I’m working on a trip to northern NM and southern Colorado for my parents. I’ve emailed more than 15 hotels. I’ve received…5 replies. One of which does not count because the *lovely* guy said, “Please give us a call.” If I wanted to call, don’t you think I’d have picked up the phone? Another hotel, I did call–because I was tired of waiting days with no answer. She asked what kind of room I needed and immediately began taking down information: Address, phone number, etc. Uh, lady. I called for the *rate.* Do people really book a room without knowing the rate???

Part of the point of sending an email rate request is to be able to do comparisons. Find availability. Hear about the amenities. Not one hotel has bothered to mention amenities when replying. NOT one. Folks, here is a perfect time to sell yourself to an interested party. Tell me you have coffee pots in the room. Maybe a fridge. Maybe a room with a view. Free breakfast??? Anything. But what do I get? At best, I get a response. At worst, I get a “what dates?” when I already specified that in the email. Well, actually…at worst, I get no reply at all.

And sometimes, folks, the first to reply wins. In this case, the first to reply looks a lot better customer service-wise than those who do not respond at all. That’s a black mark before I even know the rate.

So far, I have booked 3 different hotels. All three were ones who responded via email, within two days or faster. Sure, I called some of the others–but the customer service or rates or other issues held true to form with the NO RESPONSE to my original request.

If you can’t answer an email, I don’t have a lot of faith you can run a hotel.

And this morning had to be the morning I spotted hornworms. UGH. Gotta be the ugliest, most disgusting worm on the planet. The things are as fat as my middle finger. I killed about four and then. THEN. I found The Largest Tomato Hornworm I’ve ever seen. The thing had to be six or seven inches–not stretched out as they can do. Ugh. I had to cut the stem it was on to bring it to the porch to show BMHusband. Besides, you can’t peel them off the stems even if you were so inclined (as-if). They have suction claws. Yes, they do.

So I bring it to the porch. BMHusband was suitably in awe of the hornworm that my garden grew. But then we just stood there staring at the thing. Who wants to stop on a seven inch pool of disgusting green smarm??? And yes, the stuff oozes and squirts out–sometimes a foot or more. GROSS.

What a disgusting morning. I’m ready for autumn.

No, it turns out that Junior is climbing the screen because he spotted a lizard!!!

No, he doesn’t need the lizard. He has plenty of food. We even open the door when he wants to come in. But that doesn’t stop our intrepid hunter.

That screen is gonna have to go.

We don’t have a luxury bakery in Cedar Park that I know of. Which means if I want chocolate eclairs, I either have to fly to NM and go to the Flying Star or make them. So today…

No, I did not fly to NM. I tried making eclairs. The puff pastries went pretty well. Got them in the oven, got the cream filling started and the chocolate melting. Puffs looked good, coming along. Cream wasn’t thickening well. Looked a lot like…milk. Wasn’t boiling either. Was taking too long. Sigh. Puffs came out, looked good. Drizzled the cream into the eggs and back to the pot. Thin, very thin. Maybe it would set up in the fridge.

Chocolate topping–excellent. I’m good with chocolate because I’ve worked with it. A lot.

The puff pastries were a bit gummy inside–another five minutes and possibly all of them slightly smaller so they flaked better–would have been perfect. The stupid cream never set up and it was too sweet to boot.

So, here I sit. We will not be eating chocolate eclairs for dessert.

Hmph.

Thank you to everyone who purchased Sage!

The cucumbers are coming in pretty fast and furious. Today I had to crawl under a tomato plant and half a cucumber plant to reach a very large cucumber. My knees got muddy and I got dripped on (I had already watered, of course.) Ugh. I like gardening, but crawling in the mud is not the same thing as digging in it.

I joined Goodreads. Kind of new over there and finding my way around, but if you’re on Goodreads, send me a “friend” message and we’ll be friends!!! So far I’ve joined an e-reader group and a cozy group. No, I don’t need more books to read, but that is likely to happen! Oh, I found this paranormal group as well.

Oh–one more exciting item. I’ve seen the mock-up covers for my next novel, Under Witch Moon (an urban fantasy.) Wow. I’m working with an artist and let me just say that I’m very pleased. Deb Wentz, the artist, has done two possible covers–which means when they are finished, you, the audience will get to help me choose! But I must tell you–they are both very, very good!!!

Adriel should have known that with a werewolf, it never ends with just one body. She would have gone to the police after witnessing Dolores’ death, but she’s not certain the killer she saw is actually responsible for the other murders. Besides, the police don’t believe in werewolves, and they aren’t going to believe she is a witch either so what can she tell them?

She keeps her eyes and ears open as she tries to help her latest client escape the clutches of a voodoo witch, but things just get worse when more bodies turn up. In fear of a murderer who knows he was seen, a voodoo witch out for revenge and a werewolf gone berserk, she is greatly relieved when she meets White Feather, an undercover cop. Unfortunately, he isn’t convinced she is innocent of all wrong-doing.

It’s going to take every spell she knows and a few she hasn’t tried to solve the murders and stay alive.

I was lucky. I took my husband out of corporate America with me. Or maybe he took me. Either way, every time I hear the song “You Don’t Have to Cry” (Crosby, Stills and Nash) it reminds me of the very real reasons I left. The only part that doesn’t apply is that husband came with me. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have any regrets either.

Are you thinking of telephones and managers
And where you got to be at noon
You are living a reality I left years ago
It quite nearly killed me
In the long run it will make you cry
Make you crazy and old before your time
And the difference between me and you
I won’t argue right or wrong
But I have time to cry my baby
You don’t have to cry
I said cry my baby you don’t have to cry
I said cry my baby you don’t have to cry…

With Amazon’s helpful sale, for the first time ever, Sage sold over a hundred copies in one month. Woot!