Hi friends,

Thanks again for all the email feedback – especially after last week’s email about using guns for self-defense. Thanks Adam, Viet, Gene, Karl, Chris and Lynne for the great ideas, stories and info about guns!

Chris mentioned something I left out that is always crucial in any discussion about guns.

The three rules of gun safety:

1. ALWAYS Keep The Gun Pointed In A Safe Direction.
2. ALWAYS Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until Ready To Shoot.
3. ALWAYS Keep The Gun Unloaded Until Ready To Use.

He also shared two other tidbits:

1. Many U.S. states will let you carry your gun in your car without a conceal permit but may have other rules about securing the weapon – check your local laws.
2. Firearms instructors generally discourage purse/bag carries of a gun because you are giving up control of the weapon.

I’m putting together upcoming newsletters about improvised weapons because I’ve received so many great ideas from you about unconventional items that can be used to defend yourself.

If you have an idea or story, please send it in, so I can include it!!

It other news . . .

I finally finished my herbal ointment! I thought you might enjoy the pics. 🙂

Here’s the box of goodness – over 100 jars and lip balms made with my mix of organic herbal extracted oil, waxes and butters, essential oils and natural antioxidants.

How’d I get to the final product after the oil I showed you last time?

First, heat the oil and melt in added beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter. (Let it cool, but not harden, so you don’t lose the essential oils that can flash off at higher temps) Stir those in, and start pouring . . . and don’t spill. 🙂

New this year, I saved some of the oil, added more beeswax, cocoa butter and peppermint oil and whipped up fifty lip balms to last us for a bit. It was really fun with my new toy – the silicone filling tray:

Let everything cool – I left mine overnight with strict instructions for the five-year-old to NOT poke her cute little fingers into the tops of any jars!

Put on lids – and at some point, I’ll get around to printing up my labels.

Done!!

My family will use just a handful of jars, but with a large extended family plus a network of homeschool and church friends in the area, it’ll all get used over the next year.

Too bad I can’t share samples via this email with you. 🙂

Misty’s Writing Update:

Woohoo! The first draft of our Storm series is done.

We couldn’t decide between a free prequel or bonus chapters to offer our readers, so . . . we did both!

The bonus chapters are about fight scenes that happen away from our main characters. The prequel tells the stories of the two mothers of our main characters as the biggest hurricane anyone has scene tears into town.

Now that our characters have survived the first handful of days and a few conflicts as the world tries to survive the new normal of no food, no police and no one coming to fix everything back to normal . . . what happens next?

They’ll be heading inland, looking for safety and . . . it will all work out perfectly for them.

. . . NOT! 🙂

So, for my post-apoc fans, what are some of your favorite situations that happen as the main characters flee the disaster zone looking for safety?

• Conflicts with officials who insist they obey?
• Gangs rampaging out of control now that law and order is gone?
• Battle against nature?
• Smaller conflicts or huge brawls?
• Survival tactics to stay dry, warm, fed and keep safe from dangerous people?

Speak up. Tell me your favorites and we’ll put them in. We’re outlining book 2 now and writing next week!

Happy reading this week,

— Misty 🙂