Month In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: (1) The coolest gift ever - a Lt Uhura finger puppet!; (2) Courtesy flags; (3) Paperback proof copies from KDP and Ingram Spark; (4) A gloomy day at the marina; (5) Hurricane season starts early with TS Alberto; and (6) Our friend Ted with some of the cute boat kids at the marina.

It's time for the monthly recap in numbers, a collection of odd tidbits that popped into my head as I reflected on the month past. As usual, the month just zipped by. It's hard to believe that 31 days can evaporate so quickly.

If I had to pick one word to characterize May, it would be >>rain<<. Lots and lots of rain. And that can only mean one thing. . .lots and lots of leaks. I had towels and bowls placed strategically around our boat. The bilge pump seemed to run constantly. {One of life's unsolved mysteries continues to be the source of the water draining into the bilge.}

There were a couple of boating milestones during the month - one set of friends splashing their boat after months and months of work on it and getting ready to set off on cruising adventures and another set of friends selling their boat.

On the writing front, I spent a lot of time getting ready for the release of >>Murder at the Marina<< on June 21st and making good progress on the first draft of the next book in the series, >>Bodies in the Boatyard<<.

But enough of all those words, let's get into some numbers:

• 3,500 - The number of species of mosquitoes. To be honest, I don't really care how many species there are. All I know is that the mosquito population exploded at the marina. Probably due to all of that rain.

• 8 - How many mosquito bites I got in the space of five minutes. I went to take a shower the other day, noticed two mosquitoes and killed one of them. After I got undressed, a swarm appeared and attacked me. I desperately wanted to run outside to escape, but it's not like this place is clothing optional, nor do I have any desire to run around naked. I got dressed as quick as I could, while fending off the little bloodsucking pests, but eight of them left their mark.

• 30k - Number of words I wrote. Most were for >>Bodies in the Boatyard<<. The rest were for this blog and my author blog, as well as guest posts for my >>Murder at the Marina<< blog tour.

• 1 - How many hours I spent with a towel pressed to the side of my head. Here's the problem with writing murder mysteries and thinking up ways to kill people in marinas - sometimes your plots come true. A friend was handing down a foot pump to me from her boat and somehow it landed on top of my head instead of in my hands. I didn't know anything was wrong until she pointed out there was blood dripping down my face. Head injuries bleed a lot. Fortunately, I survived this attempt on my life. 

• $7.97 - How much I spent on Kindle books.

• 9 - How many books I read including three mysteries, one general fiction, four scifi/fantasy, and one sailing-related books. Several were written by writing buddies of mine. It's great to be read their work and support them. Check them out - Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, Explosive Beginnings, and Terror on Sunshine Boulevard.

•  15 - How many advance reviews/ratings I already have on Goodreads for >>Murder at the Marina<<. Many, many thanks to those people who have taken the time to read and review ARCs (advance reader copies).

• 1 - The number of catfish friends reported seeing in a puddle in the workyard. The workyard is very far away from the water. There's a theory that it was a walking catfish. Seriously, fish that walk. Who knew such a thing existed?

• 3 - How many courtesy flags I bought from our friends selling their boat. Now we just have to get this boat off the dock and sail to new and exciting places to use them. {For non-boaters, you fly a courtesy flag of the country you're sailing in, along with your own national flag.}

• 2223 - The year that Lt. Uhura was born. Did you see that picture above of the awesome Lt. Uhura finger puppet? Who among you wishes they had one of their own? {For people who live under rocks - Lt. Uhura is a Star Trek character. Although, if you live under a rock, chances are you don't have WiFi and aren't reading this blog post.}

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month:

Provisioning for a Voyage | Whaling Ships vs. Modern Sailboats
Flashback Friday | The Time I Accidentally Sent Someone Porn
Little Letters

How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to next month?

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Murder at the Marina available for pre-order at:

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