February Newsletter
February 2024
The best thing to happen so far in 2024 is a short visit by my younger grandson, Riki. He was only here overnight, but I had a good time. Don’t know about Riki, but he’s a obliging and courteous person, so he didn’t tell me if he was bored to death. Plus which, I took him to my favorite restaurant in Roswell, Sara’s Mediterranean Café, which serves Middle-Eastern food. Until Sara’s opened, I had to visit California to get my favorite foodstuffs. Here’s a pic of Riki and me. Not particularly flattering of either of us, but it’s a selfie so what can you expect?
Riki will be in Fairfax, Virginia, for about six months so if you’d like to recommend places for him to dine, I’m collecting restaurants names. Only wish I could go eating with him. He also plans to visit the incredible number of historic sites in the area and even farther afield, should the weather cooperate. He has kin he’s never met in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and (I think) Pennsylvania, so if you can think of a cool place for him to visit let me know that too please. I want him to visit Old Sturbridge Village, Williamsburg, Monticello, Pickety Place and… Oh, fudge, there are too many to name. Heck, he might even visit his brother, sister-in-law and niece and nephew in North Carolina. Whatta concept!
Another more or less neutral (unless it turns out to be catastrophic) thing happened in early January. Every Sunday, the local newsrag, the Roswell Daily Record, publishes pictures of dogs and cats needing to be adopted. Whelp (to keep with the theme), the most pathetic photo of a semi-wiener appeared in Sunday’s paper shortly after the first of the year. Being an idiot and also a member of New Mexico Dachshund Rescue (this dog is part dachshund) I called and said I’d pick up the dog. So I did. Didn’t cost a dime because I belong to a reputable rescue group, although I’ve already had to pay for shots and neutering. Me, with no money, paying for yet another dog’s healthcare. But I’ve already confessed to lunacy, so there you go.
I hadn’t planned on keeping the pup, whose name is Peanut, because I already have four dogs and I’m old and crippled (and impoverished. Have I mentioned that yet?) But poor Peanut, who had been locked up in a cage since November of last year, was so elated to have a home and a human of his own, I’m probably going to keep him. I try not to anthropomorphize animals, because they are non-human animals, but sometimes I can’t help but feel it would be rotten of me to give Peanut to someone else because he seems so happy here. The other dogs even play with him sometimes. He’s also about the nicest, friendliest dog I’ve ever met in my increasingly long and dog-rich life. Besides, dogs are generally much nicer than people. Anyhoo, here’s a photograph of Peanut, who will probably become my fifth dog any old day now:
The next best thing to happen in 2024 hasn’t yet. However it will happen soon. I’m talking about the publication of Library Spirits on February 6. If you’re sick and tired to hearing (or reading) about my wretchedly impoverished state, buy some of my books! There are a ton of them to choose from. However, if you’d care to visit the latest Daisy Gumm Majesty Rotondo saga, here’s a link where you can order it for any e-reading device known to man (I think. Maybe not):
I’m honestly not sure about Library Spirits. Daisy and Co. have to solve two huge problems in the book, and they pretty much have to be solved separately. So I put them in a particular order, and now I wonder if I should have solved them in reverse order. Or maybe (although this might have been impossible) both together. On the other hand, who basically cares? Well, I do, but I kind of don’t count after the book’s been published. An author, even an author of fluff (me), spends an inordinate amount of time writing a book and then sends it, naked, into the uncaring universe. Then the author (me) is at the mercy of everyone else. Occasionally people have called my children ugly. Well, not my real children Anni and Robin, both of whom are lovely, but my book-children. It hurts. And no matter how brave a front an author adopts, most of us are insecure, neurotic, cringing pathetic creatures longing for people to love our creations.
Do you feel guilty yet?
Oh dear. I’m sorry. Sometimes I can’t help myself.
Because I haven’t offered a book give-away for a while, Bam-Bam, my winner-picking senior wiener dog, will select a couple of folks to receive free copies of Library Spirits. Kat Sadi, I still have a record of you winning a copy! I can’t believe I was so organized once. Still, once is better than never. If you’re not Kat and you’d like to enter the giveaway, please send your name and the type of e-reader you use (this is very important information) to alice@aliceduncan.net . Bammers will select winners at the end of the month, which will be the TWENTY-NINTH! 2024’s a by-gum leap year. I know three or four people who have birthdays on February 29. I don’t know if that fact allows them to feel younger than the rest of us, but it’s kind of a neat day upon which to be born. This is especially true if cake-bakers aren’t finicky about the precise date upon which they bake your birthday cake. I’d hate to eat birthday cake only once every four years.
Oh, and if you’d prefer to have a paper copy of Library Spirits should you win, you really ought to send your snail-mail address along with your name. Otherwise, I won’t be able to send you the book. See how that works?
One of these days I expect to finish writing Celluloid Angels, Mercedes Louise Allcutt’s ninth adventure although, as usual, I’m bumping into plotting problems. My plotting gene died several years back, dang it. Dead genes or no dead genes, Celluloid Angels is available for pre-order, so please pre-order a bunch of copies. Thank you. Here’s the Kindle link:
Please remember to leave a review if you like a book. You can just give it a number score if you don’t want to write anything. It would be extremely kind of you to leave a review (or even a number) on Amazon, GoodReads, Barnes & Noble or wherever else books can be reviewed. I’d appreciate it. Thank you.
If you’re on Facebook, join Daisy Daze! Anyone who has an interest in the 1920s will probably find Daisy Daze interesting, at least sometimes. Daisy Dazers even give me plotting advice sometimes. Often even. Daisy Daze was founded by Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger, both of whom like Daisy and Mercy. Daisy Daze is a great place for Daisy Gumm Rotondo and Mercedes Louise Allcutt fans to hang out, as well as anyone who is interested in the “Roaring Twenties.” We concentrate pretty closely on the Pasadena and Los Angeles areas, because the books are set there. We also cover a lot of stuff relating to early motion-pictures, because both Daisy and Mercy have friends in the biz. Daisy Daze is fun, it’s educational and if you’d like to be a member, check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/905100189878318/
If you’d like to visit my web page, here’s the link (thanks again to Lyndele von Schill): Home | Alice Duncan . If you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: (20+) Alice Duncan | Facebook .
Here’s a link to my author page at ePublishingWorks: Alice Duncan Author Page (ebookdiscovery.com)
Thank you!
