Well, I am definitely behind on posting anything in the past few weeks. Not that I don’t have anything to say, but it’s been crazy. First, I live in Reno, Nevada- in the south Reno area to be specific. The Saturday before last, just 15 or so miles down the road, a wildfire broke out in Davis Creek Park. It went from a 3-acre blaze to a 5500 hundred acre one in less than 24 hours! My housemate and I sat at home on Saturday night, checking to see if we would be in the prepare-to-evacuate zone when the power company turned the power off. Great. So we’re sitting in the dark, thinking that our phone is a landline and it’s plugged in, so no way to get a notification from the emergency network.
To evacuate or not? We decided to go grab a quick dinner and go to her sister’s place. But taking the pets was another whole story. The toy poodle was no problem; she’s used to being picked up and going. The cats are a different story. Vala, my long-haired Calico, climbed in my suitcase, so I promptly dumped her in her carrier. The meows started immediately. My other cat, a short haired mottled cat named Emma refused to cooperate. There I am, trying to get her into her carrier with her paws pushing back on each side of the door, her back feet shoving against me and her mouth trying to bite me. Every time I almost got her in, she kicked, bit, and clawed herself free. I finally gave up and just prayed the fire didn’t come as far as our house.
After a restless night at the sister’s house, with me trying to sleep on a lumpy sofa while the roomie is sleeping in the car, we decided to come back home to check on things. We learned the fire hadn’t jumped the highway to the east, so we were in the prepare zone although the area across the road from us was.
We spent the entire week checking regularly to make sure we didn’t fall into the evac category. I also added my cell phone number to the emergency system. Over 600 firefighters got the fire 76% contained by this past weekend and everyone could breathe easier. Although it took 14 structures along the path, it never reached the dense housing in this area. It did get up toward the Mount Rose ski area, but didn’t make it. I saw that Jeremy Renner had to evacuate as he lives along that area. So, today, it rained, and it’s a great thing to help extinguish any lingering embers. No people died, but I’m sure some wild animals weren’t spared and the many trees are destroyed. That makes me sad. Still, I am so grateful our house and pets are all safe. Many thanks to all the firefighters who put so much work into containing this fire.
But that wasn’t what prompted this post. I want to tell you that my first book in the Spotlight Sleuth series, A Fatal Sweetness, will be on sale from September 16th through September 21st for just $.99 for the ebook. If you missed the free offer when I first released it, here’s the chance to purchase your copy for this low price. Less than a cup of coffee in most places. (Let’s be real, the regular price of $2.99 is less than a cup of coffee these days!) So click on the button below to go to Amazon to buy a copy. Or, if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read it any time since it’s included.
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