Last year, I attended the Christmas In October event at the Amarillo Civic Center.
I was really impressed with the quality of booths there
and the mission of Sharing Home Ministsry.
Admission was only $5. Children 12 and under were free.
This year, I will have a booth of my books for sale.
So get into the holiday spirit early this year
​and mark your calendars for the:

16th annual Christmas in October Gift & Craft show
brought to you by Sharing Hope Ministry
Saturday, October 29th, 10 am - 5 pm
& Sunday, October 30th, 11 am - 4 pm
in the south exhibit hall at the Amarillo Civic Center

Get a jump start on Christmas shopping while supporting Sharing Hope Ministry.
Hosting over 100 vendors and one of the largests bake sales around.
This is a popular family event.
All proceeds from the admission tickets and bake sale allow
Sharing Hope Ministry to provide Life Recovery Bibles and materials
to women who are struggling with addiction, adversity, and crime.

Hearts of Three Kings: The Story of Glops, Book 8 is now an audiobook. When released last week, this audiobook was the #1 New Release in Children’s Christian People and Places! It is available on Amazon and Audible. Go there to listen to the sample and see what you think. It will soon be on iTunes, too. 

More good news:
On Amazon, the paperback is presently on sale for 15% off. 
Take advantage of this short-time offer.
 
While there, be sure to view all my Glops books and music books.

Having completed a working outline for the next book in the Glops series, I began writing on it this week. The title is Kingdom Divided, Exiled, Restored: The Story of Glops, Book 8. 

​Yesterday, my brother, Jay called me. He told me he has been diagnosed with “myelofibrosis and myeloid metaphasia.” I fail to understand why the medical profession uses such technical terms for bad conditions. Do they think pronouncing them correctly will conquer the disease? Oh, well.
 
According to Dr. Google, “myelo” is a chronic blood condition that affects the bone marrow and production of blood cells. “Fibrosis” is the scarring in the bone marrow. A patient has either too few or too many cells that make blood. This, in turn, can make the spleen bigger, causing “splenomegaly.” The second half, “myeloid metaphasia” is a direct result of the first half. It is a progressive, chronic disease in which the bone marrow is replaced by fibrous tissue. That leads to blood being made in organs such as the liver and the spleen, instead of in the bone marrow, causing “splenogemaly,” or in the case of the liver it’s called “hepatomegaly.”
 
Jay said it is not cancer, but it is pre-cancerous, it is not leukemia, but it is pre-leukemia. Jay, who is 76, said he could live another ten years. He also said his condition is not inherited.
 
Wait. Dad's first big health issue was that he seemed to be losing blood. No one could find where it was going. Doctors said Dad had hemophilia, a disroder when excessive bleeding, external and internal, occurs. Later, our dad was diagnosed to have  “myeloproliferative disorder.” That diagnosis must have been c. 1997. Now, it seems to be called “myeloproliferative neoplasms.” The disorder develops when the bone marrow does not function correctly. It is progressive. Also, when I looked up this condition, Dad’s, I was repeatedly referred to the other one, Jay’s, and vice versa. They almost seem to be the same condition, depending on what kind of doctor treats the patient. Dad lived to be 85 years old.
 
The doctor told Jay it is not inherited. The similarities between Dad’s and Jay’s diseases tell a different story. Perhaps doctor’s say they are not inherited, but the tendencies certainly seem to play in Jay’s case. We are also told that arthritis is not inherited but tendencies are, and allergies are not inherited but tendencies are. Perhaps it’s not like inheriting eye color or crooked teeth, but disease patterns within families do happen.
 
There are new treatments and drugs that are in the trial phase. Jay said he is on a good medication, and he will also be used in the study, or trial, where half of the people are given the medication and the other half are given a placebo. No one in the study will know which group gets the medication or which group gets the placebo.
 
A year and a half ago in November 2020, I had the usual blood tests before my bilateral knee surgery. I was low in red blood cells, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. I was low when tested for the “hemoglobin,” or protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen, within a group of red blood cells. I was low in “lymphocytes,” or white blood cells in the lymphatic system. My ‘monocytes” were higher than normal. They are types of white blood cells or “leukocytes.” They are associated with chronic or sub-acute infections (Would that be due to my having fibromyalgia or interstitial cystitis?). They can also be linked with some types of cancer, especially leukemia. None of the findings alerted the doctor to any problems, and the surgery took place as scheduled.
 
Four weeks ago on May 30, a week before my bunion surgery on June 7,2022, all the questions and all the necessary tests were done again. Findings included lower than standard white blood cell count and red blood cell count. I thought, “How odd to be low in both.” I was high in “monocytes” (white blood cells or “leukocytes,” see above). None of the findings alerted the doctor to any problems, and the surgery took place as scheduled.
 
I have no definitive understanding of all this, except to say, “It just seems to me that I may follow in the footsteps of my Dad and my brother, Jay.”

The paperback and eBook of Hearts of Three Kings were published on April 12. They are available on Amazon. 
https://smile.amazon.com/sk=Betty+M+Reeves&crid=3NZ10WKZOCQOK&sprefix=betty+m+reeves%2Caps%2C107&ref=nb_sb_noss  

Since then, I have worked hard to get the book recorded for ACX. I record myself as the narrator, using my make-shift sound room that is really a bedroom closet. I do the best I can to sound like the different characters, including the glops. I also add some sound effects. I submitted the files to ACX yesterday (July 13). All the files must pass through both ACX and Audible quality assurance checks. Once it passes, ACX will let me know and begin distributing it on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. The whole process is usually completed within 10 business days, as long as there are no problems with my audio files:
https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=Betty+M+Reeves&crid=3NZ10WKZOCQOK&sprefix=betty+m+reeves%2Caps%2C107&ref=nb_sb_noss  

If the audiobook does not pass the quality assurance checks, ACX will let me know right away with instructions for how to remedy the problems.. 

I'll let you know when ACX give me the thumbs up, 100% approval. In the meantime, go see my Author's page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B07C3H59RG 

​Betty

The launch of Hearts of Three Kings: The Story of Glops, Book 8 was a great success. For a week or longer, both the paperback and the eBook were in the Top 100 at Amazon in two separate categories: 1. Children's Christian People and Places Fiction, and  2. Children's Christian Historical Fiction. Hooray!!! Thank you for your support! They may have continued to rate highly, but I went on a fun trip and could not check the rankings. Oh, well. The trip was fun and I was happy to spend some time with daughter, Elayne, and her husband, Don. 

I was asked if I would like to present a program for "Fellowship Through Reading" at First Baptist Church, Amarillo. Of course! Are you kidding? Yes, of course! This is such an honor! On Monday morning, I will have about thirty minutes to talk about the books I have written and continue to write. I anxiously look forward to this wonderful privilege. 

Words can not express how grateful we are for your expressions of love as we continue to mourn the loss of our grandson, Dustin McKinney. He was twenty-one and died on March 22. We received phone calls, messages, texts, notes, cards, flowers, plants, hugs, and saw your attendance at his Celebration of Life. You prayed with us and for us. Everywhere we turned, you were there offering your love. We are truly blessed by you.

​Thank you!​

It is also an exceptional supplement for guitar teachers to use in individual and class instruction. It provides the basics needed to give the guitarist instant success. The songs included are sequential in chord difficulty. Even when knowing only a few guitar chords, the guitarist will be successful with these folk songs, children’s songs, and favorites.

Included inside:
- information about guitars
- crash course in reading music
- scales, keys, chords, and Circle of Fifths
- finger-position pictures in color
- tablatures for twenty-eight guitar chords
- 138 folk songs, children’s songs, and favorites, in:
-     seven 1-chord songs,
-     fifty-two 2-chord songs,  
-     seventy-nine 3-chord songs, 
- with alphabetical indexes of songs, their keys and chords