My Two Dollar Car

1995 Chevy Geo Prism

My son, Tommy Mullen, was going to sell this car for junk, so I bought it (real cheap).

His issues with the car started when he put in the wrong kind of antifreeze… and then everything else just went downhill from there. The car sat for a long time.

I thought the car still had potential. Front-wheel drive. 30 mpg! FWD would be good in the snow, and who doesn’t want great gas mileage? Sure, it was old, but I didn’t care. I could drive it anywhere, park it anywhere. No fear. So what if it gets banged up? It’s a two-dollar car. It just needs a little work. How bad could it be?  

So… my husband, Tom Mullen, worked on it… and worked on it. Many times, he almost gave up. He cussed at it. He threatened to drive it into South River. He had other work to do. He couldn’t be spending all his time on “that piece of sh*t”. But, he persevered, and a year later, the Money Pit is ready for the road!

*It still has a small issue with the engine idle, but he’ll take care of that… eventually. He has other things to do.

I hear the donkeys calling.

Man Socks

Instead of shoes, I always wear socks around the house. I don't know about most women out there, but for me, ankle socks are just too tight, so... I came up with something different. I got this idea when I took a pair of Tom's socks that were ready for the trash bin, and I cut the tops off (so they wouldn't be tight either). This opened up a whole new world of foot comfort for me. Now, though, instead of waiting for Tom's hand-me-downs, I went out and bought a pack of men's socks just for me. I cut the tops off, and now I'm good to go. You should give it a try. Your feet will thank you.

I Want To See You

I hesitate to hook up on a social network with someone if they don’t have a picture by their name.  I don’t know about you, but I want to see who I’m talking to.  I don’t care what they look like. I don’t even care if their pic is a basket of fake flowers. I just need something to make me feel like someone's there. To me, you’re not there if your image is an egg. If I wanted to see eggs, I’d go have a look at my chickens. Show me your face. Not photogenic, you say? Me either, but I’d put up something. Get brave and show the world who you are. If I can post this awful selfie, then you can come up with something.  

 Be proud of who you are.

Go With What Works For You

Right after my books went live on Kindle, they also went live on NOOK. After several months, I found out they just weren’t selling on NOOK, so I removed them.

I did this because I wanted to put some of them in the Prime Program/Amazon Kindle and to be able do this, my ebooks couldn’t be sold anywhere else. They weren’t selling on NOOK, so why not make a change?

That’s the way it has been for over a year and sales have been very good on Amazon Kindle. Then, I started getting emails from readers asking why they weren’t available on NOOK. Sooo… I took all but two out of Prime/Kindle and they went live again on NOOK.

Normally, my books sell well on Kindle, but not this month. This month the sales have been dismal, and to top it off, only one person has purchased a book on NOOK so far. What does that tell you? 

I’m sorry readers, but there just isn’t a market out there for NOOK. Not for me anyway. Some of my books will be available on NOOK, including my newest one, The Prey Bites Back, but I’m headed back home to Kindle Prime.

Check out my books:

Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Ann%20Mullen&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

NOOK:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Ann-Mullen?store=ebook&keyword=Ann+Mullen

Sometimes you just have to go with what works for you. I love my Kindle Prime.

Sable says hello.

Writing Tips and Old Dogs

I’ve read quite a few articles about how people write, and most say they go by an outline or by their notes. I wish I could say I have a strategy for writing, but I don’t. I just sit down and start writing, letting my mind go where it wants. Sometimes it goes way out into left field and I have to pull it back and rethink the situation. But that works for me.

When I start a new book I have an idea of a storyline, but that’s about it. To me, the most important thing is to come up with a story and a title that suits the story. Once I get an idea and a title, the rest just seems to fall into place. A lot of times, the book ends up differently than what I had planned, but that also works for me.

The one thing I do to keep myself on track and not forget to mention the outcome of a scenario is to make a very brief notation at the end of the book. Using MS Word, it’s not hard to do. For example, if I have a character who is involved in a situation, at the bottom of the page I’ll type: tell about (insert name) and what happened to her/him. Or, if I add a new character, I’ll skip down and say something like: Shark—tall, muscular, shaved head, black guy, war scars, snap a neck in a second. When I go back to where I left off writing and continue, the notation moves down the page.

That’s pretty much it for me. Writing should be fun, not bothersome.

If you have any writing tips, I’d like to hear them. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I say you can.

Now, this old dog is going back to working on Be Very Afraid. See you on the flip side.

Free at Last!

Tom thought it would be fun to let the donkeys run loose, until it was time to round them up. Perhaps we need a little training in donkey training. Hee-Haw!

A Couple of Good Books

I just finished reading Cold Comfort by Ellis Vidler. Here's the review I posted on Kindle:


 

Cold Comfort
by Ellis Vidler
5 Stars
I Loved it!
This book grabbed my attention right from the beginning and held it until the end. I liked the characters Claire and Riley and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen between them. I wasn't disappointed. Well written without grammar errors. Being from Newport News, I've very familiar with the Williamsburg area, and was impressed with the author's descriptions. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery. Nice going Ellis Vidler. Can't wait to read another one of your books.

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Comfort-Ellis-Vidler-ebook/dp/B00FXYEA8G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403358175&sr=1-1&keywords=cold+comfort+by+ellis+vidler



Man On A Motorbike
by Marcia Carrington
5 Stars

A Trip Down Memory Lane
This is a short story that will make you sad and happy at the same time. Well written. Good for a quick read and a trip down memory lane for Linda. Loved it!
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Motorbike-Marcia-Carrington-ebook/dp/B00HNUJ3DU/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403357712&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=man+on+a+motor+bike 

Check them out and I hope you enjoy!

Just Released on Kindle

I'm happy to announce that my next book in the Jesse Watson Mystery series (book #8), The Prey Bites Back, is now available on Kindle. Read the synopsis and the first few pages to see if it's your kind of book. Murder/Romance/Humor
I hope you enjoy, and please consider leaving a review.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L1BYCZG

Nothing Like Warm Weather

I like winter and I love snow, but after a few months, enough is enough. There's nothing like a warm weekend, especially if you have animals to take care of and work to do. And around here there's always work to do. Tom's getting ready to build an overhang on the donkey stable—a place where Donkey can hang out when the girls kick him out of the stable. Poor guy has stood out in the rain more than once.

 
Every time Tom drives the truck in the corral, the donkeys have to sniff it out... and they listen to the music on the radio. I was hoping to see them start dancing, but that didn't happen.

I'm glad Tom closed the truck door. I was expecting to see a donkey sitting behind the wheel, but that didn't happen either.

I love having chickens running around. Festus the rooster isn't so bad, but Cogburn the other rooster is a terror. *I'm still mad at him, so he doesn't get his picture on my blog yet. He chases me and would peck out my eyes if he caught me. People do eat roosters you know. That's what I keep telling him even though I wouldn't. Nobody eats a pet, do they?

Six baby Silkies in their playpen enjoying the sun. At night they will go inside and stay in a cage until they're old enough to be put in with the other chickens.

Yep, nothing like warm weather! Looking forward to flip flops, a T-shirt, and a pair of BDUs.

Hee-Haw & Cluck-Cluck!

Footprints and a Sock Mop

For those of you who live in my area, you know what a wet winter we’ve had, and if you don’t live near me, I’m sure you’ve had your share of snow, rain, sleet and messy floors. My floors are hardwood, so they’re easily cleaned with a damp mop, but what happens when you clean the floor and then the dog comes inside with wet paws? Muddy prints are left behind and there goes the clean floors.

I found an easy, cheap way to keep my floors clean all the time without a lot of hard work. I use my sock mop! Yes, that’s right! I always wear socks, so when the floor gets damp from muddy paw prints, I just follow the prints. Then, I toss the socks in the washing machine and put on a clean pair. It’s easier and less time consuming than dragging out the damp mop… and my floors stay clean.

So, have plenty of socks on hand to always have shiny floors. This is just one more way to make your job easier.

Thankfully, our donkeys aren’t allowed inside.

Hee-Haw!