#ninabellmysteries — Public Fediverse posts

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

Wed. May 13, 2026: Steady Work Rhythm

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Waning Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

Happy mid-week! I hope yours is going well.

Yesterday, I did some housework/hauled out the garbage, dealt with some admin. My mood improved, mostly because the cats were being hilarious.

I buckled down and worked on the ghostwriting, polishing the 20K assignment and getting it out just before lunch.

After lunch, I did some more admin work, and then went back to BETTING MAN. I did about 1700 words, finishing chapter fourteen and starting chapter fifteen. I then started layering in some insert scenes to an earlier chapter where I had to smooth out a logic loophole and add a red herring that would affect things moving forward.

I prefer to work in full drafts, but my outline for this book wasn’t as tight as it should be, plus I changed direction with one arc that will affect the next several books, so I need to fix things in this draft in order to build on them. There are also things from STAGE FALL, the next book, that I have to seed in here, and I need to look at what I wrote on that (years ago, a lot will be changed) that needs to be seeded.

It’s not a particularly interesting day to read about, but it was a solid workday. Steady, got good work done, not stressful.

There’s some exciting news on the local theatre front. Molly Merrihew, who was the Managing Director of WAM, is now Executive Director of Shakespeare & Co. That’s a great opportunity for her, and they are lucky to have her. I really enjoyed working with her at WAM, and I look forward to staying in touch and cheering her on at Shakespeare & Co. Erin Patrick, who was the General Manager at WAM, moves into the Managing Director position – right before she goes on maternity leave! So that will make for an interesting summer, just as WAM’s season gets under way. But we’ll all pitch in however is needed.

By then, it was time to get ready for yoga. I got changed and walked up to the studio. It was a little cool, but still a lovely walk, with clear blue skies and things in bloom.

Class was terrific. Joey the service dog joined us again, which is always a treat. Walked home, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and read in the evening.

Slept reasonably well, although at 2:30, Charlotte decided the only possible place she could perch was on my rib cage. We negotiated, and I managed to get back to sleep until Tessa got me out of bed around 5:30, the usual time.

The morning routine was fine. I figured out the next section of BETTING MAN, that I will work on today, before switching back over to the ghostwriting this afternoon. Also this afternoon, I go down to Savvy Hive to pick up the first CSA box of the season! It’s supposed to rain all day, so I will probably drive, and maybe do some of the errands I would have done tomorrow. Since I’m going to be at the Clark event (at Shakespeare & Co., no less) from mid-afternoon to early evening with a friend tomorrow, I want to take some of tomorrow’s tasks off that plate and put them on today’s plate instead.

Have a great day!

Wed. May 13, 2026: Steady Work Rhythm

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Waning Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

Happy mid-week! I hope yours is going well.

Yesterday, I did some housework/hauled out the garbage, dealt with some admin. My mood improved, mostly because the cats were being hilarious.

I buckled down and worked on the ghostwriting, polishing the 20K assignment and getting it out just before lunch.

After lunch, I did some more admin work, and then went back to BETTING MAN. I did about 1700 words, finishing chapter fourteen and starting chapter fifteen. I then started layering in some insert scenes to an earlier chapter where I had to smooth out a logic loophole and add a red herring that would affect things moving forward.

I prefer to work in full drafts, but my outline for this book wasn’t as tight as it should be, plus I changed direction with one arc that will affect the next several books, so I need to fix things in this draft in order to build on them. There are also things from STAGE FALL, the next book, that I have to seed in here, and I need to look at what I wrote on that (years ago, a lot will be changed) that needs to be seeded.

It’s not a particularly interesting day to read about, but it was a solid workday. Steady, got good work done, not stressful.

There’s some exciting news on the local theatre front. Molly Merrihew, who was the Managing Director of WAM, is now Executive Director of Shakespeare & Co. That’s a great opportunity for her, and they are lucky to have her. I really enjoyed working with her at WAM, and I look forward to staying in touch and cheering her on at Shakespeare & Co. Erin Patrick, who was the General Manager at WAM, moves into the Managing Director position – right before she goes on maternity leave! So that will make for an interesting summer, just as WAM’s season gets under way. But we’ll all pitch in however is needed.

By then, it was time to get ready for yoga. I got changed and walked up to the studio. It was a little cool, but still a lovely walk, with clear blue skies and things in bloom.

Class was terrific. Joey the service dog joined us again, which is always a treat. Walked home, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and read in the evening.

Slept reasonably well, although at 2:30, Charlotte decided the only possible place she could perch was on my rib cage. We negotiated, and I managed to get back to sleep until Tessa got me out of bed around 5:30, the usual time.

The morning routine was fine. I figured out the next section of BETTING MAN, that I will work on today, before switching back over to the ghostwriting this afternoon. Also this afternoon, I go down to Savvy Hive to pick up the first CSA box of the season! It’s supposed to rain all day, so I will probably drive, and maybe do some of the errands I would have done tomorrow. Since I’m going to be at the Clark event (at Shakespeare & Co., no less) from mid-afternoon to early evening with a friend tomorrow, I want to take some of tomorrow’s tasks off that plate and put them on today’s plate instead.

Have a great day!

Wed. May 13, 2026: Steady Work Rhythm

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Waning Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

Happy mid-week! I hope yours is going well.

Yesterday, I did some housework/hauled out the garbage, dealt with some admin. My mood improved, mostly because the cats were being hilarious.

I buckled down and worked on the ghostwriting, polishing the 20K assignment and getting it out just before lunch.

After lunch, I did some more admin work, and then went back to BETTING MAN. I did about 1700 words, finishing chapter fourteen and starting chapter fifteen. I then started layering in some insert scenes to an earlier chapter where I had to smooth out a logic loophole and add a red herring that would affect things moving forward.

I prefer to work in full drafts, but my outline for this book wasn’t as tight as it should be, plus I changed direction with one arc that will affect the next several books, so I need to fix things in this draft in order to build on them. There are also things from STAGE FALL, the next book, that I have to seed in here, and I need to look at what I wrote on that (years ago, a lot will be changed) that needs to be seeded.

It’s not a particularly interesting day to read about, but it was a solid workday. Steady, got good work done, not stressful.

There’s some exciting news on the local theatre front. Molly Merrihew, who was the Managing Director of WAM, is now Executive Director of Shakespeare & Co. That’s a great opportunity for her, and they are lucky to have her. I really enjoyed working with her at WAM, and I look forward to staying in touch and cheering her on at Shakespeare & Co. Erin Patrick, who was the General Manager at WAM, moves into the Managing Director position – right before she goes on maternity leave! So that will make for an interesting summer, just as WAM’s season gets under way. But we’ll all pitch in however is needed.

By then, it was time to get ready for yoga. I got changed and walked up to the studio. It was a little cool, but still a lovely walk, with clear blue skies and things in bloom.

Class was terrific. Joey the service dog joined us again, which is always a treat. Walked home, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and read in the evening.

Slept reasonably well, although at 2:30, Charlotte decided the only possible place she could perch was on my rib cage. We negotiated, and I managed to get back to sleep until Tessa got me out of bed around 5:30, the usual time.

The morning routine was fine. I figured out the next section of BETTING MAN, that I will work on today, before switching back over to the ghostwriting this afternoon. Also this afternoon, I go down to Savvy Hive to pick up the first CSA box of the season! It’s supposed to rain all day, so I will probably drive, and maybe do some of the errands I would have done tomorrow. Since I’m going to be at the Clark event (at Shakespeare & Co., no less) from mid-afternoon to early evening with a friend tomorrow, I want to take some of tomorrow’s tasks off that plate and put them on today’s plate instead.

Have a great day!

Wed. May 13, 2026: Steady Work Rhythm

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Waning Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

Happy mid-week! I hope yours is going well.

Yesterday, I did some housework/hauled out the garbage, dealt with some admin. My mood improved, mostly because the cats were being hilarious.

I buckled down and worked on the ghostwriting, polishing the 20K assignment and getting it out just before lunch.

After lunch, I did some more admin work, and then went back to BETTING MAN. I did about 1700 words, finishing chapter fourteen and starting chapter fifteen. I then started layering in some insert scenes to an earlier chapter where I had to smooth out a logic loophole and add a red herring that would affect things moving forward.

I prefer to work in full drafts, but my outline for this book wasn’t as tight as it should be, plus I changed direction with one arc that will affect the next several books, so I need to fix things in this draft in order to build on them. There are also things from STAGE FALL, the next book, that I have to seed in here, and I need to look at what I wrote on that (years ago, a lot will be changed) that needs to be seeded.

It’s not a particularly interesting day to read about, but it was a solid workday. Steady, got good work done, not stressful.

There’s some exciting news on the local theatre front. Molly Merrihew, who was the Managing Director of WAM, is now Executive Director of Shakespeare & Co. That’s a great opportunity for her, and they are lucky to have her. I really enjoyed working with her at WAM, and I look forward to staying in touch and cheering her on at Shakespeare & Co. Erin Patrick, who was the General Manager at WAM, moves into the Managing Director position – right before she goes on maternity leave! So that will make for an interesting summer, just as WAM’s season gets under way. But we’ll all pitch in however is needed.

By then, it was time to get ready for yoga. I got changed and walked up to the studio. It was a little cool, but still a lovely walk, with clear blue skies and things in bloom.

Class was terrific. Joey the service dog joined us again, which is always a treat. Walked home, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and read in the evening.

Slept reasonably well, although at 2:30, Charlotte decided the only possible place she could perch was on my rib cage. We negotiated, and I managed to get back to sleep until Tessa got me out of bed around 5:30, the usual time.

The morning routine was fine. I figured out the next section of BETTING MAN, that I will work on today, before switching back over to the ghostwriting this afternoon. Also this afternoon, I go down to Savvy Hive to pick up the first CSA box of the season! It’s supposed to rain all day, so I will probably drive, and maybe do some of the errands I would have done tomorrow. Since I’m going to be at the Clark event (at Shakespeare & Co., no less) from mid-afternoon to early evening with a friend tomorrow, I want to take some of tomorrow’s tasks off that plate and put them on today’s plate instead.

Have a great day!

Wed. May 13, 2026: Steady Work Rhythm

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Waning Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

Happy mid-week! I hope yours is going well.

Yesterday, I did some housework/hauled out the garbage, dealt with some admin. My mood improved, mostly because the cats were being hilarious.

I buckled down and worked on the ghostwriting, polishing the 20K assignment and getting it out just before lunch.

After lunch, I did some more admin work, and then went back to BETTING MAN. I did about 1700 words, finishing chapter fourteen and starting chapter fifteen. I then started layering in some insert scenes to an earlier chapter where I had to smooth out a logic loophole and add a red herring that would affect things moving forward.

I prefer to work in full drafts, but my outline for this book wasn’t as tight as it should be, plus I changed direction with one arc that will affect the next several books, so I need to fix things in this draft in order to build on them. There are also things from STAGE FALL, the next book, that I have to seed in here, and I need to look at what I wrote on that (years ago, a lot will be changed) that needs to be seeded.

It’s not a particularly interesting day to read about, but it was a solid workday. Steady, got good work done, not stressful.

There’s some exciting news on the local theatre front. Molly Merrihew, who was the Managing Director of WAM, is now Executive Director of Shakespeare & Co. That’s a great opportunity for her, and they are lucky to have her. I really enjoyed working with her at WAM, and I look forward to staying in touch and cheering her on at Shakespeare & Co. Erin Patrick, who was the General Manager at WAM, moves into the Managing Director position – right before she goes on maternity leave! So that will make for an interesting summer, just as WAM’s season gets under way. But we’ll all pitch in however is needed.

By then, it was time to get ready for yoga. I got changed and walked up to the studio. It was a little cool, but still a lovely walk, with clear blue skies and things in bloom.

Class was terrific. Joey the service dog joined us again, which is always a treat. Walked home, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and read in the evening.

Slept reasonably well, although at 2:30, Charlotte decided the only possible place she could perch was on my rib cage. We negotiated, and I managed to get back to sleep until Tessa got me out of bed around 5:30, the usual time.

The morning routine was fine. I figured out the next section of BETTING MAN, that I will work on today, before switching back over to the ghostwriting this afternoon. Also this afternoon, I go down to Savvy Hive to pick up the first CSA box of the season! It’s supposed to rain all day, so I will probably drive, and maybe do some of the errands I would have done tomorrow. Since I’m going to be at the Clark event (at Shakespeare & Co., no less) from mid-afternoon to early evening with a friend tomorrow, I want to take some of tomorrow’s tasks off that plate and put them on today’s plate instead.

Have a great day!

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

Tues. Feb. 10, 2026: Release Day for THE VICIOUS CRITIC

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Waning Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Partly cloudy and a little warmer; incoming snow

Welcome to another week.

Today is the release day for THE VICIOUS CRITIC, the third Nina Bell mystery. The bulk of the story takes place in 1997 backstage at an off-Broadway theatre loosely resembling the Orpheum Theatre in the East Village (where I worked a show, back in the day). You can find out all about it here.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here, using The Enchanted Tarot. It has some interesting warnings to take to heart.

Friday was more all over the place than I would have liked. I decided to have the grocery order delivered via Instacart, so I had to set that up, then place the order. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, to make things easy for all of us. I put in the order at 9. The shopper put it together at noon (there was only one thing she couldn’t find) and I had it by 1:30. There were fees and tips and all the rest, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared, price-wise (and yes, I tip generously). It was a much smoother experience than the one time I tried Instacart out on Cape, which was such a disaster I never wanted to use it again. This was fine, for most intents and purposes.

I was the problem. I hated not picking my own items there in the store. I am one of those weird people who loves grocery stores and, when I travel, I’ll visit a grocery store before a tourist attraction. I love grocery shopping. I love wandering the aisles, knowing what I need, but also open to inspiration. So while I’m grateful I was able to put in a reasonable order and get delivery, rather than having to hump it down the street and over snowbanks for a mile and a half roundtrip, one of my favorite times of the week was denied. Not to mention that I couldn’t chat with the fishmonger, the butcher, and the various people I run into at the store. I mean, as an introvert, that wasn’t as much of a big deal as the rest of it, but it’s still regular interaction in the community that’s enjoyable.

I did one short errand on foot, which was fine, in spite of slippery sidewalks. I squeezed it in after I put in the grocery order and before the shopping began.

I also found it stressful to have to be available during the shopping, in case something needed to be adjusted. Although I appreciate the shopper checking with me via text. The shopper on Cape ignored the “no substitution” caveat and just threw random whatnots into the cart, so I wound up with a bunch of overpriced stuff I hated.

Needless to say, not a whole lot of worthwhile writing was done.

I managed to make a chocolate mousse, though.

An acquaintance suggested Walmart grocery and delivery, saying the prices were much cheaper than Big Y (my normal store). I try not to shop at Walmart, for obvious reasons, unless I can’t source something somewhere else. When I’ve had to shop there, I’ve looked at food prices in passing (since I was in the building), and I find the prices overall higher than Big Y. The delivery fee was also $8 more than Instacart’s. I was much happier shopping at my chosen store for all the reasons, both financial and ethical.

The video That Thing posted, AI slop depicting the Obamas as apes, is beyond revolting. And again, zero consequences. Rape children, nothing. Murder people, nothing. Dehumanize, nothing. And Schumer’s already selling us out.

Get rid of all of them. We can’t wait until the midterms, which are already being threatened. Congress needs to do its damn job.

I managed to get myself together in the evening. I first headed out to Gallery 51, where Junli Song’s new installation, The Garden of Memory, opened. Junli was one of the A4A cohort members when I was an advisor last year. The installation is gorgeous. I want to go back and spend time there. Openings and closings are always hard environments to really absorb the work.

I said hello to a few people, congratulated Junli on the show, and then trotted over to Future Labs, where the show I was in had its closing night. I chatted with some people, and was pleased (and pleasantly surprised) when several people, unprompted, told me how much they liked the piece and the poem. I retrieved both after a bit, and headed back home.

My hip was giving me a lot of trouble by the time I got home. I unwrapped and finally gave in and took some Motrin.

We were told we’d get “a trace” of snow on Saturday, but two inches had fallen by the time I got up, still coming down. And it was very, very cold. After breakfast, I wrapped up again and trundled down to Cumberland Farms at the end of the street to pick up a couple of things not included in the grocery order.

I re-read an older piece in the morning that I need to get finished and out the door. The afternoon and evening was spent reading books for review, and then writing the reviews.

I did not want to get up on Sunday, but I did. It was still bitterly, bitterly cold, although it was sunny. More reading for reviews, and writing the reviews. Monday morning, I sent off the last of this batch and the invoice.

I also did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week. And we watched some of the Winter Olympics throughout the weekend. I prefer the Winter Olympics to the Summer Olympics, and my mom loves the skating. I’m glad the athletes are speaking out. And, of course, the politicians grifting on our dime to go and see the games are an embarrassment.

I also appreciate how much the US skating team really likes each other. Because of their skills, one tends to forget how young most of them are. But they are showing more personality than many other years, more individualism. I’m hoping that’s a sign of a healthier athlete-coach relationship, too, in many cases, than we’ve seen in the past. I admired the way Alysa Liu shut down a fawning reporter remarking on the relationship between the skaters. She said something along the lines of being uncomfortable for being praised for friendship, and I’m glad she called out an interviewer. So many of the interviewers try to stir the pot and cause trouble.

I read the print proof of THE VICIOUS CRITIC and signed off on it. It will be available on the same day as the digital version (today), so I’m glad I managed to get that organized properly.

I kept an eye on the Superbowl scores, although I’m not a football person. I used to, however, throw excellent Superbowl parties. Because I’m based in MA, I’m supposed to root for the Patriots. However, since they are owned by a man who supports That Thing, I do not. (Yes, I have in the past, but stopped as of 2016). Instead, I wanted the Seahawks to win, since they are owned by a woman who does not support That Thing. The year I lived in Seattle,  Seahawks players used to come into the bar where our theatre hung out, and they were unrelenting assholes all the time, but that was in the 80’s. Sunday was probably the first time I ever rooted for them in my life.

Brandi Carlisle and Green Day were, of course, excellent. Green Day is one of the most consistent bands out there, both musically and in being who they are and what they stand for. They received some criticism for not striking hard enough. Boo, every song they played was from AMERICAN IDIOT. They’ve released seven albums since. They know what they’re doing, and what they’re saying. Bad Bunny’s halftime show was outstanding. The storytelling and symbolism was superb, and the production values were also strong. I also felt it built very well on what Kendrick Lamar did last year. I found the build and the dynamic between those two shows, a year apart, very interesting. So often, halftime is a self-contained concert. There are many good in-depth analyses of the piece (and plenty of foaming at the mouth rants from the cult), so I won’t repeat what’s already been said well about it. I was impressed by the layers and the clarity. It was a very sharp piece. The storytelling aspect was the best for me. The level of loving detail and history and meaning in every single part of the piece was terrific.

I didn’t need to be fluent in Spanish to understand it. I listen to music with lyrics in many different languages – French, German, Italian, Spanish, Gaelic, various Nordic languages (I have a whole collection of Nordic rock), Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean. I don’t need to internally translate every word to understand the songs. I mean, come on, opera lovers have sat and listened to stories sung in other languages for years, even before the translated subtitles. Musical storytelling includes language, but that is only one element.

We’ve grown so used to short snippets of things that we forget the power of music to tell stories. Concept albums, of course, but even regular albums often tell a story. Since people tend to stream single songs, so much of that sense of musical storytelling over the span of an album has been lost.

And people wonder why I still use CDs and listen to them all the way through. For the album-wide story.

Good musicals in the theatre do this, but musicians’ albums do it, too, in a slightly different way.

Did the rounds to post the Intent for the Week and the Tarot. Was amused by who actually got the symbolism of yesterday’s picture on the intent post. Yes, friends, the cracks were about more than weather.

I logged on for the ZOOM call for the Feminist Writing Community, but was never brought into the meeting. I waited for a few minutes, and went back to work on my own. Next Monday is President’s Day, so there’s no meeting. But there should have been on today. Whatever. I am fully capable of working on my own.

A company reached out to me about a steady marketing scriptwriting job. The money looked low to me. I read further – they expected me to write at least 50 scripts a week. I don’t know what drugs they’re on, but that’s not how successful marketing scripts are done. Next.

Thoroughly enjoyed the performers dressed as grass for the halftime show posting photos. “I was number 147!” “I was #84.” Again, the joy is infectious.

I did the marketing but got caught up in bunch of admin work, which annoyed me and took longer than I hoped. Got some ghostwriting done in the afternoon, including detailed research.

Re-read the opening chapters of an idea I started playing with a few months back. Loved it and couldn’t wait to read what came next, but it’s not written yet. I hope I made notes. Read the opening of another piece that’s also strong. I know I have notes on that one. I have to figure out how/where to slot them in.

Annoyed that the client I invoiced didn’t pay me. Which is unfair, but the previous owner of this business paid me within an hour of receiving the invoice. The new owner is usually pretty good about it, but not as fast. It’s frustrating when they ask us on to take on more work for the next few weeks with an outstanding invoice still out. I’m not taking on anymore work until I’m paid for what I turned in. I need to give the ghostwriting client a little push, too.

We have another storm coming in, starting mid-afternoon, snow, and it’s supposed to snow, off and on, through Thursday. I have to go pick up one of my mom’s prescriptions (on foot) and then run another errand. I will do it right after breakfast, to make sure I’m back well before the storm comes in. I have my pre-storm headache, so I think it’s coming in faster than they predict.

I tried to arrange for the prescription to be delivered, which the pharmacy claims they do, but the amount of hoops to jump through and the inappropriate questions involved — no. I am going to tromp down there my own damn self.

I’m not going to yoga this evening, not in this weather. I am, however, after breakfast and before I tromp out into the weather, tossing some ingredients into the crockpot to try another recipe. Once I get back from my errands, I need to settle down, focus, and get things done. Yesterday was basically a lost day, and I can’t afford those.

I hope you enjoy THE VICIOUS CRITIC, and have a great week!

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

Fri. Dec. 19, 2025: Approaching Winter Solstice

Friday, December 19, 2025

New Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and warm

Here we are, at the end of another week, and the final new moon of the year. Can I just say how ready I am to boot this year out the back door?

That is a tradition I’d heard of for years, but only got a chance to practice when I had my own front and back doors. On New Year’s Eve, a few minutes/seconds before midnight, you open the back door to let the old year out (I will be putting my boot firmly on its backside this year). Right after midnight, you open the front door and invite the New Year in. Remember: Year of the Snake/Year of the Horse is part of Chinese tradition. That does not shift on December 31/January 1, no matter what the internet says. Lunar New Year is on February 17, 2026. So we are still in snake, even past the stroke of midnight.

Some idiot was out there yesterday with a leaf blower. Boo, everything is iced down except the sand to keep people from falling. You’re going to cause an accident when you blow the sand away.

Of course, because it was a little warmer, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons were also back. They are the mayor’s pet construction company, so they know they’ll keep getting hired even when they are jerks. So they continue to be jerks.

At least they’re being jerks a couple of blocks away, even though they’re still causing problems on our street with noise and heavy machinery driving the wrong way down the street several times a day.

Wrote and turned in the book review. Requested my next assignment.

I revised the next 3 chapters of VICIOUS CRITIC, about 7.5K words. Decent progress. Lots of detail work and fact-checking at this point, but all good. Did my marketing for the day, per content calendar (I’ve actually stuck to it pretty well this month).

#FreelanceFriends chat was fun, although hashtags weren’t working on Bluesky for whatever reason.

Got the revision notes on the ghostwriting project (not the one I just turned in, the other one). I will get started on those notes today, although I doubt I can get them done before the end of the year. They had me invoice for the last project, which I turned around earlier this week, and for this section of this one. And the money was in my account this morning, which definitely makes for less holiday stress!

After dinner, I put on Real People clothes and some makeup. It wasn’t that cold, so I didn’t need to bundle up in 17 layers like a toddler in a Hallmark Christmas movie. I could just wear a coat.

I walked down to Downstreet, the hotel a few blocks away that’s opened up gallery space to local artists. Two of my Future Labs colleagues had a show opening. It was a good turnout, the space is lovely, and Door Prize NAMA donated the food for the event, which was lovely of them (and delicious). The pieces are interesting, and the comparison/contrast of showing together in such a space was also interesting. I had some good conversations with people, getting to know them better. We are all very excited for January’s show, the workshops, the potluck, etc. It’s a good group of people, who are creative and smart and funny and kind.

When I came back, we put on the tree, and Tessa was so happy! She sat in front of it, enthralled, until we unplugged it at bedtime.

It was 50 degrees when I woke up this morning, which is just wrong for this time of year in New England.

On today’s agenda: library, grocery store, liquor store, writing (work on Nina Bell, the historical mystery, the ghostwriting).

This weekend, we finish decorating the tree on the porch and the front hall. I will finish the textile piece and work on the text portion. At the show last night, I mentioned I was deliberately  printing it out in Calibri, and the artist doing all the labels said she’ll do the same. [If you know, you know, that’s been yet another layer of political ridiculousness here].

Sunday is the Solstice, so it will be about rituals and food and celebration. I am making something for dinner I’ve never made before (I’ll tell you about it next week), and I think I will do a Bishop’s Cake for dessert (from THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK).

Have a good weekend, and we’ll catch up next week!

#art #cats #community #decorating #freelance #freelanceFriends #FreelanceFriends #futureLabs #NinaBellMysteries #writing

Fri. Dec. 19, 2025: Approaching Winter Solstice

Friday, December 19, 2025

New Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and warm

Here we are, at the end of another week, and the final new moon of the year. Can I just say how ready I am to boot this year out the back door?

That is a tradition I’d heard of for years, but only got a chance to practice when I had my own front and back doors. On New Year’s Eve, a few minutes/seconds before midnight, you open the back door to let the old year out (I will be putting my boot firmly on its backside this year). Right after midnight, you open the front door and invite the New Year in. Remember: Year of the Snake/Year of the Horse is part of Chinese tradition. That does not shift on December 31/January 1, no matter what the internet says. Lunar New Year is on February 17, 2026. So we are still in snake, even past the stroke of midnight.

Some idiot was out there yesterday with a leaf blower. Boo, everything is iced down except the sand to keep people from falling. You’re going to cause an accident when you blow the sand away.

Of course, because it was a little warmer, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons were also back. They are the mayor’s pet construction company, so they know they’ll keep getting hired even when they are jerks. So they continue to be jerks.

At least they’re being jerks a couple of blocks away, even though they’re still causing problems on our street with noise and heavy machinery driving the wrong way down the street several times a day.

Wrote and turned in the book review. Requested my next assignment.

I revised the next 3 chapters of VICIOUS CRITIC, about 7.5K words. Decent progress. Lots of detail work and fact-checking at this point, but all good. Did my marketing for the day, per content calendar (I’ve actually stuck to it pretty well this month).

#FreelanceFriends chat was fun, although hashtags weren’t working on Bluesky for whatever reason.

Got the revision notes on the ghostwriting project (not the one I just turned in, the other one). I will get started on those notes today, although I doubt I can get them done before the end of the year. They had me invoice for the last project, which I turned around earlier this week, and for this section of this one. And the money was in my account this morning, which definitely makes for less holiday stress!

After dinner, I put on Real People clothes and some makeup. It wasn’t that cold, so I didn’t need to bundle up in 17 layers like a toddler in a Hallmark Christmas movie. I could just wear a coat.

I walked down to Downstreet, the hotel a few blocks away that’s opened up gallery space to local artists. Two of my Future Labs colleagues had a show opening. It was a good turnout, the space is lovely, and Door Prize NAMA donated the food for the event, which was lovely of them (and delicious). The pieces are interesting, and the comparison/contrast of showing together in such a space was also interesting. I had some good conversations with people, getting to know them better. We are all very excited for January’s show, the workshops, the potluck, etc. It’s a good group of people, who are creative and smart and funny and kind.

When I came back, we put on the tree, and Tessa was so happy! She sat in front of it, enthralled, until we unplugged it at bedtime.

It was 50 degrees when I woke up this morning, which is just wrong for this time of year in New England.

On today’s agenda: library, grocery store, liquor store, writing (work on Nina Bell, the historical mystery, the ghostwriting).

This weekend, we finish decorating the tree on the porch and the front hall. I will finish the textile piece and work on the text portion. At the show last night, I mentioned I was deliberately  printing it out in Calibri, and the artist doing all the labels said she’ll do the same. [If you know, you know, that’s been yet another layer of political ridiculousness here].

Sunday is the Solstice, so it will be about rituals and food and celebration. I am making something for dinner I’ve never made before (I’ll tell you about it next week), and I think I will do a Bishop’s Cake for dessert (from THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK).

Have a good weekend, and we’ll catch up next week!

#art #cats #community #decorating #freelance #freelanceFriends #FreelanceFriends #futureLabs #NinaBellMysteries #writing

Fri. Dec. 19, 2025: Approaching Winter Solstice

Friday, December 19, 2025

New Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and warm

Here we are, at the end of another week, and the final new moon of the year. Can I just say how ready I am to boot this year out the back door?

That is a tradition I’d heard of for years, but only got a chance to practice when I had my own front and back doors. On New Year’s Eve, a few minutes/seconds before midnight, you open the back door to let the old year out (I will be putting my boot firmly on its backside this year). Right after midnight, you open the front door and invite the New Year in. Remember: Year of the Snake/Year of the Horse is part of Chinese tradition. That does not shift on December 31/January 1, no matter what the internet says. Lunar New Year is on February 17, 2026. So we are still in snake, even past the stroke of midnight.

Some idiot was out there yesterday with a leaf blower. Boo, everything is iced down except the sand to keep people from falling. You’re going to cause an accident when you blow the sand away.

Of course, because it was a little warmer, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons were also back. They are the mayor’s pet construction company, so they know they’ll keep getting hired even when they are jerks. So they continue to be jerks.

At least they’re being jerks a couple of blocks away, even though they’re still causing problems on our street with noise and heavy machinery driving the wrong way down the street several times a day.

Wrote and turned in the book review. Requested my next assignment.

I revised the next 3 chapters of VICIOUS CRITIC, about 7.5K words. Decent progress. Lots of detail work and fact-checking at this point, but all good. Did my marketing for the day, per content calendar (I’ve actually stuck to it pretty well this month).

#FreelanceFriends chat was fun, although hashtags weren’t working on Bluesky for whatever reason.

Got the revision notes on the ghostwriting project (not the one I just turned in, the other one). I will get started on those notes today, although I doubt I can get them done before the end of the year. They had me invoice for the last project, which I turned around earlier this week, and for this section of this one. And the money was in my account this morning, which definitely makes for less holiday stress!

After dinner, I put on Real People clothes and some makeup. It wasn’t that cold, so I didn’t need to bundle up in 17 layers like a toddler in a Hallmark Christmas movie. I could just wear a coat.

I walked down to Downstreet, the hotel a few blocks away that’s opened up gallery space to local artists. Two of my Future Labs colleagues had a show opening. It was a good turnout, the space is lovely, and Door Prize NAMA donated the food for the event, which was lovely of them (and delicious). The pieces are interesting, and the comparison/contrast of showing together in such a space was also interesting. I had some good conversations with people, getting to know them better. We are all very excited for January’s show, the workshops, the potluck, etc. It’s a good group of people, who are creative and smart and funny and kind.

When I came back, we put on the tree, and Tessa was so happy! She sat in front of it, enthralled, until we unplugged it at bedtime.

It was 50 degrees when I woke up this morning, which is just wrong for this time of year in New England.

On today’s agenda: library, grocery store, liquor store, writing (work on Nina Bell, the historical mystery, the ghostwriting).

This weekend, we finish decorating the tree on the porch and the front hall. I will finish the textile piece and work on the text portion. At the show last night, I mentioned I was deliberately  printing it out in Calibri, and the artist doing all the labels said she’ll do the same. [If you know, you know, that’s been yet another layer of political ridiculousness here].

Sunday is the Solstice, so it will be about rituals and food and celebration. I am making something for dinner I’ve never made before (I’ll tell you about it next week), and I think I will do a Bishop’s Cake for dessert (from THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK).

Have a good weekend, and we’ll catch up next week!

#art #cats #community #decorating #freelance #freelanceFriends #FreelanceFriends #futureLabs #NinaBellMysteries #writing

Fri. Dec. 19, 2025: Approaching Winter Solstice

Friday, December 19, 2025

New Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and warm

Here we are, at the end of another week, and the final new moon of the year. Can I just say how ready I am to boot this year out the back door?

That is a tradition I’d heard of for years, but only got a chance to practice when I had my own front and back doors. On New Year’s Eve, a few minutes/seconds before midnight, you open the back door to let the old year out (I will be putting my boot firmly on its backside this year). Right after midnight, you open the front door and invite the New Year in. Remember: Year of the Snake/Year of the Horse is part of Chinese tradition. That does not shift on December 31/January 1, no matter what the internet says. Lunar New Year is on February 17, 2026. So we are still in snake, even past the stroke of midnight.

Some idiot was out there yesterday with a leaf blower. Boo, everything is iced down except the sand to keep people from falling. You’re going to cause an accident when you blow the sand away.

Of course, because it was a little warmer, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons were also back. They are the mayor’s pet construction company, so they know they’ll keep getting hired even when they are jerks. So they continue to be jerks.

At least they’re being jerks a couple of blocks away, even though they’re still causing problems on our street with noise and heavy machinery driving the wrong way down the street several times a day.

Wrote and turned in the book review. Requested my next assignment.

I revised the next 3 chapters of VICIOUS CRITIC, about 7.5K words. Decent progress. Lots of detail work and fact-checking at this point, but all good. Did my marketing for the day, per content calendar (I’ve actually stuck to it pretty well this month).

#FreelanceFriends chat was fun, although hashtags weren’t working on Bluesky for whatever reason.

Got the revision notes on the ghostwriting project (not the one I just turned in, the other one). I will get started on those notes today, although I doubt I can get them done before the end of the year. They had me invoice for the last project, which I turned around earlier this week, and for this section of this one. And the money was in my account this morning, which definitely makes for less holiday stress!

After dinner, I put on Real People clothes and some makeup. It wasn’t that cold, so I didn’t need to bundle up in 17 layers like a toddler in a Hallmark Christmas movie. I could just wear a coat.

I walked down to Downstreet, the hotel a few blocks away that’s opened up gallery space to local artists. Two of my Future Labs colleagues had a show opening. It was a good turnout, the space is lovely, and Door Prize NAMA donated the food for the event, which was lovely of them (and delicious). The pieces are interesting, and the comparison/contrast of showing together in such a space was also interesting. I had some good conversations with people, getting to know them better. We are all very excited for January’s show, the workshops, the potluck, etc. It’s a good group of people, who are creative and smart and funny and kind.

When I came back, we put on the tree, and Tessa was so happy! She sat in front of it, enthralled, until we unplugged it at bedtime.

It was 50 degrees when I woke up this morning, which is just wrong for this time of year in New England.

On today’s agenda: library, grocery store, liquor store, writing (work on Nina Bell, the historical mystery, the ghostwriting).

This weekend, we finish decorating the tree on the porch and the front hall. I will finish the textile piece and work on the text portion. At the show last night, I mentioned I was deliberately  printing it out in Calibri, and the artist doing all the labels said she’ll do the same. [If you know, you know, that’s been yet another layer of political ridiculousness here].

Sunday is the Solstice, so it will be about rituals and food and celebration. I am making something for dinner I’ve never made before (I’ll tell you about it next week), and I think I will do a Bishop’s Cake for dessert (from THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK).

Have a good weekend, and we’ll catch up next week!

#art #cats #community #decorating #freelance #freelanceFriends #FreelanceFriends #futureLabs #NinaBellMysteries #writing

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99

#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/mdEXwX

Nina Bell website: https://ninabellmysteries.devonellingtonwork.com

Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Links below in comments.

Digital edition $4.99

#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99

Links in comments below.

#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC #BookTok

TAPESTRY
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.

Digital edition $4.99

#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

Links in comments below.

TAPESTRY releases tomorrow!
Nina Bell Mysteries #1
Nina’s boyfriend tries to rob her of the $10K she’s delivering to her boss. When her boss winds up dead, Nina has to deal with love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll – and murder before the killer decides she’s expendable.
Release date: Nov. 12, 2024
Digital edition $4.99
Print edition $13.99 coming soon
#NinaBellMysteries #Tapestry #DevonEllington #Mystery #Retro #Love #Lust #Theatre #RockNRoll #Murder #ChickLit #NYC

Fri. Jan. 16, 2026: The End of Another Week

Friday, January 16, 2026

Day Before Dark Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

High winds, cloudy, cold

The end of another week. The weeks both fly by and so much happens, each feels like multiple months.

I wound up missing meditation yesterday. I’d had an inkling, earlier in the morning, that it would be a good idea to skip it, dismissed the intuition, but then got distracted and did. I’m sure it was the right outcome. Charlotte slept right through and didn’t notice.

I finished the VICIOUS galleys. Yowza, my editor caught a good logistical hole. Fixed that, and some inconsistencies the copyeditor caught. We think we’ve sorted the formatting issues. One final proof, and hopefully we can sign off on the digital, and then get the print proofs.

Got so caught up that I was late to #FreelanceFriends, but got there eventually.

Bea is getting very chatty, and knocked my phone out of my hand when I tried to check messages at a time she asked for attention. She knows how to stand up for herself.

Updated my Fearless Ink site to replace all references to “content” with “copy.” I am not “creating content”  or “managing content.” That has come to mean they want to hire one freelancer to do 12 jobs underpaying what one should cost. I write copy. I tell stories. I added in rates for script coverage. Since I’m not going through a coverage agency, I can set my own rates. And they ain’t cheap.

I need to figure out what I want to do with the Ink-Dipped Advice blog. Possibly go down to once a month, in the middle of the month. I basically abandoned it last year.

I had a good, solid session on the next ghostwriting assignment, and read the next book for review, so I can review it today. I’ll read the next book tonight, and then invoice the batch.

Today, I’m headed out for errands: grocery, library, and a couple of other things. Maybe mail a few cards at the post office. Then, writing and ghostwriting (my deadline for the next project is next Wednesday). And doing the final proof on VICIOUS. And riding my elected officials.

Schumer, Jeffries, and even Cory Booker are all useless. Yeah, train murdering goons to be better at murdering, there’s a plan. No, guys, you defund the murder squads.

On the weekend’s agenda: I’m hoping for a quiet day tomorrow, just reading, writing, and some housework. Sunday afternoon, I back up a friend who’s doing tarot readings at the gallery.

I want to keep the weekend simple. I need some downtime.

#bookReview #books #fiction #freelance #FreelanceFriends #NinaBellMysteries #reading #writing

Thurs. Jan. 15, 2026: Feeling Heavy in Spite of a Simple Day

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Waning Moon

Uranus & Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and raw

You can read the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.

Yesterday was a solid, quiet workday. I got the laundry folded and put away. I took down the stair lights. I did some other tidying up. I contacted my elected officials, on state and federal levels. I’ve contacted my federal officials daily, but I needed to ask my state officials to vote “no” on an upcoming bill. I worked on the ghostwriting. I did 124 pages of the proofs of VICIOUS CRITIC. There are some formatting issues that I hope can be resolved. I may have to rekey a few things. I’ll get back to that today, and, hopefully, finish this round, and we can see where we are.

I’m much happier with VICIOUS now that I’ve had some time away from it. I’m sure I’ll be sick of it again after all the proofs and tweaks, but at the moment, I like the way it’s shaped up. It stands well where it is, and is very much a love letter to working off-Broadway at that time, and also sets some good foundations for series arcs.

I haven’t had the heart to do the marketing rounds, but I need to get back to that.

Leftovers for dinner, which were very good. In the evening, I read THE SECRET CHRISTMAS LIBRARY by Jenny Colgan, which was sweet, and played with the cats.

I managed to sleep until 4:30 this morning, with strange dreams, but didn’t get up until 6. Morning routine was good. I have the online meditation group later this morning (Charlotte will be thrilled), and then the #FreelanceFriends chat at noon my time. I’ll do the daily rounds of elected officials. My House Rep’s contact portals are still all down. I’m sure it’s deliberate. I hope someone primaries him this year, because I don’t want to vote for him. I want someone who will actually listen and fight. I have to file paperwork with the Attorney General’s office about a scammer who’s been harassing me since early December. I sent a cease & desist letter by certified mail, and that’s been ignored, so I’m letting the AG’s office handle it from here. I’m not sure if I can block this bozo now, or need to keep all the contact attempts as evidence. The AG’s office will let me know.

The bulk of the day will be the proofs and the ghostwriting, and hopefully one of the books for review. They’ve started new protocols on all of it, and it’s a PITA.

I’m feeling tired and heavy today. But we just keep on keeping on, you know? Have a good one.

#books #freelance #FreelanceFriends #life #mentalHealth #NinaBellMysteries #reading #writing