Today’s a random mishmash, so you may just want to skip to the quote. That’s probably the most interesting part of this post.
My website’s a disaster. At the beginning of this month, my blog roll vanished from my right sidebar along with my social media links and my embedded video. I finally found them all neatly stored in the footer. A lot of good they do there.
So after I figured this fix was way beyond my feeble technical skills, I reached out to someone who said he could take care of it…no problem. In the meantime, two posts went up on the same day. That was not my plan, but obviously, the website is now in charge.
Of course, this is the month I’m trying to tie up a lot of loose ends–personal and book-wise, so I can take a break at the end of April. Good luck, Lee.
Some things are working as they should. The first weekend in April, I’m going to be in Monterey, CA at the Conference Center with my books and sharing time with other authors. I’m looking forward to that.
I’ve almost packed for my trip and I’m excited about where I’ll be going. Some stops are Ely, Nevada; Escalante and Moab in Utah; Ouray, Colorado. Hiking in Zion and Bryce, exploring Devil’s Garden and Dinosaur National Monument. I haven’t been on a U.S. road trip in a very long time, so I’m ready to get started and my hiking boots are raring to go.
I may have mentioned that I’m collaborating on a book, and my partner and I are doing the “almost final” edits before the end of April. This has been an interesting experiment, and I’ll be sharing some of what happened after we wrap this book up.
Quote of the Month: “When things go wrong, don’t go with them.”–Elvis Presley
Stephanie@Fairday's Blog says
Glad March is over and the chaos is taken care of now. Technical blog problems can be such a pain!
Damyanti Biswas says
Hahaha! I’m definitely saving this chicken’s picture. It says a lot! ๐
diedre says
The quote is perfect, all things considered ๐ Glad you can now go about your impressively busy schedule. Think of it as an adventure, it sure sounds like one. I love road trips. Can’t wait to hear about the collaborative project.
Be safe, and enjoy!
J Lenni Dorner~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author says
What a fantastically terrible time for your site to break. My blog moved to Blogspot after a similar situation (and my What-Are-They website is gone, forum and all).
I’m doing the #AtoZChallenge – writing a speculative fiction short story.
On the main A to Z site today for “B” I shared a list of books. Check it out!
At Operation Awesome we’re doing the A to Z Challenge and running a survey to pick the next Pass or Pages query contest genre.
Damyanti Biswas says
So sorry you’re going through all of this. Glad they’re somewhat sorted. My site is a mess too–and I have no idea how to sort it.
Patricia Josephine says
That’s a good quote.
Deniz says
I haven’t been on a US road trip in years! Hope you’ll share lots of photos ๐ And I hope the website gets sorted out easily!
Shannon Lawrence says
That sounds like a great trip! I’m going to the 20booksto50k conference in Vegas in November. And while Vegas isn’t my favorite place, I’ll be driving back through Utah and plan on visiting Arches National Park to do some photography and relaxing. I look forward to hopefully seeing some pictures of your trip!
Jeff says
I’m envious of your road trip. That’s my old country as I lived in Cedar City for 10 years, have hiked most of the trails in Bryce and Zion, and love Ely! For such an out-of-the-way place, they have a great train museum. Highly recommend that after you leave Bryce (if traveling east, otherwise before you get there) visit Goblin State Park. Utah has a lot of incredible places and it’s one of them. My last big western trip was in 2018–flew into Vegas, drove to Cedar City, then across Nevada to Virginia City (where I had been a student pastor), then to a conference at Zephyr Cove on Lake Tahoe, then back to Vegas with stops at Mono Lake and Tonopah.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Like you, I love this area of our country. I’m making note of what you’ve shared in your comment, and I’ll let you know about my experience in the places you’ve recommended.
Thanks so much for the information, Jeff.
Elizabeth Seckman says
That is a great quote!! But I promise, I read the whole post and did no skipping. I hope the universe got its BS out of the way and you have nothing but smooth sailing through all of your travels and events.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Well, you’re a trooper, Elizabeth. Thanks for reading through my litany of woes.
J.Q. Rose says
Bummer about the screwy website problems, but you turned the lemon into lemonade with your story and the hilariously appropriate photos to accompany the text. Have a FANtastic trip! Sounds like a real get away.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Many thanks, J.Q. Yes, that picture made my day, and I’m glad you found it funny, too!
Liz A. says
Oooh, Monterey… Monterey is nice.
Sorry about your tech issues. Those things do happen. Hopefully all will be sorted soon.
C. Lee McKenzie says
They are sorted, and I now have a resource that I feel I can trust. Yes, Montery is a great place, so I’m looking forward the day there.
Yvonne V says
Love the quote. Wishing you good tech luck with the other stuff!
Cheryl Mckenzie says
I never thought of Elvis as a sage. The surprised me
Natalie Aguirre says
I’ve had my blogroll get messed up too. It’s daunting to think of recreating it. Glad you got it fixed. Have a fun trip!
Cheryl Mckenzie says
So you understand the frustration. And it always seems to happen just before Iโm supposed to post. Gah!
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
Glad you got the blogroll fixed – thanks for including me.
Your road trip sounds like fun!
C. Lee McKenzie says
Yours always is at the top! It’s good to have a name starting with A.
Sandra Cox says
The website situation sounds frustrating, but everything else….wondrous.
The ‘me this month’ photo is hilarious.
Enjoy your time away, when you get there.
C. Lee McKenzie says
That image made me laugh and I needed to laugh about the time I was writing this!
Yvonne (@Fiction_Books) says
Luckily I have my own personal ‘live-in’ techie (AKA ‘husband’), because at the first sign of trouble, I run squealing for help. I can manage the day to day stuff, but if anything out of the ordinary happens I go to jelly!
I’m surprised that if your very proud feathered friend looks about how you feel right now, he still has his head (I hope you have heard of the phrase ‘to run around like a headless chicken’ and that it isn’t just a Brit thing!)
It will all come good in the end I’m sure and if it doesn’t, well! once you have closed and locked the front door, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it, so why worry!
Have a ball on your trip. Good Luck with the edits and have fun meeting up with some of your fellow authors ๐
C. Lee McKenzie says
The headless chicken metaphor is universal. I use it a lot here on the west coast of the U.S. Good for you having a live-in techie. They are the best!
And you’re so right about closing that door and kissing everything goodbye that you lock behind it. Can’t wait, and I’ll post about the trip as well as the book event. Somethings are happing in real-life again, and what a relief that is.
Elephants Child says
Have a truly wonderful month.
I love that the photo you selected might be battered and windswept but it is definitely unbowed (and not hiding under the bed).
Have a truly wonderful break.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Thanks, Sue. At least the chicken image made me laugh!
Thomas Anderson says
Hi, Cheryl-Lee!
It’s nice to see a recent picture of you, my fine feathered friend! ๐ You are not alone in your bewilderment over the technical aspects of blogging. When Blogger changed interfaces a year ago, it took me forever to adjust. I made mistakes that took hours to correct. Now I am finally getting the hang of it. I hope the person whose help you enlisted can “teach you how to fish” so that you will feel more confident and know what to do to prevent disasters.
Your road trip through the mountain West will surely be a memory maker. Please be careful hiking around those scenic overlooks. Those vistas are breathtaking, but stories about people falling continue to surface in my news feed. Best of luck with your new book collab. Elvis the Pelvis was a sage. ๐
Thanks for visiting Shady today and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend Cheryl-Lee!
C. Lee McKenzie says
Thanks, Shady. I hope the next WordPress fiasco won’t happen, but being sensible, I figure it will and so if I can’t fix the problem, I do have someone to go to. That’s a comfort.
I’ll take tons of pictures and be very careful not to step back without looking where that edge is!
Hilary Melton-Butcher says
Hi Lee – good quote … yes take the side-road, not the main wrong one. Oh – just enjoy yourself … it’ll be so much fun – so pleased you’re taking off for some relaxation, as well as book promotion. Love that photo – excellent one … cheers and just be happy on whichever journey you’re on – take care, while the blog all looks well here … Hilary
C. Lee McKenzie says
My tech support came through and fixed the mess just before this post went up, so that was a relief.
I’m really looking forward to this break, so thanks for the good wishes.