Leaving Things Hanging

It's never a good idea to leave things hanging is it?

Well, I've really left things hanging here!

I am getting ready to re-roof the house but before I could start I had to repair some water damage that had happened over the porch. It should have been quick and easy but as with everything, it blossomed into a much bigger job than I anticipated!

I'm going tomorrow to get the lumber to build a new beam but until then, I guess I'm letting it all hang out there! :)

Hopefully by the end of the weekend this section will be all done and re-roofed! But then I'll have the rest of the roof to do!

To Be Continued.....

The Vicious Vet - M. C. Beaton

The Vicious Vet
By: M. C. Beaton
Published: 1993
Audiobook Read by: Donada Peters
My rating: Great








After listening to The Quiche Of Death, the first of the Agatha Raisin mysteries, I just couldn't resist getting more! Agatha is just too much fun!

Well, it all came about because Agatha was so desperate to get friendly with that handsome neighbor of her's, James Lacey! She would have never gone so far with her inquiries if she hadn't found it to be such a good excuse to spend a fun afternoon with James, running down suspects, searching for clues, and getting into loads of trouble! But how was she to know it really would turn out to be murder? Furthermore, how could she have guessed that the killer wouldn't stop with just one? Oh well, it was all worth it just to hear James pretending that they were married! How could a girl resist a heartthrob like James anyway, Agatha would gladly walk through fire just to be near him!

Agatha is such a fun and quirky detective! I have so much fun following her derailed trains of thought. She chases after the craziest ideas but ends up landing the right fish in spite of herself! The addition of James Lacey to her investigations was great! James is a bit more level headed but still tends to follow some wild ideas. Poor Bill Wong has his hands full trying to keep the two of them out of trouble!

I listened to the audiobook read by Donada Peters and just as before, her performance was absolutely wonderful!

Overall, this is pretty light reading but is a lot of fun and will keep you chuckling as you follow Agatha's antics! :)

The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King

The Beekeeper's Apprentice
By: Laurie R. King
Published: 1994
Audiobook Read by: Jenny Sterlin
My rating: Great









I have always been a huge Sherlock Holmes fan but when I listened to the Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr, I was a little disappointed. However, my friend Nancy suggested this series and I am so glad she did!

When young Mary Russell bumps into an old man sitting on the ground watching bees, she never guessed that she would end up being the apprentice of the world famous Sherlock Holmes!

When Sherlock Holmes, sitting quietly watching some bees at their work, is nearly trampled by a young girl, (a part American girl at that) he would have never guessed that he had found a mind very nearly equal to his own!

The unlikely pair forms a bond of friendship that runs deeper than either of them expected. As Holmes begins to refine Mary's already keen intellect, he finds that she has as sharp an eye and as brilliant a mind as he has ever seen. They spend many happy hours playing mind games with each other, honing their skills together in unwitting preparation for the case that will quite probably cost one of them their lives!

I really enjoyed this book! Laurie has successfully captured the feel of a real Sherlock Holmes mystery. She gives all the clues up front and allows the reader to decipher them to see if they can match up with what Holmes deduces. Beyond that she has introduced a very likeable character, in Mary Russell, that can match wits with the great detective and keep him on his toes. The mysteries themselves are well plotted and kept me guessing for quite some time. I loved the way the primary case stretched out over time instead of being presented as a neat little affair that was tied up in a couple of days. Mary Russell is very much a good match for Holmes and I'm glad there are more books in the series!

I listed to the audiobook read by Jenny Sterlin and loved every minute of it! Jenny did a wonderful job and really brought Mary to life.

Overall, if you like Sherlock Holmes mysteries, you should really check this one out! I don't think you'll be disappointed!

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe - Douglas Adams

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
By: Douglas Adams
Published: 1980
Audiobook Read by: Martin Freeman
My rating: Great









OK, so I listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and absolutely loved it! Therefore, I just couldn't wait any longer to move on to this next book in the saga!

Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian find themselves having a nice dinner while watching the universe come to an end all around them. (Yes, that's right, it comes to an end.) Dinner was very nice despite Arthur's aversion to eating the steak put before him since the cow it came from was so friendly and talkative. Anyway, it was fun. Now lets steal an all black robot ship and take a ride straight into the center of a sun located two million years in the past. ("Wait, does it have to be black? black is so depressing." "Yes Marvin, it doesn't come in any other colors. Besides, you're already depressed anyway!" "I know, it's just...see...well...I'm trying to limit my depression to something less than total and complete. I can handle dying in a fireball at the center of that sun but doing it in an all black ship is just too much.") Of course we all know that a teleport with no guidance system is a bad idea but hey, let's give it a whirl and see what happens. It'll be fun!

We leave Arthur and Ford to the task of teaching cavemen how to play Scrabble. ("I keep telling you, they aren't cavemen! They live in huts!" "Yes I know they live in huts, but calling them hutmen just sounds ridiculous!") Could the question to life, the universe and everything be buried in the minds of these primitive creatures? Can Arthur teach the cavemen how to total up a triple word score? Will there ever be anymore hot water for the captain's bath? Is Marvin still depressed? So many questions, so few answers! Oh well, Ford and Arthur have two million years to figure it all out before the Vogon Constructor Fleet destroys Earth all over again. Plenty of time, so let's go for a nice cup of tea while we think about it!

This wasn't quite as good as the first one but I still very much enjoyed it! I think, considering the magnificent heights of hilarity and imagination the first book attained, it would have been very hard to do any better! However, it was a lot of fun and Douglas' wild imagination was once again in full swing in this book. I absolutely love the crazy off the wall things that are constantly happening to our heroes as they continue their adventures. I will be hard put to wait very long to listen to the next book in this six volume trilogy!

I listened to the audiobook read by Martin Freeman. Martin did a great job and kept me entertained throughout. However, I felt he didn't give Marvin quite the depressed sound that he deserved but it was still a lot of fun!

Overall, you can't go wrong with these books! They are so much fun and I love the totally bent sense of humor they are written with!

I'm officially a published author!!

OK, I confess I cheated a little bit.

I used Kindle Direct Publishing.

But it's still publishing! So I'm counting it! :)

*   *   *   *   *

So here it is! It's just a short story but it's a start!

If you want to check it out, here it is in the US Kindle store, here is the UK store, and here is the DE store.

You don't have to have a Kindle to read it, you can download the Kindle for PC software for free!

So anyway, I was excited so I thought I'd share my excitement with the people I knew would be most likely to share it! :)

I am working on doing a re-write on Just A Piece Of Trash and then I'll have to get the formatting done so I can submit it as well. Who knows where I'll go from there! I have all kinds of ideas floating around in my head, so I'll just have to grab one and go for it!


 I would also like to say thank you to all of you who have encouraged me so much in my writing and gave me the incentive to keep at it and give this a try!

You Guys Are GREAT!!!