know about but I DID get my 100$ honorium today so yay for that.


What I Just Finished Reading:

Of Manners and Murder
Last Dance Before Dawn by Katharine Schellman

both historical mysteries (victorian and 1920s) Of Manners is book 1 Last Dance is the final book. both worth looking up

What I am Currently Reading:
Under This Red Rock - Mindy McGinnis - if this ends how I think it will I will be pissed

The Smoke in His Voice - back to this. God I want to edit this SO badly

The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan one of my netgalley arcs which are stacking up.

What I Plan to Read Next: Something for the popsugar challenge probably or one of the books I won from Goodreads

This is the original idea I had for my prompt, but there was just enough time between me coming up with and me writing it that the story went from completely dark to just kind of dark and really sad, kind of? I hope you enjoy it? *g*


Title: Maybe We Can Hope Tomorrow
Author: Spikedluv
Fandom: Murder, She Wrote (tv)/Teen Wolf (tv)
Rating: PG13/Gen
Pairing/Characters: Jessica Fletcher & Allison Argent (cameo by Seth Hazlitt; appearance by Mort Metzger; original characters mentioned)
Length: 2,580 words
Spoilers: Takes place post-season four Murder, She Wrote and during season three of Teen Wolf.
Summary: Jessica Fletcher is confronted with a rogue werewolf and a rogue hunter.
Author’s Notes: Werewolf!Jessica. Show-level violence. Written for the intoabar prompt Jessica Fletcher goes into a bar and meets... Allison Argent!
Warnings: Character death before the story begins; implied character death post-story.
Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
Posted: May 28, 2025

Read Fic @ AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65979859

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: A Fountain Filled with Blood (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Julia Spencer-Fleming, Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells, Now May You Weep (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie, and The Hippopotamus Pool (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters


What I am Currently Reading: I just finished the previous book last night, so as of this moment I haven’t started another. I’m thinking the next Murderbot, because Fugitive Telemetry is in at the library for me so I have to get to that point.


What I Plan to Read Next: One of the library books I already have out, hopefully.

---

Book 33 of 2025: A Fountain Filled with Blood (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) (Julia Spencer-Fleming)

I enjoyed this book a lot. ( spoilers )

I already have the next book; I'm giving this one five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

---

Book 34 of 2025: Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries) (Martha Wells)

*flails* This story was so good!! ( spoilers )

I was so tempted to start the next story immediately, but I'm holding off, if only because I currently only have access to the next two stories and then I have to get them from the library. (I already have the final two books on request, so hopefully it won't be a long wait.) I'm giving this story five hearts.

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Book 35 of 2025: Now May You Weep (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

Good book! I especially liked that Gemma and Hazel visited Scotland. ( spoilers )

I really enjoyed this book and already have the next on order. I'm giving it five hearts.

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Book 36 of 2025: The Hippopotamus Pool (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) (Elizabeth Peters)

This book was so good. Soooo good! It made me smile a lot. ( spoilers )

I can't believe it's been so long since I've read one of these books; I'll have to remedy that by requesting another. I'm giving this one five hearts.

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I hit Price Chopper and the Feed Bag (which was closed yesterday) while I was downtown and got in a short walk around the park. I also went on a short walk at home with the dogs for the first time in over 8 weeks! (My legs are very tired after even two short walks (totaling .50 miles). I should’ve done some of the strengthening exercises I learned in PT (lying down, not standing) while I wasn’t able to go on walks.)

The McD’s app glitched, so I couldn’t use my usual coupon. They ended up just charging me for my hot tea and giving me my sandwich and hashbrown for free. *g* (NGL, there are definitely some perks to being well known and polite, though usually it’s just really good service and people smiling and acting happy to see you.)

I watched the current ep (season finale, how did this sneak up on me?!!) of The Last of Us and an HGTV program, and read some more. I also posted a new fic! AND I added ~1,000 words to my intoabar fic, bringing it to a close. I just need to type it in now.

I did a load of laundry. I also did the usual amount of hand-washing dishes and scooped kitty litter. I did a ham steak for supper, with mashed potatoes and peas, which is my go-to with ham.

Temps started out at 40.1(F) and reached 80.8. It warmed up pretty early in the morning (I had to change into shorts and a t-shirt when I got home) and clouded up a bit in the afternoon, though we didn’t get any rain.