Prickle Forrest Chronicles October 2021

PRICKLE FORREST CHRONICLES

By Chrissy Hartmann

October 2021

Its fall! But don’t let the cooler weather of October keep you from enjoying life. Throw on a jacket and grab a hot drink. The autumn colors are truly a gift from God. No one else can paint like he. Enjoy the bursting colors of red, gold, orange, and brown. Count the pumpkins on front porches. Wave at the scarecrows standing guard. Pause for that black cat who might travel across your path. And revel in the costumes the kids wear. For only a month away, the temperatures will dip to a wool blanket setting at night and your hot cup of cider might turn into something stronger. Enjoy the time now and especially enjoy the time reading a spooky novel where it makes the hair on your neck stand up and your breath catch in your throat. And one last thing… Rescuing Whiskey’s Salvation is coming soon!

Happy Halloween!

THE TOP FIVE

1. Fall colors. Red, green, gold, brown, orange. Beautiful!

2. Pumpkin coffee cream. Fabulous!

3. Monoclonal antibody therapy treatments. Lifesaver!

4. Decorated pumpkins. Boo!

5. Online shopping and store pickup. Hallelujah!

WIP IT… WIP IT GOOD…

Okay so last month with the help of the Wayne Novelist Guild had the novel all ready to go to KDP, then…. COVID struck the house. Down for at least two weeks, all of us. When surfaced, the file to send in the novel couldn’t be located. Had to start over. Ugh! Torture. Pure torture. But did create a new blank template for future books and now just need to do is plug in the text and it’s good to be printed. Woohoo! New release date is set for November 11th just for some extra cushion, need to send for a proof. Worked on the website too. Should be up soon, real soon Lori Soard at PromoWarriors is awesome!. Looks great too. Getting the graphic artist in the family to help out with pics. Check him out at Rye Designs. Custom-made pics for the background of the website. The tiredness sets in early each night, so not getting a whole lot done each day, but baby steps are working out for the time being. Hope to have it up and running by launch of the book which is November 11th. Keep the fingers crossed!

QUERYING…

Not doing it right now unless maybe for a short story. Will consider it for next series. Now that the template made for KDP, not sure if querying will ever happen again. But learned never to say never. LOL.

THE CRAFT

This month’s writing tip…

Don’t work yourself to a frazzled bone. Exercise, get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, eat right, and take vitamins. Thank goodness for the vitamins; otherwise, might be in the hospital right now. Vitamin D3, vitamin C, zinc, selenium, quercetin, magnesium, and grape seed extract. Plus a baby aspirin to help out. This cocktail works wonders!

THE HOLIDAYS:

If there were any other than Halloween this October, then not celebrated here as most of the time spent in bed. Did start to feel better probably a week after the confirmation of CV-19 on Thursday, October 7th. Would have celebrated monoclonal antibody therapy day on the 8th, but don’t think it’s a national holiday yet. And anyways, could hardly sit up in a wheelchair to give it its proper due. Did manage to give out a happy “Woot woot” when saltine crackers could be choked down with some water and there were no repercussions from doing so. First solid food in about two weeks. Once the energy started to come back, it enabled a shopping trip via online Instacart and Wal-Mart for groceries and Halloween store and Amazon to get this year’s Halloween costume pieced together. Eighty bucks later, flicked and tapped in an order for the finishing touches to the Cat in the Hat costume. Plus let’s not forget the accessories for Thing 1 and 2. Backup will be last year’s costume, Waldo’s girlfriend Wendla. Hopefully it won’t snow. Sometimes feels like it’s going to. Don’t want to forget the night out in costume to celebrate our 23rd anniversary walking around downtown Woo for their Halloween crawl. Fun, but maybe next year won’t be so tired. Now to pick out the candy for trick-or-treaters. Fun! Fun!

THE BOOKSHELF:

No books this month. No energy to listen or read for long periods of time so listened to podcasts instead, which are…

1. X22 Report

2. On the Fringe by Dan Radio Style.

3. Writing Excuses –

4. The Editing Podcast

5. The Dan Bongino Show

SEASONAL FAVORITES:

SEASON: Fall! Best. Time. Of. The. Year. Ever!

SPORTS: Football – Go Brownies! Go Buckeyes! O! H! I! O!

COLOR: Dark brown with any accentuating fall color. Beautiful! Just beautiful!

CAUSE: The Seeing Eye Woof! Woof!

SONG: Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden. Strike up the band!

FOOD: Pumpkin roll. To die for!

HOT DRINK: Apple cider with a shot of Minglewood cinnamon whiskey. O heavens, yes!

FLOWER: Yellow, orange, and white daisies and red and yellow roses…better yet…all of them!

DID YOU KNOW…

Dexcom G6 is a fabulous continuous glucose monitor. No more finger pricks. This is almost like having the pancreas working on its own again. Provides a lot of freedom. One quick look at the iPhone app to see the blood sugar and you’re good to go. And if you want to dress your CGM up why not try an overlay patch from Expression Med? Lots of great designs. Puppy paws, flowers, flags, shamrocks, etc. Check them out with the link below and get $5 off your firsts order. Hopefully you’ll love them too.

PRICKLERS OF THE MONTH…

• COVID-19. Rona. CV-19. Woohan virus. China flu. Whatever you want to call it, that’s it.

• Hospitals and doctors who tell you to go home with your CV-19 symptoms and then say come back when your worse. Why, so you can finish them off with a ventilator and remdecivir?

• Pharmacies who won’t fill your script for Ivermectin, HCQ, or budescinide respules.

• Postponing anniversary celebration.

• Inaccessible software. Hint! Hint! KDP and your Kindle Create.

THEY SAID…

“They may take our lives, but not our freedom.”

—Braveheart

HOMETOWN UPDATE…

• Mask wearing still in effect at most doctor offices and hospital. Apparently, they don’t follow the science. Wooster Community Hospital, Wooster ENT, Milltown Family Practice

• Stand-alone Subway rumored to be going in at corner of Cleveland Road and Winkler Drive. And yes, it will have a drive-thru. Woohoo!

• Some kind of crazy land transfer by an out of town developer wanted to take over the land donated by the Noble Foundation to the Wooster City Schools to rezone and put in a nursing home and low-income housing. Noble Foundation says not going to happen. Land donated strictly for educational use only. Yay!

• Edgewood Neighborhood doing their trick-or-treat Sunday, October 31st 6-8 pm. Hopefully won’t be too cold. Thinking about passing out large candy bars to treat the kids this year.

• Wooster City Schools and Wayne County Schools Career Center dropping mask mandate and going to parents’ option. Finally!

INQUISITIVE MINDS…

The Muses want to know… Do you prefer…

Snack-size candy bars or the regular-store size for trick or treat?

Please leave your comment below. Thanks!

GOOSING OFF…

Goosie & Gander

Everyone in the house had CV-19. Yes, even the geese. But after a few day bundled into their nest, they felt better and hit different neighborhoods for some Halloween celebrating. Pumpkins, lions, scarecrows, bats, and a black kitty to name a few. Happy Halloween!🎃