You're Doing It Wrong

I have another story published this month in the Indigenous Futures issue of Apex Magazine, edited by Allison Mills.

The story is called Security Breach at Sugar Pine Suites and features a rebellious housekeeper, a washed up boybander, and a cranky supervisor on an NDN casino, IN SPACE.

The issue main page is here.

Link to the story is here.

You can purchase the entire issue here.

AND! It is also available as a podcast here or you can find it on your favorite podcast app.

I have a story in Fantasy Magazine this month. It will go up on October 26.

Information on the issue here.

Subscription information if you want to get your hands on the entire issue now is here.

I am taking a class right now and ignoring all non-essential activities. See you at the end of November. (Not sure what I’m going to do about November blogging. Maybe photos.)

There’s a Popeyes and a Dutch Brothers drivethru on the way to my dad’s.

We always count the cars.

If it’s evening, Popeyes is always full. It’s a long line for the drivethru, too.

Dutch Brothers is almost always full. There is no rhyme or reason. Hot outside? Huge long line. Dinner time? Huge long line.

They have young people outside with ipads and the line is divided and funnels into one lane. It’s a miracle if there’s only one or two cars.

I don’t like to go through a drivethru window. When I was in high school I worked the window at Jack-in-the-Box and on beach days it was INSANE. I’m still not recovered.

More raccoons!

These are notes from when I drove to Orleans at the end of July:

Driving down I saw a guy in a fishing hat, standing in the middle of a field reading.

At one point I could see a little yellow bus in my rear view mirror.

As I drove on, slowly, the bus drew closer to me. And there was an identical bus behind it.

All together there were five buses, evenly spaced, slowly but surely gaining.

It was like something from a horror movie. I don’t know what the horror was, it just felt eerie and off.

Later the road split for construction so I was on once side of the concrete barrier headed for the state line and the little yellow buses were exiting the freeway and they all drove by, headed to scare someone else.

My other note was that America is recreating! I saw every possible size shape of RV or camper, all strapped with either some type of floatation device or some type of wheeled conveyance (motorized and not.)

This is Vancouver hometown gal, Jordan Chiles, silver medalist on the women’s gymnastics Olympics team. She got a parade and bagpipes and the Mayor gave her the key to the city. It was the most wholesome, wonderful Vancouver moment.

My photos are the biggest mess. I have so many I intended to post and now so much time has gone by. Plus I need to go through them but it’s too overwhelming — I have a terrible system so there are duplicates and more duplicates. And I’ve saved so many critter videos that I think I will want to post later that those are out of control, too.

Probably for November this year I will just do photos so maybe I can get a grip then.

Speaking of getting a grip, at the moment I am reading a book on my nightstand, a book on my ereader, listening to an audiobook, critting a novel and I’m thinking about, and taking notes for, three different long writing projects.

I normally never do this. I’m not going to lie. I get the stories a little bit mixed up sometimes. I don’t know why I’m doing it now. That’s just how it worked out.

When I go to Orleans I always use boxes in the car to help me organize my stuff. Oakey liked this box a lot. When I got ready to leave he glared a lot which he does anyway but I could tell there was extra glaring.

I guess I never posted it here but a couple of weeks ago it was my 25th wedding anniversary.

Wow, hard to believe.

We have never had a serious cover stealing situation in all this time. Until recently.

I don’t know what Bob does but somehow he manages to get a big armful of covers and then he turns over to his side of the bed. Night after night I am clutching the corner of the duvet, angrily yanking it back or waking with only my pillows to keep me warm.

No amount of whining has changed this. He says he can’t help it, he’s asleep.

I finally got out a blanket that is folded and only on my half of the bed.

If that’s the worst problem after 25 years, we’re doing just fine.

I always think that this word is: foilage. That’s how I say it in my head, “foil-idge.” Whenever I want to write it out, I have to think about it.

Something happened last week that never happened before and I received an email for another Pamela Rentz.

It was about this Fall Foliage Prediction Map. The other Pam wrote an article about it once.

Here’s the blurb: The 2021 Fall Foliage Map is the ultimate visual planning guide to the annual progressive changing of the leaves. While no tool can be 100% accurate, this tool is meant to help travelers better time their trips to have the best opportunity of catching peak color each year.

I am going to be driving to Orleans in the middle of October. Looks like partial to near peak range. I love doing the drive at that time of year.