Recording #127 A promo about my novel

https://www.amazon.com/Drowning-Steven-M-Cross-ebook/dp/B07Z3HCPCQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Drowning+by+steven+cross&qid=1571871999&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

You can pre-order my ebook now for 99 cents.

You can go to this link to order my YA book Drowning for 99 cents.

My YA contemporary novel about mental illness and bullying is now available for pre-order. You can get it from Amazon for 99 cents. This is the ebook version. The paperback version will be coming soon.

I thank you in advance. I'd appreciate it if you passed this along.

A Common Sort of Day

My blog is entitled The Common Joe because I've always considered myself to be pretty ordinary really. I don't know how I've managed to forget that some of the greatest joys to be found are in the most common parts of life. I could write on this for a long time, but I'm not going to. I just want to talk about my day.

This morning I got to sleep in a little bit. First thing I did was feed Bella, the Yorkie that just happened to wander into our yard on Valentine's day last year. Bella has brought so much love to our family that we can't stay down for very long because she won't let us. And then there's that first cup of coffee every morning. Mine was a light roast that was very tasty. For breakfast, I fell back into my childhood by eating Pop-Tarts -- fudge flavored.

I spend a lot of the day grading papers, but why don't we just skip that part?

It's one of those early fall days today, a day that started out chilly but gradually warmed up into the high 60s. This afternoon, after I finished my schoolwork, I went out onto our deck, cold (adult) beverage in hand, and sat in the sun. My wife joined me and so did Bella. We (my wife and I) engaged in small talk and just enjoyed the warm temperatures. Bella enjoyed jumping from one lap to the other and demanding attention.

The birds were out and the squirrels, all getting ready for fall I guess. We watched the clouds float by, and in one I saw an eagle. I thought of my mom who died almost 8 years ago. On the day of her death, two eagles drifted and soared over her house. At that time, I thought of the scripture in Isaiah, I think, that mentions mounting up on eagles' wings.

After Jean went in, I sat by myself and just closed my eyes. It's easy to let the busyness of life keep us from stopping, sitting and resting. I just listened. Of course, there were cars running here and there, but underneath that noise, were birds whistling, insects chirping, squirrels jumping from limb to limb, nuts falling from the trees and striking the ground and nearby buildings. A cool breeze whispered through the leaves and blew across my face.

I stayed in the moment for a moment and tried to let complications slide off me. I recommend it. And if you get some extra time, just lie down on the grass like you used to do when you were a kid, and let the clouds drift by.

This is the awesome cover for my novel coming out October 29

The novel is a contemporary YA about a teen with a mental illness. That's bad enough but he is also a victim of bullies almost every day. Join Dean Knight on his journey. Will he make it out alive or will his illness, the bullying, and the secrets of his family drown him in a swirling pool of darkness.

Drowning? My new book.

My new book is coming out October 29. Stay tuned for more. It is a YA Contemporary novel.

A simple method to organize any presentation you have to do. It works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24lRy9R6UXw&t=728s

This is a link to a video that describes a technique for organizing any kind of presentation you might have to make that I developed over my 30+ years of teaching. It actually works and it's easy too.

Let me know what you think.

Simple days, simple pleasures -- grandkids, sprinklers, and pitching the softball

One of the advantages of my being retired is the things I get to do. I don't have to work. I don't have to do anything. Another advantage of being retired is that I can appreciate simple things.

Take today for instance. If someone had filmed my day expecting to come up with a blockbuster hit they would have been sorely disappointed. Some would call my day boring. I would call it "awesome."

I didn't do anything special -- at least what other people would consider special.

I did, however, play with my granddaughter in the water. We usually set up her small pool -- as pictured above. (She's wearing her sun hat). Today, we simplified even farther. We played in the sprinkler. I can remember playing in the sprinkler a lot when I was a kid.

Pool and sprinkler days are almost over in the Midwest. Fall is around the corner and then winter. When I was a child, the seven people in my family lived in a two-bedroom house with a utility room being the bedroom for my brother and me. This room wasn't heated and it was right next to the garage. It would get so cold in there in the winter that there would be frost on the inside of the walls. My brother and I slept with a fan and buried ourselves under five or six quilts. When my face got cold, I just buried it under the blankets and stayed there until I had to come out to breathe. The sleep I had in that room was the deepest I ever had.

Little Bit, my granddaughter, and I played in the back yard for part of the day. She likes to play sink or float by putting items in the birdbath. Her favorite, a definite floater, is the acorn. We also play hide and seek around the tree.

Today, I got an old softball that had been lying around the house and had her throw some. I have dreamed that she would be a girls' softball pitcher. For a just-turned three-year-old, she has a pretty good arm.  I held her Teddy Bear, constant companion, and handed her the ball. Almost every time, without prodding from me, she threw the ball with her left hand. A southpaw softball pitcher. I don't know how common they are.

I teach online now instead of face to face like I did for over 30 years. I added a couple assignments for my classes to do, and I spent some time writing on a book that I'm working on. Right now, I'm reminiscing. Later, I'm going to write some more and read.

Not bad for a day's work, is it?