What's new in my world? Nothing much, except that I am perhaps a bit nuttier than I was the last time I wrote a blog. Why? Heck if I know, although it probably has something to do with age and degenerating brain cells. Then again, there're probably other contributing factors, including living in the god-awful swamps of Louisiana, being married to Chet, and drinking too much wine. That, coupled with smoking too much, staying up until the wee hours of the morning, being sleep deprived, and grading an endless stream of student papers. And speaking of student papers, if one more student submits a paper and says, "Here's my paper, Ms. Carol. I hope you enjoy it," I think I will scream. How on earth, I ask you, am I supposed to enjoy reading a paper that I have to grade? Have you ever graded a student's paper? If so, did you enjoy the experience? Wouldn't you rather have had your nails pulled out one-by-one by a drooling maniac wielding a pair of rusty pliers?

Okay, enough about that. Back to my so-called life. Well, the only thing new is that my novel Separate but Equal is a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, which is kind of cool, but would be cooler if I could get my friends and family to visit Amazon and write a short review to help my novel progress to the semifinalist round. And, yes, that is a none-too-subtle hint: Please go to Amazon and write a review. All you have to do is establish an account, if you don't already have one, and, no, it doesn't cost you anything to establish an account. Then, you simply "purchase" the first chapter of my novel, although the cost is $0.00, so you do not have to spend your hard-earned money. Next, you read the first chapter, then you go back and right your review, and, hopefully, you find something positive to say. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_6_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=carol+rzadkiewicz&sprefix=Carol+R

And while you're there, why don't you check out Objects Are Closer Than They Appear, which is now available on Kindle for the low, low, bargain price of $5.00 and some-odd-cents, although I cannot recall the exact cents at the moment, which is probably a result of all the wine I consumed last night combined with a lack of sleep and my degenerating brain cells.

Well, that's what's going on in my life; and if I ever get caught up with grading student papers, I will try my best to write another blog, one with a bit more substance. As Arnie says, "I'll be back." Then again, who knows, I may not be back since, unlike in the movies, nothing in life is guaranteed.