I'm back again after two years. I am retired now so I will have more time to keep this up.

I have been writing non-fiction books on health, gardening, and art.  You can find them on Amazon under Norah Halstead

I am also an Amazon affiliate. I have just started this endeavor, and  I hope it will be a successful one.

Since I was last here, things have changed at my house. My little Maltese, Belle, had a stroke, so I lost her the day after Christmas 2023.  I spent most of 2024 looking for another Maltese.  I will warn you now about buying a puppy online.  There are unethical people out there who advertise puppies, but they are scammers.  I finally found a breeder near me and was able to buy Skye.  She was one month old and is a firecracker.  She has an attention span of about 2 seconds. Everything is a game to her, which has made it hard to train her. She is now eleven months old. Since we live alone, she is not very socialized.  Strangers are enemies.  She is the most loving little dog I have ever had.

My good friend, Linda Lewis, moved to Thailand, where her son lives.  Her husband, Harvey, had a stroke shortly after they arrived. Keep them in your prayers.  

That's it for now.  I have another chore, so I'll get on it for now.  I'll be back tomorrow.

 Thanksgiving is next week.  I hope you all have a big dinner planned with loved ones.  Lots of delicious food. Lots of calories and carbs. 

If you are intermittent fasting as I am, this will have to be a day to skip.  You can always fast the day before or the day after. Don't see how you can miss turkey day.

That means it is one month to Christmas.  I always purchase a Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar for the holidays.  It is fun doing the activities each day up until Christmas Day.

I am past the "what am I going to get for Christmas." I don't need anything so it is just the fellowship that I love.

I have ten non-fiction books available on Amazon.  They are about healthy living, gardening, art, and history. Look them over and see if there is one that would interest you. They are in e-book, paperback, and audible. If you read one, please leave a review. That will help my books move up in rank.

My goal is to write a fiction mystery.  I have an outline and am working on the content. This is more challenging than non-fiction.

Tell your friends about my books.  That is the best form of advertising I can get.

Speaking of telling friends, there is a book by Rodolfo del Toro called "Chasing Rabies" that I highly recommend.  It is about a doctor in med school.  It is an awesome story and you will be glad you read it. You may have to read it twice.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

We are halfway through November.  I don't remember a year going by so fast. Course I have been home  this year writing books, doing what I love.  I suppose that is the reason.

I have a couple more books out.  Battles Across Borders and The Art of Capturing Souls.  I just got them on Amazon.  They will be on Audible soon.  My pen name is Norah Halstead in case you missed that.

It has cooled off.  Winter is here.  The flowers have died, and the garden is done.  There were a few peppers that were damaged before I got them in. I brought the tender plants in.  They are on the dining room table.  I wasn't using it anyhow.

My dog, Belle, has gotten old.  She was 15 years old this month. I worked away from home the first 14 years of her life so she was alone 75% of the time.  I think she has done well in the obedience department considering.  She is a Maltese and a smart dog. She has picked up so much just watching me. She sleeps a lot now.

I wish I could sleep more.  I got up at 5am for so long that I am still getting up at that time.  I have been known to fall asleep during the early afternoon for a short nap. I can only look at the computer screen for so long.

I have a new neighbor who has an Australian Shepherd. He is an active little guy.  She has to keep him entertained. He is cute and smart and not friendly to Belle.  She wants to be friends but he scares her. He needs to be on a farm with a job to do.

My friend in Texas had an operation on his arm earlier this week. I guess he had a nerve that was pinched near his elbow but was affecting the use of his hand, so he had surgery.  He is in really bad pain. He was told it would take a year to heal. Nerve pain is very painful. I feel so bad for him.

Go online and get my books.  There are 10 of them and you can read them all for free.  Please leave a review.  Reviews are important.

Take care of yourselves and God bless you in your endeavors.

 

 Here it is, October already.  I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. 

I published another book on Draft2Digital, "Christmas Traditions Unwrapped."  You can find it on Barnes and Noble and a few other publishers.  It covers the history of the traditions practiced worldwide.  It was fun researching all the traditions.

Amazon is now charging to publish on their platform, so I was happy to find another publisher that did not have an upfront charge. Amazon thought they needed to get a bigger piece of the pie. Some authors say Amazon canceled their accounts and refused to pay their royalties without explanation.  That is worrisome.  There are a lot of Indie authors who depend on Amazon to get books published.  I was glad to find Draft2Digital.  They send the books to several other publishers, so there is a wide distribution.  They also send it to Amazon, but this book has been published by several other companies already and is not on Amazon yet.

I am dipping my toe into the cozy mystery genre.  I love to read them but have not tried to write one.  This is going to be an experience.  I will use another pen name for this genre, Ruth Spicer.  I am starting it today. 

Time to get to work. Have a fun day at home if you get today off.

 I have published several non-fiction books this year. They are under my pen name, Norah Halstead, and are published on Amazon. The genre of most of them is being healthy, although a couple are about art. I am planning to finish a couple more by the end of the year.  I also have them on Audible if you prefer to listen instead of reading.

This has been quite a year for me. Writing these books has been a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to be an author. This year I found I had the opportunity to make my dream come true.

Should you find one you want to read, please leave a review if you like it. I am excited to see how many chose to read them and how they like them.

I hope you are all well and managing this terrible economy.  Maybe we will be able to get competent people in Washington this next term and we can get back on track.  

 Today is Sunday and it is bright and beautiful. As I look around my home, I realize that I need to make a schedule for the work I need to do.  I have been working from home for several months and I haven't developed a routine.  It is hard to change years of a system mentally developed. On top of that, there is weather to consider for the outdoor chores.  I have become a fair-weather outdoors person.  It is starting to warm up now, so there is much to do outside.   

Last year we had rain almost every day during spring.  Then summer came with a draught.  There was almost no rain for two months. Many plants didn't survive.  Winter came with freezing temperatures that killed everything that survived the drought.  There are many plants that will need to be replaced.

I am writing.  I wrote several short stories years ago but never did anything with them.  I am now preparing them for publication and starting a new mystery book. This is something I have wanted to do for many years.

I haven't been painting much lately.  That is something else that I need to get into my schedule. Life just got in my way and my passions were pushed aside. Now is the time to change that.

That's it for this week.  I'm going to try to post here each week to let all you, my friends, know what I am up to .

Have a blessed week.

 I am back after such a long time.  Besides painting, I am now writing children's stories. Life got in the way of my creativity, so I am slowly rediscovering myself.

I am not writing a long blog today but I will be making an effort to write some every day. 

I hope everyone who has followed me in the past will find me again.  Some of you have said some complementary things in the past and I truly appreciate your comments.  I hope you all are doing well and I will see you later.