Cauldron’s Wings

I just finished reading Wendy Knight’s newest book Cauldron’s Wings (Toil and Trouble Book #4) and it was absolutely amazing! This Christmas story was a crossover between the Toil and Trouble series and The Wings series and it was everything that a person could want! It has all the action and amazing battle scenes that Wendy creates so perfectly mixed with plenty of emotion. The Christmas spirit truly comes through in it too! I seriously had to reach for the tissues more than once while I read it. I’m still tearing up! I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a something to read. It is filled with witches, aliens, a post-apocalyptic world, family, and Christmas!

The invasion was years ago.
Human life is almost non-existent.
Almost.
And witches?
Practically extinct.
Practically.
When alien-hybrids meet witch, sparks—and magic—fly, but it will take a common goal to unite them.
Survival.
That common goal just might be enough to save them all.
Cauldron’s Wings is the exciting Cauldron Bubble and With These Wings cross-over Christmas conclusion you won’t want to miss!

 

You can grab a copy on Amazon.

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Three Ladies Dancing

This is guest author week. I recently had a novella published as part of an anthology from Dingbat Publishing called Nine Ladies Dancing 2018. I’ve been reading some of the nine stories in the collection. Some were previously released as single titles, and others were written especially for this anthology. Next week I’ll share a bit about my regency romance called Love’s Refrain, but for now I decided to ask three of the other contributors to share their “story behind the story.”

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The first book I read was The Respectable Charades. This was one of the newest stories in the collection, so there’s no individual cover for it. Here’s the blurb: No one could have predicted the chain of events triggered by Jenny’s discovery of her fiance’s body in his library… least of all her chance to find true love.

Doesn’t that sound fascinating? I asked Sherry how this story came about, and her response was equally intriguing. Apparently, one of her characters wrote a letter that “appeared” in her mind! Here’s her description:

Most of us love getting mail, whether they come by the postal service, your phone or computer/laptop/notepad.

 But some of us ~ like authors ~ receive a letter that pops into their mind and then they have to work out the puzzle of who sent this letter and why they ‘sent’ it to you.

This is what happened to me when I was asked to write The Respectable Charades for this year’s Nine Ladies Dancing anthology. And believe me, it was a puzzle with a punch.

… And this is only the first paragraph of that letter….

My dearest Jenny, my best friend, by the time you get this I will have hurt you beyond forgiveness, but, I beg you to understand when I tell you there is no other way.

Who is Jenny, who wrote this letter, and what have they done that is so terrible?

Next, the author has to work out where the rightful place in the story for this letter. Would it come at the opening of the story, or perhaps, the middle? And if it came at the end, what happened before then? Who else was involved, and what else was in that letter?

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Next, I asked Ruth J. Hartman to tell me how she came up with her story, The Matchmakers. Here’s the blurb: Jessie Selkirk has a mission — to take care of every stray cat she finds. But when Baldwin Rutledge steps into her barn looking for a cat, she develops a whole new interest.

This novella was previously released as a single title in 2014, and I reviewed it last July. But even though all Ruth’s stories include at least one cat, this one features a woman who cares for over fifty of them! I had to find out what inspired that type of heroine, and here’s Ruth’s answer:

I’ve always loved cats. I can’t remember not having them around. My mom grew up with them on their farm, so from the time I was born they were always there. Nearly every picture of me as a kid shows me holding a cat or two. Like I didn’t know how to function without one.

I still don’t.

When my husband and I got married, one of the first things we did after moving into our apartment was get a cat. Ever since then, we’ve had anywhere from one to three in our home. Thank goodness my husband likes them. And isn’t allergic. Can you imagine?

Several years ago, we had a run of evil people dumping unwanted house cats and feral ones beside our shed where we live out in the country. At one point, there were at least a dozen cats hanging around our property. Yes, of course, I fed them. Every day. Rain, shine, snow. I trudged out to the shed where my husband had cut a hole in the wall for them to get inside and refilled the food and water dishes.Only three of the cats were friendly enough to let me get close.

Those three eventually came inside to live with us. The others? Aside from feeding them, we live-trapped as many as we could and took them to the veterinarian to be spayed or neutered. Though I’d wished I could have brought them all inside with me, it wouldn’t have worked for most of them. But knowing that at least there would be fewer homeless kittens in the world gave me a little bit of peace.

All my books have at least one cat in them. Some have lots. The Matchmakers is one of those. Though we’re all familiar with modern day animal rescues and shelters, I’d wondered what would happen if someone took on the responsibility of caring for homeless pets during the Regency Era.

Enter Jessie Selkirk.

She’s big hearted, generous and just wants every single cat in the universe to find a good home. Others make fun of her, to the point of not wanting to associate with her, but she never lets that interfere with her mission.

Baldwin Rutledge has never been especially fond of felines, but when his aunt asks him to find a companion for hers, he ends up in Jessie’s barn to choose one.

While matchmakers are usually human, in this story, the cats play a huge role.

Who’s to say cats can’t be matchmakers?

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Finally, I asked Kay Springsteen to share the story behind her book, Teach Me Under the Mistletoe. Here’s the blurb for it: What’s a girl to do when she’s never been kissed, and the worldly man she wants regards her as a child?

This book has had two previous incarnations, one in 2013 and another in 2015. I’m hoping to finish reading it before December 31 so I can include it in my Goodreads Challenge of 50 books read for 2018.

Here’s what Kay had to say:

When I began to write Teach Me Under theMistletoe, I know only that I wanted a hero who was NOT nobility or royalty. While there is nothing wrong with such heroes, I was looking for something different, someone perhaps a bit more relatable to the common person– after all, there are far more of us in the world who came from and live in common families. But I also needed to find a balance between decorum and awkwardness, that “it” that would rest at the heart of the original story. I am a huge fan of Downton Abbey, and I wanted the feel of Tom Branson and Lady Sybil’s story (without the tragedy).

Enter one of my favorite pastimes. Movies. I am a movie buff, from the classic black and whites to newer and flashier movies, I love to watch Hollywood’s best. As luck would have it, while I was trying to come up with a premise for Teach Me, I happened upon the 1950s Lerner and Lowe musical My Fair Lady, in which Professor Henry Higgins attempts to turn the lowly born Eliza Doolittle into a proper lady of society. That thought stuck with me, and I actually considered a reversal of that premise in which my character Miss Kitty Tyndall would be called upon to turn a servant into someone well accepted by the ton.

But that still didn’t feel like what I wanted to write for this book.

As my good fortune would have it, not long after this thought began percolating in my brain, I happened to watch another movie, one with Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl, called The Ugly Truth, in which sexy but somewhat rough and misogynistic TV talk  show host Mike (Gerard Butler) tries to turn uptight producer Abby (Katherine Heigl) into someone most men would find attractive (particularly her neighbor). Now, with this movie being set in modern America, it might seem odd that I would relate it to my planned Regency romance. But that’s how my mind works.

I began to think of a female character who wanted to capture the attention of a particular man of nobility, feeling she could marry him and be happy for the rest of her life. But how to attract him? Nothing she has done thus far has made him notice her. But her parents are hosting a Christmas event, and perhaps she will catch this prospective suitor beneath the mistletoe and charm him with a kiss. If only she knew how to kiss the way a man liked to be kissed.

I thought of how Tom Branson was originally the chauffeur in Downton Abbey. My mind went to chauffeur, transportation, carriage, stable, horse. So… enter the horse trainer (and with Scottish Gerard Butler as my inspiration, of course I made the groom Hugh Scottish), who fell prey to Kitty’s request (for pay) to teach her how to kiss. And thus was born the story of a young woman from a noble family and her “teacher,” a horse trainer on her father’s estate. 

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These three stories, as well as six others, can be purchased on Amazon. But don’t delay! The anthology will only be available until Valentine’s Day 2019. Get it now for only 99 cents!

What Was In Store

This week’s topic: “If I opened my own store, what would it be?” Well, I am one who actually had her own store.

It was a bakery/restaurant in a neighboring town, and I had a ball. When the man I was working for called it quits, my niece and I thought we would give it a try. We wanted to change it from being known as a donut shop and lunch place.

We made our own specialties.

My niece made gourmet ice cream on the premises.

We got creative and we branched-out with fancy luncheon boxes for the busloads of tourists who came to tour Jerry Bruckheimer’s mansion and buy antiques form his wife’s store.(They bought a great deal of that town; actually, they were our landlords.) Sometimes the tourists came in to take some of the pasta salads, sandwich filling and desserts home.

We made requested food-items, some of which I had never tried before, like grape coleslaw.

I expected to make from-scratch cakes, but I also I found myself doing something I never expected: wedding cakes.

We had breakfast and lunch, eat-in and take–out, with ready-made items on the side. Regular customers came for our breakfast burritos, (which were our most popular item); people who passed through town liked our (homemade, cream) biscuits and gravy. Bagels and homemade ham or bacon sandwiches with eggs had regular buyers as well.

We had flavored coffees and a punch-card coffee club.

We sponsored a morning radio show and had call-ins to give away breakfast burritos.
We carried drinks, (some locally bottled) and some dairy, (locally produced).
Lunch soups, (variety; homemade) and sandwiches, (like tuna-nut), were the biggest sellers, although the quiche and twice-baked potatoes were liked, (went over big with a local writer). When sales were down, I lowered our standards to big-selling chili-dogs. (Yes, I sold out.)

Sunday dinners were a big part of our business in that location. Some ate-in, but many carry-outs were carried-out (!) Lasagna and baked turkey were very popular, as were the meatloaf dinners. I developed a baked spinach dish because we ran low on sides once and it became a standard; (when I later did some personal cheffing, it was often requested).
The biggest dessert sellers were my Cakes, Apple, Cream Sicle, Chocolate, our Iced Banana Bars, and Seven-Layer Bars.

Some came out of the way just to get my Lemon Tarts, Banana bread, Cheese rolls, Cookies and and fat-free Blueberry Muffins, whose fans considered them better than regular muffins.

I had a few people that I called to tell them when their favorites were being made. We put out weekly menus and handed them to regulars and local businesses. (The Postmaster and local Pharmacist were regular customers; I made special salads for the latter.)

We did catering, and made gift baskets and plates.

We had some very interesting encounters with customers.

All of the above sound like we were doing quite well; we weren’t. The location was bad. Sundays carried us, when the tour buses weren’t coming in. Where my former boss made his money off of morning donuts, the traffic got too bad for passers-by to stop. He made many lunch deliveries to schools, but they stepped-up their game and that venue dried-up. He made specialty cheesecakes, but getting them out of that small town became impossible to him. We found many of the same problems.

I won’t go into all the whys and wherefores of the demise of the business. My niece and I had every intention of continuing and expanding after a move, but it was not to be.

What we could not do in that location, (but hoped to introduce in another), was to add books and periodicals. We wanted to expand to a snack counter, and expand our carry-out, and have no meals as dine-in, but some heat –and-serve. It would have worked; we had several opportunities of which we could have taken advantage in the town where we live. We were asked to take care of several gaps in the needs of the rapidly-booming town and to make breads for a booming restaurant in another town…and the only bookstore was closing.

Alas, many things came crashing into our lives at once.

So, what would I have if I had a store?
Books and good food, but only what I wanted to produce.

Do I still think of what might have been?

Obviously.

Most people think it’s all fun and games to have their own place. Although I actually did  have “a ball”, there were headaches.

But I can tell you that I was lucky at the time, because I rented an equipped kitchen/dining/sales portion of a building. Start-up costs for it all would have been impossible for us without a huge loan. We were willing to try that later on, and we may have made it, because we found a used-equipment supplier, but finding a building that already had a ventilation system was difficult; (although we would have been ‘allowed’ to put one in, at our expense, in several places). No one realizes that equipment is ridiculously expensive. Even if you have only a purely sales business, there are shelves, displays, business machines and the like.

Rent. Good business locations are expensive and believe me, location is everything. Finding one that is zoned for your work, has any structural needs for your business (such as ventilation, which is needed for many businesses, not just food: nail/hair salons, pet services, repair shops, many others), and parking, (which was a problem for us in the old place), may be difficult. Finding a landlord who is easy to work with and will take care of his building and your needs in a timely manner is a rarity. Buying in a business area is impossible for most start-ups. Even if you do, you have so many regulations to follow and upkeep. It is a lot to deal with and, again, expensive.

Another thought about location: Look for rivals for your business,but also  make sure that you are welcomed to the area. Some sections of cities and a number of smaller towns  are notorious for boycotting new businesses for very minor reasons; even the wrong name on the storefront, the wrong colors chosen or an inadvertent advertisement ‘goof’ can be found offensive where certainly none was intended, or simply not being a “Local” or of the same ethnicity can get you off on the wrong foot immediately. Small businesses do well in towns where there is a mix of  backgrounds.  All of the cozy mysteries and romance novels with tales of people starting up small businesses where they take-off immediately  and have the money to leave employees running things while they chase murderers or their intended mates are more fallacy than them catching or marrying spies! A small town where you can quickly make it would be a rapidly-growing place with many other newcomers starting their own businesses. In cities, look for a lack of your services, but a need for them.

And have more than one iron in the fire, but don’t spread yourself too thin. That is another juggling act that can only be determined by trial, (and hopefully, not too much ‘error’).

Your time is not your own when you have a business. When you aren’t actually working, you are thinking about what you need, what you need to do, what you want to do.

Time. Even if you don’t have a business where you have prep and/or cooking, you still have to be there to set-up and clean, and stay after to do the same, plus inventory, dealing with suppliers, shipments, accounting and personnel.

You are never prepared for how much all that actually costs, either. Inventory is the hardest and most expensive part. Whatever you are selling, you need to have enough and not too much. That part is just about impossible to balance. (At least you can eat and eat well when food is involved; not so much with just sweets.) I have known people who had successful businesses for years, but for one reason or another, had to give it up, and here was their money, tied-up in their business, and it’s hard if not impossible to get someone to buy it all out. The business owners looked good ‘on paper’, and the income was sufficient, but when it stopped, it stopped and no one wanted their inventory and equipment, which is where most of their money went; you can’t run a small business and expect to take all of the profits out and not put a big portion back in.

Most restaurants take at least three years to turn a profit; some retail take more. You have to have enough to start-up, but also enough to live on before business takes off, IF it takes off.

I knew photographers who needed to leave the business, only to find themselves without income from their expensive cameras, lighting and what-have-you. No one would buy their equipment for anywhere near their cost, and they were up a creek.

I’ve known hair stylists stuck with working equipment and tools of the trade, plus hair-care supplies which no one wanted when they folded.
Bolts upon bolts of material, shears, cutting tables, notions and displays were left rotting in storage from more than one fabric/upholstering company when the owner could not continue the work.

A friend who ran a baker/candymaker supply and wedding salon did very well, but when her daughter/partner became ill and another business opportunity which she could run with her husband and son appeared, she jumped on it, but then found that she had  accumulated inventory, (boxes, cake boards, stands, pillars, candies, decors, candy-making supplies, so much more), but more from the other side,(wedding dresses, shoes, bridesmaid dresses, mother’s dresses, tiaras, etc., plus tuxedos, shirts, ties, cummerbunds, and dishes, cutlery, servingware, serving equipment, floral stands, ribbon, runners, and I don’t even remember what else), all that no one would, or probably could, make up for her to recoup her pay-out. Even though she was lucky with some of her purchases, she only had a moderate income, yet what she had accumulated was worth over a million dollars, which she took a huge loss on.

When it comes to personnel, you can’t do it by yourself. You aren’t super-human. You are going to be ill, a family member is going to need you, things happen in life. It’s easy to burn-out. Suppliers, inspectors, etc. show up during business hours, while you have customers/clients, (hopefully, you have customers/clients). If you have family members to help or partner with, good, but then, that doesn’t always work. (I’ve heard horror stories where family members were a disappointment, or unsuited for the work, or for business dealings to cause riffs that never existed before in their relationships.) To hire people is easy, to find the right people is hard. When you find that employees aren’t working out, (unless they are doing something really wrong, like stealing), it’s hard to fire them. You not only have salaries, but taxes, and the needs of those who work for you. It’s easy to be too lenient and get taken advantage of, yet you really don’t want to have to be a harsh task-master.

Then you have people who want to talk you down in price. You cannot undervalue your time; you have to make a profit. If you are in the food or any other fabrication business, (sewing, welding, whatever), you have to take not only ingredients into consideration, you also have prep, cleanup, electricity for your work and place of work, any and all presentation, (boxes, wrappings, etc.), plus your TIME, which is worth a great deal. In any business, you still have the time that you are spending on that discount customer which could be used  working with more lucrative customers or making something that would bring in more money.

And then you may encounter business rivalry. Seemingly nice people in a like business who you find will find do not want you in business. Jealousy is an ugly thing that, under the influence, will cause many to stoop very low indeed.

It happens all too often.

Not to say that there aren’t many, many small businesses that are successful and FUN.
You just need to be prepared for the realities of it.

All that being said, yes, I wish that we could have continued in a changed business, because we learned our strengths and tested our weaknesses under the fire of retail, and came out better for it.

Am I jealous when I see people enjoying treats at Barnes and Nobles, or the cold carry-out in the Italian Market? No…but I am a bit envious.

Open For Business

…Or Maybe Just To visit with a Few Folks Who Like The Same Stuff That I Do

By Jeff Salter

Over my lengthening lifespan, I’ve dabbled in retail sales, advertising, and even inventory. My inescapable conclusion is that I’m NOT cut out to own or run my own business. For one thing, I have extensive experience in personnel (more recently known as “human resources”) and I did NOT enjoy interviewing, selecting, hiring, training, scheduling, disciplining, or terminating people. Plus, I don’t have the unlimited capital needed to start up a new business and wait the several years necessary to get it up and running on a profitable basis.

If my enterprise were downtown, I could picture it looking something like this. But I could also see my writers’ retreat facility being in a totally refurbished Victorian house… just a block or two from downtown.

I guess you get the message here — the likelihood of me ever owning/running a business is slim-to-none. That said, if – for whatever reason or reasons – I DID find myself opening my own “store”, here are a few thoughts on that improbable situation.

I’d only want to keep in inventory the things I enjoy myself. Therefore, I could focus my “store” on books… or comics… or army surplus stuff — to list only three of my favorites to collect. Having for sale only the things I also appreciate and enjoy would make me feel better about those months when sales were light. And after months in which sales were robust, I could reinvest that surplus in more inventory of things I like. The problem – which you can readily see – is that I’d want to KEEP most of what I found in my inventory. Or, as in the case of militaria, I’d want to keep the best possible examples of each different type or each different manufacturer. [You can see why this store would be doomed… from a profitability standpoint.]

Maybe what I should operate is half retail store and half museum!

Perhaps the type “store” I’d operate would be a place which surrounds me with the things I appreciate… and that inventory would attract like-minded people whom I’d be interested to meet. And, if I’m in the mood… to visit with. Ha!

A different Type Of Enterprise

Okay, all this (above) has been about a store SELLING things — which, I gather you’ve deduced by now that I’m not really cut out for. But something which HAS been a long-time dream of mine is to operate (and, I suppose, “own”) a facility which serves as a writers’ retreat and/or running workshop for young writers. There would be studio space of a type that would allow participants a neutral “haven” in which to create. There would be space for workshops — with visiting authors sharing and teaching. It’s logical there would be a space for small audiences… for “readings” of various kinds.

I don’t know how it could be sustained — unless by grants, bequests, donations, etc., because I wouldn’t want aspiring young writers with little or no money to be prohibited from participating. I’m not sure how the studio spaces would be assigned, or for how long… but I’d want to maximize their use by as many writers as possible. These “spaces” could be as modest as the study carrels you used to see in public libraries… but it’s also possible they could be actual rooms (though necessarily tiny).

The environment would absolutely have to be safe and secure — from theft, vandalism, drugs, harassment, etc. There would have to be “rules” and/or discipline about behavior and interaction. [You can see there are quite a few bugs to work out.]

I envision an aspect of this operation to deal with publication: anthologies of selected short stories and/or poems, for example. My earliest notions of this involved print, of course… but now-a-days, some (or all) could be digital or on-line. Whatever.

It’s long been a dream of mine to be in a position to assist and encourage aspiring young writers. I’ve found so many adults who tell me they “used to write” but along their paths they encountered more discouragement than encouragement. My goal would be to tip the scale the other direction and provide more encouragement and inspiration… along with “tools” to equip them to become better writers.

[JLS # 413]

What Else But a Bookstore?

If I were to open a store, there’s no doubt that it would be a bookstore. To a reader there’s something magical about a bookstore that can’t be duplicated elsewhere. I went into my local bookstore yesterday to buy my great granddaughter some books, but it took a lot longer than it should have because of course I was looking for myself as well. If I ever have that bookstore there are a couple of things I’d like to include in it.

First, I want a special section just for local authors. If you’re lucky enough to have an author in your community, their work should be readily available for the hometown folks. In fact those books should be under a lot of local Christmas trees. I’m a strong believer in giving books for Christmas. Of course they make great birthday gifts as well. At this time of year I’m thinking Christmas, though.

Second, I’d like to have a coffee bar. Yes, I know that really isn’t necessary in a bookshop, but don’t books and coffee go together like peanut butter and jelly? It would be nice to have some comfortable sofas and chairs for patrons to sip their coffee and browse their new purchases.

Third, I think every bookstore needs a room for special gatherings like writer’s groups, for example. The room could be used for other purposes of course, but I think writers would love to have a special place designated for them. Our local bookstore doesn’t have such a room, but there is a group that meets at our library so the writers do have somewhere to gather.

I would also like my bookstore to have book signings, especially those with local, indie, or new authors. Readers deserve an opportunity to explore new authors. Who knows? They may find a new favorite.

What about you? What would you definitely want to see in a bookstore?

The Shop Around the Corner

For years my sister and I have been talking about opening up our own shop. Its always just been a nice little daydream. For awhile we were going to open a floral shop with a drive through window and late night hours. At the time my sister worked in a shop called Heaven Scent. Our shop would be set on the outskirts of town so we can have a large piece of property and our own greenhouses. Eventually, we would expand and in the Autumn we would have hayrack rides, pumpkin picking, and all sorts of other fun things that could be done. In this floral shop my sister eventually planned to put in a bridal planner business.

Then there was talk of opening up a clothing store. We didn’t want to sell your typical clothing. What we wanted to sell was more historically inspired clothing. Have you ever heard of the Pyramid Collection? Its a catalogue shop that is filled with renaissance, steampunk, gothic, and bohemian clothing and gifts. That was the sort of store that we wanted to have. We both really enjoy those sort of clothes and thought it would be fun to have something like that here locally.

We also discussed having a little quilt shop. Where my sister would make quilts. There’s been discussion of a bakery. There’s been a lot of talk about owning a bookstore. We would sell books from indie authors and have them come do signings and readings. Our little book shop would have a little café area where people could grab a cup of coffee and a sweet treat.

Just last weekend Carri asked me if I wanted to start a dog grooming business with her. She had brought her dog Winnie over so I could help her clip his nails and give him a trim. She said she would wash the dogs and brush them where I could trim the nails and give them trims.

Right now we may dream about a lot of businesses but I know one thing for certain. I am currently going back to college to get my degree in business management. So, if we ever do decide to try to start our own business maybe we would be a little better equipped for it.

Have you ever daydreamed about owning your own little shop?

Shop Girl

This week, one of our foxes asked, “If you opened your own store what would it be?”

Having the dedication and commitment necessary for running a store requires the owner to love what he or she is selling. There are several things I love to do, and I could see myself in a shop built around one of my hobbies.

Scrapbooking corner at Scrapaloo in Delton, MI. 

I spend a lot of time sewing, scrapbooking, making greeting cards, crocheting, and occasionally working on other crafts. It would be fun to own a shop where all the supplies for all my crafty hobbies were available. I’d make sure there were lots of tables set up for people to work on their projects. There would be smaller rooms for clubs to meet. I’d find instructors to teach special techniques. Of course, this would be a very large store, because there are SO MANY different crafts.

Members of the community band value a good music store!

But then, I’m a musician, so it would make sense to open a music store. This would be a place where people can purchase supplies for their band or orchestra instruments, find music to practice, rooms where people can take lessons, and maybe even a little stage for recitals. I could have a sound room where people could make recordings of themselves. And of course, there would be expert repair persons available to keep instruments in tip-top shape!

Between the Covers, Holland, MI.

Another place where I love to spend time is a bookstore. There’s a used bookstore near me that hosts author events, like the one where I held my release party for The Road to Escape last year. They have a section for local authors’ books, including several of mine. There are rooms available for book clubs, writing critique groups, and even crafty projects. And of course, the selection of books is ever-changing. People come and go, sometimes leaving with large bags full of books.

Decisions, decisions. Which of these would I want to run? Ideally, of course, I’d have all three. It would be nice to have an entire strip mall, where the three shops would be side-by-side. Then I could run in and out of whatever shop needed me. I’d have to have competent managers for each, of course, because I’d be too busy crafting, making music, and writing to devote much time to any of them! And as much as I’d love having everything I need for all my activities right at my fingertips, I don’t have the business sense needed to keep a store going for any length of time. But it’s a fun thing to dream about. If I owned these three stores, any time I needed anything, I’d know right where to go.

What kind of shop would YOU open?