Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Hunting and Gathering in our New Reality @swhubbard


LUCY BURDETTE: Today I'm delighted to welcome our long-time JRW friend SW (Susan) Hubbard. We're all having to make major adjustments in our lives, and here's a peek into hers. And also, if you haven't read any of her Frank Bennett mysteries (that I adore), now's the perfect time because the first three are free and then you can binge and read all the way to the new one, ICE JIG! Welcome Susan!

SW HUBBARD: I come from a long line of hunter-gatherers.

My mom loved to shop. My Aunt Viola loved to shop. My Aunt Bessie raised shopping to an art form.

And my daughter and I love to shop. For anything: food, clothes, household items, gifts. We hunt for it and bring it home. It’s a bonding experience.

Of course, I order things online. But I still enjoy the in-store experience. Browsing. Touching. Seeing what strikes me.

“But what are you shopping for?” my husband asks.

For? For?? There’s no “for.” The process is the purpose.

Suddenly, all that has changed. The Covid-19 quarantine hasn’t changed my work life at all. I still get up and write at my kitchen table every day. But pre-pandemic, after the day’s writing was done, I went out for a little hunter-gatherer activity just about every day. One day Trader Joe, the next day Costco. Target and HomeGoods for the house. DSW and Nordstrom Rack for an outfit or two.

Now, I have no choice but to stay home and order what I need, like this box of veggies from Misfits Market. And if I do venture out to the supermarket, I have to use a list because I can’t afford to forget anything.

I NEVER used lists before. On the rare occasion that I made a list, I’d usually leave it on the counter, or forget to look at it until I was in the checkout line.

And it dawns on me—that’s how I write as well. I’m a pantser—no outline. If I make a few plot notes before I begin a new novel, I usually forget them by Chapter 3.

In the supermarket, I meander through the aisles. The asparagus looks nice today, and do they have those yellow kiwis? And then I get some smoked salmon at the deli and about the time I reach the dog food aisle, I get a flash of inspiration. I could make pasta with smoked salmon and asparagus for dinner! But I’d need dill for that, so back to Produce I go. And do I have linguine at home or only fusilli? Better head over to Pasta.

I shop like a bee—flitting, hovering, looking ahead for the best flowers, circling back.

I write the same way. I write my way forward until I hit a plot dead-end. Later, inspiration strikes at odd moments: sorting laundry, chopping onions, planting pansies.  Eureka! I can get out of the dead-end with my brilliant new plot twist, but I have to circle back to set it up.

Back and forth, hunting and gathering.

Now that I can’t hunt and gather for the supplies of daily life, will my new routine change the way I create novels? Will using a list when I shop finally make me an outliner when I write?

I’ll let you know when I launch into writing my new women’s fiction project, Life, Upended: Roz’s Story (the sequel to Life, Part 2: Lydia’s Story). Meanwhile, I just published a new novel in my Frank Bennett Adirondack Mountain Mystery Series. In Ice Jig, Police Chief Frank Bennett tackles small town politics, family secrets, and ice fishing to solve a baffling crime. You can buy Ice Jig in Kindle, Kindle Unlimited or paperback. And to celebrate the launch of Ice Jig, I’ve made my Frank Bennett Kindle boxed set FREE through April 3. If you’ve never read this series, here’s a money-saving way to sample these small town police procedurals.

Do you miss shopping now that we’re mostly all quarantined? Or are you enjoying having everything delivered? Do you think you’ll revert to your old shopping routines when the crisis is over?




76 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new book, Susan . . . I’m looking forward to seeing how ice fishing fits into the story!

    I feel your pain about the shopping. I don’t mind shopping online for some things, but I like being able to look at what I’m buying. I want to touch the dress and see how much light the curtains block out; I want to make certain that asparagus is fresh. So, no, I’m not thrilled about being quarantined and not being able to wander through the grocery store [or the library to see what book captures my fancy]. I’m certain I’ll go back to wandering the supermarket when this crisis is past . . . .

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    1. Me too, Joan--I plan to go right back to hunting and gathering!

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  2. Susan, I didn't use to take a list to the grocery store either, unless it was for a specific recipe, and it was no big deal if I forgot something, as we live close to a Kroger's store. However, like you, I now have a list for either my husband or myself. I'm trying to limit going to the grocery store to as few as trips as possible, so I also don't want to forget anything I need. In fact, I keep a running list on a word document, deleting and adding as I need to. And, other shopping, I do miss some, but not too terribly. Of course, I did like to go browse at TJ Maxx at stuff I didn't need but was at such a good price, and I especially miss browsing at book stores. I think that I'll be a more efficient shopper from now on at the grocery, using a list, but with maybe a few unplanned items. I'm actually a big list maker. It just hadn't extended to the grocery store before.

    What a great deal on your Frank Bennett series! I have been meaning to start this series for ages, and I do have the first one. I'm going to get the Kindle set though and Ice Jig, too. I'm a little confused about the order of the Frank Bennett series. I thought Take the Bait was the first one, but it's listing The Lure as the first one in this set. Can you clear this up for me, Susan?

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    1. I've been dictating into my phone to keep my list. I ALWAYS have my phone, so I can't forget that! As to the order of the Frank Bennett books--yes, TAKE THE BAIT was the very first Frank Bennett book I wrote, way back in 2003. It and the next two were published by Simon and Schuster. But when that contract wasn't renewed, I went indie and eventually got back the publishing rights to two of the first three books, but never for TTB. I'm still fighting that battle. So for marketing purposes, I just renumbered the series, beginning with THE LURE. Sorry for the confusion!

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    2. Thanks, Susan, for clearing that up. I hope you get the rights back to TTB.

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    3. Thanks to both of you. I've got a lawyer on the job now, so maybe by the end of the year. Fingers crossed.

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  3. Congratulations on your new book, Susan! I often shop at the local farmer's market because I find many seasonal fruits and veggies that looks good. Since the pandemic, my shopping habits have changed. Online shopping. If we have to go to the grocery store, we bring a list of things we need so we do not forget anything.

    Diana

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    1. I love the Farmer's market! Ours doesn't open until June. I hope we'll be able to go out by then!

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  4. Waving hi to Sue! I'm happy to have a new Frank Bennett to read and just ordered it for my Kindle.

    I don't mind food shopping. I always (then and now) go with a list, but I can get be swayed by shiny object like asparagus, too. I hate other kinds of shopping, especially for clothes. I don't miss that a bit. Writing? I'm like you and wouldn't have it any other way. I set up a brand new book project yesterday and hope to write the first sentence today. I love feeling my way through a first draft.

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    1. I'm glad to hear you're a pantser, too! I so admire your productivity, so I'm glad I can hold you up as a role model without having to make outlines! I hope you enjoy ICE JIG :)

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  5. Hello Susan. Such a deal you offered. I just ordered the box set for my Kindle. Question: Which of the people in writing business determines price? Who decides something can be a free purchase?

    Back to shopping. I loath shopping. I am prone to impulse buying and don't have the budget for that. I am a list maker: to do lists; dream lists grocery lists. you name it. Lists help me stay organized (duh). what else is a list for eh?

    Your comment on creating as a pantster. Fascinating. Until I joined JRW's it never crossed my mind that someone could start a novel without knowing how it would end. I stand in awe. I am looking forward to getting to know Frank Bennet. Thanks for creating him.

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    1. My husband (an engineer) is horrified by my process. He's a great listmaker. He often puts things he's already done onto his to-do list so that he can start the day with things already crossed off :). As for making ebooks free--I am an indie author, so I set my own prices. Amazon will allow me to do a certain number of free deals every year. I'm doing this free deal as part of a BookBub promotion (I hope you subscribe to BookBub--it's a great way to discover sales on good books.). This will be a "loss-leader" for me--I'll hook new readers with the first three free books, then hope they will pay to buy the next three!

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  6. Congratulations on the new book, Susan. I bought the box set to try your series.

    My shopping habits have definitely changed from pre-COVID-19. Since I don't drive, I used to go buy groceries every few days and lug the food home. Now being in self-isolation, I tried Instacart which worked great the first time with a delivery within 3 hours. But now there is a huge surge in demand for online grocery delivery and new orders would not delivered for 4-5 days. So I am trying some other companies to see if I can get my groceries quicker/easier. And once I am able to get outside myself, I can do food pickups myself.

    I am not much of a shopper for other things (clothes, household stuff) so I don't miss that at all.

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    1. Yes, I've hear that InstaCart and PeaPod are overwhelmed. I've been trying to hold out for two weeks at a time before venturing into the grocery store. We are definitely eating the mystery meat at the bottom of the freezer! My Misfits Market box comes once a week with fresh fruits and veggies, but I have to take what they send. I had to find a recipe to disguise kale last week.

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    2. We had stir fried kale last night and my husband made the same face that yours would have. I put in some sesame oil and a squeeze of lemon and it really was pretty good!

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    3. I am no lover of kale, either, but I have found that if I cut it into roughly one-inch squares and wilt it in a soup, it loses whatever it is about kale I so dislike. (The texture, maybe?) I find it similar to having wilted spinach in my soup, which I have always enjoyed. My tip of the day!

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    4. Yes, that's what I did. I cooked it with white beans and canned copped tomatoes and garlic and onions, so it was like a thick soup. Quite good, and hubby had two helpings. I find it's too tough to eat in a salad, and just sauteed isn't enough to conquer it either! This week's challenge--collard greens, which I like when my elderly African American church lady friend makes them., Not sure I can duplicate the recipe though.

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  7. I'm a list maker, always have been. I live 15 miles from the nearest grocery store, no home delivery, and even curbside pickup is currently booked midway through 2021. I always only went grocery shopping once a week and still am, but now the trip isn't at all fun. More like a practice in paranoia. I can't wait to actually enjoy my weekly trip to town again.

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    1. Whenever we visit the Adirondacks, we are 20 minutes from a supermarket. I love the mountains, but I don't think I could get used to being so far away from stores on a regular basis. NJ is a retail mecca, so it's very sad to see all the stores shuttered.

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    2. I used to live out in the country, Annette, and I totally get the once-a-week shopping trip. It could eat hours out of my day--20 minutes to drive there, an hour completing my list, 20 minutes home, then all the unloading. I put it off as long as I could. Once, when I was meeting a rescue dog transport out in West Texas, the woman I was meeting suggested we hook up in a Wal-Mart parking lot, "Just in case you need anything. Save you a trip later." My city friends didn't understand, but I knew immediately what she meant.

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  8. I feel your pain, Susan. I desperately miss the experience of shopping. This weekend would be my favorite activity: the antiques show/flea market at the firehouse. I mean, vintage plus firemen plus sloppy joes at 9:00 in the morning! What could be better?

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    1. Oh, to go to a flea market right now! And one with hunky firemen--our are always run by little old church ladies! Be careful out there.

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  9. I have never been much of a shopper. I shop for groceries once a week, with a list organized the same way the store aisles are. I have found if something is not on the list I probably won't remember it. For other stuff it is almost always online. I used to enjoy browsing through catalogs until I realized how dangerous that was. So many things that would be just perfect and I had to have them!
    Sue, I have always loved your Adirondack mysteries and just finished Ice Jig last week. And last night I was thinking about Frank because there has been a lot in our paper lately about downstaters coming up to the Adirondacks earlier than usual and staying in their summer homes or maybe rentals. These summer people are coming from an area where the virus is so bad. Well, the locals are all up in arms about it and they don't want "summer" people with their germs here. Of course they have a perfect right to be here; if they are property owners they pay taxes. But how would Frank handle this situation?
    I'd say you are doing something right when a reader wonders how your characters react to the situation in the news! I'm sure there will be many authors using the virus as a background if not the main focus of their books.

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    1. Hi Judi! I don't think I realized you live in the ADKs--what town? One of my other ADK readers was complaining on FB two weeks ago that the pandemic was a liberal hoax. Now she's posting maps of NY state telling downstaters to stay away. Yes, this would be a perfect conflict for Frank to handle. I think he'd take a middle ground and warn outsiders to stay locked up in their cushy second homes and not come to Malone's Diner for lunch! I'm not sure readers will be ready for a COVID-19 plot line by the time Frank rides again. I think we're all looking for escape.

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    2. I don't live in the Adirondacks, although at one time I lived in Plattsburgh. My daily paper is from Schenectady (don't live there either) but they cover the news in a wide area.
      And yes, I think it is way too soon for Frank to deal with now, but you can put the idea in your back pocket for now or maybe come up with some other hideous situation.

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    3. LOL! Hideous situations are my specialty! My husband and I were walking in the park yesterday, and I remarked that the crumbling boardwalk path would be a good place to hide a murder weapon. He just stared at me and said, "Do you HAVE to do that everywhere we go?"

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  10. So insightful, Susan! Thanks for sharing. I'm not a big shopper and I do shop with a list. But boy howdy do I miss the freedom of being able to hop in the car and toodle of to my local Marshalls and look FOR whatevah. Last time in there I scored a baking sheet - who knew there even were such things and I use it all the time.

    Susan, can't wait to hear about your new women's fiction project!

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    1. Oh, Hallie--the housewares aisles of TJ Maxx/Homegoods are Nirvanna! How I long to stroll them. And sheet pan dinners are my favorite. So much better than gloppy casseroles.

      Thanks for asking about Life, Upended, my next women's fiction project. This one picks up the story of Roz Schmidt, who was the sidekick in Life, Part 2. She finally gets her dream job only to fall victim to a social media flame war. Will she triumph over her adversaries and hang onto that job?

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    2. Hallie, a fellow Marshall's surfer! I really miss that and think it will be top of my list when this Stay At Home period is over.

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  11. Oh so interesting— We are ordering groceries these days, and it is so fraught! Since you don’t really know what you’ll get. I never minded shopping, but as I got more into writing, shopping seemed to take up too much time, and I tried to avoid it. It was never a sport or entertainment for me, just a necessity. In happier news :-) this is a great time for me to catch up on your books! so great to see you here today.

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  12. True, shopping is time-consuming--I admit I'm getting more writing and marketing done without the siren call of the stores. Thanks for having me as a guest.

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    1. So pleased you were here! And right now, shopping is looking so… Lovely.

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  13. I don't miss shopping. At all. Any enjoyment I might have gotten is usually beaten out of me by...something. So I like Curbside Pickup.

    What I don't like is making a list all week, waiting (im)patiently for a slot to open and placing the order - only to have someone start another list! Gah!

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    1. I feel bad for people who've been using online grocery shopping all along and now are being crowded out by all us new arrivals.

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    2. Yes. These used to be convenience services, especially for people who really needed them, and now it's the new normal.

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  14. I just bought the boxed set -- can't wait to read them. I wonder how I've missed these in the past -- they sound right up my alley.

    I lost interest in shopping as a leisure activity years ago, so I don't miss that. I am still physically going in to get my groceries, but I am taking advantage of the special seniors hour before the store opens to the general public. I always did grocery shopping with a list, but because the stakes are a lot higher now, I work a lot harder at making sure it is complete so I really won't need to go back for a week. Oh how luxurious it seems now to think of just popping in on my way home from work to pick up that one item I need to make that recipe I have in mind for tonight!

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    1. "The stakes are higher"--that's the perfect way to express it! No more popping in for us :(. I hope you enjoy Frank's adventures. Happy reading!

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  15. I really enjoyed Life, Part 2, Susan, and wish you all the best with your new books.

    I work in the city, so I've become a stop-on-the-way-home shopper. But with this pandemic, I no longer go into the office. I've had to learn the ins and outs of online grocery and drug store shopping. Fortunately I have Debs to guide me through it.

    My favorite grocery store was not prepared for all this, so the first time I tried shopping online I couldn't find half of what I wanted on the website, and they couldn't even fill half of what I ordered. I tried again on Monday and the website is much better-organized, but now I can't pick up my groceries until this coming Monday. Delivery would have been weeks away. I just keep telling myself, "Adapt or die." Maybe I'll embroider that on a pillow top, since I have so much time for crafts now.

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    1. Yes, our online shopping services are overwhelmed, so I am trying to shop in-store once every two weeks.

      I'm so glad you enjoyed Life, Part 2. I'm excited to return to that world today!

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  16. We're not doing delivery--it's not available where we live. So we're making almost daily trips to the store to see if there is anything to buy, and I mean that literally. The first sign of a crisis brewing was when our (lone grocery store) already poorly stocked Walmart store was stripped by out-of-staters fleeing to the mountains. The shelves are still bare, with a little stock added daily and quickly sold. Sounds dramatic, doesn't it?

    My personal Waterloo was flour. Almost impossible to get (even online), but family members have found a couple of bags for me (whole wheat and bleached, both not my favs). I'm piecing meals together with ingenuity, which is kind of fun, though.

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    1. Wow--that's scary! The news keeps telling us there's nothing wrong with our supply chain, but I suspect those statements are not made by people who actually do their family's shopping. I too have been getting creative with my cooking, and I'm much more conscious of not wasting anything.

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    2. I'm not blaming it on the supply chain but rather the people who are hoarding. And fellow shoppers are joking about it now, after the store finally set limits. The store is trying to keep up (2 or 3 trucks a day) but it will take months to fully restock. Stuff that never sold is gone, LOL.

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    3. You know it's bad when you seriously consider the flamin' hot beef jerky as your main dish.

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  17. Congratulations on your new release!

    I have a grocery shopping routine (Trader Joe's, the butcher for $2.99 chicken, the fruits and veg place) but it's a grind. I don't shop on-line unless I know the clothes will fit. However, a month ago I made a run up I-75 to my favorite TJMaxx, which has a huge selection of "career apparel"-- dresses, blazers, and chic slacks-- and scored three summer dresses and a luscious apricot linen shirt. The thrill of the hunt is still with me.






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    1. Yes, the thrill of the hunt! Whenever anyone would a pay a compliment to my Aunt Bessie on the outfit she was wearing, she'd reply by telling them how little she had paid for it--double mark-down plus a 30% off coupon :)

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  18. “I shop like a bee” is a perfect description for me! Shopping has never been my favorite thing, but I miss the freedom of stopping by the store on the way home to grab whatever I want. I’m also having to learn to plan ahead so much more now— I’m trying to have things delivered but it’s hard to find a spot so I need to think 2-3 weeks in advance. Spent nearly an hour last night going through the medicine cabinet, the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator to think about what I need since I have a delivery slot tomorrow.

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    1. Good luck! I hope you get everything you need!

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  19. Thanks, Susan, for the boxed set. I now have it on my queue, and look forward to meeting your characters.

    Shopping is a chore for me (except the housewares stuff at TJ Maxx, etc. What is it about those gadgets?). In the 1970s I was a buyer for a chain of dress shops and had to shop other stores, as well as the market, several times a week. It got old in a hurry. And then shopping for and with three daughters killed the rest of my enthusiasm. Sometimes it was fun, like for proms, etc., but when growing kids need whole new wardrobes multiple times a year, and they get pickier with each growth spurt, oy. We're all lucky we survived. LOL

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    1. I feel your pain. Teenage boys' feet grow right before your eyes--it's like time-lapse photography! Zappos was a godsend for us since my son wouldn't be caught dead in a store with me.

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  20. Thanks, Susan, for the boxed set! Now I have that to look forward to in the next couple of months! I actually liked my grocery shopping. I usually shopped once a week, with a list, at my local Trader Joe's, augmented with a stop at the butcher and/or the farmers market. I am missing all three. We are doing home delivery about once a week, but it's not very predictable. What I am really going to miss is our farmer's market, which should have opened for the season this coming Saturday. Oh, well, we will adapt, and I'm hoping that by summer we can visit the market again. In the meantime, a local farm that normally supplies produce to restaurants has started home deliveries, so I'm thrilled not only for us, but for the farmers who now have customers to fill the gap caused by closed restaurants and markets.

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    1. Yes, it's great to see stores and restaurants adapting. We ordered take out from our favorite Mediterranean restaurant last night in hopes that our support will help keep them open so we can enjoy going there again when this nightmare is over.

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  21. Thank you Susan. As soon as I read your opening, I went to Amazon Kindle and bought them all!! After all, there will be lots of time to read them and they sound like books I'll enjoy. I am very excited.

    Gigi, yesterday you cheered me up, today "Adapt or Die will become my new motto!

    Shopping, I don't really miss it too much because I have not really stopped. There are 3 grocery stores within 5 minutes of my house, depending on the stoplights. I buy something in each one every week and I am still going to the store. Washing up afterwards, but I need to see the apples to make sure they didn't go to baseball practice before they came to my house. LOL

    Clothing is something I can buy on line and have bought from catalogues and from online sites for years. I will not purchase clothes unless I know that the fabric is mainly made of natural fibers. It is easier to find that information on line or in a catalogue then turning clothes inside out in a store. Things almost always fit, but there are times when I do have to return them. It's not a problem for me. I do miss occasionally going to clothing and dry goods stores, but I do not miss crowds at the mall.

    My husband is also an engineer. We have such different ways of approaching problems, but sometimes I think it's that Mars - Venus thing going on and not that he is a scientist and I a literature major.

    Susan, I wish you all the best with your new books. Thank you for making these available. I feel very lucky.

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    1. You're welcome, Judy. I hope you enjoy them. Be careful at the supermarket--maybe go every other week ;)

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    2. Thank you, Judy, for those kind words!

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  22. I'm more of a get in and get out as quickly as possible person so I can get home and do something fun. Exception might be a bookstore, but I don't go to them that often any more either. So I doubt my life will change that much after this is over.

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    1. That's good. We no longer have any indie bookstores near me, and I have never enjoyed Barnes and Noble--can't find ANYTHING in there! So I do my book "browsing" on Goodreads, watching what my IRL and GR friends are reading.

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  23. Congratulations on the new book Susan! I confess that I haven't read the series before but I checked out the synopsis and really want to get into it now. But I don't do e-books so I will have to find book 1 online once I have discretionary funds again.

    I still go out to go food shopping. I don't do delivery options for that. I want to grab what I want in person.

    But for the rest of the shopping needs, I kind of don't have to worry about that right now. Most of the places I would spend my money at are closed right now. Movies, books, music and comics. All the places are closed. As for clothes shopping, while the place I buy pants is closed, I usually do my clothes shopping by attending a concert and buying a new T-shirt. I can still buy from the Fat Guy's Store (not it's actual name) that I get a catalog from but they are expensive unless I buy online when they are running huge sales.

    My trips out these days are usually to pick up groceries, go to the bank (only available via drive-thru right now) or post office. I've gotten take-out at a couple of places but not all that often.

    Gas is $1.99 a gallon right now, but who needs to buy any when you really don't have many places to go?

    Plus being laid off, what money comes in that doesn't go to food is paying bills. I got the tax refunds but smartly have been making sure that I set aside that money and earmark it for specific bills.

    But once this is over (if it ever ends), I'll be back to doing life as I did beforehand. I prefer going out to get my stuff over waiting for it to show up in the mail.

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    1. Jay, while I totally respect your preferences, troubled times call for new approaches. Go ahead and download the FREE Kindle app and then download those FREE ebooks. You may find that reading digitally isn't so bad once you get used to it. And you can't beat the price!

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  24. Jay, while I totally respect your preferences, troubled times call for new approaches. Go ahead and download the FREE Kindle app and then download those FREE ebooks. You may find that reading digitally isn't so bad once you get used to it. And you can't beat the price!

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  25. Interesting, here in California the farmer’s markets stay open all year. Even under the shelter in place they are considered an essential service and they are open.

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  26. I look forward to reading your books, which are new to me.

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    1. Thanks, I hope you like them. Well, our farmer's market in NJ is timed to the growing season. There's not much to sell in the winter :)

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  27. Thanks, Susan, for the boxed set offer; I've taken you up on the freebie. I'm a great listmaker but my husband is the foodie so he's the one who loved to wander the aisles at our local grocery store; for me it was more get in and get out. However, this situation has made both of us into speed shoppers.

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    1. Great! I hope you enjoy Frank's adventures. I'm still on the front lines of shopping, but my husband does appreciate my courage!

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  28. Fantastic! Things are just heating up here in AZ, so ICE JIG (I love ice fishing) is just what I needed!

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    1. LOL! Don't tell me you've actually been ice fishing! This book will cool you off in AZ.

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  29. I still go to the grocery store once a week with my list as usual. Since this startted, I've been ordering books, and pre-orders are arriving, also. I ordered ink and paper from Staples and received it today. Not sure if I want to wait or order online to use my Boscov's and Target gift cards. What really hurts is that the nurseries are closed. I want my tomato plant, herbs, annual flowers, and maybe some new perennials. Today I ordered Chinese food delivered, more to help the restaurant than because I didn't want to cook.

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    1. Yes, I'm longing for some pansies. I could get them at Home Depot, but it seems foolish to ake an extra trip for something that is not a necessity. There's always next year.

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  30. It’s always nice to discover a new to me mystery series. Yeah, here we have two growing seasons, wet and dry. All kinds of crops in the winter too, I hope all goes well with the legal fight to get ownership of your first book. I am a Intellectual Property Attorney, but in high-tech not publishing,

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  31. I still shop, either quick walk around the corner (which would count as my walk) mid-week or more detailed on the weekend. Last Saturday I took advantage of being over 60 and did early senior shopping. I think I got a few odd looks, I still have non-silver/grey hair. Online grocery shopping is problematic because I still get go to my office, five days a week. Never thought I'd feel relieved that I have to go to work. I hate clothes shopping and miss my monthly trips to Copperfield's Books.
    On my way to Kindle land to check out your books.


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  32. Looking forward to new reading, and newly grateful for ebooks, still available, even with the library and stores closed.
    My produce stand is now doing call-ahead orders to be brought to my car (or delivered for $5), and I think Valenti's Meats will do the same. Strange times . . . it's good that I'm happy in my home.

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  33. I am definitely NOT a shopper. My husband and daughters are the shoppers in the family, whether in person or on line. I always have a list when grocery shopping. I get annoyed if I have to flit around the store like a bee -- although it's often worth it in the end. And at the moment I'm doing my best not to get annoyed at silly things. Who knows, maybe that will become a habit! One can only hope.

    However, when it comes to writing, I'm a pantser and like it that way. There are so many fun surprises. :)

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  34. Wow! What a nice offer. Thank you, Susan. I have downloaded your books, and can't wait to armchair travel to the Adirondacks. If I ever start a second mystery series (my current series is set in New Zealand: sarajohnsonauthor.com), I will set it in the Green Mountains of Vermont, where I travel in the summer. I like to hunt and gather in all the little bookstores, country stores, bakeries, and town square markets. Stay well.

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  35. In today’s fast-growing world, People have no time for shopping their daily basics. They prefer to use online grocery delivery app to get their groceries at the doorstep. It saves time and makes more convenient for users to order anytime. M-commerce leads the huge crowd to its court and made the users installed the various app for purchasing the items. Out of these highly used apps, grocery apps are installed in the higher number by users nowadays. Double up your revenue by hiring dedicated grocery delivery app developer. If you are searching that how to hire big basket app development company and provide a new way of selling groceries to your consumers who are sitting at home then grocery mobile app development help you to take your grocery business to the next level of online selling.

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