November and December 2025

Happy whatever you celebrate!

Dancing Angels, Mercy Allcutt’s tenth (and, perhaps, last) adventure was released on November 4. So far, very few people have bought copies or reviewed it, but I live in hope. Living on hope is becoming downright wearying. I am, therefore, contemplating retirement. Heck, I’ll be 80 in a couple of days, I’ve had 70+ book published, can’t make a living, so why keep struggling, y’know? But enough whining about books. Lemme whine about my health for a while instead.

Didn’t have my right shoulder replaced on October 15 as previously predicted. The reason? My EKG had a blip. A blip? On my EKG? Weird. The osteo surgeon told me I had to see a cardiologist. The plan was that when the cardio guy said my heart was okay for surgery, he’d tell the osteo guy, and then they’d schedule and perform the shoulder-replacement surgery. When I asked the cardio guy (whom I really like) what the blip in my EKG signified, he told me I might have had a small heart attack in my past. Say, what? Guess it’s possible to have a heart attack without noticing, but I always thought they hurt.

Ah well… The cardio guy enlisted me in a program called Cadence. The Cadence folks sent me a blood-pressure cuff and told me to take my blood pressure every morning. I’ve been doing that. My bp’s a little high (145/85, 136/83, etc.). Mind you, I have to fend off Peanut and Cookie in order to take it, so I’m not altogether surprised that it’s high-ish. I remember the first time I donated blood. My bp was 100/60, and I fainted. Donated blood many more times, but never fainted again. It was a strange experience. Another very strange thing is that these days I don’t weigh enough to donate blood! Honest to dawg. Never expected that to happen either!

So the cardio guy sent me for an MRI, a CT-scan, a nuclear stress test, and a bunch of other tests. Then I had another appointment with him, and he said my heart is just fine. He also told me he’d relate my condition to the ortho guy. Cool beans, although we’re now charging through the holidays, so I have a feeling my surgery won’t be any time soon.

I intend to test this theory by calling the ortho guy next week and see if he can’t get this stupid shoulder replaced soonish. I really, really want to get it over with (along with the recovery). I had my left shoulder replaced a few years back, and it’s just fine now. Same with both hips. I’m going to be running entirely on replacement parts soon. I set off alarms at airports, by Jupiter! This shoulder-replacement will be more difficult with which to contend because I’m right-handed and won’t be able to use my right hand or arm for a couple of weeks. As I have no family here, and very few neighbors (last October’s flood did a big number on this neighborhood), I’m going to have to depend on the few neighbors and friends still extant around here to help me.

Wish me luck. Thank you.

How the heck did I get to be so old so fast? I swear, a week and a half ago, I was running around dancing and singing all over Los Angeles. Perhaps it was trifle more than a week and a half ago. Oh, but look! I found this old photo of me taken when I was dancing with a group called Gypsy. I think this was a Hungarian costume, although I may well be misremembering. Whatever costume it is, I was sure fuzzy back then wasn’t I?

Okay, enough griping and moaning. If you’d like to help a crippled old lady make a couple of bucks in order to supplement her social security, here are links to Dancing Angels and Rosy Spirits. Haven’t finished writing the latter, but I’m working on it in fits and starts. Not as motivated as I used to be. Just click on the cover, and it will take you to a place where you can get the books:

I haven’t been given a landing page for Rosy Spirits yet, so I’m posting the Amazon Kindle link:

Cookie has selected winners from our special giveaway doggie dish. The following people win e-copies of Dancing Angels. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask folks to tell me if they prefer Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc. Therefore, will the following people please let me know which device you read your books on. Upon which you read your books. Eh, whatever. My email address is alice@aliceduncan.net :

Kathleen Hammerlind,

Kaye Killgore,

Chris Worth, ans

Donna Garrett (who uses a Kindle, so you don’t need to tell me again. Well, unless you want to).

If you’re interested in purchasing a copy (or copies) of other ebooks written by me, check out my author pages at ePublishingWorks and Wolfpack Publishing:

Alice Duncan - ePublishingWorks

About Alice Duncan — Wolfpack Publishing

Daisy Daze, the Facebook page Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger created as a tribute to Daisy Gumm Majesty (and Mercy Allcutt, although she came later), continues to grow. I suspect that’s because people are finally interested in the 1920s and the “roaring twenties.” It’s a fun group. We post lots of pictures and information, mostly relating to Los Angeles and/or Pasadena, California, in the 1920s and 1930s. Not sure about anyone else, but I learn a lot on Daisy Daze. If you’d like to join, just click on this link: (20+) DAISY DAZE | Facebook

If you’d like to check out my own Facebook page, click here: (20+) Facebook

If you’d like to visit my web site, click here: Home | Alice Duncan

Thanks!