The Curse of the Skunk

Ever since I moved into my current apartment, I’ve been plagued by skunks. y previous apartment backed onto a wooded space. We had the occasional skunk spray nearby, but nothing compared to the number of times I’ve had to close my windows against skunk stink at my current place despite it being in a less wild […]

The August Issue of The KierDevil News Is Out!

The August 2020 edition of my KierDevils newsletter went out on Thursday, August 6th. It contains information on what I’ve been researching, plus what I’ve been reading for pleasure. Enjoy! If you’re a subscriber and don’t see it in your Inbox, please check your Spam or Junk folder. For Gmail users, it might also be on your […]

A New Diving Universe Kickstarter

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may remember that last year I posted about the Diving Universe Kickstarter offering an early copy of the novel The Renegat by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I’m a huge fan of the Diving Universe space opera novels, so I’m thrilled to have a chance to get […]

Ebook Subscriptions – Aye or Nay?

Are you an e-book subscriber? For those of you who are unfamiliar with ebook subscriptions, they are programs for ebooks that are similar to Netflix. For a monthly subscription fee, the reader gets access to ebooks in the service’s library. The authors get paid on a revenue-sharing basis based on a formula that allocates a portion […]

Something to Look Forward To

Life is pretty grim these days. So the little pieces of happiness matter more than ever. Which is why I was so excited to finally receive my long-awaited birthday present of Peace Talks, the latest edition in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.I love this series, but now that the book is finally here I […]

Know Your Audience – A Kickstarter Case Study

Here’s an example of the power of an author’s fandom. Author Brandon Sanderson has a Kickstarter campaign running to fund the production of commemorative leatherbound volumes of The Way of Kings, the first novel in The Stormlight Archive fantasy series, to celebrate its tenth anniversary. His goal was $250,000. With 23 days left to go as of the […]

Are You Still COVID-Hoarding?

A photo I took on the day I was able to buy a full six-pack of toilet paper again.   I was so excited! LOLHave the shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic changed your buying habits? I have to admit that for certain items I replenish them a lot sooner than I would have before the […]

The July Issue of The KierDevil News Is Out!

The July 2020 edition of my KierDevils newsletter went out on Thursday, July 2nd. It contains two SSU puzzles. A trivia puzzle and a word search puzzle. Enjoy! If you’re a subscriber and don’t see it in your Inbox, please check your Spam or Junk folder. For Gmail users, it might also be on your Promotions tab. If […]

Seriously? And I Thought Legalese Was Bad

I received a report from the doctor today regarding a rash on my skin. The verdict? I have a skin rash due to inflammation. They clearly have no idea how much attention writers give to words, because I found this statement hilarious. Now, maybe in medical terms skin rash and inflammation are two different things. But to […]

Fashion Is Face Masks

In this age of COVID-19, face masks are becoming the new fashion statement. I’ve seen masks with cartoons drawn over the mouth and nose area. Masks that have those filter circles. Some folks in our office building just use a scarf or bandana. Even I’ve finally graduated away from the paper, surgical style masks provided by […]