Ending the year on an up-note

cj Sez: December 1, 2025, and my yard is just about flooded. Over the last four hours, we’ve had more than three inches of rain in my neighborhood, and the forecast is for more tomorrow. We’ve been in a drought for a few weeks, so this deluge will definitely help. The rain-to-snow calculator on Google says “Typically, 1 inch of rain is estimated to equal about 10 inches of snow, but this can vary based on temperature and other atmospheric conditions. In some cases, the ratio can range from 6 to 18 inches of snow for every inch of rain.” That equation makes me kind of happy I’m not living in a snowy state.

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Real life:

  I’ve acquired a new name: “Great Grandma.” My granddaughter Johanna gave birth to sweet Rosalie today. I’m anxious to meet her.

Reel life:

  I was hopeful I was going to put the final touches on my novella (I’ve got a cover designer working on ideas), but today I tore out an entire exciting scene, 1,146 words gone with a poof. I’ll have to start working on replacing all those words . . . maybe tomorrow, or maybe I’ll just give it another rest.

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Wordsmithiness

  I love words (especially those I make up). I love the definitions, spellings, usages, inferences, and the syncopation of sentences. Here are some words I recently ran across.

  Mantel refers to a shelf above a fireplace, while mantle refers to a cloak or covering, as well as metaphorically to roles or responsibilities. They are distinct words with different meanings despite sounding alike.

  Do you know the difference between “hang” and “hung” and when to use them? A May 21, 2025, article by Samantha Abernethy on Word Smarts says: 

English is full of tricky choices: Is it “peak” or “peek”? (“Peek” is a quick look and “peak” is the top of a mountain.) Or is it "pique" (to challenge or arouse). Should you use “compliment” or “complement” when giving someone praise? (Compliment.) When it comes to “hanged” vs. “hung,” though, there’s only one very specific usage for the former. Both are acceptable past-tense versions of the verb “to hang,” but they are not interchangeable. The word “hanged” is grammatically correct in only one context: when referring to an execution by hanging. For example, “In the Old West, outlaws were hanged at high noon.”

In all other contexts, “hung” is the correct choice. Think of this line in the classic tale “The Night Before Christmas”: “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.”

  I leave you dear visitor with a link to the Word Smarts website which is a wonderful source of information. https://wordsmarts.com/

What I have read:

SHE HAD TO DIE

Book 2 of the Hugo August Detective Series 

My Review: 

  Rebecca Barrett’s latest Hugo August novel, She Had to Die, is more than a murder mystery. It’s an exposé of people who will go to any lengths to hide indiscretions and preserve illusory reputations. If you’re not familiar with Hugo’s section of L.A. (that’s Lower Alabama to the uninitiated), you soon will be. Barrett’s descriptions of people, places, and things are spot on, as are the clues, red herrings, and plot twists that make this story an enjoyable 5-star read. 

Buy She Had to Die now

What I'm reading: 

  Susan Yawn Tanner’s A DANGEROUS HOMECOMING, book 3 in The Bellamy Legacy Series. 

  I love the beginning of the blurb: A few words can upend a person’s world. It’s a routine day at the office for Jade Bellamy when the second note arrives . . .  and am looking forward to finishing the book.

Buy A Dangerous Homecoming now

Books, the gift that keeps on giving

Christmas Through a Child’s Eyes: A heartwarming holiday memoir collection filled with nostalgic childhood memories, uplifting family traditions, and comforting stories that celebrate the true spirit of Christmas.

  The anthology is still available—on Dec. 1, the Kindle version was 99 cents.

  My story, “Dancing With Daddy,” is a favorite and precious memory written under my maiden name, Marilyn Olsein. I’ll be reading an edited down excerpt from the story at the December meeting of the Mobile Writers Guild. I will probably cry again.

Buy Christmas Through a Child’s Eyes Now

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  Okay, that’s it. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for  happy and safe days for you and yours.

cj

  My fast-paced thriller novels, THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, are available on Amazon or through your favorite e-Tailer and bookstore.

  Nota bene: Angela Trigg, the RITA Award-winning author and owner of The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my paperback books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  

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Just a reminder: Lyrical Pens blogs for readers and writers is now a monthly blog. I’ll be aiming for the first Sunday in the month, but it might wind up being a Monday, so watch for it please. That said, thank you for stopping by Lyrical Pens today. I really do appreciate you . . . and you . . . and especially, you.

➜ Follow me on        
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Did you fall back?

cj Sez: Well, didja? Didja turn your clocks back one hour last night? I did, but the pets’ internal clocks could not care less about that extra hour of sleep I thought I was going to get.

   I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get back into the rhythm of blogging, so I’ll just put my bottom in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard. After such a long hiatus from writing, I’m hopeful the ideas and fingers will move forward again. The reason I’ve been absent for so long is that my real life overpowered my reel life. 

   Lyrical Pens blogs for readers and writers will turn from weekly to monthly blogs, though. I’ll be aiming for the first Sunday in each month. That said, thank you for stopping by Lyrical Pens today. I really do appreciate you.

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Real and reel:

   My real life had some ups and downs this year. My brother died in June after suffering through debilitating illnesses. He had been under hospice care since January. Stoic Swede that he was, his only complaint was that he couldn’t get up when he fell down. We’d been separated by distance for a long time, but never apart by heart.

   I lost my sweet cuddle kitty, Cato the Cat, in January when he suffered the sudden onset of an illness neither the vet nor the veterinary hospital could diagnose.

   On the plus side in my reel life, in May, I finally took renewed interest in finishing the mystery that’s been idling on my computer for more years than I can remember. I entered the first chapter in a critique contest and was told it finished at number 17 out of 119 entries. I was cocky enough to hope for an honorable mention, but the result encouraged me to finish the story. After I typed “The End,” the story also received a positive beta read with good questions that needed to be answered (“I enjoyed it. It’s a good story.”). A TIME TO DIE is now out to a couple more beta readers—in another state, so no local influencing there. I hope their comments are as helpful as the first reader’s.

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   Since I am in the process of collecting (reminding myself of) everything I need to do to get a novel ready for the publisher, I resurrected this article from Jane Friedman’s blog that I mentioned in December last year. Perhaps other authors will also find a useful nugget in it. 

https://janefriedman.com/writing-the-authors-note-for-a-novel/

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   Okay, that’s it for today. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe Thanksgiving celebration for you and yours.

cj

Blatant Self Promotion:  

MUSICAL PIECES is a collection of 28 short stories and poems by Guild members whose inspiration came from their favorite song tiles. It is the seventh installment of the Mobile Writers Guild themed-PIECES anthology series, books in which I have stories.  

Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Birthday/whatever day, books are gifts that keep on giving year-round, and anthologies are even better because there’s more than one story to read, perhaps by an author who could become a new favorite.

BUY MUSICAL PIECES 

   My fast-paced thriller/suspense novels with a touch of romance, THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, are available on Amazon or through your favorite e-Tailer and bookstore.

   Nota bene: Angela Trigg, the RITA Award-winning author and owner of The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my paperback books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

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FYI . . .  An announcement in the interest of transparency (de rigueur word these days). This is something that I only recently learned: If you buy ebooks from Amazon, you don’t own them. You've been given a license to read them. Amazon reserves the right to pull the book from sale at any time and provide you zero compensation for doing so. Per their disclosure of licensing terms in response to a California law:

“Amazon clarifies that Kindle purchases are licenses, not ownership, allowing the company or publishers to revoke or alter e-books at any time.”

Amazon’s recent update to its Kindle store in the U.S. now includes a disclaimer: “By placing the order, you’re purchasing a license to the content.”  (cj Sez: I didn’t see any verbiage on other countries.)

Source: https://www.newstarget.com/2025-02-26-amazon-users-dont-own-kindle-ebooks.html

  I’m happy to announce that when you purchase one of my books from the D2D Smashwords.com store, the buyers owns them, “without exception” D2D told me. The buyer keeps the ebook she/he purchases and can load it onto a Kindle or whatever device.

➜ Follow me on        

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

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➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6