04 Saturday Mar 2023
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It’s so amazing that I actually have over 5,400 views on my YouTube channel. In fact, they even stuck a commercial on the video with the most views yesterday! Tarene got me over the 5,000 mark, which seems to be a significant number of views. Maybe I’ll start making money from YouTube? Sure would be nice. Of course, they don’t pay you if you only make one cent….
10 Thursday Mar 2022
Posted in Books with cats
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Hugo and Fluffy Tales is now available at Chapters/Indigo in Canada! Order it, and pick up in store for free shipping. I bugged them, and they got it into their database!
22 Saturday Jan 2022
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I had my DNA done by CRI Genetics, and the results were so strange, that they just bothered me more and more.
They had me down as 14% Italian, which just is highly unlikely. My brother has done our family tree back to the 1600’s, and found no Italian in there. This 14% was supposed to be recent. Only up to 5 generations back.
When I got my results, I sent an email saying that there must be a mistake, but just got a short and rude response back that no way could THEY ever make a mistake!
Recently, I saw a video done by another woman who had had her DNA done by them. Her results were uncannily like mine had been! She could have been my sister, but wasn’t. She said that she had heard that lots of people got this kind of result from CRI Genetics, with the Italian percentage in there, etc.
So, after complaining on their Facebook page, the FB CRI person said to phone them. I did that.
After the phone guy insisting that no way could they be wrong, but at least politely, I finally mentioned that I was a blogger. And then, he agreed to have my results looked at again. Phew!
So, here is hoping that my results make sense the next time, and the strange mystery of why I am so often mistaken for an Indigenous person at least gets partially solved, too. Not holding my breath about that, though, since hardly any Indigenous Canadians or Native Americans get their DNA done, so they probably don’t have that in their small database.
01 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in Uncategorized
Tabitha stood at her wall of windows, looking down.
Through the yellowish haze, she could see people scurrying to their low-level jobs. Cars cramming the street added more to the haze in the air. She vaguely wondered how the people down there could breathe at all.
Up here, the air was slightly cleaner and clearer. The air cars zipped by, also belching fumes, but there were less of them. Not many had the money for an air car. Or to live and work high up in the Towers, above the smog. Tabitha had money. Lots of money.
She had made another $10,000 five minutes ago. She would make at least that again, in the next few minutes. Maybe ten or one hundred times that much. Making money was easy for Tabitha. The right investments, and the money just poured in. She had never really had to think hard about which investments to make. Somehow, she just knew what would do well. Sure, she researched each stock. But, it never took much time or thought.
Sometimes, though, she felt that she was quite poor. That she was actually struggling to make ends meet. When those feelings hit her, she went and invested more money. and got even bigger returns. The feeling always returned. Where did it come from? And why? Did other rich people get the same confusing feelings? She was afraid to ask. Who knew what the competition would make of such a weakness?
She had never been poor. She had had a very comfortable family life; and found her knack for investing money early in life. Now, she made money without even knowing how much. It just kept on coming in. She probably was a billionaire, but never bothered to find out. She could buy anything she wanted. Designer clothes. The latest electronics. And still, the money kept coming in, more than she could ever spend.
It looked like the Earth would soon die of over pollution and it heating up from all of the gases now in the air. She would be one of the few escaping the end of Earth. She was going to Mars. You could no longer see Mars or any other planet in the night skies, because of the covering smog. Mars was still there, though.
A city had been built there. It was ready for all of those who could afford the million dollar space flight to get there, and the expensive housing and equipment needed to survive there until it was terraformed. The domes were expensive to build and to maintain against the harsh Martian winds and sandstorms. Greenery was being shipped along with the people. Terraforming would be a long process.
The billionaires wanted to leave Earth NOW. Leave it to the huddling, barely seen masses below.
Tabitha sometimes wondered what they would do with the Earth. Would they manage to clean it up? Stop driving, and walk places? The oil company execs were coming with the rest of the rich to Mars, after all. Would anyone left bother to extract oil?
Whenever she wondered, Tabitha would quickly make herself forget about their plight and chances of survival. It wasn’t her problem, after all. What else could she do? All that she was ever good at was making money. Not thinking about deeper things.
This is part of a short story. I’m not sure if it can be turned into a novel. Maybe it’s more a descriptive passage.
The idea came to me because I keep on feeling that I am getting POTS of money several times a day. Maybe the Me in another parallel universe is doing this? I thought that I would write about what her life might be like.
There is more to this story/descriptive passage.
To Be Continued…
14 Saturday Aug 2021
Posted in Uncategorized
I finally, after years of work, and thinking of it, and moving and all of it, have really finished my book.
And, Barnes and Noble liked my paperback enough to buy 5 copies, when I hadn’t even tried to get their attention! So, the question is: What do I do now???
09 Monday Aug 2021
Posted in Uncategorized
My book, Ghosting, is now available from Barnes and Noble. They bought five copies of my paperback! I didn’t even contact them. It was a total surprise!
I feel so happy!
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghosting-penelope-smith/1139867355?ean=9780987936844
27 Tuesday Jul 2021
Posted in Uncategorized
I got my Proof copy of Ghosting. Looks good! Now for sale on Lulu.com!
10 Saturday Jul 2021
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I just ordered my proof copy of Ghosting! Very nervous, as it’s hard to figure out what it will really look like. Now, a week or so to wait. As if I have nothing else to wait for—like my vaccination. I’m allergic to Pfizer and Moderna, and the government won’t let me get a first shot of AstraZeneca. I’m waiting to contact the pharmacist who might be able to get it arranged for me.
07 Monday Jun 2021
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“Henry” was all excited. Today, s/he was going out to work, at last!
S/he would belong to someone. Would help them to cool off in the coming heat wave.
Henry felt so good! Sure, s/he was smaller than the other air conditioners, and not as good looking, being rather boxy and all. But—Henry had been Chosen! S/he looked smugly at the bigger, fancier air conditioners still out on the floor.
“Hah! I am going to become Real now!” s/he bragged. The fancy, $700.00 air conditioner across the aisle just sniffed, snobbily.
S/he was trundled to the back of the store. Very soon after that, a box van came to pick up Henry. Henry seemed to be the only thing picked up. Odd, that.
The van drove and drove. Henry felt happy, anticipating keeping the humans cool and comfortable. S/he would have hummed, but not being plugged in, could not make a sound.
Still, the van was driving on its way to Henry’s humans. Henry smiled. Then, the van seemed to suddenly accelerate a lot! Where were they going? Out of the city? This became even odder. Sudden blackness took over the van. Henry could not ‘see’ or sense a thing. Somehow, it seemed that the van was floating. In the AIR! It was all quite strange and unsettling.
Then, there was light surrounding a blackness. Were they coming now to the proper distribution point? The van hurtled into the darkness, as multi-coloured lights streamed by. Henry felt afraid. Where WAS s/he?
They stayed in the strange space for quite some time. Henry wondered if it was a Magic Spell…
The van again accelerated through the blackness. Then, light came again. Henry was not sure if that was good, or not. They landed, and the van bounced a few times on the ground. Henry waited, shivering.
The back doors of the van opened, to reveal a strange being. He had odd, glittery eyes, and tattoos that flashed on and off.
It was a beautiful land that they were in, but not home. Henry felt so sad. ‘How would s/he get to his/her Human NOW?’ Henry thought.
The abductor’s eyes glittered madly, as he took Henry out of the box. Then, the abductor went even stranger. He ran around shouting and roaring, as he realized that he had nowhere to plug poor Henry in!
27 Thursday May 2021
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I keep on having a feeling that I will make a lot of money from my book, “Ghosting”. Is it a premonition, or just wishful thinking??
peneljsmith 