And Then More Happened - Oops!

Last Thursday night, close to midnight, I was waiting to take my last set of eyedrops for my glaucoma, and I fell asleep. It was unusually late for the drops and I was soooo sleepy. Next thing I knew I had fallen on the floor, hitting my head and banging my shoulder really hard. I took the drops with Rajan's help, then went to sleep (in bed); but Friday morning my shoulder and arm were so painful, we went to emergency.

Long story short, we were wonderfully taken care of. We have insurance through the hospital, which reduced the expense incredibly: They took X-rays of my shoulder and did a Cat Scan, given that I had a goose-egg on my head. Good news: no broken bones and Cat Scan was fine. They did give me a pain-killer shot and a prescription for pain pills, and I was told not to go on one of my 3-4-mile walks for a few days and to keep my arm in a sling.

I am so grateful no damage was done! Just momentary discomfort, so I used the following days reading and studying Portuguese. Luckily, the doctor and nurse who attended me spoke English.

Already my shoulder feels better, but it's not quite back to normal yet. Still, I'm back to walking (have walked 2-3 miles for the last three days).

Meanwhile, My very kind friend, Carla Pereira came by Monday morning with a delicious dessert treat to make me feel better. Also, knowing how I like Pessoa, the Portuguese poet, she brought a deck of Pessoa playing cards. The backs all have a picture of him looking mournful in a trenchcoat and his tell-tale hat. But on the playing side, each card has a different short quote from one of his writings. The usual sets are there (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs, and Ace through King in each set), but individually each has a different (and short) quote — ideal for learning my Portuguese.

Also, at the Amazon site for Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, there is a little snippet teaser you can listen to on Audible HERE .

I hope this finds those of you stopping by enjoying your lives and busy with good things (and not falling off chairs.) Take care and stay well.

The Book Signing

I'm celebrating Wednesday's book signing at Time Tested Books in Sacramento. It was such a wonderful evening, and we sold out the books! But the fun part was introducing friends to friends and seeing all those warm, supportive faces. I've done signings in the past at schools, but this was my first bookstore signing. I have more pictures about the signing and also Peter Keat's wonderful bookstore, Time Tested Books, at my other blog next door: Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish. 

Fellow writers and teachers

Maddy, the star of the super
trailer her dad made for the book.
She was the perfect Imogene.

I was reading from my book.

They were such a good audience!

I've been busy setting up readings and school visits and the like these past weeks, so I haven't really done much posting, but come back next week for a review of a terrific mystery -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle figures in it . . .



Meanwhile - Celebrate the small things and join the hop. The link list is at Alexa Cain's great blog HERE, and her co-hosts are
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom           Check them all out.         

Celebrating a Trailer for Imogene

It's Friday and time to celebrate, thanks to Lexa Cain's cool blog hop, "Celebrate the Small Things". Lexa's novel, Soul Cutter, is a paranormal suspense that takes place in Egypt. Go HERE to see Alexa's blog.

Her co-hosts for the blog hop are
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and
Katie @ TheCyborgMom.

On another note, some ugly spammers have been showing up on her blog, signing up for the hop. Does anyone know how to block a spammer from a blog?


I'm celebrating a trailer that a friend made for my middle grade mystery that's coming out June 15, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls.  It's a fun video. His daughter plays the part of Imogene. I thought she did a great job. What do you think? Just click on the book cover below to see it:

I'm also celebrating TGIF. It's been a hectic week.
What are you celebrating today?