The Sparrow's Nest

Hello, everyone! I've been saving this video for a long time, because it is so freaky! I saw it this summer and I wasn't right for several days. These are videos of paranormal activity caught on video, but they are more than just orbs and vloggers saying they hear something that nobody else does. Or it's obvious they walked into a drug den. Remember to be safe, have fun (because that's very possible), and above all, eat lotta candy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnvPiEvUKLU

I periodically check The Scarlet Leaf Review to see if my story "Keepress" came out yet. It was supposed to be out in September. Of course, that didn't happen. I checked back today, and there is finally a release date! The editor is going to combine several issues together, which includes the September issue, and they're all going to be released on November 9. Hopefully, by then I'll have an answer for my other stories, which have been waiting FOREVER. I abhor waiting. So do my stories.

I've been noticing a correlation between views on this blog, impressions on my book, and it's sales rank. Both go down at the same time and both go up at the same time. I attribute this to Halloween is coming, elections are coming, and the whole world has gone absolutely insane. The virus is to blame! (Oh, I've decided to be a cat for Halloween, if anybody cares.) The only thing to do is just not check anything, bury my head in the writing and be glad my rank is no longer in the millions, because it was. Quite depressing. It's not depressing anymore, though, thank goodness. I'm in the middle of adding the details to the third book in the Monsters and Demons series. That book has been really fun to write. As for my horror shorts, I'm still waiting on replies from the magazines. I can't wait for Christmas. It feels like it's going to be a beautiful Christmas.

I saw a post about dealing with COVID-19 and the holidays. Personally, I'm totally excited. The last time I went trick-or-treating, (I was taking my younger siblings--I was getting candy, too. Shoot, why not?) I got charged by an evil dog. Some wretches never tied up their dogs. I ran into people who'd been chased down the road. On the reservation, everybody has a dog, and not everyone ties them up. Actually, nobody ties them up. One year, I saw some people walk into a yard and the dog barked and growled at their heels all the way to the door. It then followed the group all the way to the gate. There were kids under eight in that group. Trick-or-Treating is life and death sometimes, and it's not always in the candy. This year, we have decided to do a little family party involving only the members we're quarantined with. Some people out in the world are isolated, but I have a big family and we ended up being quarantined in the same tiny house. Here, there's not enoug...

All right, so yesterday, I had contacted both KDP Customer Support and Author Central about salvaging book reviews. Author Central answered me first and said I could save my reviews even with a different author name and different cover with a different title. I spoke to Author Central twice before KDP even answered me. I sent the old and new ISBN numbers to Author Central. My old reviews from "Pariahs" were saved and are now on "Nri Kryne's" sales page. All this was done before KDP answered me back with a "you can't save your reviews because they're different products even if the content is the same." If you want to salvage your reviews, DO NOT go through KDP Customer Support. Work with Author Central. If you really want anything done, go through Author Central. They're the ones who put my book on more categories than the two you have to pick on publishing your book.

Since "Nri Kryne" came along, I've lost my reviews for "Pariahs." There is a way to get them back, but the help center on Amazon isn't helping. I asked two very specific questions and they sent me a copy and paste answer. I know, because I had both e-mails from them. The e-mails were word for word. Anyway, I don't know what robot is working the help center, but if you send them the ISBN for the old book and the new book, they can put your reviews back on. The problem is that the copy and paste answer talked about the same title and content. When I asked about different title and same content, they sent me the copy and paste. This was in the kdp.amazon.com help. I've heard Author Central is better. Maybe they don't have robots. So I've also written to them. Maybe a human will answer me this time and help me get things sorted out. Also, I have four reviews for Nri Kryne now, but you can't see two of them. Three of them appear in Author Cent...

One day, I was driving along down the highway. I was going to the store. Some butthead almost ran into me thirty seconds out and I was jittery. Several crows were eating a dead animal on the side of the road. As I approached, for some funky reason, one of the crows took flight and flew straight for my windshield. I screamed as the bird went BAP! Its giant wing left a shiny imprint on the glass. Yeah, it was shiny. I don't know why it was shiny. Maybe it got a hold of some shoe shiner. The bird went flying off to the side of the road. After that, I was driving like an old lady all the way to the store, and then I played passenger on the way home. I was wondering what had happened to the crow. I saw the same group of crows munching on their buddy, because they preferred fresh meat. What a way to go: diner to dinner.

For the last few months, I've just been writing and editing my book for the third installment of the Monsters and Demons series. I haven't had any new inspiration for a while. I didn't mind, because all my focus was on the book. The other day, I went out into the woods. It was so silent and beautiful out there. It reminded me of my grandma's house when I would come to visit when I was little. The aspen leaves were raining in the light breeze like golden droplets. As a writer, I am constantly looking at computer screens and working with electronics. Being out there without all that mess was rejuvenating. After I got home, I was able to pick up my cross stitch and start making something for Christmas. Just a few hours ago, a new inspiration came to me! And it's a story that involves a monster. I am now in the process of making it. In the past, I'd gotten a few tickles in my brain for stories, but this one really took hold, so I'm excited to write it! https://w...

So last Thursday, I got a message from a dating site saying I had a private message. If you read that post, you know I had shut down all my accounts due to one million year old men trying to rob my cradle. I had lots of accounts, so I missed one. When I got the message, I was like, huh? Then I remembered this site had given me a free account because they felt sorry for this here sap. Because of this, I could actually read the guy's message and answer back. So, I have been really tired lately and not thinking straight. I attribute this to my answering him back. On top of it all, the guy was actually around my age. I said hello. The conversation stretched from Thursday to Sunday, but I only sent one message a day since we were in different time zones. In real time, we had only spoken for about a minute. In that minute, he became extremely aggressive to the point where I felt marked to be his wife, or whatever it was he had in store for me. He spoke of being outside the US, but would ...

Back in high school, I wore earrings every day. In college, I wore earrings and lipstick every day. Every day, my earrings were different. I had boxes of earrings and I picked and chose which I would wear from day to day. One day, this girl asked me where I'd gotten my earrings, because there was a set of them she really loved. I don't know what she thought I was going to say. I guess anything besides, "The dollar store." She just gave me this weird stare like I'd given her a major shock. She never talked to me after that. It was kind of like when I was playing volleyball, and I was the only person with the sense to cover her major wrist arteries with her sweater. After the game, the other girls were showing each other how red they had become. When they saw my arms, they were just as white as ever. When one of the girls asked why, I said I had covered my arms. She wouldn't talk to me after that and kind of backed away. Maybe these two weirdoes were related. An...

I can't sew for crap, but I can sew a face mask. I can't sew those fancy ones where there are a lot of curves on them, though. When everyone started talking about wearing face masks, I got to work and sewed one for myself and for each of my family members. There were no elastics at the time, so I used yarn I got from a little old lady whose house I cleaned the year before. She literally had a whole closet full of yarn and she had given me the whole closet. I wash my mask periodically. I wash my face every morning and every night without fail, even when I'm sick. My face was gross in high school and only in college did I really start taking care of it. But whatever stage I was in when it came to keeping my face clean, there was one thing I never had: black heads. Well, lately, I've been noticing my nose was looking funny. It looked kind of dark, too. When I looked really close, it looked like I had shaved coarse hairs off my nose and they were starting to grow back. What...

The internet has been going out at the most inconvenient times, because reasons. But, here we are. Are you a writer who knows many other writers? Are you tired of that one who keeps updating brand new work to all these magazines and publishers? Author X likes to say a certain phrase when he/she has good news, but after the millionth time, Author X can go straight to a nice warm place, along with their favorite celebratory phrase. Why is it that Author X expects you to come forward first with congratulations before they deign to look at you? Author X won't even congratulate you anymore on your achievements. Why is this? Are you a threat? Are you a competitor for their literary world? Or do they just think you're so far below them that you might as well be an ant? Are you absolutely tired of Author X? Do you feel like you're letting your writing community down in feeling this way? Are you afraid you just have the bad case of the jealousies and don't want to admit it? Well...

One star reviews suck, but they reflect the reader more than anything else. One I got from a woman who said she would post her review on Amazon if she gave it a three or higher. She also promised to buy the book, too, after she picked out the books she wanted to read. She picked mine, but a few months later, she asked if I could send it to her for free. I should have listened to the red flag that went up, but I didn't. The woman was already untrustworthy. I sent her a PDF file. She went onto her YouTube and complained about my book in the most condescending way. After I got over the stings enough to think clearly, I began to realize she complained about things that weren't true. She said there weren't enough explanations for this or that. Guess what, those things had ample explanations. I realized she didn't even read the book, but skimmed over it. Some of what she said were outright lies. Luckily her YouTube views could be counted on one hand. The other review was most...

I got some weirdo on LinkedIn who asked to read my stories, so I sent him the links. My bio is all over the place and clearly says I'm based in Arizona. The guy comes back and asks me if I'm in New York. And then he wants to chat with me on google hangouts and whatsapp. He desperately wants to talk with me there because he says that's how business people connect the best. He says this on LinkedIn, where you do exactly that. I thought I was done with this kind of BS when I left Twitter. He has the link to this page, but I seriously doubt he even came here to read. Highly suspect!

A writer is supposed to read and write a lot. They're also supposed to keep their eyes open. Watch the world. Don't lock themselves away into a room like many do. No wonder I can't find anything good to read. Enough of this, "I'm an introvert and I have to stay inside." I'm an introvert, too. You needn't be so proud. And so, today I went out into the world in search of inspiration. To see things, watch things, analyze, and listen. AND.... I saw a dead dog. ... ... Next video, 3 creepy baby monitor stories:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra6ZgyTOlQ0