But seriously, the person I had asked to do the music has been overly busy and I completely understand. I will be putting in temporary music until such a time as we get official music. This will not delay the release of the podcast. The first episode will have slightly different music to those first downloaders.

Yesterday I intended to write 2000 words and I did. I struggled for the last few words and it was like pulling teeth as I had a small headache, I was tired, and I just wasn’t feeling it as much, but I worked through and I re-read it this morning. It’s still good. Needs a little spit and polish, but I’m liking it. I should be able to finish up that story today. My goal for Lent is to not only cut out my massive sugar intake, but to also write 2000 words a day. Beyond that I also intend to work on fiction every day during Lent as well. Some days so far this year I had only written blog posts so I was hitting my goal, but I wasn’t creating new fiction.

So if I stick to my goal, the next 40 days will bring 80,000 words and most of that will be new fiction as I’ll be typing up shorter blog posts.

One thing I did was re-do my word count spread sheet. I’m a geek, what can I say? I love to mess around with spread sheets. I’ve added some color coding so I can see where I have a bad day, where I have a good day, and where I have a day I expect. I also added a graph.

But all of that was procrastination because I wasn’t “feeling it”. This is something I’ve had to overcome and realize that even if I’m not “feeling it” I still need to write. Once I got going it flowed a little better until it got closer and closer to 10PM (my bedtime) and I felt like I was just trying to get any words out. Hopefully today will be different.

Why?

Well, I’ll be taking a break in the middle of the day as I have a release for work tonight so I’ll try and get my 2000 words written during that time so I’ll be ready for tonight’s release.

Speaking of tonight’s release…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

As I got older, I lost my taste for coffee. To be honest, the smell of it makes me gag a little. I’ll go into a Starbucks, but the smell is gross.

To be honest, I don’t even like hot beverages. I don’t like my soup if it’s too hot. I prefer my food and drinks warm to hot (tepid), but not scalding. I can’t drink hot tea, but I love iced tea. I like apple cider, but only after it’s had time to cool down.

This avoidance of coffee has put me in some awkward situations that I never thought would be awkward. Someone will offer me a cup of coffee, I’ll politely decline, and they’ll look at me like I’ve grown a few extra heads “You don’t drink coffee?” Hey, I’m naturally hyper already. Trust me, you don’t want to see me on coffee. Some days I feel like everyone drinks coffee except for me. It’s weird.

That being said. I gave up coffee for Lent. Should be an easy 40 days.

No, seriously, I’m not overly religions, but I find Lent a fun challenge. For my 40 days I’ll be upping the ante. I’ll be increasing the number of words I’m producing. So between now and the time Peter Cotton tail comes hopping down the trail, I’m going to attempt 2000 words a day at a minimum. I know I can do this, I just haven’t been applying myself. So watch those little counters there on the right and let’s see if I can make them hop, bounce, and spring forward.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Apparently there was a party. A text message was spread throughout the kid’s school and many went to this party (those that didn’t had deleted the message). A kid named Diego (not sure if that’s his real name or not) has parents who was known drug dealers. The police had been told about the boy’s parent’s party and that Diego’s phone had last been used in that area. When they showed up at Deigo’s home, they were turned away and not allowed to enter the house because they police didn’t have a search warrant. Now I’ve met the boy who’d gotten lost. He’s a good kid so for him to go to a party like this was out of the ordinary.

So the boy went to this party. He was found late Saturday night/Early Sunday morning at a bus stop with a woman obviously under the influence of something. The boy was distressed and said he had to get the woman on a bus and help her get home. He did not appear to be under the influence of anything and is now back at home and surely under the mercy of his parents. Thankfully is was just a teenager being a stupid teenager and not something more severe.

—

Since I didn’t write much yesterday, thought I’d say a little something about my older brother.

My brother joined the Navy out of high school. The following year, after hearing from him how great it was, I also joined. I did my time and got out. The regimented lifestyle wasn’t for me.

My brother, on the other hand, excelled in the Navy. There was a point he thought about getting out because his rate was so full he was having a difficult time advancing, but after a conversation with my mom, he decided to stick it out and finish out his 20 years of service (only a few years away at the time).

It makes me proud that he was able to do this.Not only did he retire, but he retired with a chest full of medals many which I recognize and know they weren’t easy to get, but I’m unsure of exactly what all he was award for.

He spent a great deal of time deployed and overseas. That’s all part of being in the Navy. I got out just as the first Gulf War was brewing and my brother was already there on his second or third tour. He was mostly on the west coast and Japan, though he did one tour on the East coast. A majority of his time was spent on carriers and he retired two of the oldest in the fleet. It was his time in Japan that he met his wife. He did his final tour of duty out of Washington where he now resides.

Growing up he and I did a lot of things together and I’m sure once I got older I had a little resentment for him. He and his friends were always out doing their thing and I got left behind a lot. When I did come along, I was the one that got picked on to no end so it was almost more fun to stay at home alone. He was always the outgoing one, and I the more shy.

I guess now that I’ve gotten older, I miss my brother a lot as once he joined the Navy, we didn’t spend much time together or really even talk much. He rescued me in San Diego. I was broke, no car, starving musician, and he was stationed here. We became roommates and I went back to school. When he left, he left me his car. I took over the payments and things started looking up for me. Sure it was a long hard road out of the ditch I’d dug for myself, but if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am now.

My brother, deep down, it a great guy. He sometimes opens his mouth and you wouldn’t think so, but all in all his heart is in the right place. I think he and I became much closer when my father passed away. It was at that time I really realized that life is too short to hold a grudge. I’ m not even sure why I had a grudge against my brother in the first place. Maybe I hated the fact that I joined the Navy, but that was my choice and not his. I just know that I didn’t allow my relationship with my brother be all it could and it’s likely fault on both our parts.

Regardless of how things were between us, things are far better now. I do miss my niece and nephew as well as my sister-in-law, but I set roots in San Diego and have no intention of moving. I found my paradise. I just need to get up there to his neck of the woods and visit one day soon.

Jon, if you’re reading this. I love you bro!

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

So with all that writing going on, I did mange to knock out My Teacher is a Zombie. It came in at 11,500 words. It’s the right length for the story that’s told and I may go back and add a little here, remove a little there. It’s still a first draft, but it’s done! Completing a work is awesome. Very happy with how the story turned out and I’ll be releasing it on my daughter to see how she likes it. I already sent off a cover idea to Dan Dan the Art man. I’m not ready for cover art just yet. But when I am, look out

The lost boy returned home. I’m very happy about that. I still have no news. I will likely have a special update later today.

Other than my arm being sore from throwing a volleyball around for the past few days, I got nothing. Keeping it short today.

Unless you want to hear about a dream I had? You do? Okay then.

In my dream I was a middle-aged man (not a big stretch there) and I had a family much like my own with a wife, one daughter, and two dogs (this was scarily close to reality). Only in my dream I was retired. But from what?

I got a call from my old team mates. They wanted to get together for one last adventure. I tried to inform them that I wasn’t in my prime anymore and I probably didn’t even fit into my suit. They said they didn’t care. It was TIME TO RIDE!

That was all I needed to hear. I suited up in my silver suit, put on my helmet and went to the basement. The entire house, on rollers, moved aside so I could launch my weird falcon/eagle/bird looking ship and head off for the moon. Some evil-doers had gotten up there and was causing a ruckus and it was up to my team (a name never formulated in my brain) to stop him.

As it is in dreams, it was fun. It was fast. It was over before it was over. I woke up before we got to the moon. It did stick in my brain though and I might have to write this one some day. Might be a fun short.

And that was my dream. I wish is had been more exciting. Perhaps you can take this as a writing prompt of your own. If you do, let me know. I’d love to hear how the story ends.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

What does this mean?

It means I’m going to keep pushing and try to get AHEAD of my target so I don’t let this happen again. My favorite daughter has a tournament next weekend and I need to be ahead for those days. So I’m going to keep pushing today and this week to get ahead.

So where did all those words go? A good chunk went here, of course, and into My Teacher is a Zombie. I’m over 10000 words on that story now and pushing ahead nicely. I’m into the final battle scene (you knew there had to be a zombie battle scene, right?) and then I’ll wrap up a conclusion. This was a very fun story to write.

My next work will also be a short piece. I can’t wait to dig in. I’ve done my research and the work will be under 5000 words. Can’t wait do write it up. I can’t say what it is just yet, but trust me, I’ll be yelling at the top of my lungs once I can.

This afternoon I’ll be recording my Action Pack piece. Then I’ll be bugging Mr. Roche for his part. I also need to record my part for the promo. Today will be a lighter writing day and a heavier recording day. My favorite daughter has practice for at least 3 hours today. That’ll give me some time.

Now that I’m caught up with my writing I’ll be splitting my writing time between writing and editing Jack Kane. Yes, I’ve been slow on those edits, but once I dig in, it’ll go quickly. I find it fun to switch hats and when I do it between works, it’s even more fun. I’ll change the Jack Kane progress meter from word count to page edits soon.

Short update today. There is a lot to do and I’ve better get at it. So…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

It’s far easier to eat a pint of ice cream than it is to write 1000 words.

Here’s the difficulty though. I can eat a pint of ice cream. I enjoy it from the first spoon to the last. My favorite is Cherry Garcia. I love to sit and eat ice cream and watch TV. It’s easy to do. Requires little effort. When I’m done, though, I feel full and lethargic and also feel bad that I didn’t accomplish anything. Sure I enjoyed my ice cream, but where did that get me?

I also have an issue with my weight so now I feel even worse because I’ve just eaten far more calories than I should have. It’s a snowball that builds and builds quickly and to fend off those bad feelings, I’ll eat more to make me feel better. Why do I do that?

It’s quite simple. Feeling full gives me a feeling of bliss. It triggers my brain to say that it was a pleasurable experience. Sure I’ll feel worse later, but for the moment I feel good. That’s what matters, right?

Let’s look at this from another direction. I love to write. Writing 1000 words is difficult. It takes a long time. I don’t always feel better when I’m done writing because I haven’t finished what I’m working on. I’m only somewhere in the middle after that 1000 words. I know I’ll have to write ANOTHER 1000 words later. I can find any number of things that’ll make me feel good NOW! Why should I wait?

Simple, the feeling of accomplishment when you’re done with a manuscript feels incredible. It’s far better than eating a pint of ice cream. It’s something that lasts also and doesn’t make me feel worse later. I can honestly say that having written many books and finished a large number of short stories, I still feel good about what I’ve accomplished. Sure I don’t have a book deal, but I know that’s my fault, not the fault of anyone else. I felt so good about getting done that I didn’t follow through to the next step because that’s also hard.

It’s hard to submit a completed work to a publisher or agent. Before I can do that I need to do edits and re-writes. Again, I need to look at the long term results. How will I feel when someone does finally pick up one of my books or short stories for publication? I have a feeling this will be an even bigger elation than completing that work. It will be the final validation of what I started. Yes it’s a very long, very hard road, but it’s a road that must be traversed.

Where am I going with this? It’s about short term feelings, and long term feelings. I can feel good for a moment. I can feel good today. Or I can work toward a long term goal, fight, struggle, claw, and fight my way to ‘The End’ and feel good for a very long time. When I tell people I’ve written 10+ novels, the look they give me is one of incredulity. They don’t believe it. Sure it’s taken me nearly 20 years to write those books and I’ve had many stops and starts, but I’ve got many more in the hopper and with each I’ve written, the next comes that much easier. The same goes with short stories. It’s something that I will always have. Ice Cream is here today, gone tomorrow and I don’t feel better about myself.

Take a look at where you want to be. Write down what you hope to accomplish with your writing. Make a commitment to yourself and write. It doesn’t have to be a lot every day. It will be a difficult road to follow. Trust in the fact that many people have gone before you and it is possible. Forgo the easy path to feeling better which we all know only leads to feeling worse in the long run and take that path that will lead to long term happiness. You can do it. Let me know how your progress goes. I’d love to hear from you.

Until Next Time!

WOO WOO!

Let me start with the bad news just to get it out of my head.

A friend of my wife’s (and co-worker) had her son disappear. At this point they’re not sure if he ran away or was kidnapped. He was on his way home from school yesterday and was last seen at a local park. If you’re local to San Diego/Chula Vista and would like more information, e-mail me and I’ll send you what information I have. It has the wife very shaken up.

On to the happier news.

My favorite daughter and I practiced volleyball for about an hour and a half yesterday and my arm is a little stiff this morning. I plan on getting her a jump rope today and we’ll be jump roping 15-20 minutes a day to help with her jumping. She needs to improve her vertical leap and another one of the player’s moms told me jumping rope will help. She has practice today and tomorrow so I think my arm will be getting a little rest. That kid is keeping the wife and I hopping.

On the writing front. I got a lengthy update post yesterday (you read that? It was kinda long). I also wrote a guest post for my cover artist Dan Dan the Art Man about my TV experience. That was a fun write. Beyond that I also got a good chunk of My Teacher is a Zombie written. Yesterday saw over 3000 words get written. I’ll be doing some writing in the little spots I find here and there over the weekend. That’s what I did yesterday.

Usually I fill these little snippets of time with getting caught up on reading blogs, playing angry birds, or playing around on twitter. It’s easy to say “I don’t have enough time to really get going” but I’ve discovered that even if I have a few minutes I can bash out a hundred words here or two hundred words there. I may not always do this, but two things are driving me. 1) I’m behind on my annual word count and I don’t want to get further behind and 2) I’m at an exciting part in the story I’m writing. Another thing that’s driving me at this point is the fact that I’ve made commitments to other people for work and I need to finish one before moving on to another. So far it’s fun being driven and pushing myself more than I ever have.

Will I suffer from burnout? If I do, then I don’t think I have the chops to be a full time writer. Even writing part time shouldn’t be as much of a pain as I’m making it. I’m just not taking full advantage of the time I have available. I know I can do better. Even though I wrote 3000 words yesterday, I still don’t feel I’m putting out as much as I can. I still feel like I’m not moving quickly enough.

I had a conversation with someone earlier in the week. As I put it, it’s like working out. You need to walk before you can run. When I started working out I was walking too quickly, then jogging too soon and I injured myself. I know I need to start walking about, but one thing I also noticed was that my word could was up and down but on a general upward trend. I was writting a little more over time. So I’m not going to go out on a limb and say I’ll be writing at Nathan Lowell levels any time soon, but as long as I’m steady and consistent I’ll be able to get a lot of work done this year.

Speaking of getting a lot of work done…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Sputtery Truck: The check engine light is still on. The registration is due, but I don’t have to smog it this year. I know why the light is on and it’s nothing critical that cannot wait at this point. I’m happy that each time I go out I can start it up and it doesn’t look like Spy Hunter with a billowing cloud of smoke pouring out the back end. This was usually followed up with it overheating and that hasn’t happened either. I’ve kept an eye on the fluid levels and all looks good. It’s on the road to recovery.

Action Pack: Currently I have Mike Plested’s audio. I’m waiting on Scott Roche’s and I need to record my own. I’ll be recording the promo as soon as I get the audio from Mike. We have the cover art for the ebook edition of the stories that will be available at Flying Island Press. I’m waiting on my friend who shall be known as Mike Lafayette to produce music for me. He will be out after the 25th and assures me that I’ll have music before then. This will be just in time to drop the first episode on the 29th. Nothing like cutting it close, eh?

Writing: I’ve been going at it slower than I’d like, but I am catching up to my annual goal. At one point I was 5000 words  behind. I’m now less than 3000 and gaining ground with every word I type. I’m having fun with both my research and my writing. If I wasn’t having fun, I’d be putting projects aside. It’s great to see my word counts going up.

Getting Caught up with Friends: I hadn’t spoken with Kimi Alexandre or Jack Mangan in some time. Sure we’ve exchanged emails, but it’s nice to get on skype and just chat with online friends that you don’t get face time with. Online chatting will keep you caught up with some goings on, but there’s nothing like hearing another person’s voice to get caught up on everything.

My Favorite Daughter: If you haven’t guessed, it’s been a lot of volleyball. I’ve been helping out at practices and it’s really great to see how the team is starting to really mesh and play as a unit as opposed to individuals. All I can say is my kid rocks but I may be biased.

Jack Kane: Edits are progressing on book 1 and plotting is progressing on book 2. Mike and I have been using Google Docs crazy and the more I use it, the more I like it. I’m sure there are a lot more features in there that we aren’t using, and as we find them, we’ll use them.

Scriviner: I’ve been using scriviner to edit Jack Kane. I’m really liking the interface and I can see now why so many writers rave about it. As soon as I’m able I’ll be buying a license for it and I’ll be moving all my works into the tools. I’ll also use any notes I put into scriviner up onto the wiki page I created and am currently not using. I do have every intention of getting everything up and in there.

MixZing: I’m still liking this music app on my tablet. I haven’t run into any issues and the ads only come up when I open the app and I can live with that. I have the widget on my homescreen and it works great for a shuffle and for playing entire albums. So far, no complaints other than the EQ will cause the tablet to lock up so I just don’t use it.

Work: Work is going GREAT! Frickin love my job. I’ve been doing a big mix of paperwork and documentation and a little bit of coding and I think this is what’s been slowing down my daily writing output, but the job does come first. It’s been a great start to the year with only a couple of unexpected bumps along the way, but nothing we can’t get past.

Sorry this is such a long post today.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

For several years my dad was legal caretaker of Uncle Bob. My dad would tell me stories and some I may share here at some point. The reason Bob is on my mind today is because I read a study about paranoid schizophrenia. My uncle falls into this category.

I remember the first time I met Uncle Bob was at my Uncle Ray’s funeral. My Uncle Ray had been murdered. He was a newsman in Duluth and a small time actor looking to make it big. He had gotten sprayed with mace and as he chocked to death, someone had robbed him. I was only six or seven at the time and I had never met any of my uncles so it had almost no impact on my emotionally.

*note: It wasn’t until after my father’s death that I began having any contact with his side of the family outside of Uncle Bob.

After the funeral, my mom, brother, dad and his new wife at the time, and Uncle Bob all sat down to lunch. This was the first funeral I had gone to and I honestly don’t remember anything about the funeral service. What I remember is this skinny gentleman with greasy, bleach-blond hair shaking my hand. His voice was rough and strained and his skin much darker than my father’s.

*note: My father was 5/8th Native American

We ate lunch and little conversation was had. My mother and father, though divorced, were still very much friends. For me it wasn’t awkward and I was happy to see my dad. He lived in the cities and I lived up in Northern Minnesota. I have gone to the wedding and it was nice to see his wife again (I never called her mom even though I lived with my dad and his wife as a teenager).

By the time I was eating a piece of pie for dinner, Uncle Bob decided it was time to dispense some age old wisdom to my brother and I. I know he told us several stories, but only one really stands out in my mind.

“Have you ever seen the Incredible Hulk? It’s a great show, you know. If you don’t watch it, you should. You can learn a lot from the Incredible Hulk. But I need to tell you something about that show. It’s not real. Do you know how I know it’s not a real show? I’ll tell you. You know when David Banner wakes up on a park bench and his hair is perfect and he’s clean shaven? I’ve been there before boys. It doesn’t work like that. That’s only on television.”

I think it was at this point my father decided that lunch was over. I wouldn’t see Uncle Bob again until I was sixteen. When my brother and I moved to live with my dad, he told us many stories of his childhood and some of the things he had to struggle through growing up. Does it surprise me that I never met his side of the family? No. It saddens me that I never got to know them. I’ve only ever met Uncle Bob even though my father was the youngest of 7 (I think). Oh the stories of Uncle Bob off his medication.

I could fill a book with stories I’ve been told about Uncle Bob over the years. I barely know him, but I love him all the same. I hope to share more about him in future posts.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Writing: Didn’t happen much last night. Okay, happened very little in fact. I intend to correct that tonight. My favorite daughter had volleyball practice last night so that ate into my writing time. I also spent some time with the wife because it was, after all, Valentine’s. The rest of my writing time was eaten up by discussing a certain project that will come to light in the near future.

Action Pack: Mike Plested has written up the promo. Now it’s just a matter of recording and producing it. All three of us will have parts and from the initial ideas we had, it’s going to be awesome. Heck, from what I’ve read from the other two stories, the entire Action Pack will be filled with awesome! I hope you’ll be there to join us. I’ve been bugging Dan Dan the Art Man and he assures me I’ll have my cover graphic tonight. I should have my page up over on the web site tomorrow.

More Writing: I’m going to try for a few days in a row of 2000 words of fiction. Why? I need to get caught up and/or ahead of my writing goal and I have a couple very hot projects that I need to get under way. I’ve been way too lax with my writing (in my own opinion) and even though I’ve been blogging daily, I haven’t been writing fiction daily. I need to correct that.

Jack Kane: Edits are under way and plotting of the second book are also under way. This is a fun story and the sequel is mapping out to also be a lot of fun to write. Jack, Betsy, Felonious and his minions, are all great characters and just easy to write. Mike Plested and I are having too much fun and I can’t wait until this falls into the hands of readers.

Distractions: I’ve been distracted by Ancient Aliens and not because I subscribe to their belief, but because I find their point of view fascinating. It doesn’t matter what you believe in, it’s easy to poke holes in any theory, faith, belief. I never try to argue with what another person believes because faith and belief are personal. I just like to observe and from that observation, a billion story ideas come bursting forth. *note, I used to argue with people’s faith but once someone says “I believe…” the argument is over because facts no longer play a part in the argument. #justsaying. I find it best to listen, insert comments, and avoid confrontation. It never ends pretty.

More Distractions: I’m not a big TV watcher. There are a few shows I love. Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men (not so much with the loss of Charlie), Gold Rush (what? You’re not watching this show?), Storage Wars, Shipping Wars, and that’s about it. I’m not big on any on going series and will usually pick up a show once it’s run its life. Like the aforementioned Ancient Aliens. I used to watch any Sci Fi shows on TV, but got frustrated with half a season or one open ended season and then nothing. So I stopped putting effort into anything else TV has to offer. For now, I’m directing that energy back into writing.

Speaking of writing.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Does it surprise me when people get my name confused? No. People get used to hearing a full name and when they get one letter, it’s easy to extrapolate and add on letters you think you heard that aren’t really there.

What’s funny is when someone is on a podcast talking about you and they start calling you someone else’s name, then asks you about it after the fact. It’s even funnier when you’re working on a colaborative effort with someone for a few weeks.

Yes, my good friend Scott Roche was on the Dead Robots Society podcast and… well, let’s just say I’m not Jake. He got a little confused and mixed me up with Jake Bible (a fellow author and worth your time to read). Hop on over to the DRS Podcast (not always work safe) and check it out. Scott had some great things to say and he’s doing 52 weeks of Indie where he’s giving away a book a week and one winner will ‘win them all’.

Got a lot of writing done yesterday. I’m not quite on track with my yearly writing goal, but I’m getting caught up. One of the things I forgot about when writing a lot is that I come up with more ideas than I can possibly write. I have another fun idea and should I find the time I’ll start getting it out there. I know I have a lot of projects, but this one could be fun to work in there.

Speaking of getting it out there. I’m slow. I know this. Kance Encounter is coming. My favorite daughter has practice again tonight and I’ll be working on that while I wait for her. Got edits back from Scott and Mike on my Action Pack Story now title Golden West. As soon as I have the cover art in my hot little hands from Dan Dan the Art Man I’ll get my page up over there. The podcast is coming together nicely and it’s interesting working on a collaborative effort in this manner. I’m not working alone on two of my multiple projects which is making keeping on track a little easier.

Speaking of making it easier…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

There was this time with flaming shots where I light my face on fire, but that’s a story for another day.

Suffice to say I didn’t know when to stop. I’ve matured over the years, as a person is wont to do, and I’ve learned my limit. I normally stop at two or I don’t drink at all if I’m driving.

When I first discovered podcasting I dove in with both feet. I subscribed to all 100 podcasts and listened to every back episode I could get my hands on (in most cases this was 10 or 11). Yes, I was lucky enough to discover podcasts early on and I’ve seen it evolve and I drank deeply from that cup as well.

I got burned out and eventually I stopped listening all together several times but would still go back and get caught up from time to time. Now I have a set few that I listen to each and every week and I’ve pretty much cut out everything else. I’m still subscribed and have over 50 Gigs of podcasts I haven’t listened to, but some day I’ll clear those out and just keep what I feel I need.

Which podcasts do I listen to? I’m not going to name names here, but someday I’ll put up my play list. Most of what I listen to are writing podcasts and I don’t even listen to them for the writing advice, but for the conversation.

What does any of this have to do with your writing?

Easy. Learn to know when you’ve had enough.

I could talk to you all day about writing and even longer if you’d let me. I’d burn your ear off with standard advice, editing tips, dialogue dos and don’t, talking about other authors I’ve talked with about writing and story ideas until I turn blue in the face. But what does that get you?

In the end, nothing. It also doesn’t get me anything either. Talking about doing something is fun. It’s easy. It’s great to be social. It’s great to get out there and talk with people who have done what you really want to do. You know what’s hard? WRITING!

Writing is not easy. It requires a lot of hours of sitting by yourself and typing. If all you ever do is listen to other people talk about what they’ve done and this gives you a sense of accomplishment, great. There’s no better feeling than feeling like you’ve accomplished something and living vicariously through someone else can help you achieve that.

Want to know a secret? Getting to ‘The End’ yourself is a high you’ll never forget. Do you want to know something else? Knowing that someone is listening to you talk about writing is having the same sense of accomplishment is an even higher high. But the best high of all when it comes to writing; having someone you don’t know, have never had any contact with, and could have just as easily ignored you and your work send you an email, a tweet, a facebook post to say they read what you wrote, loved it, and wants more. I’m here to tell you there is nothing like that.

So I’m going to end here. What I want you to do is to decided when you’ve had enough input and start generating output. Put down those books on writing. Put down that newsletter. Stop that podcast and sit down at your keyboard wherever it makes you comfortable and start typing. When you reach ‘The End’ come and tell me how you feel. Don’t do things that are easy to get your sense of satisfaction, do the things that are hard and that sense of satisfaction will be tenfold.

Until Next Time!

WOO WOO!

I’ve read Scott Roche’s story for the Action Pack Podcast. I can’t wait to get the audio. It’s gonna be fun. I haven’t listened to Mike Plested’s audio yet, but I will be doing that tonight. At some point during the week I’ll be recording my audio. Then I’ll be bugging another friend of mine about the rest of the music so I can get the podcast assembled.

Then I need to write a piece for Dan Dan the Art Man (I haven’t forgotten about that). I also need to write my piece for my secret project. My Teacher is a Zombie is coming along nicely. Had fun writing last night’s scene and the next scenes will be loads of fun to do. I also need to get working on Second Kance. I need to do edits, I need to write. I need to get off my duff, don’t I?

Yes, yes I do. I wrote a couple thousand words last night. I’ll be doing another couple thousand tonight. I should be able to get myself back on track with my overall writing goal for the year and for this month. I just need to keep hitting keys on the keyboard in the right order and I’ll get there. It’s a magical feeling seeing some of my writing projects take shape.

Tonight my favorite daughter has a voluntary practice. I’ll go and I’ll write in the truck during the first half and go in for the second half. When I’m actually sitting and writing I can get out over 1000 words an hour. It’s just a matter of sitting and actually typing out the words.

I just realized that I hadn’t put out an Unorthodox Writing Tips. I’ll get that out tonight as well. I guess with so much writing to actually get done, I should get on some of it, eh?

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Normally they play three other teams So it’s three games and done. Well, this time they had four other teams to play. I looked at this both ways. 1) it’s more games to lose and 2) it’s a better chance for them to win.

The first match they won the first game. It was tight, but they won. They lost he second game almost as close and then lost the tie breaker. The bright side was it was their first win! So much excitement. Well, by the parents anyway.

The second match almost went the same way except they lost the first game, won the second, they WON the tie breaker! They were 1 and 1. WOO WOO! Much excitement was had by all.

The third match was against the #1 seed in their group of five and it went as expected. they lost both games, but had a great showing and performed well.

The last match was against the bottom seed and the game went as expected. They won both games but they were a little closer than we would have liked.

So they ended the day 2 wins – 2 loses and played 2 tie breakers. They did great and I couldn’t be happier. It’s all coming together. By the end of the season the team will be a force to be reckoned with.

Writing. I’m getting on that as soon as this post is up. Mike Plested and I have continued plotting Jack Kane Book 2 (title coming soon). I’m cranking out words on My Teacher is a Zombie. Then it’s on to my secret project that I will announce as soon as I’m able. Finally I’ll be working on edits on Jack Kane Book 1 and Second Kance. It’s a busy month and I still need to get working on my audio for the Action Pack podcast and getting it all produced and ready to go.

So rather than blather on and on…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Today my favorite daughter wanted to get and go watch a wrestling tournament at the high school. The wife rook her and I prepared some filling for some mini pies. After going to three different stores to get the ingredients, that is. By the time I got the chorizo and sausage cooked, pie crusts cut, and cheese shredded it was time to head over to my sister-in-law’s house for my mother-in-law’s 75 birthday celebration.
My favorite daughter and I only stayed for a couple hours because I needed to get her to volleyball practice. I stayed and helped and after practice it was time to get packed and head to LA (Huntington Beach really) to stay over. Tomorrow morning she has another tournament. We just got to the hotel and are settled in.
I found a little free time to type up this post. The it’s off to bed. Get up early tomorrow morning, watch the girls play and then drive back home.
All in all it has been a great day. I know every day won’t be filled with sitting and writing and it’s days like this that fill my head with lots of great ideas for stories and characters.
Need to keep this one short.
Until Tomorrow!
Woo Woo!

Then I noticed an error. Thankfully I found it only 10 days into February. It kinda took me back when I found it and it made me sad for a moment, but i quickly got over it.

According to my word count I was about 3000-4000 words ahead of schedule for my annual word count goal. Well, this mistake was adding February’s word counts to January’s word counts and padded my numbers. A lot. After fixing the formula my word count dropped by 10,000 words (thereabout). That was quite a goal, but I’m only a couple thousand behind now and I can write to get caught up. I don’t have the padding I did, but I have a lot of words I need to write so getting caught up won’t be as difficult as it could be. It just means I need to write a little extra each day and actually get back to writing daily without fail.

Okay, got that out of my system.

Kance Encounter was suppose to be released at the end of January. Sorry it’s late. I will be putting it out soon and I’m already working on the sequel. Both will be coming out this month so keep an eye out for them. I just got the edits back (email failed me and it had gotten lost the first time). Now that I have those I’ll be going through Kance Encounter and getting it out as soon as possible.

The Action Pack Podcast is on track. I should be getting audio from Mike Plested and Scott Roche over the weekend. I’ll be recording and bugging my friend for the musical parts once again. We’re hoping to get a promo ready (Mike is writing that up) and I’ll be writing up the intro to the actual podcast. Since we all have these HUGE egos, we decided not to pick which will go first and instead we’ll rotate which story goes first and we’ll also rotate introductory duties. Next week should see some updates to the Action Pack Podcast website. Keep an eye out for that.

I’ve gotten a writing assignment. Research has been accomplished. I will be getting my rear in gear and knocking out some words. Once I can announce more about this work, I shall. Stay Tuned.

Speaking of writing, I’ve got much work to do before I can start putting words down. So…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Here’s a brief musical interlude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHLAtGBIvY4

Yes, this is what I end up doing. I’ll get something stuck in my head and I’ll need to go looking for it. A good friend and I used to sing this song way back in high school and we loved the strange looks others would give us as we sang it. Unless I’m mistaken, it was my father who introduced me to this song ages ago.

But I digress. I’ve got a lot going on inside my brain at the moment and it’s odd that the more that is going on, the more ideas I come up with. I have been given an opportunity to play in someone else’s sandbox and within minutes of getting the ‘nod’ I had three ideas. One is okay, the other two are tough to choose between. So I researched both for a few hours last night and I have a great direction on either story. Now I need to choose.

So if you thinking that I didn’t write a lick last night, you’re correct. I know to reach my yearly goal I only need to write about 1100 words a day. That’s it. That’s a drop in the bucket. Doing these daily blog posts are easy and it cuts the words I need to write drastically. I just keep allowing distractions to distract me.

If you’ve been playing along you know I have a number of projects I’m working on. I also have a few that need editing, not just writing. I need to get on them as those works are complete and just need some spit and polish to get ready. I haven’t been lacking in motivation to write/edit/read. I’ve been lacking in organization. I look at my yearly word count so far and I’m disappointed in that I know I can write much more than I have. I’ve got the ideas. I’ve got them plotted. I just need to sit and write and not let other things distract me.

I had a plan to start getting up early. But when I lay down at night, I’m not tired so I read. Next thing I know it’s 11:30 or midnight and there go my plans for getting up early. I think I need to take that time where I lay at night and start writing instead of reading. I know I need to read, but with the number of projects I’ve piled on myself, I need to do much more writing than I currently am.

Angry Birds be damned, I will write!

Sorry, needed to get three stars on that level.

But seriously. I sit down to write and I’m losing focus because I have too many directions to run in. So I’m picking one. I’m going to run with it that day, and then I’ll change directions. I’ve tried writing a little each day on each project and that’s not working. So I’m about to start focusing. Look out. High energy laser-like focus is on its way. Only good things can happen from here.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

Waiting is still the worst thing in the world. I’ve gotten responses back from two people I’ve been waiting for and one is good news that I cannot announce yet (but will as soon as I’m able) and the other is just to let me know I’m not being ignored. I know both are extremely busy so I don’t mind waiting. Good things are worth waiting for. Just doesn’t mean I have to like waiting

On the writing front, I had intended to write last night, but wound up running a few of the girls home from the non-practice last night. This took about 30 minutes less than the actual practice. The three girls all lived in different areas. There was a stop for ice cream and I spent some time with the wife watching a couple reality shows. After spending the day writing documentation, it was a nice diversion.

I have acquired the code to the workout room. I may head over there during my lunch. We’ll see how that goes. It’ll be nice to get back to the exercise routine. I do need to do something as walking/jogging had really cleared my head and helped me write faster. Of course so did not eating ice cream, but that’s a topic for a different day.

This weekend my favorite daughter has a tournament. Not sure where just yet. Details will be provided at a later time. Usually today or tomorrow. When we got to the ‘old’ gym last night (the girls hate the old gym) it was filled with tables and water leaks. This is why practice had been cancelled.

The ‘old’ gym? Not the one at my favorite daughter’s school Heaven’s no. They practice at a different school during the week and it has a ‘new’ gym and an ‘old’ gym. We’ve seen rats running under the stage on more than one occasion. It’s dirty, bordering on decrepit, and not a place the girls like to practice. But you need to make do, right?

Each day as I write these daily updates, I think about my mother or my father. Mom is still with us, and I have many great stories to tell about her. One involves her making a sailor blush. That was awesome. She is a colorful character and a great source of my inspiration. My father is also a great source of stories. He taught me all the Shaggy Dog stories that I know. He also provided me with a great business sense that I hope to use as I step into the world of publishing. I hope to share many stories about them in future posts.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

—–

Yesterday was SuperBowl Sunday. It’s almost a national holiday. Every year my wife’s family gathers at my father-in-law’s house. He makes some incredible carnitas (the best I’ve ever had) and everyone brings along something to go with it and/or a dessert. It’s a feast fit for a king and I eat as much as I possibly can. Sometimes (like yesterday) I eat too much and need to go to sleep as soon as we get back home.

I didn’t care for either team that made the Superbowl. Say what you like, I have my reasons. Eli Manning turned down the Chargers after being drafted. That never sat well with fans. Belachick got caught cheating and a proper investigation was never performed. So I really didn’t care who won and this gave me no emotional stake in the game.

I usually love the commercials presented during the Superbowl so normally I won’t get up for the commercials. After the first few sets of commercials I was also disappointed and would get up and snack during the commercials.

Then there’s the half time show. Where do I begin. If you like Madonna, I’m sorry please skip the next paragraph.

Madonna is the worst performer of all time. Sure there was a big production around her, but she didn’t not sing one word. She didn’t dance. She barely moved. I know she’s getting old, but this is the Superbowl. People should have higher standards. When you’re singing is clear as a bell and people are waving pompoms in your face and all I can hear is your voice you want me to believe that you’re singing? The only reason I can think that Madonna was selected is that she has a new album and is going on tour. And she expects her fans to pay $300 and up to see her perform. Really? I don’t think so. She’s a has-been that never should have been. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it! Sorry, I was really upset during the half time show and I needed to vent. I personally feel that people who don’t actually sing their songs should be banned from performing.

Sputtery Truck ran like a champ yesterday. Thank you to all who inquired about its present condition. The next couple of days will be telling. I made several errands and drove quite a bit yesterday. The new engine is awesome, it’s just a waiting game to see if I need to replace an O2 sensor or a catalytic convertor. I’m hoping for neither, but we’ll see.

Writing didn’t happen yesterday. With a number of errands to do pre-game and eating more than any 5 normal men (plus 2 helpings of dessert) my brain was just not in gear to write. I’ve written an UWT about this. Even though no writing happened, yesterday was an awesome day. I love spending time with my wife’s family. My tummy today would disagree, but it was some great food. For me, it’s never really about the game, but spending time with friends and family.

How was your Superbowl Sunday? Did you watch the game? Do you avoid the game at all costs? Was it just another day? If you’re outside the states, do you even care?

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

It’s supposed to rain today. I’ve been diligent about taking my sinus medicine. Normally I’d be shut down right about now. Happily, I’m not. I’m clear headed and ready to rock and roll. It’s been a long time since I’ve made it through a rainy day without suffering.

As a kid, I used to love rainy days. Growing up in Minnesota it wasn’t uncommon to have a warm rain on a hot summer day. My brother and I would get into our shorts and run and play outside. After a good heavy downpour we’d end up with our tonka toys plowing through every available mud puddle. By the end of the day we’d be covered head to toe in mud. My mom would make us stand by the back door while she hosed us off before allowing us to go inside and take a shower or bath.

As an adult, I learned to dread the rain. Typically I’d get a headache a day or two before a storm and my sinuses would all but shut me down. I could easily go through a couple boxes of tissue in a day and would use the cheaper method of a roll of toilet paper. The day before it would rain would usually be the worst. The low pressure system bring the rain would be doing its best to kill me and my head threatened to explode. It’s a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I’d almost rather get hit in the head with a bat. At least the pain would subside quicker.

To say I was surprised when the wife told me “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow” would be an understatement. I didn’t feel anything and even as I write this I only feel the slightest pressure. I’ll not be forgetting my meds any time soon I can tell you that.

Yesterday was a good writing day. I accumulated nearly 2000 words. I didn’t get stuck, but after dinner I couldn’t focus as well on my writing so I decided to play around with the blog a little bit. I found new word counters. Now you can keep better track of where I’m at and so can I. It’s great having a visual display of where I am in a story. Heck, where I’m at with multiple stories. I just need to start making those percentages go up quicker.

Speaking of quicker, I’ve got some paperwork to get done. I already know what I want to write during my lunch. It’s raining, I can’t go walk.

Speaking of walking, I’ve got the code to my complexes workout room. I hope to get back on the horse soon. I will post my numbers as I do.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

http://scottroche.com/thoughts/2012/02/06/shira-ebook-giveaway

I’ve never been a huge sports fan. I follow a couple of teams, but that’s about as far as it goes. Sadly the teams I’ve followed over the years have been mostly disappointing. Until today I wasn’t even sure who was playing in the super bowl. I had my interests going in other directions and it wasn’t important to me who was playing today. Even the half-time show I’ll most likely skip as I can’t stand Madonna or anything about her as a person. I’ll spend my time today watching the game, eating as much as I possibly can, and enjoying the company of family and friends.

Tomorrow I’m back hard and heavy into writing. I’m up for the month and on a good streak, I just need to keep it going. I’m happy with the works I’m working on and where each of them is at. I have momentum on my side. Just need to maintain.

Long post tomorrow. Today was just crazy busy, but I want to keep my streak of daily posts going. So far, it’s all good news and happy days.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!

I’ve always been fascinated with things over my head. The sky is a wondrous place. When I look into the night sky and see stars, I can easily understand how you could see images in the patterns and come up with stories to help them relay what you saw. I’m not sure what drives my desire to always look and see what’s in the sky, but it’s always filled with wonder for me.

As a kid, my brother and I (sometimes my mom) would lie on the grass in the front yard and just stare up at clouds. We would try and describe what we saw to help each other identify what we were looking at. The clouds would change shape and move by and we’d come up with something else. Sure we have TV, but where I grew up we had four or five stations and when you changed the station on the television you had to turn the antenna to get better reception. My imagination flourished looking at clouds and coming up with stories about them.

Even before these days when I was maybe three my mom didn’t have much money. Times were tight and we’d go to the airport. We’d sit for hours and watch planes take off and my mom would tell us stories of who was on each plane and where they were going and who they were with. We’d watch the planes take off and wave to each one. Sitting outside on the opposite side of the fence it was a great feeling to know where they were going and my mom always assured us they would get there safely.

Even though we used to watch planes and clouds, my mom was terrified with flying and with any animal or insect that flew.

*note: My mother wasn’t scared of much. One time a couple kids at a picnic found a grass snake and were scaring the ladies. They took it  to my mom and showed it to her. She grabbed it from them, chopped it up into pieces and put the pieces into a coffee can and handed it back to the kids and said “Now you’ve got bait to go fishing.” Needless to say the kids freaked out and I got the bait to go fishing with.

I never knew my mom was scared of flying things until the day a bat got in the house. Not only did she freak out and run screaming from the house, she refused to come back inside until it was gone. This fear didn’t just go for bats and birds, but also with butterflies, dragon flies, you name it. It if had wings, she was afraid of it.

This includes flying. Yes, she has flown, but it does scare her to no end.

Now that I’ve written this, I think I had my mother to thank for always looking up into the sky to see what’s there. I love to see clouds and shapes in the clouds. I can never see enough sunsets. Planes flying through the sky hold a special passion for me. And don’t even get me started with birds. Even my grandma nicknamed my Jay Bird as a kid. I may not be able to identify many birds, but I love to watch them as they fly through the sky. I’ve also tried to get my daughter to look up from her phone when I see a neat cloud formation or a hawk sitting on the light pole.

It so easy to get your head down and focus on what’s at hand and ignore the fact that we live in a world that isn’t flat. There are many things over your head that should come into play when you’re writing. Yes you should focus on your characters and your plot, but when you find yourself struggling for motivation, look up, and tell me what you see.

Until Next Time

WOO WOO!

To that end, the check engine light came on, again. I took it back and they ran the code. It wasn’t a hard code with the engine. I took it to a friend of mine and we looked at the code and it had to do with one of the oxygen sensors. It was either the rear O2 sensor or the catalytic convertor. One is cheap, the other is expensive. Being that I was burning coolant, it could very likely be the catalytic convertor, but I’m hopeful it is not. The rear O2 sensor did have a lot of crud burned onto it and with some throttle body cleaner we managed to get it looking nearly as clean as the bank 2 O2 sensors (there are 4 total). The check engine light has been reset, so now we wait again.

I did some writing last night on a new story. I’m having fun with it. I’ll be bopping back and forth between that one and Second Kance. I still need to get Kance Encounter up for your reading enjoyment. I’ve been on a writing spree and it feel great. Even though I know the truck will still need something else replaced, I know it runs and what is throwing the code is nothing critical that needs to be replaced immediately. I’m back to being 3000 words ahead of my writing goal and that feel great.

My favorite daughter has a dance tonight. Afterward she’ll be staying at a friend’s house. She’s super excited about going and has been practicing walking her her new heels. They make her taller than me so I’m not a fan of them. She’ll look super cute tonight so I’m happy she’ll have a good time.

Tomorrow is more Volleyball practice. I’ll try to get in a bit of writing while she’s there as I know the rest of the day will be shot. We’re heading over to my father-in-law’s house for the best carnitas in the world. Don’t know what carnitas is? Oh are you missing out. Well, unless you’re a vegetarian. I’ll  post more about carnitas tomorrow. Let’s just say it smells great, it tastes great, and it’s bad for you making it AWESOME! I’ll have my limit of 2 beers during the game. I can’t remember the last time I had more than two at a given function (beers at WFC2011 with Mike Plested don’t count).

I’m not a heavy drinker to begin with so this doesn’t bother me at all. It’s been a great week and it’s going to be an awesome weekend. Well, the wife and I also have plans so I’d better go drag my carcass into the shower and get my self all prettified. I think I only have two hours. LOL Maybe I’ll get ready and write for a while before we have to go. It’s nice to see those word counts going up, up, up!

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!