Alice Duncan's Newsletter

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.