Yeah, I know it’s Tuesday. But I was going to write this post yesterday…

More Neem Oil
I notice that when I use Neem oil, the bees stay away. I don’t think it kills them (unless it’s a direct shot) but I don’t think they like the smell. So for the cucumbers and melons (the aphids) I switched back to soap/water. That won’t help with any mildew problems, but let’s face it. It’s one hundred degrees out there every day. If I don’t overdo the soapy water, I shouldn’t have to worry much about mildew.

Bottom line, the Neem oil works great for some things, but it, like everything else I’ve tried, needs to be supplemented. I found it worked best on mildews when I did every other week with milk. For the spider mites on the tomato plants, the Neem oil has to be done weekly–and it’s about that time again. I’m going to give those bees at least another day without it in the garden though. I can only spray so much in this heat anyway.

Writing Short Stories
Apparently writing a couple of new short stories in April/May is bad timing. Several of the markets I like to submit to are closed for the summer…several more markets have been closed for a while and a couple of them have gone under completely. Rats.

Given the difficulty of getting published these days, am I the only one that doesn’t bother very often with mailing in a sub? I do a lot of email subs, but many of the older (and most successful) magazines aren’t likely to publish my stuff (because my stuff tends to be light, not dark fantasy, not serious and not sci/fi). I’ve found that their return times are quite long (except for Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Gorden Van Gelder, who is pretty quick with decisions on subs) and I already know my chances are slim to none. So most of the time I save my paper and postage. I tend to submit to magazines that I like to read with the odd chance taken now and then on a new venue (be it snail mail sub or email.)

Kindle Sales
I posted this in my column over at BSCreview, but I know that not everyone catches the column. For writers and readers, this is pretty interesting info: J.A. Konrath, author of the Jack Daniels thrillers, posted his kindle sales info--how many, where he priced things, how much he made, and so on. Pretty interesting, at least for me.

I’m amazed at how many kindles are selling–along with the books that go on them. I always felt that ebooks would take off someday, simply based on price and mobility. I didn’t think it would be a device that cost 350 out the gate, but there are more and more sites selling ebooks. I read them on my laptop, although I still prefer a book in many ways. I’d read on a device–but not one that cost me 350!

Junior
Little Junior and his mom were in the yard playing yesterday as they do most days. They were standing right next to each other. Junior is now bigger than mom Scamp!!! I wonder when he’ll stop growing??? He looks full grown to me–his legs are longer than mom’s, but she didn’t have the benefit of decent meals from birth. I guess we’ll see. Both cats are doing very well. They seem quite happy with their lot in life. They play a lot–chase lizards, birds and each other. They eat when they want and they sleep a lot in this heat!!!!