Alice Duncan's Newsletter

Journal of the Plague Month

Wait. I mean Newsletter for April, 2020!

 

Well, isn’t this a whole bunch of fun? I hope everyone who receives this newsletter (and everyone who doesn’t) is well and healthy and stays that way. We’re living in strange times, with Covid-19 knocking us all for a loop.

Hope all the folks to whom I sent books got them. Now that the plague is upon us and most of us are quarantined, who knows when April’s books will be sent to those who win them. Which reminds me . . . Bam-Bam has chosen!

Slight detour first: I’ll send whatever book you want (I can send e-copies easily. The post office will probably take some serious time to reopen to people my age, so I hope you all have a Kindle, NOOK, or whatever other e-device exists if you win a book.

 Okay. Back to Bam-Bam. The winners of March’s books are:

            Vstark! I don’t have a first name or an address, but I do have your email address, so please just tell me which book you want.

            Crystal Toller (I have your email address, but no home address, so I hope you want an ebook), and

            Rebecca Wahr! Rebecca told me she has a NOOK, so if you’ll tell me which book you’d like to have, I’ll zip it to you for your NOOK!

 Thanks, everyone!

On the book front, not a whole lot is new here. I’m still doing my best to finish writing Exercised Spirits. Because I can no longer pull an all-dayer (much less an all-nighter), but have to rest, it’s taking more time than I wish it was but oh, well.

Denice Stradling, who has and will continue to narrate my Daisy books, has offered to read A Perfect Wedding, which is the third in my Titanic series. Another narrator read the first two and then pooped out on the third. I appreciate Denice so much!

Okay, so what exciting things happened at the House of Howling Hounds in March? Um . . . not a whole lot, actually. I got a huge surprise one windy day, when the back gate blew open. Jazzy, Cookie and Bam-Bam all decided to go on an excellent adventure! The first two didn’t surprise me, but Bammers????? The dog who fears every human being in the world who isn’t me????? Fortunately, my neighbors and I rounded them up safely and got them home before anything less than excellent happened. We live a block away from the busiest east-west street in town, so I’m glad none of them ended up squashed on the pavement.

Oh, and Jazzy finally received a token that will announce her royalty to the world. While it’s true most of us already acknowledge her as the Beautiful Blue Wiener and Queen of All She Surveys, until recently she had no crown or tiara announcing the fact. Then my neighbors (Ann and Barry Lasky, who helped me find the runaways) discovered a tiara for her. So here she is in her new royal regalia:

 

Because I have no idea how long everyone will be quarantined, and don’t want to mail paper books to anyone unless they want to wait six months or so until this little old lady can get to the post office, I’ll be sending ebooks to the people whose names Bam-Bam picks out of his special contest doggie dish. Any old book you want (that I’ve written, natch). Just lemme know either now or if you win. As ever, please send me an email to alice@aliceduncan.net, and I’ll toss your name into Bammy’s dish.

Oh, and there’s actually one thing might be important, to a degree. I’ve decided to give up my post office box. People seldom, if ever, use it since most folks use email these days. Therefore, if you need to get in touch with me, please do so by email (alice@aliceduncan.net) or my Facebook page (link below). If you absolutely need my home address, just ask. Thanks.

Okay, what now? I know! Daisy Daze! 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 adore Daisy Daze. Iris Evans and Leon Fundenberger founded the DAISY DAZE Facebook page on which 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

Thank you!