age is catching up with me

Every half dozen years or so, my metabolism slows down. I wish I could hold like I was in my earl twenties, when I could eat anything and look great.

Now that I'm in my 40's, my metabolism is so slow that I struggle to manage my weight, much less lose it. I stay in shape, mostly eat right. I've been counting calories and doing my best to avoid all but natural ingredients--avoiding foods full of preservatives where I can. I've also become an avid tea connoisseur.

And I stay in shape. I'm not a runner, but 45 min to 1 hr on the treadmill (watching Netflix) five nights a week (or outside in the sun when weather is decent at least 45 F with low or no wind) at a brisk walk is just as good as a short run, imho. Besides cardio, I also do push-ups and sit-ups every night and dumbbells every other night. I'm proud of my increased strength and stamina. But for the longest time, I was STILL gaining weight.

My goal has always been to reach my pre-kids weight, which is over ten pounds away. I'm probably luckier than many in that I've always had the means to stay in shape and used it; motivation being all that changed over the years. I just haven't always had to feel like I was working at it *coughhorsecough*. But as I age, keeping weight off gets harder.

I read something a couple of weeks ago that I dismissed, something I dismissed long ago also. A week ago, I decided to try it, the simplest change to make and so easy--drinking far more fluids (mostly water) every day than I had been. A gallon a day, especially in these dry months. I still have to remind myself to have the equivalent of a glass of water every hour, but...it works.

In one week of increasing my water intake on top of all that I normally do, I lost five pounds. I'm sure things will slow down and I sometimes indulge in a treat, but that simple thing finally worked to break the upward trend in spite of doing everything right. And I'm sure my kidney's appreciate it also, like my skin.

I'm going to continue with the routine and keep this changed lifestyle. I'm older than I used to be and it is difficult at times, but changes get easier over time. Learning to live without concentrated sweeteners or foods high in preservatives has become easy and now they make me sick; and I believe this will become normal too as the habit solidifies.

Now, as I finish off my cup of white tea, my last tea for the day, I'm going to wrap up with saying it's time to hit the treadmill.

Aging still sucks, but at least I can make the most of it.

Thought for the day

http://youtu.be/CICwZ01bT3w

An old song that never ages. Classic! Simple, meaningful. Give it a listen.

Quote of the Day

We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature. ~ Voltaire

Quote of the Day

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. ~ Chinese Proverb

Google Play and Google Books

Slowly, my books are making their way to these stores. The free books, Starfire Angels, Deception, and Legends have been up for some time.

Now, the other books in these series and other series are going up a little at a time. Please have patience. If you like your Android device but don't want to shop on a Kindle (also Android-based device), you will soon be able to buy complete series of mine in the Google store.

Thanks for your patience on this. I have been hesitant about this outlet but am going to test it further and see what happens. I've heard about deep discounts that are matched by Amazon. If it gets to be a big problem, I'll deal with it.

For now, enjoy shopping on your devices.

My ebooks are available for Nook, Kindle, Kobo, and other readers.

Disappointments

If anyone were to ask, at this time, my greatest writing disappointments have been my Demon Age novels. I consider them among my best writing for character depth, worldbuilding, complexity of plot, and detail; yet they can't seem to pick up any traction. My lighter stories sell much better. Where's the audience for NON-European Medieval fantasy settings? These have a touch of Asian in them (influenced by anime), giving them a slightly different flavor than most fantasy stories.

I would gladly send copies to legitimate reviewers. I have paperbacks on hand at this time or could gift ebooks. Simply contact me at demonlord@melanienilles.com,  an email set up specifically for any inquiries on this series.

You can find out more and download PDF samples at http://melanienilles.com/demon-age.html. Spirit Blade is available as a complete ebook or in parts with the first two parts (Hunters and Chains) free. That's almost half the book.

I love these books and want to see them reach the right audience.

Writing plans update

This is like a Balance Sheet, being a snapshot where my income and expenses (creativity and time) are looking at this moment. It can't take into account what the future actually holds, but I can do my best to anticipate it.

With that said, here are the items I will try to make happen in the next few years:

1. Finish the first draft of Awakening (Shadow Realm Sage #1) by the end of February...if I can quiet finding distractions like organizing/cleaning my house and coming up with cover ideas.

2. While Awakening stews on the backburner, finish writing Nemesis (Starfire Angels: Revelations Book 3) by midsummer 2015.

3. After finishing a first draft of Nemesis, return to Awakening to edit and publish. With the cover done, that will be the final touch, along with editing the description.

4. After publishing Awakening, begin writing Enlightenment (Shadow Realm #2) and try to finish a first draft by Thanksgiving.

5. By the beginning of December, begin editing on Nemesis to publish before Christmas 2015.

6. If Enlightenment is done, begin writing Ascension (SRS #3), otherwise finish Enlightenment.

7. After finishing a first draft of Ascension, set it aside to stew and return to Enlightenment for editing and publishing by summer 2016.

8. Finish a first draft of Eternal before December 2016 and edit and publish Ascension by Christmas 2016.

9. After publishing Ascension, continue either a) the next Demon Age novel or b) begin the Starfire Angels: Apocalypse series.

Nemesis will be the last Starfire Angels title for a while. I need to develop what I want to do for Apocalypse, which I anticipate to be a series of novellas released every 4-6 weeks beginning in 2017 sometime (depending on whether I work on another project before it or not). I'd like to do a whole year of this subseries of my popular Starfire Angels series. It will reintroduce the world and it will stand alone on its own with mostly new characters. I'd like to make them novellas that narrowly-focus on aspects of the consequences of everything that has come before, but still be a part of an overall arc. I set up this world to be BIG with many ways to play in it, and I'm going to use it... You better believe it!

Sometime in 2018, I'll have time to actually reassess my goals and ideas again, probably continuing the Demon Age series and starting yet another new series...who knows?

In the meantime, I've been tinkering with more covers. Since the abstract covers for the Dark Angel Chronicles seem to work best, I'm sticking with that idea for the Shadow Realm Saga. I created one book cover and, a couple days later, tinkered with the notion of another to see how well the theme held up. I have my first two covers:

and

Some tweaking may occur before publication, but they won't change much. I like these and they portray the stories I have outlined. The main character's name is Lilly, hence the lilly in the first cover. In the second, she'll be in a fighting mood, hence the sword. (I created the lilly a few weeks ago from a simple stock image. The sword was the only other stock art. Everything else was fonts and Photoshop tools.)

I've put up placeholders on the series page on my website (melanienilles.com/shadow-realm-saga.html), but I already have an idea for Eternal (SRS #4). Now, I just need to consider Nemesis and Ascension and I'll have covers for the next two years/five books.

That's what's been keeping me busy, and these artistic endeavors are what's been keeping me from writing at the same pace that I was before buckling down to redesign the Dark Angel Chronicles covers. Awakening is over 64,000 words right now with plenty more story to develop. Back to work I go.

Our hilarious cats

First Dargo...


http://youtu.be/co6e615M5hs

And then Suki...


http://youtu.be/4bTwMqZVqBs