The Hoot A Night Owl Stories Newsletter | 20 January 2025 “We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”― Pascal Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon Hello Readers, Geographically, I live in southwestern Virginia, but I believe Mother Nature has confused it with somewhere in Alaska going by the temperature outside. I hope all of you living in the path of this artic...
2 months ago • 9 min read
The Hoot A Night Owl Stories Newsletter | 13 January 2025 “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time Hello Readers, For any of you that may be suffering in the California wildfires, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families. I hope everyone gets to safety and that these terrible fires are extinguished soon. My area of the world was challenged by the exact opposite of fire, ice....
3 months ago • 2 min read
The Hoot A Night Owl Stories Newsletter | 22 December 2024 “Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer.... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously? ”― Bill Watterson, The Essential Calvin and Hobbes Hello Readers, Despite the somewhat cynical quote, I do love the holiday season and hope that all of you who celebrate enjoy your...
3 months ago • 4 min read
The Hoot A Night Owl Stories Newsletter | 09 December 2024 “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Hello Readers, I have a bunch of book promos for you this week. And a great simple bread recipe if you are like me in that you love homemade bread but don't have the time for some meticulous, all-day long recipe that requires multiple risings and spritzes of water. Some exciting news for the Something to Hope For prequel, Where...
4 months ago • 5 min read
The Hoot A Night Owl Stories Newsletter | 15 November 2024 “The good news about self-publishing is you get to do everything yourself. The bad news about self publishing is you get to do everything yourself.” —Lori Lesko Hello Readers, Have you ever noticed, as soon as you think you may be figuring things out, life has a way of throwing you a curve ball? I don't by any means think I know everything about self-publishing (or life). I've learned a lot, but I know there is a LOT more out there to...
5 months ago • 2 min read
The Hoot A Night Owl Stories Newsletter “There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.”― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid Hello Readers, I'm trying a new format for the newsletter to make it easier for you to see all the content available and for me to create something worth clicking on every two weeks. I will provide links to book promos, author sites, sample content...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Night Owl Stories October 11, 2024 The Hoot “The storm starts, when the drops start droppingWhen the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.”― Dr. Seuss Hello Readers, While I love this season, it definitely has its challenges. To all of those impacted by the recent hurricanes, Helene and Milton, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families. My small town in the Smith Mountain Lake area of southwestern Virginia got through Helene relatively unscathed but some surrounding...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Night Owl Stories September 28, 2024 The Hoot “But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.”― Stephen King, ’Salem’s Lot Hello Readers,...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Night Owl Stories September 13, 2024 The Hoot “Nothing like walking face first into a spider web in the morning. Happy Friday the 13th. —”― Anonymous Hello Readers, Is everyone as ready for the weekend as I am? My fire alarm randomly started going off at 4am this morning. Thankfully, there was no fire, so that was the good news. The bad news was it woke up the whole house (as it should) but now we're all somewhat grumpy. It makes for a rough start to Friday. And, my youngest daughter has a...
7 months ago • 8 min read