FLASHPOINT Coming to Audiobook!

FLASHPOINT to Join THE SERPENT IN THE STONE in Audiobook

I’m excited to share the news that FLASHPOINT, Book Two in the Gifted Series, is in production as an audiobook after nearly ten years of waiting. Phew! These characters have sure paid their dues.

The hunt went fairly quickly, because once I heard the fabulous Janine Granda, I knew I had found my Faith Markham. Janine is a SAG-AFTRA actor professionally trained in film and theater, and she brings her years of experience to the table making magic for authors. I can’t wait for you to hear her bring Faith and Hakon to life in the wilds of Australia’s beautiful Blue Mountains.

About FLASHPOINT

Faith Markham knows her place in life—paranormal expert and world-traveling archaeologist. She also knows she'll never fall in love again. How can she, when the only man she's ever wanted is a long-dead Viking warrior? She has resigned herself to loneliness, but fate has other ideas.

Hakon Ivarsson has had enough of women. His ex-wife left his life in ruins, and only Australia's Blue Mountains can soothe his empty soul. When Faith shows up needing a trail guide, he regards her with instant suspicion. This enigmatic beauty pulls at him in ways he can't explain. Trusting her is out of the question, but protecting her is absolute.

When they stumble on an artifact-smuggling ring, led by a man poised to bend the world's paranormal power to his own terrible purposes, they must join forces. Will it tear them apart, or has fate finally delivered a second chance?

Look for FLASHPOINT this summer. I’ll post details here first as they become available. Stay tuned, readers (and listeners)!

Squirrel Wars 6: A Draw?

 

The Squirrel Wars Continue

I’ve reached a draw. I think. I bought the above feeder hoping that, with a squirrel baffle, it would make a difference. It didn’t…and by now I should not be surprised. After they figured out how to hang upside down on this feeder—squirrel baffle notwithstanding—and destroyed my ostensibly squirrel-proof next attempt (see the fifth installment), I emptied it and transferred the peanuts to this one:

This feeder is sold by Audubon, who ought to know what they’re doing since they’re in the business of birds. And to be fair, they must be on the right track. I haven’t had a single squirrel in my yard since I put this feeder up and filled it with shelled peanuts. They just can’t get at them. The only furry critters in my yard now are rabbits and chipmunks, and I don’t mind either of them because neither chews through my supply in two days.

Yay? Or Not.

Unfortunately, while squirrels couldn’t access the peanuts, neither could the birds. The outer cage is too small for squirrels to get through, yes—but it’s also not big enough for a bird to get peanuts out of the mesh inner “sleeve.” The birds small enough to get through the cage simply aren’t strong enough to pull a peanut out. Good attempt, Audubon, but it needs some tweaking if you’re going to market it as a peanut feeder.

I will keep this feeder, but it’s going to have to house suet nuggets or hulled sunflower seeds, because anything smaller will just fall right through the mesh inner “sleeve.” I transferred the peanuts back to the first feeder pictured and decided to let the squirrels who arrive to eat them, have their win. Once I run out of peanuts, however, they’ll have to find their pickings elsewhere. The feeders I currently have seem to be worth keeping for squirrel prevention. Good thing my neighborhood doesn’t get bears!

Maybe I can call this a win? 😅

Squirrel Wars 5: They’re Ba-a-a-ack

Why? Why-y-y-y-y?

Some of you may remember my posts about the Squirrel Wars from several years ago (and if you don’t, they’re entertaining reading). The more astute among you may note that the posts ranged over many years. This is the fight of the suburbanite: to forever participate in the battle between the furry little rodent and your birdseed.

FYI, the squirrel usually wins.

We had reached something of a draw when I bought a hopper feeder whose pan slams shut when anything heavier than a small bird sits on the perch. They took a while before figuring out they could hang from the top and acrobatically grab a bite to eat without touching the pan. Meh. At least they’re not eating it in two days.

The suet, meanwhile, is safe, between the cage and the squirrel baffle covering it so they can’t drop down on top of it like furry little commandos.

Problem solved, more or less…until the tree planted beside my hopper feeder got so big it was obscuring the feeder and providing them a handy branch to climb along to get to the hopper pan.

New plan: hang my tube-style cage feeder from Stokes (like this one) in the tree.

Didn’t take the little monsters long to learn how to shake the tree limb until lots of seed falls out—when, of course, they’re not reaching through the so-called squirrel-proof cage to pick seeds out. These marketers need to learn how to say resistant instead of proof…and I’m not sure “resistant” is even accurate. Might be smart to make the cage deeper so the seed tube is out of reach too.

To be fair, I had a tray out all winter where I was feeding peanuts to whatever showed up.  My visitors, furry and feathered, were making a mess of the deck, so I moved to a mesh tube peanut feeder and hung that in the tree. This is the result after a week:

So I wired the poor thing back together as best I could, then added a squirrel baffle on top of it. And this is the result after the following week:

I’m not sure what will stop these evil geniuses at this point. This was my next attempt, and it took him less than an hour to hang upside down on it and eat (at this point, it’s something of an experiment and academic curiosity, to see if anyone has made a feeder that ruins a squirrel’s thievery):

My brother has wire shepherd’s hooks on which he hangs his feeders, and he hangs a Slinky around the pole, the idea being the little buggers can’t climb the pole because the Slinky startles them and/or ruins their chances at getting a purchase. They just fall back off. FYI, you can get a “Squirrel Slinky”—made by Slinky—for $18 on Amazon, or you can just get three of the original aluminum toy ones for about $11 total. Same difference. Marketers. SMH.

I have one last attempt on order from Amazon. Stay tuned to see if I succeed! (P.S. I’m starting to admire squirrel ingenuity. If you are, too, give a look at Mark Rober’s Backyard Squirrel Maze.)

FLASHPOINT Audiobook - The Hunt for a Narrator Begins!

FLASHPOINT Will Be Coming to Audio!

I'm thrilled to announce that I have the rights back to put FLASHPOINT into audiobook! The book is currently at ACX awaiting auditions, and I'm so happy that it will finally have its chance to be heard alongside THE SERPENT IN THE STONE.

The narrator will need to be on their toes, because FLASHPOINT follows an American woman in the Australian outback, and her trail guide is, of course, Australian. I look forward to hearing the auditions for this one, because this book is close to my heart.

About FLASHPOINT

Fated to find him. Destined to defend her.

Faith Markham knows her place in life—paranormal expert and world-traveling archaeologist. She also knows she'll never fall in love again. How can she, when the only man she's ever wanted is a long-dead Viking warrior? She has resigned herself to loneliness, but fate has other ideas.

Hakon Ivarsson has had enough of women. His ex-wife left his life in ruins, and only Australia's Blue Mountains can soothe his empty soul. When Faith shows up needing a trail guide, he regards her with instant suspicion. This enigmatic beauty pulls at him in ways he can't explain. Trusting her is out of the question, but protecting her is absolute.

When they stumble on an artifact-smuggling ring, led by a man poised to bend the world's paranormal power to his own terrible purposes, they must join forces. Will it tear them apart, or has fate finally delivered a second chance?

Book Signing Season / Gardening Season

 Book Signing Season is Here!

I have come to adore book signing season. It's a time to meet people, talk books, and hang out with my author friends, The Wandering Wordsmiths (You can join The Wandering Wordsmiths Readers Group here to stay on top of all the news!).

My first signing of the season will be at Books End Bookshop in Syracuse, NY. I hope you'll come see me and chat about writing and your favorite reads...and maybe pick up a gift for Mom, since Mother's Day is the next day! (Last-minute shopper? I got you covered. 😁)

If you're interested in checking me out at any of the scheduled events this year, you can see the whole list at https://www.nickigreenwood.com/news/index.html#events.

Gardening Season!

I'm also just as excited about gardening season, and have been patiently placating myself with a bevy of house plants, some of which you can see at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.421398597896313&type=3.

I've already visited my favorite local greenhouse and picked out some plants, but it's still too chilly at night to keep them outside. While I wait (not so patiently), I will put them out during the day, then bring them in at night to protect them from the chill.

The USDA adjusts the map of its growing zones every ten years or so. What's a growing zone? Simply a map of the average climate conditions in your area, which helps you predict what plants will thrive where you live. The higher the zone number, the hotter your zone and the longer your growing season, so plants that thrive in Zone 8, for example, will do very poorly if kept outside year-round (and probably die) in Zone 3.

The growing zone in my neck of the woods was changed last year from 5B to 6A. That doesn't seem like much of a difference, but our conditions have warmed just enough to make it more habitable for certain plants. For example, I have finally managed to grow lavender with some reliability! I have used it for cooking and scented sachets, and because I love the scent so much it makes me extra happy.

The rule of thumb is not to plant outside until around Mother's Day, when nighttime temperatures are reliably above freezing. So...we wait. Not quite patiently.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, Happy Spring!

To Resolve or Not to Resolve?

Happy New Year!

 

How is it possible that it's 2024 already? The holidays have gone by in what seems like a rush, and Greenwood House has settled in for winter. Normally, I want to hibernate with the rest of the world here in NY, but it's also a time for planning and preparing. The Wandering Wordsmiths will soon be gearing up for this year's book signing season, so watch for new places where you can meet us.

 

 

I'll be winter sowing some plants soon for gardening in the spring. Here in NY, anything you can do to get a jump on the growing season is a good thing! Our growing zone was recently changed when the USDA redid their maps, which happens every ten years or so. We went from 5B to 6A, which isn't much, but my rosemary and sage are still going in the raised bed, if you can believe it. For now, I have cuttings taken from most of my herbs, as well as some grocery store parsley and scallions, that are awaiting the return of spring.

Making Your Plan

A lot of people make New Year's resolutions: quit smoking, start exercising, do that thing you've been putting off. Mine is, as always, to get a book out the door. THE GINGERBREAD SHRED made it out in time for Christmas, so it's time to turn my attention to other projects. I'm taking this month to rest, but come February, I'll be working on the sequel to FREAK FRAT and hoping to get it nailed down.

The truth is, you don't need to wait for January 1st to make a resolution. You can do it any year, month, week, day, or hour you want. And if you slip and have a cheeseburger on a gym day, that's okay. Just keep resolving. You don't even need to call it a resolution. Sometimes naming it as a resolution or promise puts the idea in your mind that once it's broken, you've lost. Maybe just call it a change or process. The occasional slip won't break you. It's just a step in the process.

The sequel to FREAK FRAT has been a years-long undertaking, and that's okay, too. Sometimes stories need time to marinate. I need to trust the steps in the process, too. Whatever you decide to do with your new year, I hope it's a good one. Happy New Year, and happy reading!