Never again, but probably it will.

Cooked myself a stir-fry for lunch yesterday. There's nothing wrong with that I hear you say. Okay, sit back and grab a tissue because you are going to need them for the tears→ tears of laughter that is. 

I had all the veg prepped and ready to go in so it would all be cooked at the same time. I had the pre-cooked rice and the Ketjap Manis ready to mix in right at the end.

Now here's the best bit. I thought, crap I forgot the chilli flakes so I open the new bottle→ I only had hot ones so I thought they'll do. I only need a bit to add that zing. Is that what happened? No! About 2 fricken tablespoons worth fall into my meal.

My mum, who is having a completely different dish for lunch goes, "Can you pick it out?" As I stand there and stare in total shock. I now have 2 choices. I can throw it out and make myself something else to eat, or I can pull up my big girl panties and eat that damn hot as fuck meal.

Let's just say I only made it halfway through before I had to call it quits. Maybe a little less than halfway. I had tears streaming down my face. My nose was all blocked up. My mouth felt like it was on fire. To top it all off, my mum says, "God, my lunch is beautiful." 

The bitch was laughing at me, I know it. After that, she says to me, "You know, it's going to hurt just as much coming out the other end?" Thanks a lot, Mum━not!

PS: On the note of the super-hot stir-fry, I have left the last of it for my son-in-law to try. He seems to tolerate hot things way better than I can.

Updates

I'm doing edits on Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings, There is a lot of little crap I have to fix up before we have to start on the real edits. Then the major thing I realised was I hadn't done the damn thing in American spelling, so I had to go through and change all of that→so much fun...not!

I'm still working on my current WIPS The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because of You, Experimentals 3: Messages from the Dead, & Lancaster's Way 3: Pre-loved. Though I might run over my end of January deadline by about a week. Not that I'm too worried about that at this stage.

I've emailed Christie N, my editor at MLRPress to find out about my The Lines of Marsden 4: The trail of Red Roses edits and see if we are any closer to starting them.

Other than that> I'm back at the doctors today for another checkup to make sure my medication is all up to date and they don't need to change anything for me→I'll have to tell him the new stuff gives me headaches, which isn't good.

It Finally Rained.

Not enough to even wet the ground, but at least it was something. It's still all overcast now, so hopefully, we may get some more.

I hear you wondering why I get excited over a little drizzle. Mainly because I live in Australia. Not only are we in the middle of a seemingly neverending drought, but we are currently burning to the ground in many parts. So, every little drizzle helps.

The problem is Huey needs to drop a shit load more of the wet stuff on us for it to do any good. Our dams are drying up. Our crops & animals are dying. It's pretty damn bad. I know we're not the first country to have suffered through something like this, nor will we be the last. It just seems devastating while it's happening.

The good thing is we are survivors. We learn through all the crap life deals out to us, there are people out there who have the glue to pull us all back together→ and I'm not talking about the religious types, or the politicians. I'm talking about the everyday battlers who lend a helping hand to the person next to them, just because they're doing it rough. The ones who open their doors and say have a feed or a shower, even though they have stuff all themselves. The firies who put aside their day jobs to battle the fires and keep us all as safe as they could. The people who came from overseas to lend a hand, because we sent our guys and girls to them when they were in need→ These are the true heroes.

I feel sad for the loss of life both animal and human. I feel sad for the loss of homes. Most of all I hope that those people who started the fires get the book thrown at them regardless of age. They should pay for the lack of respect they showed the rest of Australia and the world itself.

Facebook> Author Page

I'm planning on changing my Author Page on Face book to NJ's Books to make it different from my personal Facebook presence. The problem is I'm having trouble getting them to approve any change of names... as they think they are misleading. I'm hoping NJ's Books sounds like I'll be talking about my books and other author's books. So nothing will change on the page except for the title.

Forwarding this on...

Traditions

Holiday traditions play such a part of our culture whether it’s something as simple as reading THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS on Christmas Eve or lighting the menorah at your grandparents’ house on the First Night of Hanukkah or remembering your ancestors with the Kinara during Kwanzaa or burning the Yule log on the night of Winter Solstice. Each culture has its own traditions and celebrations and during the months from November to January, so many are honored.

Submissions should:

   Have one of the MCs honoring a tradition or making new ones after separating from their family

   Be a minimum of 10k, maximum of 40k

   Stories will release during the months of November through January 2021

   Any subgenre is welcome and all prohibitive guidelines are observed

   Submissions should be sent to submissions@mlrpress.com

   SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 10, 2020

   Any questions can be sent to Kris Jacen at KrisJacen@mlrpress.com

***Permission to forward***

Just One Moment

Our world can change in just one blink of an eye. It could be something amazing – the birth of a child, meeting your partner; or something not so much – the death of a partner, an accident that leaves your world different. There are so many little things that impact our lives, is it the event or how we react that is the most important?

Submissions should:

   Have an event that impacts the MC significantly; ideas – meeting your spouse; post-apocalyptic world; an accident that leaves the MC physically changed

   Be a minimum of 10k, maximum of 40k

   Any subgenre is welcome and all prohibitive guidelines are observed

   Submissions should be sent to submissions@mlrpress.com

   SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

   Any questions can be sent to Kris Jacen at KrisJacen@mlrpress.com

***Permission to forward***

Almost, but getting there...

Today I received an email saying that I needed to fill in the BIF (Book information Form) and tidy up my punctuation before they send me out the contract on Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings. I've filled in the form and sent it back. I'll probably struggle with the punctuation as I suck at it, but I'll give it a go. It's been a long time since I was any good at this sort of thing and will probably take me a bit to get back into the swing of things. 

Other than that, health-wise I'm doing okay. still have doctor visits ahead of me, and I'm booked into the hospital. I'm waiting for them to get back to me with an appointment time. My back seems to be doing a lot better, not hurting as much. Though my new medication gives me a headache.

I went to Costco for the first time and realised it's not for me. I'd much rather do my shopping locally. Though it is good for every once in a while.

Happy Birthday ~ Emily

Happy Birthday

Emily Kate

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