Stream of Cold Consciousness

And Paul McCartney, because why not?

I have no idea how long this post will be. I’m sort of doing this as stream of consciousness, but it’s definitely not going to be Ulysses. I have a summer (spring?) cold. My kids gave it to me. My daughter had it first, she handed it off to my son, and he has graciously given it to me. So, my brain is mush. Honestly, I’m mostly posting to maintain my streak. I’ve published 41 weeks in a row, and I’m trying to go 52. A whole year of publishing every week. They can’t give me that kind of stat and not expect me to go all OCD on it.

My son and I were saying today that neither of us has had a cold in years. As a matter of fact, not since before Covid. For a long while it seemed like no one was getting colds or the flu. I guess all those wonderful little viral assholes have fortified themselves and are once again running amuck. [Edited: a-“muck”. Like, you know, yucky stuff. I guess it doesn’t make sense without the “. Or maybe it just doesn’t make sense? It did yesterday. Cold medicine, maybe?] And so my sorry state today.

Have you guys seen that video about the guy who got hundreds of people in NY to show up and watch him eat a jar of cheese puffs?! WTH. I’ve been to New York, and there is A LOT to do there. If I had been walking by I might have stopped to see what the crowd was there for, but to actually make an effort to watch a guy eat a jar of cheese puffs? I have three teenagers. This is a Wednesday afternoon for me.

I’m having some A+ content created to put up on my book listings on Amazon before BRODIE comes out. Do you guys pay attention to that kind of thing? A+ content is the stuff publishers put further down on the listing, and often includes images with pictures, taglines, quotes or reviews. I’m using it to bring attention to all the books in the series whenever someone is looking at just one book. I’m including Douglas in the content; sort of my way of putting it out into the universe so I write the book soon. I’m not creating a book video, though. I never watch those, and I’ve never had anyone say to me, gee, I wish you had a book video. Book Brush is doing the content for me, and they also make these awesome book movie posters. I’m thinking about using those as giveaways.

I’m going to get all the same stuff for Brothers in Arms when I upload the new covers later this summer. I’m waiting to do that because I’m exploring some new platform options for organizing and uploading my ebooks. It’s all business around here, folks! The part of the business I don’t really like, to be honest. I’d rather spend all my time writing the books and not bothering with marketing and promotion, or sales figures. But that’s not the way self-publishing works.

Okay, this turned out to be longer than I thought it would. Time to sign off with…

My Favorite Things This Week:

• I ran out of flour this weekend and I wanted to bake a pound cake for all the fresh strawberries we bought at the farmers market (pre-cold). But I found a box of Swan’s Down Cake Flour * in the cabinet, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a recipe for pound cake on the back of the box. It was freaking amazing. Soooo good. But so, so rich. This is not a cake for people counting calories. I know, because I’m one of them and I ate it anyway, and then had to record the calories. LOL But if you’re looking for a cake to use as a base for those strawberries, this is the one. *Amazon link. I may get a commission if you click on it and buy something.

• McCartney: A Life in Lyrics is my new favorite podcast. I’ve been listening to it on my walks. I could listen to Paul McCartney 24/7/365. I’ve been a HUGE fan since I was in middle school. I still have a bunch of albums (?!) I bought way back then: Pipes of Peace, Tug of War, Give My Regards to Broad Street. And of course, Wings Greatest Hits, which is probably my most played album.

Quote of the Week:

Somebody said to me, 'But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.' That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool.'

Paul McCartney