Construction zone

It’s a construction zone around here, so if I’m a little scarce, that’s why. Booking Through Thursday will go on, as ever. But I may not make my weekly check-in.

Yesterday, I did manage to water the garden and clean up a bit (and find the extra flooring the contractors might need). And I made some vegetarian chili and some chia seed pudding. These feel like major achievements.

I haven’t been able to write that much (the noise, people in my space, the dogs (in a spare bedroom), barking at people in our space). But I’ve been getting other things done, like setting up Square and cover refreshes, so I’ve actually been pretty productive.

At the very least, I’ll be back on Thursday for another round of BTT. See you then!

Booking Through Thursday: buy now with one click

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

Are there any authors whose books you buy no matter what, on the day they’re released (the books, not the authors)? Do you get on the wait-list so you’re first in line? Let us know!

Do you have any auto-buy authors?

Booking Through Thursday prompt

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!

Negative! At long last!

Finally, finally I tested negative this morning. For the last couple of days, I was in that in-between spot: not truly sick, but not fully recovered, and feeling cranky because I didn’t have the energy to do ALL the things.

You know that saying everyone has the same twenty-four hours a day? Well, I’m here to tell you, they don’t. In fact, that saying has always left me feeling a little salty. It made me feel even saltier after I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that left me with no small amount of brain fog.

So, I did what I always do when I’m feeling a little salty:

I wrote a story about it.

Cover and summary of Just a Matter of Time.

“Just a Matter of Time” first appeared in Sucker Literary Magazine (which is still available in Kindle Unlimited) with ten other young adult short stories. Young adult short stories have always been a hard sell, and I was so excited that editor Hannah Goodman picked up my story for the anthology.

“Just a Matter of Time” should be free everywhere, but if it isn’t on your retailer of choice, drop me a note, and I’ll send you a BookFunnel link.

Booking Through Thursday: where in the world

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

Where is the most memorable place you’ve read a book? Please define memorable any way you like, be it under the covers at camp, perhaps in the Grand Canyon, or up in a favorite tree.

What is the most memorable place you’ve ever read a book?

Booking Through Thursday prompt

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!

When life gives you lemons, or in my case, COVID

Well, this was fun. What I thought was a mere summer cold turned out to be COVID. Because, of course, it did.

I realized it was more than a cold when I attempted to get out of bed the other day, and that proved somewhat difficult, as did feeding the cat. (What? You think the cat can be denied? No, she cannot.)

So, I’ve been taking it very easy these past few days. I’m better, and definitely upright. I retook the test this morning, and it’s still coming back positive, so no outings for me.

I’m starting to get cabin fever.

But I have plenty to read and binge-watch, so there’s that.

Wishing you all a COVID-free week.

August’s Booking Through Thursday prompts

For those who like to plan ahead, here are the August 2026 Booking Through Thursday prompts:

  • August 6: What is the most memorable place you’ve ever read a book?
  • August 13: Do you have any auto-buy authors?
  • August 20: It’s the dog days of summer! Favorite (or perhaps traumatic) books with dogs.
  • August 27: Not to neglect our feline friends, favorite books with cats (talking or otherwise).

Want to suggest a prompt? Leave a comment or use the contact form to send it my way.

Booking Through Thursday: juggling books

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

Do you have more than one book on the go at any time? Does it depend on the genre? Maybe you can juggle fiction and nonfiction, but not two of the same? Or are you a one-book-at-a-time reader?

Do you read multiple books at once?

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!

Booking Through Thursday: the books of summer

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

Those big books of summer, the ones you see everywhere. (Not to be confused with The Boys of Summer.)

Have any caught your eye this year? Have you read any of them? If so, did the book live up to the hype? If you have a recommendation, be sure to let us know.

Any of this year’s summer blockbuster books catch your eye?

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!

In which I confront fearsome creatures in the wild (or at least my garden)

Between the heat and the wildfire smoke, I have been confronting fearsome creatures in the wilds of my yard.

First up? This predator:

Tabby cat in a garden bed between sedum and salvia.

The neighbor’s cat has taken to lounging around like it’s queen of the world. It also left me a tribute: a dead mouse. (No picture of that; you can thank me later.)

On the positive side, I think it (or its orange tabby friend) has taken care of whatever borrowing critter was disrupting my garden beds.

Then, there are these turkeys. No, really, they’re turkeys.

Mama and baby turkeys in the garden.

They are still wandering through the yard once or twice a day. Glad I can provide a smorgasbord for them.

On the other hand? These two troublemakers:

Two bucks eating hosta plants

These two show up every day and try to stealthily eat the hosta plants in the front yard. I have to be careful about shooing them away since they tend to bolt into the road out front. Also, that one in the back may be a ten-point buck. Impressive.

Last, but not least, this fellow:

Caterpillar on a marigold

I think it’s some kind of woolly caterpillar. I believe it’s native (that seems to be the consensus from internet searches). In any case, it’s napping, not eating. Plus, that’s a marigold, which is one of nature’s pest controls.

The grass is, once again, up past my ankles. I need to go rinse off all the bug spray and check for the most fearsome creature of all: the deer tick.

Booking Through Thursday: on the road

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

Be it train, plane, or automobile, you’re off on a long trip. What book (or type of book) is your travel companion? Something slim and easy to carry? A huge tome to keep you occupied during layovers or long stretches of highway? Or maybe it’s an audiobook. Let us know who’s coming along on your journey.

What book (or type of book) would you take on a long road trip?

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!