whereisjodi.

Last night I popped my head in to say goodnight to my dad and he pulled me in to watch a few minutes of Primetime. They were doing a story on some dude who said angels came to him and told him he was the second coming of Jesus, with Christ's spirit in him. The worst thing was that he had a load of followers, many churches and a worldwide ministry. I couldn't stomach too much, but what I saw said there was no more sin because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross...so you could basically do whatever you wanted. His followers were also getting 666 tattoo'd on their body for some unknown reason.

Meanwhile I read about a series CNN was doing about God's Warriors or something like that, highlighting the "fanatics" among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Unfortunately I've had scheduling conflicts and missed all three nights, but I'm hoping they'll replay them sometime so I can take a look. Seems to me they're working pretty hard to make Evangelicals look as evil in the eyes of the world as Jihadists, but maybe I'm just being paranoid.

...And the sadness. Right after I post I'm going out to rip the vinyl siding off of Bertha so I can put her up for adoption sale. Anyone want to buy a slightly used RV, or perhaps trade for an old clunker and some cash? She was a good bird but the time has come. Of course, I've just told the Lord that I'm taking the step of faith to put her up for sale but He's going to have to bring a buyer if this is His will since it's not the most opportune time of year to sell...

Posted by authorjodi at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I spent most of yesterday attending a funeral and other associated activities -- in case some of you were wondering what caused my sudden and unexpected race across the country, that's the event I was endeavoring to make.

Today I started trying to arrange the room in my parent's basement which will be my home until the end of the year. Thankfully it's not quite 100 degrees outside, but I do have to keep switching between working outside in Bertha and working on the computer in the ac'd basement so I don't swelter. I keep reminding myself that at least it's dry heat -- no humidity in sight! ;)

I'm trying to get Bertha cleaned out as quickly as possible so I can settle into this new stage a little sooner. To be honest, it's a little bit weird being back and I imagine it'll take some time before I find the right rhythm for the next several months.

Had a fun book fact related to me a couple days ago -- apparently the English teacher at our local Christian high school found my book in the library, read it, and thought so much of it that she put it on the required summer reading list for her Honors English class. I never even considered that market...I'll have to try to figure out how to crack into more schools.

Posted by authorjodi at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After the blown tire and vapor-lock detours, I had 750 miles left to cover yesterday. Thankfully, by the grace of God, I rolled to a stop in front of my folks house in the early evening. I think I heard Bertha give a sigh of relief, but that could have just been my imagination. ;)

It was more than weird to drive into town after such a long absence and I know I've a bit of debriefing and decompressing to do. My first inclination this morning was to put a sold sign on Bertha and run up to Albertson's to pick up a job application...but I think I'll give myself a few days before making any rash decisions. Meanwhile, it's just good to be home.

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Posted by authorjodi at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, I guess I made too much fun yesterday because I only managed to get into one new state today. And I did something I hadn't done all year long. Namely, I blew out a tire.

I got up this morning after a lovely 9-hour siesta and drove one mile to the next exit for gas. After that I traversed a mere 10 miles before a horrid sound and a quick application of brakes and a slow death-crawl to the side of the road. Whipping out my trusty cell and Good Sam membership card, I commenced holding for 30 minutes, before finally connecting to someone who could contact someone else who could help.

Turns out the 'someone else' was in Terre Haute, a couple hours distant. Meanwhile, I'd decided I should probably wait outside because I was only about a foot off the road and trucks kept flying by at high speed, rocking poor Bertha mercilessly. I put Cali in her carrier and had just sat down in my lawn chair at a safe distance when a policeman pulled up. Apparently it's safer to wait inside...so I laid on my couch for the next hour and a half and waited for wonderful, handy Dennis to arrive and save the day.

My spare was still in good working order after a year riding on Bertha's backside and a mere 30 minutes later I was speeding down the road. I only covered 400 miles today which is significantly less than the goal, but I began to hear strange noises from the other tire -- which I probably should have mentioned Dennis checked and advised changing sooner rather than later -- so I got worried and began looking for a Wal-Mart to stay in so I can hit the tire shop first thing tomorrow morning. Plus it started raining as it got dark so it's not a bad night to stop early.

Posted by authorjodi at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pretty good for only one day's driving! Of course out west it'd take a lot longer day's drive to get through five states...but to be fair I only went through the upper tip of West Virginia which turned out to be about 15 miles wide...and in the spirit of full disclosure I'm only a few miles into Illinois. ;)

I've parked between a couple running semi's and am very glad to be stopped after a little over 12 hours of rolling movement. The day didn't start off too well when I had to pay 14 smackers to drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Thankfully I could steer a different course for the majority of the way and didn't have to pay through Ohio and Indiana, but I'm wondering just what exactly is wrong with those states' administrators that they have to bilk their citizens. Free roads man! Viva la West Coast! :p

Ok, it's obvious I've been driving too long, I'm getting a little loopy. I'll tell one more story and then go to bed. After I got off the turnpike I was getting onto another freeway and got confused because the direction I thought I should be going was labeled westbound, but I was looking for the eastbound onramp. After a few moments of confusion, I realized I've been looking for the eastbound lane for almost a year and in actuality, yes, I did want the westbound lane.

Once is a slightly humorous anecdote, but unfortunately it happened again a few hundred miles down the road when I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye listing a detour for the eastbound lane of the freeway I was on. I quickly veered off before realizing DOH! I'd done it again. Hopefully I'll remember which direction I'm going a little better tomorrow!

Posted by authorjodi at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Several months ago a woman contacted me by e-mail that she'd read my book and thought we might possibly be relatives. We corresponded from then on and, since I was going to be in the area visiting another relative, she asked if I'd come do some kind of meeting. So, yesterday morning I drove out to Lancaster, PA and had my last scheduled event of the book tour.

I'm a little melancholy this morning. Once I get done writing up an entry about yesterday's events I'll be hitting the road. It took me almost 11 months to make it to the East Coast, but I'll be trying to mad dash back west in four days -- almost makes me think I need to make another trip doing the opposite loop. ;)

Continue reading "Lancaster, PA." »

Posted by authorjodi at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Are you a redneck if you go out in the middle of a thunderstorm with a kid-sized umbrella to prop up your power cord because you're worried you might get electrocuted but the only thing you can find to protect the cords is a couple of plastic bowls and when you lean down to arrange things your kid-sized umbrella is too small to cover everything so you get soaked all down your back but meanwhile you decide the bottom bowl is going to fill quickly with a lake of water and for sure electrocute you so you flip it over but then the whole apparatus is in danger when the top bowl keeps flying off in the wind so you have to search for rocks to hold it in place all the while getting struck by massive sheets of rain?

Or is that just called incompetence? ;) 

Posted by authorjodi at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Vacation Repost -- the first crisis I experienced with Bertha, back in October:

Lots of people I run into ask me whether I've seen the movie RV. Yes, my best friend made me go see it right before I went and picked Bertha up, then I rented it again to show my parents. Aside from the small dumping fiasco a week or two ago, I haven't had anything noteworthy to report in that vein. However, Tuesday night when I arrived in Moorpark I almost wished for a film crew.

The problem, as I see it, is Bertha's enormous length. Added to her length is a couple feet of a sort of arrangement that holds the scooter and plugs into the hitch. Driving up into their driveway I scraped for just a second, but went on not thinking too much about it. The next step was to drive up a rather steep hill to get into the riding arena, where I planned on parking for the week. Sadly, neither I nor the gal standing outside directing me heard the screeching and scraping until it was too late. At that point I was stuck, stuck and more stuck.

Continue reading "REPOST: The RV Story" »

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Vacation Repost -- the first completely out of character thing I did on the tour because I felt like God asked me to:

You might think after only a day on my own I’ve fallen off my rocker. Maybe I have. I took the scooter for a little troll on the gravel road along the river that I walked yesterday. There was a beautiful spot by a small rapid (the kind you would love, Mom) so I scooted back to the RV and got my supplies -- and added to my shopping list b/c I was without a few essential supplies…

Armed with an extra bath towel and a book, I went back and laid pretty comfortably, even though I was laying on a bed of rocks. After an hour or two of pondering, praying and trying to remember song lyrics, I decided to get up and continue my hike. So when did I fall of my rocker, you ask? It is at this point in the story.

Continue reading "REPOST: Clyde Holliday (not Halliday) State Park, Day 2" »

Posted by authorjodi at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you sense over the next couple days that I'm writing with more power and authority than usual, it's because I'm sitting in the shadow of Washington D.C. and some of that energy is bound to zap me. Of course, it's a little more likely that if I get zapped my entries will become increasingly incoherent... ;)

Last night I visited the local movie theater in Graham, North Carolina. Once my host dialed up the movie line for me to listen, I just had to go visit the theater. Apparently the good old boy who owns it leaves a new joke with the times every week and Howard Stern used to dial it up and play it on his show. Not sure why Howard would be interested -- the jokes were clean. :x Anyway, if you want a good laugh, call him up at 336-226-1488.

Continue reading "Graham, Gay Paree & Fried Electronics" »

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Sometime during this past weekend a flip switched in my head and I'm suddenly more than ready to go home. I'm not sure what exactly precipitated the change, although I have a feeling it might have something to do with the show last week. I spent the weekend experiencing not only the normal tiredness from pounding the pavement and trying to be up and friendly to so many strangers, but also a real weariness of spirit.

Some of my illusions were shattered last week. I don't really want to get into it, but I found the industry a different animal than I'd imagined. And after almost a year on the road trying to create that elusive 'buzz' with not much success <there's that word again>, I find I just really want a break.

Continue reading "Longing for Home." »

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There were quite a few interesting displays. This one was in the lobby, advertising a new devotional. Outside is one of the shuttles running around with Karen Kingsbury's face plastered on the side, advertising her latest book.

Continue reading "ICRS Pics." »

Posted by authorjodi at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well...instead of 'hitting the ground running' yesterday like I'd planned, I pretty much just hit the ground. In freshman psychology I learned that most simple of personality equations: extroverts are charged by people, introverts are drained. Yesterday I figured out just how drained I'd been over the course of the week when I couldn't stay awake for more than a couple hours at a time. :p

However, it's a new day and I owe a few stories. Monday morning the Super Session consisted of Joel Rosenberg, Tony Dungy and Priscilla Shirer. I hate to admit it, but I had no idea who the other two were and only showed up for Joel, who spoke first. I'm going to write about Joel and Priscilla in this week's e-newsletter, so I won't talk about them right now. If you want to hear more, feel free to subscribe in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

Continue reading "Tony Dungy & Erwin McManus." »

Posted by authorjodi at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Despite a last minute scare from a leak during the test run, I got on the road about 6pm and roared toward Georgia. Bertha has been holding up remarkably well, though I have to admit my faith in her is not 100% restored. However, I'm very grateful for the poor mechanic and staff who had to work a full day instead of their usual half-Saturday because Bertha's guts proved exceedingly difficult to maneuver in.

My hosts toasted me and my journey with sparkling apple cider and sent me off with a prayer -- a classy end to a really wonderful week. Actually, considering it began with an unexpected mega-expense and the fact that I was literally dumped on these folks' doorstep, I can't imagine them being more hospitable or me having a nicer week.

FYI, I've turned commenting off because I was getting inundated with spam. I'll turn it back on in a few days so the two of you who comment can get back to it. ;)

Posted by authorjodi at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Poor Bertha undergoing some delicate internal surgery. Yesterday they took out the old cruddy transmission and today they've been trying to get the new one in. Apparently they had to put a new cooler on the front of the radiator and it was bigger...so they had to jerryrig something. I, of course, know zilch about what they're doing but it's nice to trust the outcome to a Higher authority.

Speaking of knowing zilch, in the picture you may or may not be able to see that long tubey thing on the ground -- I got laughed at for not knowing it was the drive shaft. :p

Continue reading "Surgery." »

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Raise your hand if you know what it means to lunch an engine. I had to drive less than 20 miles today -- probably closer to 15 -- and a couple miles away from my destination I thought I noticed white smoke. However, it was rainy and misty and the smoke quickly dissipated, so I held my breath and kept going. One mile from my destination I stopped at a light and white smoke came circling around the cab.

This is not good.

But there were no lights on! Feel free to laugh, but in the absence of any innate car sense I cling tightly to the dashboard theory my father carefully explained to me -- if a light goes on pull over immediately. So no light...maybe I can limp one more mile to my destination.

Continue reading "Lunched." »

Posted by authorjodi at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Bertha made only a couple little burps along the road today so I have my fingers crossed that the crisis has passed. I'm overnighting near Tifton, Georgia...home of the infamous billboard that a farmer erected in his field which said "I apologize to the world that I voted for Jimmy Carter." It's also apparently the peanut capital of the world, so they've got all kinds of things going for them. ;)

It was difficult for me to get back on the road today. One of the truly lovely aspects of this trip has been meeting so many interesting and kind and odd and generous and ... people. Yes, I've met many, many different types but I won't list them all. :p The folks I just tore myself away from in lu-Fet were some of the best -- truly gracious hosts who couldn't have made me feel more at home.

I'm headed to Florida, despite earlier reservations about entering the land of perpetual humidity. There were just too many days before I have to be in Atlanta not to take advantage of some more opportunities, so off I go. Who knows what the next couple weeks will hold, but I'm fairly certain I won't be joining any retirement communities. ;)

Posted by authorjodi at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm sitting in a hotel outside Nashville that might be described as one step up from seedy, watching Angelina Jolie talk about A Mighty Heart on Larry King Live. I'm trying to remember whether I've ever actually watched Larry King...I guess I haven't for more than one or two questions at a time. I know he's Mr. Famous interviewer, but I find his style quite jarring -- jamming from question to question and topic to topic.

For instance, he made a rather insensitive comment about Ms. Jolie's mother dying, then jumped to a completely unrelated and somewhat silly question. I guess it's one step up from the five minutes of 'Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader' that I watched before, but I probably should just turn off the boob tube and get some work done. ;)

I'd planned to drive straight through to Alabama tonight, but decided as I approached Nashville to stop and get a hotel, then try to hit a few bookstores in the morning. Today was supposed to be a day of driving in fits and spurts so I could pass out books to different churches I saw along the way...but I guess I was outside the Bible Belt. A little different than Alabama, where I passed a church approximately every 30 feet. :p 

Posted by authorjodi at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Just how glamorous is life on a book tour? As you can see from this terribly interesting photo, I spent several hours this afternoon putting stickers on scads of books in my non-Hilton hotel. And that was after an action-packed 900 miles driven in 26 hours, complete with an interesting night's sleep in a gas station parking lot.

I almost felt at home last night, sandwiched in between ten RV's and several other car-travelers stopped for a few hours sleep under the bright lights of the Flying J Travel Plaza. ;)

I'll stop there as I've just spent five minutes staring at the screen trying to conjur up something interesting to say...I think I'm more tired than I realized!

I'll be vendorizing tomorrow at the Assocation of Christian Librarian's Conference at Cornerstone University. After I get over my early morning wake-up call and inject a little caffeine into my veins I'll try to make up for my anemic posting of the last few days.

Posted by authorjodi at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Love's is a truck stop/travel center for those of you unfamiliar...or more prone to appreciating your local Flying J. It's amazing how much I notice a simple thing like not being able to buy gas from a recognizable company. It's nothing like the cross-cultural shock of trying to find gas in a foreign country -- don't get me wrong -- but there's still something oddly unsettling going from one unfamiliar commercial establishment to another.

I'm sitting in the Arby's eating section at Love's, about 20 miles outside of Nashville. I took a short nap in the parking lot and will now catalogue for you the pros and cons I discovered this afternoon while traveling sans Bertha:

Pro: I can whip along at 75 and pass at will. I also went through traffic in Birmingham without white knuckles.
Con: I have to stop and find a public restroom which may or may not be sub-par.
Pro: I filled the gas tank for less than $100.
Con: Pretzeled in the front seat under the baking windshield, my catnap was of a lesser quality than I've become accustomed to.
Pro: While the car was on cruise control I didn't almost get up and grab an apple from the kitchen, which I unfortunately almost did once in Bertha.
Con: I'm lingering under the apprehension that I've forgotten something since I'm not accompanied by my entire household. ;)

Posted by authorjodi at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Bad Gas, Bad Jokes & Southern Comfort." »

Posted by authorjodi at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Rita, I laughed out loud at your comment about 'bad hair life' in the South and just had to share with the group. Thankfully my hair is long enough to put up in a ponytail, because that's about all I can do in this heat. It's 10:30 in the a.m. as I sit here typing this and already my hands are STICKING TO THE KEYBOARD! I may have to run into the W/M and find some talcum powder as you suggested.

I've always heard that it uses less gas for a truck to run all night than it does to shut off the engine and start it up again. But seriously! This truck parked next to me and ran for at least 12 hours -- how is it possible that they were saving fuel? It didn't ruin my sleep as I've gotten quite good at snoozing over the sound of trucks and cars screaming in at 3am with their radios blaring. Perhaps you ask, if I'm asleep at 3am how do I know the cars come screaming in? That is called dramatic license -- hyperbolic overstatement if you will, for the amusement of the reader. :p

Posted by authorjodi at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've left the park and am sitting in another W/M parking lot, slowly melting into a puddle. How do people in the South handle this? Last night at the wine and cheese party we were discussing tornados, earthquakes and etc., and how sometimes you're much happier to stick with your particular hazards rather than move to another part of the country. Maybe humidity is that way -- if you're raised with it you get used to it. All I know is I'm seriously reconsidering my path over the next couple months!

I survived the whole week without seeing a snake, nor an alligator. I did get a raft of mosquito bites, but Gwen counted 79 bites in one part of Jim's back the other day so I think I'll take my 20 or so and not complain!

I've hatched a new plot to make myself a better marketer -- I can't stay in a park with blessed electricity for air conditioning unless I sell a book that day to cover the cost. I should say -- I've envisioned a new plot, I haven't committed to it yet! :p 

Posted by authorjodi at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

When I picked this location for a week of writing and preparation for the next steps of my trip I had no idea what was in store for me. Kind of like almost every other place I've stayed -- you'd think I'd be getting used to it by now!

First of all, my preparation for the next steps has been next to nil. Most of the week I spent catching up on the results of being out of the country for so long and working on a project for my old company. Both worthy endeavors -- especially the one that paid! ;)

Continue reading "Caddo Lake State Park." »

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Continue reading "Hurricane!" »

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I cased a power plant this morning with my aunt and uncle. I was telling them how I needed to do some research for book two -- they said there was one up the road and off we went. It felt pretty funny driving around plotting. In fact, when my dad called and I told him what we were doing my uncle made slit-throat motions so I made sure to mention it was for my NOVEL...just in case Echelon was listening. ;)

Now I'm sitting in front of my grandpa's house in Dallas, Texas with Bertha's front wheels up on the sidewalk to try to level the fantastically steep driveway. I've got to get up early to go hear him give devotions as he does frequently here at the Wycliffe Center. I'm not sure how it happened, but the last several relatives I've visited have been serious morning people. I may have to rearrange the schedule so that at the next stop I end up with someone who will let me sleep in! :p

I've got a brilliant redneck picture to post tomorrow -- last night my uncle and one of his employees attempted to fix Bertha's sickly step in an unusually inventive way.

Posted by authorjodi at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cali had an interesting evening after my aunt asked me to bring her into the house to fraternize with their three dogs. Dog #1, so small it literally is the size of a New York sewer rat, loved Cali and followed her around sniffing her rear. Dog #2, about the size of Cali with similar black and white markings, skittered away anytime Cali looked at her. And finally, Dog #3, the big bad german shepherd Batman, was so afraid of Cali that he left any place she came. He was laying in his blanket ready for bed and Cali came over all friendly-like to join him. He left her the bed and went and hid behind a chair. He went and laid in the kitchen, she came to join him, and he left in a tearing rush. I tried to get a picture of the two of them together, but Batman wouldn't stay still long enough before bolting away.

Interesting article about one outcome of redefining marriage and family. I'm not going to write about it because I recorded a podcast episode on the topic, but thought some of you who don't listen might like to read it.

Posted by authorjodi at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After closing my eyes for just one more moment after my alarm went off, I had 15 minutes to throw things willy-nilly into my bag before Dad raced me to the airport. Two flights later I'm sitting in the Phoenix airport for about three hours before catching my final connection to Tulsa.

Continue reading "Layovers." »

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Continue reading "Monday Morning Roundup." »

Posted by authorjodi at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

After less than 24 hours visiting my uncle just outside of Tulsa, I've almost decided that if America is ever invaded by a foreign power, I'm going to get in the car and drive straight here. He tells me that 70% of Oklahomans carry concealed weapons and the other 30% aren't able to.

Continue reading "Tulsa." »

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Continue reading "Tornado Shelters, Groom Cross & Armed Sheriffs." »

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This afternoon, for the first time since I left Boise at Christmas, I decided to get the scooter off it's perch and take a little trek through the open plains. I came across a few old buildings and one old-looking "Country Church" which I believe was its actual name. They had a sign out front announcing Wednesday night Bible Study so I thought, what the heck, it'll be fun.

Continue reading "Late." »

Posted by authorjodi at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Once I was watching a movie that described the space shuttle crash-landing in the Los Angeles canal system as a Class A Mishap. I have labeled my Mishap accordingly.

You see, as I mentioned during this morning's LBATL <Live Blogging at the Laundromat> Extravaganza, I've been having a bit of trouble finding propane the last few days. I began to wonder whether it was illegal in these here parts, so I decided to do a little investigatory work. On my walkabout this afternoon I managed to run across a woman in an alley who told me where I could score some top notch, grade A juice. Excellent!

Continue reading "Class S Mishap" »

Posted by authorjodi at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I tell you what, this book tour is one excitement after another! :p I hesitate to tell you this is the first time I've hit the laundromat during this tour, but alas it is true. Thankfully, family visits have been timed ever so appropriately up til now.

Continue reading "Live Blogging from the Laundromat." »

Posted by authorjodi at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That was one of the nuggets of truth I wrote down from yesterday's Sunday School lesson at Kenna Community Church. And I mean that sincerely. Last night as I was trying to go to sleep I was overwhelmed with a feeling of uselessness over what I'm doing with my life at this moment. I got my first ever royalty check in the mail a couple days ago and in the year of 2006 I sold a grand total of 85 books through traditional venues. That's almost too humiliating to share with you. Granted, I sold more than twice that myself, but even then that's less than 400 books. I tried to reason myself out of the funk several different ways, but nothing seemed to work. As I sank further and further into despair, all of a sudden I remembered what the old cowboy had said -- and I told the devil to take a hike.

Either I'm doing what I say I'm doing -- trying to follow where God leads and earnestly asking Him to do what He wants with this book on a journey that's about so much more than book sales -- or I've been lying to myself and I really want to sell 20 million books. If I've been lying, I'd better start adding some swearing and sex into book two. If not, I guess I'll just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Continue reading "Don't let the enemy kick your butt." »

Posted by authorjodi at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Who can guess where I was today?

Posted by authorjodi at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Cali is acting particularly psychotic tonight -- she's racing around like someone gave her a dose of heroin. I hear catnip is like kitty heroin, but she hasn't had any of that so I'm not sure what's going on. I imagine she'll calm down after awhile and get set for one of her 27 daily naps. At least she's not doing this at 3 in the morning -- I'm not a particularly happy pet owner when that happens.

Continue reading "That Darn Cat." »

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Continue reading "Don't Bust the Crust." »

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Continue reading "Meeting People." »

Posted by authorjodi at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, I hesitate to write about this because of my poor friends and family who are suffering from winter chills -- but I am absolutely sweltering here in the Lowe's parking lot. For example, I went for a short walkabout and when I returned, this is what Cali looked like. She didn't move when I came in. Normally that's no big deal, but all of a sudden I was worried she'd expired from the heat or maybe got shocked by some mysterious engine wire down there. Thankfully, she was just in the middle of deep REM and couldn't be bothered to acknowledge me.

Back to sweltering -- I had to give in and turn on the generator for a few precious minutes so that I could run the air conditioning. And while I'm on the subject, whoever it was that invented AC should get the Nobel Peace Prize IMHO. I ate my mac-n-cheese leftovers stone cold because the microwave is about as effective as me breathing on something when it's generator-powered, but I didn't mind as it helped cool me down a degree or two. Here I was thinking I needed to get the propane refilled soon so I wouldn't freeze to death!

Posted by authorjodi at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I finally saw the wild burros! As I was leaving Lake Pleasant I saw a number of cars pulled to the side of the road. Because of my vast, newly acquired, RVing experience...I now know this means WILD ANIMAL SIGHTING! ;) Of course they were so far away this is the best picture I could get with full zoom.

Now I'm sitting in a Lowe's parking lot a few miles up the road waiting for the hoped-for call from a radio station <my people will call your people>. Too bad I don't actually have people to wait for me -- then I could be sipping a Dr. Pepper and reading a book while someone else sweats it out. :p