HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2020

The only thing I truly hope for 2020 is that it will be better than 2019. Mind you, I don’t harbor much hope, but maybe a faint, dim glimmer of the stuff.

 

At least, perhaps, I won’t have to have too many more surgeries in 2020. Of course, the X-rays say my right hip is currently functioning with no cartilage in it, so maybe that’ll have to be replaced, but I can probably handle that. Three surgeries in one year is at least two too many. Take it from one who knows. The third surgery, which was a bowel resection, really took the stuffing out of me, both literally (8” of my guts are gone) and figuratively (don’t think I’ll ever salvage my energy). Even if energy never returns, I hope to heck I can recapture my writing mojo, because I’m pretty sure I can’t support the two hounds, one semi-hound, the Chihuahua and the mixed terriorist and me on nothing but social security.

Then again, both SHAKEN SPIRITS and SCARLET SPIRITS came out in 2019, which is cool:

 

Buy SHAKEN SPIRITS

 

Buy SCARLET SPIRITS



Moreover, ePublishing Works, is republishing all my Mercy Allcutt books, which I think is mighty nice of them. They’re giving them absolutely beautiful new covers, and it tells you right on the cover which book in the series it is. If you click on this link and scroll down the page, you discover where to get all the Mercy books (and the Daisy books, for that matter, although SCARLET SPIRITS isn’t up there yet):

 

Buy or pre-order any of the MERCY ALLCUTT books!

In the next Daisy book, EXERCISED SPIRITS (which should be re-titled, but I think it’s too late), Daisy and Harold will be picking out china and flatware patterns for when Daisy and Sam tie the knot. So far they’ve picked out Daisy and Sam’s everyday china, which is Spode Buttercup:

 

As for more formal occasions (during which I have no idea who’ll cook for them, unless they borrow poor Aunt Vi) they haven’t quite decided, although they’re leaning toward Wedgwood Florentine. This is mainly because Sam will probably think Buttercup is to flowery and prefer Florentine as a more masculine pattern. On the other hand, Sam’s relatively easygoing these days, so maybe he won’t care:

 

Can’t even fathom how to choose flatware patterns yet, but I’m sure Harold will think of something, if I can’t.

My winner-picking wiener dog, Bam-Bam, has selected the following winners of SCARLET SPIRITS:

Stephanie Cowans (by golly, Steph and I used to dance and sing together!)

Jackie Stieghorse
Jean Patton

I’ll get the books mailed to the wieners as soon as I possibly can. As of today (the 31^st of December, 2019) I can’t do more than one thing per day w/o taking a nap afterward. I’d really appreciate some energy returning sometime soon.

At the end of January, I’ll be giving away copies of any old book you want, providing I have a copy. Therefore, if you’d like to chance to win one of my books, please send me your name and home address at alice@aliceduncan.net. If you’d prefer an e-copy, please let me know which kind of device you use. Thank you!

If you enjoy the Daisy and Mercy books, or if you’re just fascinated by the 1920s (as I am), please feel free to join Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, automobiles, buildings, fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, stars of the silent screen, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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: http://aliceduncan.net/ . If you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

That's it. Thank you!

 

 

December 2019

 

Good grief, another year is nearly over. How’d that happen so fast? How come, too, the older you get, the faster time flies? It isn’t fair, dang it.

However, the year hasn’t been a total loss. I got one new body part (shoulder) and had two other surgeries. Well, one of them will happen the same day my next Daisy book will be published, December 3. Therefore, since I’ll be in the hospital undergoing pain and woe, I think everyone should be a bunch of sympathy copies for friends and relations! Sound reasoning, right? Here’s the Amazon Kindle Link:

 

Buy it!

 

My nice publisher, ePublishing Works, is also republishing all my Mercy Allcutt books, which I think is mighty nice of them. This is especially true since they’re giving them absolutely beautiful new covers, and it tells you right on the cover which book in the series it is. If you click on this link and scroll down the page, you discover where to get all the Mercy books (and the Daisy books, for that matter, although SCARLET SPIRITS isn’t up there yet):

 

Buy it!

Have been attending physical therapy for my shoulder and feeling nominally better, considering I’m older than dirt and honestly think I’ve lived plenty long enough already. Not sure what to do about that, so guess I’ll just keep chugging along.

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. Thanks to the photo below, which my younger daughter, Robin, sent me, I’ve decided I’m spending next Thanksgiving at Robin and Gilbert’s house in California. Since I had surgeries all year long, I didn’t even get to visit California once this year. I love visiting my family and friends in California, ding-bust-it! Anyway, if Robin and Gilbert don’t want me to visit next Thanksgiving, too darned bad. Robin shouldn’t have sent me this photo, huh?

 

My winner-picking wiener dog, Bam-Bam, who is getting really gray around the gills (I hate it when my precious hounds begin showing signs of old age; because it’s so difficult to lose them) selected wieners of November’s book-giveaway. The following folks will receive copies of ANGELS FLIGHT after I’ve recovered enough from my next surgery to get to the post office:

Melodee Joswiak

Annette Butler

Mary Roraff

And, because he’s my favorite hound, here’s a picture of Bam-Bam himself:

 

At the end of December, I’ll be giving away copies of SCARLET SPIRITS, so if you’d like to chance winning a copy, please send me your name and home address at alice@aliceduncan.net. If you’d prefer an e-copy, please let me know which kind of device you use. Thank you!

If you enjoy the Daisy and Mercy books, or if you’re just fascinated by the 1920s (as I am), please feel free to join Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, automobiles, buildings, fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, stars of the silent screen, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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 (which I probably ought to update), here’s the link: http://aliceduncan.net/ . If you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

That’s it. Thank you. See you next year!

November 2019

The first most exciting thing to happen (to me) in October was a visit from my grandson and his wife and family. Dai, Emily, Andrew and Kasumi visited me for a couple of days. Then Emily, Andrew and Kasumi flew back to North Carolina; and Dai went off to the Middle East, where he’ll be stationed for nine months or so. Emily claims he’s in the safest possible place to be in the Middle East, but I don’t trust anything at all about the Middle East, so I aim to worry about him until he gets home again.

Here’s a photo of Andrew, who’s 14; me, who’s 73 and eleven-twelfths; and Kasumi, who’s 12. Aren’t we adorable? The black blurry thing at our feet is Cookie, my mixed terriorist.  To add to the loveliness, here’s a photo of Dai and Emily at the White Sands Missile Range in Alamogordo, NM. Dai and Em have been married for something like 17 years, and they still absolutely adore each other. As someone who couldn’t stay married for more than five minutes, their clear devotion to each other impresses me a whole lot. Em says it embarrasses their kids, to which I say, “Excellent, and keep it up!”

 

 

The second most exciting thing to happen in October was getting the cover art for SCARLET SPIRITS, which will be released in December of this year. I adore this cover, which encapsulates some of what’s in the book. I’m adding a link to the Amazon Kindle site, so you can pre-order it! What a lovely thought! Well, I think it is anyway.

 

Buy it!

What’s more, the month of October saw the re-release of two of my Mercy Allcutt books, LOST AMONG THE ANGELS and ANGELS FLIGHT! I adore the new covers for these books. Nina Paules, one of the geniuses at ePublishing Works, creates them. Love her covers. Here they are, and here’s a link to my ePW page, where you can order ‘em for whatever e-reading device you have. Or buy a paperback! What the heck:

 

  

By them!

More of the Mercy books will be re-released in November and December.

As for me, I’m not feeling as gloomy as I was a few weeks ago, when I anticipated living the rest of my life in pain and poverty. Not a whole lot has changed about the poverty thing, but at least, since my doctor recommended physical therapy and I’m getting it, the pain won’t be as bad as I’d anticipated.

According to the X-rays, I now need my right hip replaced, which is an utter thrill, but I’m holding off on that one (which will be major) until it starts hurting more than it does now. Whoopee.

My next surgery (for the prolapsed rectum, which is totally disgusting) is set for December 3, although one never knows about these things, especially out here in the Middle of Nowhere where communications between hospitals can be lost, misplaced or abducted and probed by aliens. I can hardly wait. Such fun! Actually, it’s not a heavy-duty surgery and pretty easily recovered-from, so that’s okay. Only I really want to visit my family and friends in California, but this year has been eaten up by surgeries of one sort or another. Wish my stupid body parts would stop failing. My high-school graduating class will celebrate its 57^th reunion in October of 2020, so maybe I’ll plan a trip for October. Or maybe not. I was nobody in high school, so I don’t really know very many people. Actually I remember most of them; they don’t remember me. Evidently I was invisible in high school. And I wasn’t even all that short back then!

But enough whining. The wieners of October’s giveaway of LOST AMONG THE ANGELS  (selected by Bam-Bam, my winner-picking wiener dog) are:

Peg Ghrist,

Elaine Robertson, and
Cyndi Barkley!

I don’t yet have my author copies of LOST AMONG THE ANGELS, but as soon I receive them, I’ll send copies to the three of you (or, if you want e-copies, I’ll get those to you as soon as you tell me).

Lemme see now… What to give away at the end of November? Oh, I know! Copies of the new edition of ANGELS FLIGHT! Brilliant decision on my part, by golly J

If you enjoy the Daisy and Mercy books, or if you’re just fascinated by the 1920s (I know I am), please feel free to join Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, automobiles, buildings, fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, stars of the silent screen, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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 (which I probably ought to update), here’s the link: http://aliceduncan.net/ . If you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

That’s it. Thank you.

October 2019

Oh, boy! Not only does Mercedes Louise Allcutt’s first adventure, LOST AMONG THE ANGELS, come out in October (October 8, if Amazon is to be believed), but my grandson and his family will visit me the first week in October! Yippee! Haven’t seen them since around Christmas time in 2013. My great-grandchildren, Andrew and Kasumi, have grown a trifle since then.

After their visit, Daigoro (grandson, who is in the army and has been for what seems like forever) will be deployed for a year. He’s at Fort Bliss in El Paso at the moment, and then he’ll fly far, far away. And be safe, god willin’ and the crick don’t rise.

This is actually the second time LOST AMONG THE ANGELS has been published. Five Star published it first, and now ePW is having a go at it. Love the new covers for the Mercy books:

Buy it!

 

I’ll probably have the year’s last surgery in October, too. Not quite as excited about the surgery as I am aout seeing my family and a book being republished, but at least my year of living surgically will be over. Who knows what 2020 will bring besides a census, a lot of dogs, trying new recipes, remaking oldies and goodies, and writing several books (I hope). The latest x-rays of my various replaced body parts revealed that my right hip is no longer being assisted by cartilage in carting me around, so it’ll have to be replaced sometime or other, but I’m going to wait until it starts to hurt to deal with it. Pretty soon I’ll be made of metal. I don’t, however, feel the least bit bionic.

Daisy Gumm Majesty’s next adventure (I think it’s #15) will be published in December of this year. Wish I had the cover art; I’d show it to you. I can, however, give you the Amazon Kindle link if you’d like to pre-order it. Not that I’m greedy or anything, but it would be nice to make a living. Gotta keep the hounds, semi-hound, Chihuahua and mixed terriorist in kibble after all:

Click Here to Pre-Order SCARLET SPIRITS for your Kindle

By the way, in case you ever wondered about my fur herd, here they are. This is from Christmas in 2018:

Jazzy (the Beautiful Blue Wiener and Queen of all She Surveys) is sniffing my shoulder; Scrappy (the Chihuahua) is looking to escape; Bam-Bam, my winner-picking wiener dog, is appalled that I actually picked him up (he spent his first couple of years in a puppy mill and has never quite recovered); Cookie, the mixed terriorist, is checking out Scrappy’s ear to see if she needs to take a bite out the one she hasn’t already nibbled; and Bella-the-Biter (semi-wiener), with whom I have deep, meaningful conversations from time to time, just looks kind of confused. I also taught Bella to high-five. First dog I’ve taught a trick to since I was in the fifth grade or thereabouts. Most of the dogs who have lived with me have taught me tricks. Oh, and that’s me in the background. In other words, life as usual, but I still need to feed the herd! So buy a book or two, 'kay? Thank you.

I apologize profusely for not getting in touch with all the people who won copies of the audio edition of DARK SPIRITS, narrated by Denice Stradling, who makes a great Daisy. She’s working on SPIRITS ONSTAGE now. I love that book (ONSTAGE, I mean. I was appalled by Daisy’s bratty behavior in DARK SPIRITS, truth to tell). I will attempt to justify my procrastination soon. Haven’t been feeling tippy-toppy recently. I’ll get over it, whatever it is. Or I won’t. And then all my troubles will be over! I think there’s an old spiritual with a similar title. Hmmm. Must look it up. Aha! Found it. Peter, Paul and Mary dug it up out of the gospel-spiritual heap and recorded it during the hectic 1960s-1970s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38bHXC8drHc

Um, I’ll probably give away a couple of copies of LOST AMONG THE ANGELS at the end of October, because… well, why not? If you’d like to be entered into my giveaway for October, please send me an email at alice@aliceduncan.net, and I’ll toss your name into Bam-Bam’s special doggie dish. Bam-Bam will select wieners at the end of October.

Anything else? Well, there’s always Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, automobiles, buildings, fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, stars of the silent screen, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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: http://aliceduncan.net/ . If you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

And I think that’s it. Thank you.

 

September 2019

It’s been so danged long since I wrote a newsletter, I almost don’t remember how to write one. What the heck. I’ll fake it.

First of all, the shoulder-replacement surgery scheduled to be performed on May 20 got rescheduled for June 10 and then got RE-rescheduled for July 8, when it actually took place. I now have a new left shoulder, and it doesn’t hurt a whole lot anymore, although it aches occasionally. The physical therapist said I wasn’t giving him enough to do, bless his heart. Then there’s the surgeon. I can’t remember ever giving a man as much pleasure (get your mind out of the gutter) as I have this orthopedic surgeon. The first time he saw me, when he was looking at the X-rays of my shoulder, he was positively thrilled! Said he’d never seen such hideous, wide-spread osteoarthritis on any patient before (although I don’t have osteoporosis. Go figure). So happy to give him joy.

Then, during my last visit with him, he was thrilled again. Better, he had a student nurse with him, and he told her about the gigantic sac of synovial fluid on my shoulder. He had to aspirate it the first time I visited him (which hurt like heck), and he was happy as a lark as he explained to his student nurse, “It was as big as a cantaloupe!” Always glad to make people happy, you know? At any rate, the shoulder is healing nicely, and I won’t make you look at a photograph of the surgery site. I posted it on Facebook, and received reports of people screaming and fainting. It’s just a long red scar now. It winds a bit. I mean, it’s not a straight line. About six inches or so long.

By the way, the first weekend after my shoulder surgery, my perfectly angelic great-niece visited along with her perfectly angelic son, and Sara (niece) made eggs Benedict for us! I love eggs Benedict! That was so nice of her! Sniffle.

At any rate, I now have a metal ladder holding my lumbar spine together, a metal left hip and a metal left shoulder. If I even drive past an airport, alarms go off. Just kidding. Sort of. Every airport I’ve been to since my hip was replaced has had a security person pat me down. Even LAX, for Pete’s sake. Also, I learned that after a person hits the age of 75 (almost there, by golly) s/he doesn’t have to take her/his shoes off at the airport. I consider this ageist, and I’d warn airports to beware of disgruntled elderly people with regard to terrorism, if I ever did stuff like that. The good Lord knows I’m a disgruntled elderly person. I hate being old. Think I’ve mentioned that before.

Also, I have to undergo one last surgery before the end of the year. This next one will require me to have a colonoscopy (wheeeee!) first. The surgery itself is of a rather delicate, personal nature, and I don’t want to think about it, much less talk about it. Oh, what the heck. I have a prolapsed rectum, and it has to be repaired. I had to have this same surgery two years ago, and I think it’s totally unfair that it has to be re-done. Grumble.

My army-medic grandson has been deployed (again) for a year. He’s already served two tours in Iraq. This means his kids, Andrew and Kasumi; and his wife, Emily, will be left to deal with life without him for the duration. Ah, well. He volunteered for this. Unfortunately, Emily has to take care of her senile mother as well as the kids while Dai’s gone. Life could be a whole lot easier for Emily if it only wanted to be, but life seldom seems to cooperate with anyone in my family.

However, there is some good news in the book department. First of all, ePublishing Works is going to republish all my Mercy Allcutt books (set in Los Angeles, CA, in the 1920s), and I’ll be writing more of them. What’s more, they’ve given the books smashingly gorgeous covers, and the chapter headings are downright adorable. Look here:

 

 

Daisy Gumm Majesty’s next book, SCARLET SPIRITS, will be published this coming October (I think), and I’ve already begun the next book. Must think of a new Mercy plot, too. I took a fairly giant plunge and have stopped editing books for Five Star’s Frontier Fiction line. I loved reading all those wonderful westerns, but boy, editing is hard on the old eyeballs. I swear, I had permanent, painful eyestrain while editing. Plus, I’ll have to write more books, and editing takes up too much time. Just hope I can make enough money to keep the dogs in kibble and me in potatoes and onions. Maybe cheese, too. Rice. Beans. You know. Cheap, nutritious stuff. Well, I don’t know about the cheese, but life wouldn’t be worth living without cheese, so what the heck. Plus, I don’t have all that many years left to me, and I’ll be dinged if I’ll allow old age to rob me of even one more of the things I used to love to do and/or eat.

I’ll be in touch individually with all the people who won copies of the audio edition of DARK SPIRITS, narrated by Denice Stradling, who makes a great Daisy. She’s working on SPIRITS ONSTAGE now. I love that book (ONSTAGE, I mean. I was appalled by Daisy’s bratty behavior in DARK SPIRITS, truth to tell).

Lemme see. What should I give away at the end of September? Beats me (and it hurts). If you’d like to be entered into my giveaway for September, please send me an email at alice@aliceduncan.net, and I’m sure I’ll have figured out which book to send you by then. In fact, send in a request. If you win (and I have a copy of the book) you’ll get that one.

Um, anything else? Well, there’s always Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, stars of the silent screen, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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: http://aliceduncan.net/ . And if you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

And I do believe that’s all I have to say for the month. Thank you.

JULY 2019

As usually happens, nothing went as planned in my life during the months of May and June. The surgery to replace my left shoulder scheduled for May 20 got rescheduled for June 10 and then got re-rescheduled for July 8. As far as I know, my left shoulder will be replaced on July 8.

Heaven only knows how long it’ll take to recover from that surgery, but I aim to take full advantage of any down-time. My darling niece, Sara, will be coming from Portales for a couple days to help me out while I’m one-handed, and my dogs will be so pleased to have me sprawled out on the sofa for a week or two instead of sitting at the computer all day, every day. At least I hope they will be. They keep telling me I need to spend more time with them. No, really. They do.

Anyway, DARK SPIRITS, the audiobook, is still not up and ready on Audible for reasons too numerous to mention (although they include having to pry a book cover from the source, ACX being dilatory, and everything just going more or less sideways). However, Denice Stradling did a splendid job reading it, as she does all my Daisy books, and it will be available soon. Then I’ll give away copies as soon as my new shoulder heals. Since I don’t know who the winners of free copies will be at this moment, if you’d like to enter my giveaway for it, feel free. Just send me your name and email address at alice@aliceduncan.net

There’s really not a whole lot left to write about at the moment, so I’ll merely post a picture of the DARK SPIRITS cover and go away for a while:

I'd add a link here if I had one. Sighhhhhhh.

 

Um, anything else? Well, there’s always Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, entertainment and fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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: http://aliceduncan.net/ . And if you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

I think that’s it! Thank you

 

MAY 2019

May, 2019, might well be an interesting month! Not only am I scheduled to get my left shoulder replaced on May 20 (although this date might be pushed back some, depending on whether the hospital ever calls to schedule the CT-scan the surgeon claims he needs in order to create a map of my shoulder. Guess he’ll use the map and his scalpel at the same time or something. Ew), but the brilliant and talented folks at ePW will publish another Daisy Gumm Majesty box set on May 7! Not only that, but they’ve renumbered the entire series so that SPIRITS REVIVED, the true seventh book in the series, will no longer have the number #6 1/2 on its cover. In other words, Brian and Nina Paules are going to a colossal amount of trouble for Daisy’s sake, and I appreciate them enormously.

The new box set will contain SPIRITS REVIVED, DARK SPIRITS and SPIRITS ONSTAGE. I’m particularly fond of the last one, because in it Daisy gets to play the mean and nasty villainess, Katisha, from Gilbert and Sullivan’s THE MIKADO. Daisy, who has to be nice and polite even to the silliest and most frustrating of her clients (she’s a fake spiritualist-medium, if you haven’t read the books) relishes the opportunity to be awful and not get scolded for it.

Here’s the newly minted link for SPIRITS REVIVED, which will have #7 on its cover (although it doesn’t yet). If you follow me on Facebook, I’ll give everyone the skinny as it happens. I’ll also post the link to the new box set when I get it:

SPIRITS REVIVED

The recently released SHAKEN SPIRITS features not merely Daisy, Sam, Peggy and Joe Gumm, and Aunt Viola Gumm, but a relic from Peter Brandvold’s books (Peter Brandvold is a best-selling western writer whom I met when I edited his books for Five Star). Mean Pete kindly allowed me to borrow Lou Prophet who, in his salad days, was a rip-snorting, hard-drinking, womanizing, deadly bounty hunter. By the time he ends up in Pasadena, California, in 1925, he’s… well, not. But he’s so much fun to write; I hope Mean Pete allows me to keep him forever. Here’s the link for SHAKEN SPIRITS, should you feel inclined to have some fun with Daisy and the gang:

SHAKEN SPIRITS

Not only that, but the immensely talented Denice Stradling, who has been narrating my Daisy books for audio, has finished reading DARK SPIRITS, and it should be available soon! I’m listening to it now, and I’ve never known Daisy to be as downright insufferable as she is in this book. On the other hand, she’s dealing with the Ku Klux Klan, so perhaps she should be forgiven a few lapses into snarliness. I’m kinda sorry I made her so obnoxious, although I didn’t notice this trait when I was writing the book. Must have been in a bad mood or something. Anyway, here’s the cover art, and I’ll post a link on my Facebook page when the audiobook is available for purchase. If you’re interested in reading Daisy as an unspeakable brat, here’s the Kindle link:

DARK SPIRITS

Also, Wolfpack continues to republish every single one of my back-list books! This is so kind of them! The Pack is beginning with the Pecos Valley series, a series I aim to continue once I finally finish editing all the books I have to edit and am able to return my attention to writing. These books are mega-fun for me because they’re set right here where I live (darn it) in Roswell, New Mexico. However, because I didn’t fancy being sued or anything, I changed the name of the town to Rosedale, although a whole lot of the stuff you’ll read about in the books comes from stories my mommy told me. My mother was born right here in Roswell, NM, in 1913. Shoot, that’s more than a hundred years ago! Does that mean I’m old? Oh, dear. I fear it does. Anyway, here they are in order.

PECOS VALLEY DIAMOND

PECOS VALLEY REVIVAL

PECOS VALLEY RAINBOW

After Wolfpack republishes the Pecos Valley books, they’ll move on to the “Meet Me at the Fair” series, which are fun. They take place at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (the Chicago World’s Fair, in other words). I’m really happy that my early books will be back in print soon!

Because I’m not sure I’ll be able to move my arms much by the end of May, I do believe I’ll forgo a book giveaway at the end of this month. However, I’ll gather names and addresses for June’s giveaway, if you’re interested. I think I’ll give away audio copies of DARK SPIRITS. What the heck, huh? Anyway, if you’d like to enter (and please remember Bam-Bam won’t be munching up names from his special contest doggie dish until the end of June), just send an email to alice@aliceduncan.net 

According to Bam-Bam, who is a special dog and extremely dear to my heart (he was bred and grew up in a puppy mill in Big Spring, Texas, and never quite learned how to be a dog), the wieners of copies of PECOS VALLEY DIAMOND are:

Brenda Williamson (I’ll be happy to send it to your P.O. box), Sue Farell and Vickie Shaw! Congratulations, ladies.

Confession time: I had carpal-tunnel surgery in early April and didn’t get my March books sent out before the surgery. Therefore, I’ll send them soon. Promise. And I apologize!
Um, what else? Well, there’s always Daisy Daze. I love Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page. On this page, people post all sorts of historical stuff about Pasadena, sewing machines, fashions from the 1920s, houses in which the people in the books might live, and lots and lots of other historical (1920s-era) stuff. It’s fun, 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: http://aliceduncan.net/ . And if you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

I think that’s it! Thank you.

 

        APRIL 2019

Yippee! PECOS VALLEY DIAMOND will be published in early April! Here’s the lovely cover art and a pre-order link. I’m really excited about the re-birth (well, re-publication, anyway) of my entire inventory of back-list novels. As I think I mentioned in another blog, I’m not accustomed to good things happening to what I laughingly call my writing career.

 

Pre-Order PECOS VALLEY DIAMOND

The Pecos Valley books are dear to my heart. My mother’s family moved from Georgetown, Texas, to Roswell, New Mexico, in the early 1900s. In fact, my maternal grandmother bought the property upon which my house sits in 1903! Most of the things I describe about Rosedale, New Mexico, are stories I heard from my mom.

By the way, my maternal grandmother was born in Switzerland. Her family immigrated to the USA before Ellis Island was the incoming destination for immigrants. I think her family docked at the Battery. Her ship also hit an iceberg on its way from England (departure point for all of Europe, I guess) to New York. My grandmother was so seasick, she wanted the ship to sink, but I’m kinda glad it didn’t. Don’t know her feelings on the matter. The Titanic disaster disturbed her a lot, even though Titanic hit that iceberg about thirty years after her own ship collided with its berg.

Anywho, until she was an adult, my maternal grandmother believed her last name to be Ischy, because the man whom she regarded as her father was named Christian Ischy. It wasn’t until she grew up and wanted to get married (to a fellow named Daugherty) that her mother admitted that the father of my grandmother, Emma, and her sister, Lina, was a gent named Krieg. Only she didn’t seem to consider him a gent. Emma Krieg (or Craig, which is the name I used for several of my earlier novels) died before I was born, but she used to tell my mother (Wilma Rachel Wilson, which explains another of my pseudonyms) the only thing her mother told her (Emma) about her father was that he was a “wonderful musician.” I used to weave romantic fancies when I was a kid about my great-grandfather being some famous old-time composer, but I couldn’t find any who were Swiss. Maybe Franz Liszt visited Switzerland a time or two? Frederic Chopin? Hope to heaven it wasn’t Richard Wagner!!!! In reality, he was probably a championship yodeler or something.

Oh, and my maternal grandmother married William Jones Wilson when she became a widow. Her first husband, the Daugherty in question, died of tuberculosis after they’d been married less than a year. My maternal grandfather died two days after my mother was born, so poor Emma was left to rear five of her own children and, I think, something like six kids from Will's prior marriage to his first wife, Emma’s best friend, on her own. At least she had a vocation: seamstress. I still have the mirror upon which eager brides-to-be would scrape their rings in order to see if they were real diamonds. That mirror holds scratches from lovesick maidens of yore, by golly!

Anybody confused yet? My father’s family is so much easier to trace. Oh, well.

By the way, according to an author friend of mine who lives in Georgetown, Texas, there are still Ischys running around all 0ver the place there. I guess technically we aren’t related, but what the heck. Here's a photo of my grandmother and her children. This picture was probably taken in 1920 or thereabouts, and Emma was maybe 49 years old. Left to right are Bill Wilson, Maren Wilson (who owned the house I gave to Mrs. Bissel in my Daisy Gumm Majesty books), Jesse Lee "Red" Wilson, Wilma (Mom to me) and Adolph Wilson. Rough life:

So… as for the rest of my life, things are pretty much back to normal, as normality relates to me personally. Not only did I have to replace my refrigerator in February, but March also provoked a call to an electrician and one to my very favorite plumber of all time. This favoritism is probably because I have to call him so often, and we’ve become pals. Good thing he’s a nice guy, because I think I supported his family last year.

And now for the medical issues. I already knew I’d have to have carpal-tunnel surgery on my right wrist. Had similar surgery on the left one last year; easy-peasy. Right wrist’s surgery’s scheduled for April 8^th.

In the not-so-easy category is my left shoulder. Blasted thing has been hurting like heck for months. So I figured I’d probably torn the rotator cuff or something. Ha! I should be so lucky.

On Friday, March 29, I went to see Dr. Bryant, who fixed my left wrist last year. This time I wanted him to look at my wonky left shoulder. So he had his tech take X-rays. I think he was the only person happy with the results.

Honest to dog, he was positively THRILLED when he went through those X-rays! First one: "Wow!" Second one: "Will you look at this!" Third one: "This is amazing!" Evidently most people with shoulders like mine can't move their arms at all. Medical miracle here. Oh, and it’s not a rotator-cuff injury. It’s pure-D osteoarthritis. No cartilage between the socket and the ball joint. He then aspirated about a quart of some kind of fluid that shouldn’t have been in my shoulder (telling his nurse, “Wow, look at this! You don’t see this very often! I sure wish a med student was here so I could show them this procedure!”). I live to give joy to surgeons. Anyhow, whatever parts need replacement will be replaced as soon as I recover from the carpal-tunnel thing.

Funniest thing he said, however, is that he's never seen such terrible, widespread osteoarthritis in a person as young as I! He called me young! Peter Brandvold, who should know better, asked if he was speaking in tortoise years. But I’ve got two of his book under my personal editorial control, so he’d just better be nice to me. If possible. Can’t expect too much from that source, I reckon.

What else to report? Poor little Jazzy has been having ear problems. She began shaking her ear as if one or both ears were itching. So I called my vet only to learn HIS OFFICE WAS CLOSED UNTIL APRIL FIRST!!!! How dare they be closed when Jazzy needs them? Besides, Dr. Smith is the only veterinarian in Roswell whom I trust. Another vet murdered my wonderful, sweet, darling Bella; another one ripped me off for too many hundreds of dollars; and, well… never mind.

So, since I didn’t know what else to do, I called Jazzy’s Founding Father, Jacob Torres. Jacob found her running along the highway to Ruidoso, collarless, tagless and chipless, so he picked her up. He intended to keep her, but Jazzy proved too much for him, so he gave her to me and took up the breeding and showing of long-haired Chihuahuas. Jacob told me to bring her in, so I did.

He cleaned out her ears, having found a little ear wax build-up. But Jazzy began shaking her head again today, and now her ears (or maybe only one of them) hurt. So I’ll try Dr. Smith again on Monday, the day I have to pre-register for carpal-tunnel surgery. And I have 597 books to edit and 7,000 of my own books being re-published any old day now. Life always picks the least convenient times to go wrong, you know?

Here's Jazzy, the Beautiful Blue Wiener and Queen of All She Surveys. She's gorgeous, and her head's full of cotton fluff. And she doesn't care! She also doesn't really have green eyes.

But enough of that. Bam-Bam has chosen wieners of March’s book-giveaway. They are:

Sue D’Amico, who wins a copy of UNSETTLED SPIRITS,
Kristie Dilcher, who wins a copy of SPIRITS UNITED,
And Kathleen Lauri-Lewis wins a copy of SPIRITS UNEARTHED!

Congratulations, ladies! I’ll get your books to you as soon as I can.
At the end of April, I’ll be giving away a few copies of PECOS VALLEY DIAMOND! Providing I can use my left shoulder then. But don’t worry. I’ll get ‘em sent somehow or other.

My Daisy publisher, ePublishing Works, has also set up a pre-order page on Amazon.com for SCARLET SPIRITS, the next Daisy book, which will be published in the fall of 2019. Yay, me! Haven’t a clue what the cover will look like, but here’s the Kindle link if you have a burning desire to pre-order it:

Pre-Order SCARLET SPIRITS

Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded a Facebook page called DAISY DAZE just for posting stuff from the 1920s that Daisy Gumm Majesty and her family might have used or seen or gone to or shopped at. It’s fun, 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: http://aliceduncan.net/ . And if you’d like to be Facebook friends, please go here: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925

I think that’s it! Thank you