The other day, I needed a tape measure. We own approximately 2347123712 tape measures, give or take a few. That’s because every single time I need a tape measure, I cannot find one. So, I need to go to Home Depot or Lowe’s or Harbor Freight and buy another.

I eventually find all of these tape measures, which are promptly misplaced within a day.

My usual method of finding objects, of which I have many because I misplace things a lot, is to “tidy up.” This process involves picking things up and putting them away until I find what I am looking for.* I would say that I have a 50% ratio of finding things this way.**

After a half hour of tidying, I still did not find a measuring tape. I declared to my husband that we were now making the utility drawer*** a place for our lost measuring tapes, so that if we found stray ones, we had a dedicated location to keep them.

The next day, I went to Harbor Freight and bought a new tape measure.

P.S. Two days later, I was looking for a ruler. I found five tape measures while tidying up. (I did, however, end up finding a ruler.)

* My husband will snicker at this statement because it’s the only time I “tidy up.” Fortunately for the state of my house, I lose objects quite frequently.

** I just give up for the other 50% of the time.

*** Read: junk drawer for all misplaced objects that requires frequent tidying.

The Book Promos

Today, we have four group promos for you to find something new. All free.

May Free Non-Fiction Books is featuring my Homemade Dog Treats (with Joe!) In all honesty, I bet most of the other books are a tad more serious. But still, Joe is cute.

Free With Sign Up … the banner doesn’t look like it is, but I think these books are some horror. At least something to get your creep on.

May All-Genre Free Books - TONS of free free free books here. I see lots of romances but also lots of thrillers. Try out some beautiful authors.

Worlds of Wonder has sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal stuff. Some of these books look so good. I wish I could design awesome covers like these authors.

Happenings

I am (still) not finished with my book, but I am close. In between this book and the next book, I plan on writing a novelette. (If you didn’t know: a novelette is longer than a short story and shorter than a novella.) This book would be available for free to newsletter subscribers. So, I am polling the readers. What would you like to read?

I was contemplating:

(a) Some funny stories about me (memoir-style). Each story would be about three times the length of a typical email. The stories would include photos of Joe in ridiculous outfits. Mostly just because I think dressing up my dog is funny.

(b) Another Charlotte Watson story. If you did not get your copy, snag “Charlotte Watson and the Missing Bullet” here. For those who don’t want to read the short story (or need a refresher), Charlotte Watson is an attorney haunted by her ex-husband.

(c) A romantic thriller featuring a lawyer and a law student.

(d) Some kind of fantasy thingie that involves a dragon.

Up next newsletter: I’m running a contest to name a character.