Don't Leave

One of the interesting things with the rise of so many websites employing an AI chat bot who follows you around the site offering to help, even though typing up your question is not often faster than just clicking through the pages, is they attempt to mimic sounding human. They attempt it by being overly polite and friendly. Imagine if you entered a store and a store employee offered to help and you said no I'm fine, and then you turned the corner around an aisle and there they were again. It would be weird. You would consider leaving the store without your items. 

I also once asked the chat bot to help and it told me my question required a human, which it then offered to summon for me. That summoning took so long the chat session timed out and kicked me off the site. 

One of my friends has bemoaned the ride of every site on earth asking you if you forgot something when most times you knew you hadn't checked out. Had intentionally not checked out.

Today I woke up to an email with the subject line, Don't leave. First, it was weird because it was a website I had not logged into. Of course I know they track you more ways than that, but I had hoped the social fabric was such that we could pretend they don't know who I am. Second, I found the answer to my question. I left because I was done. I'm not mad at anyone or anything, but our interaction has come to an end. But apparently now the clingy chat bot will follow you off the site to, to beg you to come back. 

I really hope stores start to re-evaluate how obnoxious and hard they've made using their sites for anything. Full disclosure, the site that followed me was my vet's site. A site I am usually not required to make any transactions on, short of arranging a vet appointment. 

Modern day shopping. Full of chat bots coded to be clingy and annoying. 

Went to See Some Trees

I know the popular saying is: Touch grass. But I, allergic to grass pollen, tend to enjoy going to see some trees. (Okay, fine, I'm allergic to tree pollen too. But I don't touch the trees. I just admire them.)

The beauty of a three day weekend is you have time to get some chores done, get some baking done, watch an absolute crapton of sports (tennis, and a dash of soccer), and also go for a long walk. We should do these all the time. I know there's a country in Europe trying it, and I am all for it. 

I read a study that looking at trees lowers stress levels, and I'm sure that's partly because we keep the trees outside so to look at them you are likely stilling outside a bit. 

But I love going for a stroll and seeing what there is to see. How blue is the sky today? What colors are the trees? Are there flowers? Construction? Signs? 

We are mid-election here and there's a ballot initiative about recycling and seeing where the pro and con signs are is a fun exercise. 

Of course a walk can just be a walk. It doesn't need a goal or a checklist. But I like going to see some trees. 

What is it About an Auction?

In addition to Romancing the Vote earlier this year, there have been several other auctions, whether raising funds for Celeste Pewter, for Bree and Donna, or raising funds for the Filipino Lit Fest. 

It's fascinating how I, a person who never pursued sports because being three points down makes me want to quit, suddenly discover competitiveness. Getting that you have been outbid email makes me want to immediately log in and promise more monies. Now, I haven't promised more money than I have or anything like that. My competitiveness has limits. But I have been known to spend more than planned. And in some cases more than a thing is worth. 

Now probably some of this is that, even with the above list, I acquire things by auction less often. Also the time limit eliminates some of the normal let's think about this guardrails. 

I do also find it pretty fun to watch other people bid. The extended bidding for some of these auctions has been fascinating and fun. 

New Release!

My new stadnalone romance is available now in ebook or print, and of course you can always request it from your library. There's food, DC, travel, exes being hotter than they are supposed to be, and so on. Noelani is surprised her firm’s secretive new client is her college ex. She’s not objective about him, so turns him over to her business partner. She has a five-year plan with no time for distractions. Joel is thrilled to run into Noelani, and hopes they can pick up where they left off in college, now that they are older and wiser. He finds his easy-going temperament is a good match for Noelani’s go-getter nature, he just needs to convince her that they are a good team. But when his hockey team has new plans for him, will Noelani be willing to work through the change? Or consider it a sign their timing is once again wrong?

Universal Link: books2read.com/u/4A9Zpe

Books and Circuses

This weekend was the National Book Fest and I got there at ten so I could see Daniel Nayeri. 

I got to the room a bit early and so saw the tail end of Lauren Tarshis's interview, including the audience portion where a kid asked, "Which book were you least excited to write and which book was your editor least excited about?" This was a standout question. Applause young child. Tarshis said that sometimes she would be very excited about something and her editor would say hmm, let's come back to that. But for her part, she found the more research she did for something, the more she would find interesting things, and then she would get excited. 

Nayeri was on a panel with Caroline Brewer with moderator Monica Valentine. They talked about working with illustrators, and crafting stories, and how folktales have always been a mix of people entertaining but also sending a subtle message. 

Then I went up to the ballroom for Kate McKinnon who was in conversation with Amna Nawaz. McKinnon thanked us all for being there and not at the car race. She also talked about being introverted and weird but also dramatic, and how her parents had really supported that.

Great kid questions continued as one kid asked, "What do you do about a block?" The answer was to set small goals to try to climb away from the self doubt that might be holding you back. And another kid asked what do you do for self care? Gardening was the answer. 

After lunch, I went to see Traci Chee and Gabi Burton in conversation with Ashley Dickerson. They talked about reflecting on power. And the things characters might not know they can take or even wish for. 

Then Randy Ribay and Liselle Sambury were in converywith Destinee Hodge. They talked about using fiction to talk about bits of history. 

Then Roshani Chokshi and I.V. Marie in conversation with Ofelia Montelongo and they tallked about how sometimes the self insert character isn't the strongest one, it's the one who wants to know when they'll get fed. 

 And then Jennifer Lynn Barnes was in conversation with Sarah Y. Kim. She said being a writer means being able to buy pretty notebooks. And that she uses her notebooks for brainstorming, and making lists of the things she loves, along with the things her research has told her make successful stories and figures out ways to combine them. 

It was all so much fun. Keep an eye out on Library of Congress's page for videos of the sessions.

Then I won tickets to Circus Vasquez and dragged a friend out to see it with me. Seeing a circus as an old(er) person is amazing because now you're like, oh I hope that move doesn't come back to haunt her later. I hope that thing isn't hurting their teeth. But there was singing, dancing, hula hooping, balancing, tight rope walking, spinning through the air, flipping and other amazing feats of skill and talent.  It was a fun time.