Wow, not really sure how we have finished September already. I had to look at my calendar to make sure I had the right month because that doesn't seem right.
The long and short of it is I logged 31 hours and 5,474 words this month. Since I'm unlikely to get more today I'm comfortable recording it here. Not terribly happy about it since it wasn't more on both points, but I can't fix it. I did publish Saved By The Bell on Kindle and sold 5. I was pleased with the experience of getting it posted. It was easier than I thought. I'm going to do more, but I have to decide if I want to do them individually or package them together. I'm not making the decision today. I also finished the first draft and 2/3 of the second draft of Awakening and made a start on the next book. I'm currently exploring other ways to expand the world. Oh, and I tweaked my office to give me a standing desk option, although I didn't count that in my hours.
In non-writing accomplishments, I went to Indiana to help my dad sell off a little of his ridiculously large black powder guns and pieces collection. It was more to get a feel for what all the little doodads are and how much they cost. I also attended my grandmother's birthday party and reconnected with my cousins. I think we'll be attending that side's Thanksgiving dinner this year. We're going to my mom's instead of staying home and we can easily stop by there on the way home. Oh, and I took the cats to the vet today. I'm currently being shunned, but they've had their shots and pedicures, so we're good for another year. The next kitten we get will be leash trained and will go for rides in the box on a much more frequent basis so it's less traumatic for all of us.
This weekend I'll be in Racine, WI for our church's annual women's retreat. I've gone twice before. This year I'm helping with music and giving a short testimony on Sunday about our move to The Big City.
That's all the news here that's worth reporting. Hope y'all had a good month.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Author Spotlight on Michael Cantin
October will mark the release of Blackbirds Third Flight, which features 10 authors and poets sharing dark, twisty, and exciting stories and poems. Here's a bit of info about one of our authors.
Michael Cantin is a poet and sloth fanatic residing somewhere in the wilds of Orange County, California. He writes fitfully between bouts of madness and periods of lucid concern. You can find him in dark corners where weird fiction and stiff drinks are most readily available. His poetry has appeared both in print and online publications. You can find his work in The East Jasmine Review, Melancholy Hyperbole, 50 Haiku, several anthologies, and other venues.
Read his poems "Tooth Fairy" and "Carcosian Love Poem" in Blackbirds Third Flight, now available exclusively from Lulu.com for a limited time. Click here to purchase!
Read his poems "Tooth Fairy" and "Carcosian Love Poem" in Blackbirds Third Flight, now available exclusively from Lulu.com for a limited time. Click here to purchase!
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Author Spotlight on Heath Stallcup
October will mark the release of Blackbirds Third Flight, which features 10 authors and poets sharing dark, twisty, and exciting works. Here's a bit of info about one of our authors.
Heath Stallcup was born in Salinas, California, and relocated to Oklahoma in his teen years. He joined the US Navy and was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, and Bangor, Washington, shortly after junior college. After his second tour, he attended East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma, where he obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry. He then served ten years with the State of Oklahoma as a Compliance and Enforcement Officer while moonlighting nights and weekends with the local sheriff’s office. He lives in Oklahoma with his wife and three of his seven children. His books include Whispers, Caldera, Forneus Corson, and the continuing Monster Squad series: Return of the Phoenix, Full Moon Rising, Coalition of the Damned, Blood Apocalypse, Homecoming, Wayward Son, Obsessions, and Specters. Visit his website at https://heathstallcup.com.
Look for his haunting short story "Rats In The Attic" in Blackbirds Third Flight coming soon!
Look for his haunting short story "Rats In The Attic" in Blackbirds Third Flight coming soon!
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Author Spotlight on Kathy Akins
October will mark the release of Blackbirds Third Flight, which features 10 authors and poets sharing dark, twisty, and exciting works. Here's a bit of info about one of our authors.
Kathy Akins began writing “for real” when she retired from a 30-year career with the United States Postal Service. She has won several awards with her poetry, devotionals, and short fiction. A love for history, family, and animals touches her everyday life and inspires her story ideas and characters. She lives in Oklahoma and shares her home with miniature long-haired dachshunds and a rescued Catahoula. Her dachshunds assist her when she presents dog-related educational programs for children in her capacity as an American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Ambassador. She is a member of Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc., Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and American Christian Fiction Writers.
Read Kathy's story "Peril on Thunder Mountain" in Blackbirds Third Flight coming soon!
Read Kathy's story "Peril on Thunder Mountain" in Blackbirds Third Flight coming soon!
Saturday, September 17, 2016
WARNING: This Post Will Make You Tired
You've been warned. All you, "Jean makes me so tired" people. I'm looking at you. I came to San Antonio to do yard work, and I have managed to get a few things done. I did just a little bit each day, but it adds up.
First, when I got here on Sunday, I had some limbs Mr. L had dragged from the front yard to the driveway to cut up and put out for the trash guys. I took care of that Sunday afternoon.
Monday morning, I took the truck in for service and wound up leaving it for an AC vent problem. My loaner MKC was just fine. After I got Monday morning errands completed (namely, a credit union run for walking around cash for the next month and a half), I tackled the alley hedge, which had become very overgrown. It's still too tall, but I've shaved the sides down so my beloved trash truck guys can get down the alley unmolested. I bagged those trimmings, and the trash guys made a second pick up for me that afternoon. Sometimes they do that, and I love them for it.
Tuesday, I mowed the alley and the back yard. I did a little trimming.
Wednesday, I cut up more of the limbs in the driveway and began clipping hackberries and china berries that have been cropping up all over the yard. Those were waiting for the trash guys on Thursday.
Thursday, I trimmed the bushes in the side yard and bagged them. I cut a few more opportunistic hackberries. I also picked up the truck. They did the normal service items and replaced a bad AC vent actuator. No more little man in the dash knocking furiously asking to get out.
Friday, I pulled all the overgrown grass off the patio. It was threatening to overwhelm the AC unit.
This morning, I ventured into the shrimp plant bed and cut out about fifteen trash trees, about half of which had trunks an inch in diameter. They have been dragged to the curb for the trash guys to get on Monday. I have quite a pile for them.
I still need to take the hedge clippers to the patio hedge, sweep the leaves and other debris from the patio, and bag that debris. I may do that tomorrow.
What is not going to get done this trip is clipping out the 20-50 hackberries that have sprung up behind the shed and the BBQ in the back corner of the yard. I won't get the dead lower limbs removed from the red oak in the front yard either. Maybe when I come down for early voting at the end of October or in December. Unless Mr. L helps me on Monday, we aren't going to get the dead tree trunk cut up in the back yard or the dead tree next to the shed taken down either.
Despite all that, I'm pleased with my progress in eliminating the evidence of what amounts to two years of neglect due to my knee recovery.
In other news, I got the new DirecTV box ordered to replace the one that died. Mr. L brings that with him on Monday. I'm getting a few things done in the house. I plan to take down the cat cage and store it in the garage. I don't anticipate we're going to need it anymore. When we bring a trailer down, we'll take it back to Central Texas to store in the garage up there. We'll both be happy to have that space in the den back. I suppose I need to take care of the large box of shredding as well as the three other boxes of shredding that need to be taken care of. I won't get it all done, of course, but I need to begin making a dent in it.
I head back to Central Texas on Tuesday afternoon.
First, when I got here on Sunday, I had some limbs Mr. L had dragged from the front yard to the driveway to cut up and put out for the trash guys. I took care of that Sunday afternoon.
Monday morning, I took the truck in for service and wound up leaving it for an AC vent problem. My loaner MKC was just fine. After I got Monday morning errands completed (namely, a credit union run for walking around cash for the next month and a half), I tackled the alley hedge, which had become very overgrown. It's still too tall, but I've shaved the sides down so my beloved trash truck guys can get down the alley unmolested. I bagged those trimmings, and the trash guys made a second pick up for me that afternoon. Sometimes they do that, and I love them for it.
Tuesday, I mowed the alley and the back yard. I did a little trimming.
Wednesday, I cut up more of the limbs in the driveway and began clipping hackberries and china berries that have been cropping up all over the yard. Those were waiting for the trash guys on Thursday.
Thursday, I trimmed the bushes in the side yard and bagged them. I cut a few more opportunistic hackberries. I also picked up the truck. They did the normal service items and replaced a bad AC vent actuator. No more little man in the dash knocking furiously asking to get out.
Friday, I pulled all the overgrown grass off the patio. It was threatening to overwhelm the AC unit.
This morning, I ventured into the shrimp plant bed and cut out about fifteen trash trees, about half of which had trunks an inch in diameter. They have been dragged to the curb for the trash guys to get on Monday. I have quite a pile for them.
I still need to take the hedge clippers to the patio hedge, sweep the leaves and other debris from the patio, and bag that debris. I may do that tomorrow.
What is not going to get done this trip is clipping out the 20-50 hackberries that have sprung up behind the shed and the BBQ in the back corner of the yard. I won't get the dead lower limbs removed from the red oak in the front yard either. Maybe when I come down for early voting at the end of October or in December. Unless Mr. L helps me on Monday, we aren't going to get the dead tree trunk cut up in the back yard or the dead tree next to the shed taken down either.
Despite all that, I'm pleased with my progress in eliminating the evidence of what amounts to two years of neglect due to my knee recovery.
In other news, I got the new DirecTV box ordered to replace the one that died. Mr. L brings that with him on Monday. I'm getting a few things done in the house. I plan to take down the cat cage and store it in the garage. I don't anticipate we're going to need it anymore. When we bring a trailer down, we'll take it back to Central Texas to store in the garage up there. We'll both be happy to have that space in the den back. I suppose I need to take care of the large box of shredding as well as the three other boxes of shredding that need to be taken care of. I won't get it all done, of course, but I need to begin making a dent in it.
I head back to Central Texas on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
I think I might be overthinking
Or maybe, now that I've slowed down a little, all the things I've ignored over the summer finally see their chance to get attention. Or maybe I'm not drinking enough water.
Who the heck knows?
It appears, at least for the next couple months, the day job schedule is paperwork on Monday, pull shifts Tuesday and Wednesday, and have the rest of the week for personal stuff. That includes picking and preserving tomatoes and peppers, and the usual household stuff, but the biggest part will be writing related stuff. I'm thinking through how to expand the dragon rider world, which could easily blow itself way out of proportion but also helps me clarify some things for the marketing side. I've written in a few different genres the last couple of years, and my marketing/social media guru says I need a focus. It's super hard to find one thing, one schtick, while writing in several genres. Sticking with fantasy for a while helps me narrow it down, and it can extend into Steampunk and dystopian without a big stretch. So maybe I'll be able to make some progress there.
The other thing is getting stuff up on Kindle, which is completely overwhelming me. It's new territory and I haven't had the time to devote to doing the process from start to finish. I do now, and I keep saying I'm going to, but of course I haven't. I just need to pick one of the stories from BFF and go for it. This week. Darn it.
It's getting cooler here, but I still have a lot of produce ripening in the garden. I expect that's going to slow down soon. Tomatoes and peppers love it the heat, and we're in the 70's now with some 50's at night. I love it but my garden won't. That's fine. It's starting to be less fun. I have a lot of cayenne peppers, way more than I thought I'd get. Tomorrow I'm going to try hot water bath canning (since my pressure canner is missing an important piece and I'm running out of freezer space), and while it's going I'll make some hot pepper oil. Alex will use it if nothing else. I need to figure out how to preserve green peppers. Or maybe we just need to eat them.
So that's about it here. What's up with you guys?
Who the heck knows?
It appears, at least for the next couple months, the day job schedule is paperwork on Monday, pull shifts Tuesday and Wednesday, and have the rest of the week for personal stuff. That includes picking and preserving tomatoes and peppers, and the usual household stuff, but the biggest part will be writing related stuff. I'm thinking through how to expand the dragon rider world, which could easily blow itself way out of proportion but also helps me clarify some things for the marketing side. I've written in a few different genres the last couple of years, and my marketing/social media guru says I need a focus. It's super hard to find one thing, one schtick, while writing in several genres. Sticking with fantasy for a while helps me narrow it down, and it can extend into Steampunk and dystopian without a big stretch. So maybe I'll be able to make some progress there.
The other thing is getting stuff up on Kindle, which is completely overwhelming me. It's new territory and I haven't had the time to devote to doing the process from start to finish. I do now, and I keep saying I'm going to, but of course I haven't. I just need to pick one of the stories from BFF and go for it. This week. Darn it.
It's getting cooler here, but I still have a lot of produce ripening in the garden. I expect that's going to slow down soon. Tomatoes and peppers love it the heat, and we're in the 70's now with some 50's at night. I love it but my garden won't. That's fine. It's starting to be less fun. I have a lot of cayenne peppers, way more than I thought I'd get. Tomorrow I'm going to try hot water bath canning (since my pressure canner is missing an important piece and I'm running out of freezer space), and while it's going I'll make some hot pepper oil. Alex will use it if nothing else. I need to figure out how to preserve green peppers. Or maybe we just need to eat them.
So that's about it here. What's up with you guys?