I only shop at the mall two, maybe three times a year. And let's face it--I'm mostly just helping others spend their money, because I'm a little lacking. So the Christmas shopping season has begun because we all like to have this stuff over with about the same time Christmas commercials get into the full swing of things.
This year's experience was much different. The mall was gross. And I don't mean because there were too many shoppers (there were), but that it was just dirty, and very visibly dirty (and I'm in no way a germaphobe). Yes, I understand the mall I go to is in a college town, but still. Ew. If I'm going to shop in store, it's going to be standalone stores from now on. And don't get me started on the balance of awful people--if fellow customers were super rude, there was excellent customer service. If the other customers stayed far, far away, the customer service was abysmal (yes, I'm talking about you Best Buy and all your frat bro part-timers).
Online has been a smoother ride, but did you know that Amazon's Prime membership paywall has gotten much thicker, higher and probably has barbed wire on the top? Some people in my family love those crappy--I mean sappy--Hallmark Christmas movies, and now some of those are even locked behind the paywall. I mean, I get health and beauty stuff, I get the grocery service. Having no non-Prime access to those categories doesn't bother me too much. But DVDs, books and CDs were the bread and butter of Amazon. Why put a movie (that, let's be real honest here, probably isn't in high demand) behind your supposedly fabulous paywall? If it ever happens to vinyl, I know I'll have to find a new place to shop.
In actual writerly news, I finally sold my first Fiverr gig. You can check out the
spotlight I did for an indie book award and then you can go to
Fiverr and order your own book spotlight (if you are so inclined).
Verses and Vows is still chugging along, so there's no real news there, other than the first round of revisions still isn't done. Not to worry, though. I have plenty of time on the schedule.
Which leads me to NaNoWriMo 2016. I'm ready to go. Are you participating this year? What will you be writing?
