In The Cold Frosty Morning

At 5:30 this morning, I received the following text from my oldest son Christopher:

"If you go outside in the southwest is the crescent Moon. To the left in the 9 o'clock position you can see Venus with the naked eye."

So I grabbed my coat and shoes and phone and trudged down the stairs and out the door.

I had to walk a bit for a clear view past the power lines and trees.

But there it was, just as he said, and I told him so.

He replied, Nice. I was worried about light pollution since it's so faint."

It was a beautiful start to the morning. 

Illustration by Christopher Gleason for "Staked!" Follow him at artworkbytopher.com.

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, July 1 through July 6

Good morning, readers, writers, and vampire fans!

Just a few stories this morning but an extra post midday as I catch up from the holiday on sharing calendars and community new.

Why less stories? Because I lost a work day with the holiday, and I spent part of the week (and more today), putting together copy that will run next week when I'm off. For instance, I wrote two extra newsletters, and I'm working on an extra week of event calendars for three publications.

For those on the United States side of the world, I hope you had a joyous Independence Day. For me, it was two rounds of fireworks (July 3 and the rescheduled July 4 to last night due to rain), swimming in the pool at my complex offers for the first time in the four years since we moved here (I'm a little busy), formatting WriteOn Joliet's second anthology and emailing it to Tom for review, AND sneaking in a little BTB editing.

Which brings me to next week.

Whenever I done with today's deadlines (which could be tomorrow, LOL), I am taking an at-home fiction writing retreat.

I have a schedule of goals made for each day, and I'll blog about them each day to keep me focused.

Tomorrow, I'll recap the blog tour, share what I've learned, and offer some tips for others wishing to run a tour. I think blog tours can be advantageous to other professions, too, not just writers.

And now:

Non-bylined features:

Monday through Saturday I assembled my non-bylined works - brief posts and calendar listings - into one convenient file and posting them on Facebook in the evening, so readers can easily choose the ones they want to read.

 One can also find those event listings, the Gotta Do It calendar, as well as the pets, health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars, under the sections tab on the left hand side of http://www.theherald-news.com/. Click on "features" and the topics drop down.  Gotta Do It runs under "people."

Community news? Again, under the sections tab, under features, and by topic. Updates are posted on these days in print and web (and some only on web on other days as I have the time): Monday (pets), Tuesday (health), Thursday (faith), Friday (arts and entertainment), and Sunday (people).

Social media:

Daily updates: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries. And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to jon WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/writeonminooka/?ref=bookmarks. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

Upcoming events: 

These are listed here: https://www.bryonyseries.com/fetes-and-feasts

For an expanded version: http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2018/07/some-upcoming-events.html

Books and Such

Information on my books (including where to buy) along with upcoming events is at www.bryonyseries.com.

Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. And for those who came out to WriteOn Joliet's open mic night last night. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Joliet woman's mentor legally adopts her

 "Fran was always there for me,” Candace Johnson said. “If I had a bad day or just needed someone to talk with, she encouraged me.”

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/06/29/75ace166726a41b0948e7daffa6fe9d7/index.xml

An Extraordinary Life: Joliet man lived and loved plumbing

Bill Schmitz died the night before his mother's funeral on May 9. He was 62. His family said many of Bill's friends from his Joliet Catholic High School days, some of whom Bill hadn't seen in over three decades, had come into Joliet for Betty's wake. Looking back, they are glad they did.

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/07/01/7d582d62f7c14088ab9e3905af1e3f4c/index.xml

Follow these tips from experts for a safe and healthy Fourth of July 

Full of good information for a safe and healthy summer, even though the Fourth of July is past.

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/07/02/b04937bade9d4c278257e8e2378a4640/index.xml

LocalLit author spotlight: Allie Rios of Joliet

"I mostly write romance, but I also like to challenge myself and try out other genres. I've written a couple suspense manuscripts that I'm in the process of editing."

http://www.theherald-news.com/2018/07/03/locallit-author-spotlight-allie-rios-of-joliet/a577b7l/

LocalLit author spotlight: Colleen Robbins of Joliet

"I like to write fantasy, science fiction, horror, and stories based in reality. I sometimes take a concept, research it, and run with it, while other times I like to add a twist.

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/07/03/777d682bad004fdbb7c52b24d20f3e2d/index.xml?page=1

I Now Have a Real Bed

So let me explain.

Back in 2007, my husband's sleep apnea and REM sleep behavior disorder was so bad, I began sleeping with a sleeping bag on the floor of my office attic. Rebekah had the bedroom next to it. That eventually led to us becoming bunk mates, which has persisted longer than we anticipated, but everyone is moving forward, so here we are.

Because of the way the roof sloped, a regular bed did not fit, just the box spring and mattress, and we were fine with it. But when we lost our house and could only afford one small storage unit for four people, we made careful decisions on what to take and what to discard. The box springs, being old, didn't make the cut. The mattresses, fairly new, did.

During the nine months we stayed at our mother's, Rebekah and I shared the guest bedroom. It had one bed. I insisted she take it. I slept on the floor. Eventually, we recovered financially enough for the four of us to move into a two-bedroom apartment. We emptied the storage until and brought the mattresses home.

We are now in a two-bedroom townhouse with the same mattresses, which are still in pretty good shape, and Rebekah and I still share a room, at least until the end of this year. Now this post isn't about "woe is us" because we ain't feeling any woe. We are gradually recovering financially; we just make careful financial choices.

No, this post is to brag a bit about my sons, of whom both work two jobs and pay for school.

A few weeks ago, Timothy noticed that the mattress on Daniel's futon was in pretty sad shape. He found a decent one on sale and surprised him with it. This past week, Daniel passed the blessing onto Rebekah and me.

He found two bed frames online ($55 each) that also serve as box springs and bought them. On Saturday, he assembled them and couldn't wait to ask the next morning how Rebekah and I slept.

Of course the response was, "Great!"

For me, the answer is less from the fact that I'm now off the ground (I mean, now I have to worry about falling out of bed, right), which isn't really a big deal to me, and more in the fact that my sons are fine young men.

Nothing makes a parent sleep easier at night than knowing she's sent some pretty good people out into the world.