This week on Books Cubed, I’m reading chs 2 & 3 from a work in progress, tentatively titled, Four Bullets & a Ghost. If you missed chapter 1 check it out here. Let me know what you think, drop some words in the comments below.
Links:
Rather listen to the podcast version of the show? You’ll find it here.
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What else do I write? Thanks for asking. Get the free prequel to my June Nash Misadventure series and find out why a monkey was wearing June’s bra.
This week on my Vlog and podcast Books Cubed, I’m chatting with Urban Fantasy writer Lori Drake about her Grave Wolves series. When the werewolves aren’t fighting supernatural forces, they’re ballroom dancing. It’s too much fun. Have a listen.
Cue the sympathy…
The Dark Side Half – one of my favorite Disney runs thanks to the cool photos
Thirty something days now to the next marathon. (I’m too tired to look it up) This will be my second and quite possibly the last. The training is killing me. After doing 18 miles, I just don’t want to get up off the couch and go write. (we interval train 30-30s) This weekend is a bit easier. Just a 12er. Then next weekend is 20. In between, it’s 6 or 8 every other day. Ahhhh.
As long as my husband is addicted to Disney races my world will involved sneakers and toe socks.
Off to write. I really do have a new June Nash book coming out soon. Ish. I’ll have more updates on that in the new year. Until then, party hardy and Write on,
Make that week. I have no clue what I was doing just last week. Whatever it was, I forgot to upload my chat with award winning LGBT author Carrie Pack.(episode 6) Her time travel novel, In the Present Tense is a must read. When you’re done, stick around my Youtube channel and check out this week’s chat with my audiobook narrator, and meet the voice of June Nash! (episode 7)
What the dog wants…
…the dog gets. Here we are driving our 17 year young pup to Orlando so she can get groomed at Best Friends at Disneyworld. Two hours each way but look at that smile. She loves her car rides. While she got beautiful, we wandered Disney Springs and had what we think will be our last outing to D-Luxe Burger. It’s too messy and too hard to hold those ginormous burgers. Delicious. But too much work. Next time Stitch needs a grooming, we’ll kill time at that noodle place we always walk past.
Groovy Art
If you’re in the Orlando area, you need to hit the Orlando Museum of Art to see the
Nick Cave exhibit before it leaves on December 30. His work is incredibly whimsical and weird. If you’ve never heard of him, check the exhibit out here.
And that’s it for this week. It feels like time to share another reading from a work in progress. Do you want to hear from the next June Nash novel or from the yet to be released series, Four Bullets and a Ghost? Let me know in the comments and Write on.
Good Adventures, This week on Books Cubed, I’m reading chapter one of another book series I’m working on. Have a listen, let me know what you think. This is a spin off of the June Nash MisAdventures, tentatively titled, Four Bullets and a Ghost. There’s some NSFW words so be careful around impressionable adults and young children.
I’ve been hard at work on my next book, due out by the end of the year. (I keep saying late fall with crossed fingers) So, to help make my life easier, I thought I’d start a new project. Oh, naughty frozen margarita drinks and the ideas they give me. Here’s ep 1 of my vlog, Books Cubed: Reads, Reviews, & Rants. As you’ll find out, I forgot my own title in the intro! This week, I read from my new book. Next week, I’ve got a fun interview with author Carrie Jo Howe.
New episodes will be up on Thursdays. Have a listen. Subscribe. Leave a comment on youtube, or here. Buy the other book so I can afford more margaritas. Have a lovely day and write on,
Me and my better half at Disney world. We’re more than a little excited.
In the Tampa Area?
I’ll be signing copies of How to Sex Your Snake at the Tampa Indie Author Book Convention July 14th and 15th. If you’d like free tickets, you can get them until June 30th by clicking here. I’ll have a few book bags to give away too.
Now I’m off to my little booth by the bathroom in Panera Bread to work on June’s next misadventure due out in September!
It’s been a crazy few months since I last posted. I’m working on two new books (one is just over a third done), I’m creating a playable novel (more on that later), I just finished a short Prequel for How to Sex Your Snake. (More later on how to get that), and I accidentally ran a marathon.
My husband is the runner. I just tag along cause I like spending time with him.
The race was the Space Coast Marathon and 1/2 Marathon up in Cocoa Beachon Nov 26. It’s a gorgeous course that takes you along the water as the sun is rising. And moving up over head. And setting behind your back. A marathon takes a hell of a long time to run. For some of us anyway.
3…2…1…liftoff
Starting point is a little park. You head south, turning around at around the 6 1/2 mile mark and come back to the park. That’s 13.1 miles. Anyone running the half stops there. Anyone running the whole, continues on past. They’ll run about 6 1/2 out then turn around and come back to the park for a total of 26.2 miles. But what happens if you sign up for the whole marathon but realize you just can’t make it? Well, at this race, there’s something called the ‘wormhole’. You take that path and it sends you to the half marathon finish line. It’s a nice out.
So, we’re approaching the wormhole and my husband says, do you want to take the wormhole? He did. I didn’t quite hear him and just kept running. If I’d of heard him and understood, I definitely would have peeled off into the wormhole. And as I ran the next few miles, I was wishing I’d have peeled off into the wormhole.
I think I can…I think I can…I think…ooooo, booze.
Oops. A boat on it’s side. Kinda how I felt at about mile 18
But then a funny thing happened. I got into a rhythm. And lovely people had tables set up, along the way, with shots and snacks. (I stuck with beer) My husband made it to 21. Which was partly my fault. I’d knocked us off our training schedule, in part because of laziness and in part because of…no, totally because of laziness. It’s tough to get up in the mornings to run when it’s so warm and comfy in bed. So he was under prepared.
Why did I keep going? Again, laziness. I was 5.2 miles from saying I’d run a marathon. If I’d have stopped, I’d have to run 26.2 more miles to say I’d run a marathon. Does that makes sense?
And the crowd roars…
Well, for the winner maybe. Just not for me. By the time I finished, most everyone had gone home. I was just happy to see my sweetie cheering for me as I cross the line.
In the end, I came in at 6:55:59. (The course is listed as a 7 hour time limit)
Cool. Now I’d run a marathon and I could go home and sit on the couch and get back to Glitch on Netflix. Which I did. And then Thursday came. And the email.
‘Are you ready for this weekend’s race?’
Huh?
Seems we’d sign up for a half marathon down in Key West. Mark couldn’t get the time off work so I headed down alone. I crashed at a friend’s place and went down to packet pickup point to grab my race bib and t-shirt. After they handed me my stuff, I asked I could just pick up my husband’s t-shirt. He’s not registered. He deferred to next year.
Huh?
Turns out, after we’d signed up for the race, eons ago and it was rescheduled at one point helping us truly forget about it. Mark finally figured out that he had decided that we should defer to next year. He had done that. (also eons ago) And I hadn’t. He says he reminded me many times. I’m no longer in charge of deferring my own races.
Totally fine with that.
Then before I left the packet pickup table, I looked inside my bag and discovered two race bibs. Turns out I was not only running the half, I was running a 5k the next day. My wobbly post marathon legs were not happy to hear that. But…that meant an extra day in Key West. The love of my life. (My husband doesn’t read this so he’ll never know he’s number 2)
In the end, over 8 day and three races, I ran 42.3 miles.
As I was sitting on a bench staring out at the ocean and eating my post race bagel on Sunday, my husband texted to see if I wanted to run a half this coming Saturday. I bet you can imagine what I told him.
Rest well and Write On,
Melissa
PS
I said no. And then I muttered a few of June’s favorite words.
PPS
Who the hell is June? You’ll have to read the book to find out and I can help you out with that. Here’s the first five chapters.
Just got back from Key West and the Hemingway 5k. It’s an evening run, start time 7:30pm. That’s me with my race shirt.
And this is the temperature. Kinda of. It was actually 89 degrees, feels like 89 thousand. I just noticed the song on the radio. We’d been hoping for temps in the 70s.
And this was us at race time.
Mojitos from the Rum Bar on Duval. Life is too short to be that sweaty.
Next time, I’ll share video from the Everglades National Park. (Give me a day to recover)
What is up with my cheeks? I look like I’ve just come from dental surgery
We finally had a chance to run up to Disneyworld to check out the new Pandora land in Animal Kingdom. The word amazing doesn’t do it justice. It’s a huge area, with winding paths, bizarre vegetation, tiny banshees to buy and perch on your shoulder and platforms with performers playing odd looking instruments. Though that could have just been the shadows.
I saw Avatar so long ago, that I can’t tell you if Disney has recreated that world accurately. I just know this place was fun.
Especially at night. If you have to leave before dark, you’ll miss what Pandora is really about.
Intense black light in your face color!
When you arrive at Animal Kingdom, head for Tiffins (Stop and make a reservation. Fantastic food, a patio overlooking the water and very cool art covered walls inside) and then continue over the bridge and follow the path to reach Pandora. There are two new rides, a lazy river ride featuring very nifty animation that makes you think you’re watching the movie unfold just off in the distance…(which I didn’t quite get on video, sorry)
If I remember correctly, that blue patch in the middle was a video screen
…and my new favorite Disney ride, Flight of Passage.
As you wait in line, you wind through the interior of a mountain decorated by the natives of Pandora. Eventually, you make it to a research center. (Was there a research center in the movie? I can’t remember why they were wandering around Pandora) The details are worth the time in line. (We were so busy looking at things in the research facility that I forgot to take photos) I’m not sure how much fast pass skips over but do yourself a favor and go through the line at least once.
Once you get to the actual ride, you’re ushered into a long narrow room where you straddle what looks like a motorcycle, pop on goggles and stare at a wall, inches from your face. Once the ride starts, the wall melts into the world of Pandora and all your senses are involved as you ride your banshee over, through and around the lush landscape. I swear I could even smell the other banshees. Wait. It had been like 2089 degrees that day and I was in a little, narrow room with 8 or so people, so there’s probably no smell-o-vision. Still. It’s worth the wait.
I’ll get better photos on my next visit. (maybe next week) Till then, Write One,
Turns out, after we’d signed up for the race, eons ago and it was rescheduled at one point helping us truly forget about it. Mark finally figured out that he had decided that we should defer to next year. He had done that. (also eons ago) And I hadn’t. He says he reminded me many times. 
Melissa Banczak 