Category: Summer

Losing Track

8/19/2014

I had no idea that school started back up this week! Oops! Well, it didn't take me long to figure it out, between Rick informing me that the most stressful time of the year was upon him, and I hit bumper to bumper traffic on my commute these past couple of days. I guess I tuned out all the back to school stuff because frankly, when you're in the workforce, one season is much the same as the rest. It's Monday - Friday, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

See what you kids have to look forward to?

Really, where did the summer go? I suppose I did lose track of it with everything going on these past few months. It's understandable, but still shocking. You hate to take a look around and say "whoa, what's happening?" but there are times when it happens to us all. It seems I'm still working on the getting back on track thing. It's alright. We all live one day at a time, and the world keeps turning.

In other news, I have the first couple of chapters of Fracture written, and it's got a pretty good foundation going. The situation is set and now it's time to watch it unfold. This is a big project, and I'm trying to remember to have fun with it and to enjoy the whole process of writing it, from start to finish. While I always enjoy my writing, it seems that each novel and/or project is a unique experience. Now that I've done one sci-fi novel (Splinter) and a novella (Incursion), I do feel more comfortable and confident writing in this genre - so I'm having more fun with planning and plotting now, and I'm not so nervous about "pulling it off." I know I can do it, because I've done it twice already. Now I really get to find myself in the sci-fi genre through this project.

I'm also getting back into exercising. My parents gave us their stationary bicycle last weekend, because they decided to go back to using a treadmill and our treadmill was on it's last legs. We've been using a treadmill and walking for years, and I think we got slack with it because we were bored and needed a change. So far, it's working out, but wow my legs are sort. It's definitely a different kind of workout! But it's good to be exercising again. I want to make that a regular part of my life again.

So that's life here. I hope you're doing well. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

New Covers and Stuff

7/10/2013

Check out the awesome new cover for Move, courtesy of the brilliant artwork of Tatina Villa. I absolutely love it and highly recommend her to indie authors for their book covers. She's great to work with, she works fast, and her prices are very good! You can check out more of her great cover designs at Vila Designs. I found her on the Smashwords recommended list and I highly recommend her too!

Not only that, but I enrolled Move in the Smashwords Summer/Winter promotion. If you buy it there during the month of July, you can get it for half off - that's $1.50! Just go to Smashwords and enter coupon code SSW50 by midnight on July 31 to take advantage of the promotion. And best of all, you can download it in any ebook format there. So there's no excuse because you can get it for any ereader or computer.

It's some good news this week. I also made some much needed revisions to "Home" this week and have posted it to my writing portfolio at Writing.com .

So, of you've followed me on social media then you know another person in my work section resigned yesterday. I don't want any of you to misunderstand my frustration with this situation. I certainly understand that people have to do what they have to do to make their lives better. I would never blame anybody for taking advantage of an opportunity. My frustration comes from two places: First, after being totally and completely displaced three years ago when my job moved, some of the whining I hear over changes sounds like the girl that complained to me about having sinus drainage after I had just recovered from a stomach infection. A runny nose sounds whimpy when you've been on 3,000 milligrams of antibiotics for three weeks, and are in the middle of six weeks of treatment for the internal damage and inflammation the infection left behind. And frankly, some staffing rearrangements and reinterpretations of policies and procedures barely register a blip on my personal radar. But it's pulled the rug out from under some people. Good thing they weren't me three years ago. That was the Hammer of Thor smashing my life to smithereens. What would they have done?

So it's perspective. I see things very differently because of my experiences, and I'm sure my boldness also makes me more likely to stand (and respect those who do rise to it) more than those that take the exit route. But then again, there are also times when it's the better part of wisdom to walk away gracefully and stop fighting a hopeless battle. Who's to say what's right? Well, this is where the other part of the frustration comes in.

You are responsible for doing whatever's necessary to make your life better, but you also have to acknowledge an uncomfortable fact: if you make a major life change that forces other people to make changes to their own life that they didn't plan on, they're going to get pissed off. It's not jealousy, as some people accuse. It's justifiable anger at having their life changed by a decision made by another person. And frankly, it's not a battle you can win. This is a situation where it's 100% impossible to make all of the people happy. You aren't, and you have to live with the fact that some people are going to be mad at you for what you leave behind for them to deal with. What's more, they have a right to be mad. It's a natural response and it's best to let it play out. It's just one of those things that everybody has to deal with on their own and move on the best they can.

I do have faith that things will work out and in fact, I feel very hopeful that we're on the recovery side of all the transition and chaos that's rocked us these past few months. I know I've said many times that I haven't come this far to quit, fail, or give up, and I see signs that others aren't either. I'm seeing strength emerge and courage in the face of uncertainty, and that's a great encouragement to me. Right now, I see the small glimmers of opportunity that, if properly handled, will lead to the great blessings of tomorrow.

We'll get there. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or next week or even next month, but I see signs of progress. I'm straining to see it, but there's no doubt that it's there. And that's always a good thing. Let's keep our eyes open to those opportunities and we will reap in due season, if we do not lose faith.

That's all today. Have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

Summer Reading Suggestions

5/26/2013

First, I'd like to open this entry by thanking all of those who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. A lot of people are celebrating this weekend as the "unofficial start of summer," but we wouldn't have this freedom to celebrate if it weren't for those who serve to defend it. So for all who have served and all who do serve, thanks!

Second, in honor of kicking off the summer season, I'm offering Move for free through Wednesday. You can get it in any ebook format through Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/286425 and entering Coupon Code HH37X. So go get yourself a free summer read now, and feel free to pick up any of my other titles featured on this website.

And third, summer is indeed a great season for reading. Whether it's by the poolside, on the beach, at the lake, at the summer getaway place, or just on your lunch hour, there's something about having a great book on hand to take your mind away. I know it's usually a season for ligher, fun reading, but for some reason, I find myself gravitating toward fantasy during the winter and sci-fi during the summer. (I read mysteries and some non-fiction all the time.) I'm not sure why this is. I've done a few other blogs on my favorite reads and I'd like to expand on that today by giving you a list of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy reads, since I'm currently making the transition from fantasy to sci-fi. Each title contains a link to it on Amazon, but, of course, you can find them at a number of other online or retail outlets. And without further ado, may I suggest:

Guardian of Time (The Shardwell Series): By Amanda Gerry and C. Hall. By I thought about making a completely separate list for independent authors, but decided against it. They work just as hard at their craft (perhaps harder, since indies don't have agents to do promotion for them) and deserve the same respect as mainstream novels. This book is an amazing fantasy title that I was asked to do a review for, and I was so enthralled that I flew through it in a few days - no small feat, given my busy schedule and the fact that I was working on a sci-fi novella of my own at the time! It's about a young woman that runs away from her royal home to escape an arranged marriage, only to find that the arrangement was different - and much more complicated - than she imagined. This is actually a young adult novel, but I think even adult readers would enjoy it because it has a little bit of everything for you: intrigue, mystery, romance, betrayal and, best of all, a surprise ending. In fact, there's one other book in this series that I plan to add to my reading list once I get another gift card, and work through a bit more of my TBR list this summer!

Age of the Sigil, The Complete First Season and Age of the Sigil, The Complete Second Season. By: Melvin Ryley and Rich Dalglish. Another great young adult/fantasy novel about four teens that find they have been chosen to bear special powers that, once unlocked, will save their world that is under attack of ruin by a ruthless leader that's channeling magic to his will with disasterous results. One thing that intrigued me about these two novels are that they're written as "episodes" in a fashion similar to a reality TV series. I was skeptical about how this would work in a novel setting, but it actually kept a great pace and had action moving at an even clip without those dreaded "drag scenes" that you sometimes find in novels where attempts at character development occur. The four bearers of the sigils show a remarkable strength of character and growth through their trials, but it isn't rushed or contrived - in fact, their development is completely realistic and, I believe, reflective of how life's trials shape us all. A good read that goes by almost too fast, and leaves you wishing for more.

Mars Trilogy: Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars. By Kim Stanley Robinson. I eyed this trilogy about the terraforming and settlement of Mars for years before I finally settled down and read it last summer. Wow! It was amazing! You can tell that Robinson did a tremendous amount of research and really immersed himself in the development of this series. What impressed me the most was the great balance of science and humanity. It's well balanced and you can see how the development of Mars as a habitable world changes humanity - not only the people that immigrate there, but the people on Earth as well. You see a tremendous development not only of Mars as a planet, but in the people and characters as well. Green Mars was my favorite book of the series (which is rare for the second book to be the strongest in a trilogy, but it was in this case). This is definitely a work that sucks you in and captivates you. My only gripe was that I felt Blue Mars somewhat rushed to a conclusion, but in retrospect I wonder if that's true or if it was my own perspective of wanting more and for the tale to continue. An amazing trilogy. In fact, this trilogy made me a fan of Robinson's work and his most recent release, 2312, is next on my TBR list.

Mars, Return to Mars, and Saturn, By Ben Bova. In case you didn't know, I love sci-fi works that revolve around interstellar development - something that will no doubt be confirmed when my own sci-fi novel is released in November. And actually, I was hard pressed to find a favorite book by Ben Bova because he's written novels on Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn and I love them all. I picked his novels about Mars and Saturn because they're the ones that stand out in my mind the most. But really, you can't go wrong with any of Bova's works. He's an outstanding sci-fi writer. I'm excited to see he has another release due out in July titled New Earth, and it looks quite interesting. It's on my Amazon wish list, and will definitely make it to my ereader apps in a few short months!

The Left Behind Series. By Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. I didn't include links to this because this series has 12 books and frankly, you'd do better to go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and do a search for the series. Rick and I embarked on reading this series a few years ago, and although it's not strictly sci-fi or fantasy, it definitely has an "otherworldly element" to it. This series is based on the Book of Revelation in the Bible, but as a warning: don't expect fluff and stuff. It does get gritty - and a bit graphic in some places, so there are some parts that aren't for the faint of heart, but I fully believe that if you're a fan of sci-fi or fantasy then you'll have no problem with it (I didn't flinch, but others I know that aren't accustomed to sci-fi and fantasy that were shocked by some parts). If you're a Christian then I do recommend that you read this series, as it can help you to understand this mysterious last book of The Bible better. And one more thing: read the books, don't watch the series. The TV movies do differ from the books, and in fact they cut off with the third one, which was made before the third book was written and actually isn't anything like the novel at all.

So there you have it: A few sci-fi and fantasy suggestions to take your mind away this summer. I hope you'll check some of these titles out, and please - if you read a book and enjoy it, leave a review. Authors really like reviews because it lets us know how well our work is connecting to readers and helps us to write better in the future.

If you'd like to know more about books I've read and enjoyed, please feel free to visit my Goodreads profile, and send me a friend request if you're a member of that great online community!

That's all today. Have a safe weekend.

Bye!

Summer Writing Project

4/30/2013

It figures. Yesterday was a chaotic day from hell and what happens?

I have an idea for a novella.

Isn't that the way? You have a day when it's all hitting the fan and suddenly your muse decides to return from it's Grand Canyon vacation, or wherever the heck he was anyway.

It actually started out as a short story. I had to take my laptop to work for a meeting and decided to write a rough draft of this vague idea I had for a sci-fi story. I spent the entire hour writing and still wasn't satisfied. It was while I was hustling through the afternoon portion of the chaos that it hit me: What I just wrote was part of a bigger story. So I dug up some of my research from when I wrote Splinter. I brainstormed. And darn if I didn't come up with an outline by the time I left for work today.

The good news is that the story is set in the Jovan system just like Splinter, so I don't need to do any additional research. Well, that I know of now, anyway. You know how things pop up as you write. But still, I can reuse a lot of it and many of the pieces are in place. I'm so excited! I think this will be my summer writing project. And you know me - I'm most content when I'm working on a writing project.

Here's the basic outline I came up with:

Prologue - History of the future

1. Jovan Council discovers a nuclear weapon has been detonated on Earth & the magnetosphere is showing signs of shifting.

2. Council reviews/debates consequences. Speculates on causes. Decides to ban further immigration from Earth due to radiation & uncertain political situation.

3. Ship openly goes to Earth to deliver sentence.

4. Return to Jovan system to confirm the mission is complete.

Epilogue - Earth's fate.

This is general and will likely be changed by the time I finish part 1. Still, it's a plan to work from, and a plan is good. Truth is, I don't even have a working title, and I'm still not sure what Earth's fate will be. I suppose it depends on whether I'm having a good day or a bad day when I get around to writing that part :)

I'd like to keep this in the range of a novella; perhaps 20,000 - 25,000 words. I'd like for it to be longer than Quarantine but not a full length novel. I need to get some more "quick reads" out there for readers. People seem to enjoy those. Since it's so short, I plan to self-publish this piece.

Of course, I'll keep you updated on my progress and will no doubt share excerpts as it progresses.

That's all today. Take care and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

Welcome Fall or End of Summer Blahs?

9/1/2012

Ah, Labor Day weekend - the unofficial last weekend of fall. How do you feel about that? Do you say "welcome fall" and embrace the change of seasons, or are you a bit blue that summer's waning?

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's been a brutally hot summer. It was nice to have Isaac bring in some more moderate temperatures last week, but it has been warm again yesterday and today. Not that I mind the hot. I'd rather sweat than shovel snow anytime. But it is nice to have temperatures a bit more moderate. Human beings can live in 80 degree weather. But 110? Not so easy.

It's also kind of nice being able to go out to lunch again without every place being so crowded. With so many people "out and about" between school being out and traveling, I had to cut back on going out to lunch because I couldn't get in and out of places in an hour during my lunch break. Running errands was tricky too. It's nice to have our population sufficiently spread out so that it's possible for me to eat out or pick up a few things at the store during my lunch break without having to stress over getting back to the office by 2. And I'm talking about places right around the corner from my office!

But on the other hand, I am sad that summer's ending. Spring and summer are my favorite seasons. I like the warm weather, and the long days. It's already getting dark noticably earlier than it was a few months ago. The bluebirds have moved out of the birdhouse and won't be back. The rose blooms are smaller. And the cicadas don't chirp nearly as much as they did. There is something a bit melancholy about things winding down.

Not that there's anything wrong with fall. People are back on a routine, so there's less stress with "covering" for vacations - and when you do go out, it's less crowded. There's also college football and fall festivals and TV shows starting their new seasons soon. I have to admit that the reruns are getting old.

I changed some of the house decorations from summer to fall yesterday and it was a mixed bag for me. It was sad to put the roses away, but the fall bouquet is an inspring spalsh of color in that entry way - the yellows and oranges just look great and are a nice change of pace. And switching from roses to apple cinnamon isn't so bad either. It's nice to have something different. There are, after all, merits in every season.

That's all today. Have a great Labor Day weekend. Be safe, have fun, and enjoy an extra day off.

Bye!

Tips to Beat the Heat

6/29/2012

Wow, we come home from a great vacation in Gatlinburg, TN to record heat. Today it was 109 degrees - a new record high temperature for us. And it's not just us here in central SC - I hear a lot of the eastern part of the country is under heat advisories for weather just like this.

Fortunately, 100+ degree weather isn't too strange to us around these parts. Truth be told, this year's heat wave came late, considering that we were breaking the century mark in May and early June over the past couple of years. So naturally we know what to do when it gets hot. The weather forecasters have given you their tips: Stay indoors, wear light colored clothing, limit exercise, stay hydrated, limit or avoid alcohol intake - these are all great tips. But I have a few more that I've picked up over the years that might not only help you keep cool, but keep those power bills from shooting up with the mercury in the thermemoter:

1.    Keep your blinds/shades closed, and if you have curtains, close them. A lot of people raised their eyebrows at us when we put up dark colored panels in our master bedroom and the other front rooms in our house, until the next summer when they saw how good those dark panels are at keeping heat out and cool in.

2.    Electronics and appliances put off a lot of heat, so you might want to limit use of them. The biggest culprits are ovens, dryers, and computers. Consider preparing meals that take a bit less time in the oven or on the stovetop. Only run full loads of laundry and dishes. Use cooling mats for laptops. Consider skipping the surround sound system when you watch television during the day at least.

3.    Use fans, but only in rooms that you're in. Fans work to help evaporate moisture in your skin as well as to circulate air, which means they don't do much good if you aren't in the room with them. So only use fans in the rooms you're using.

4.    Turn off the lights! Only turn on lights in rooms you're in, and try to use as few as possible. You might think a light bulb can't put off much heat, until you try to change one that was just on. Yea, those suckers can indeed get hot.

5. Those sun shades you see in cars might not look extremely fashionable, but they work. If you park outside for any length of time at all, get one and use it. Also, crack your windows or open your sun room to let air circulate and prevent your car from becoming a sauna (and potentially busting a window, which can happen if too much hot air gets trapped in there and can't get out).

6. Stick to indoor activities. I know it's tempting to head for the pool or the water park on extremely hot days, but that fun in the sun can wear you out. Consider seeing a movie or heading to an indoor shopping complex instead. Or better yet, just stay home. Read a book, do arts and craft projects, play a game, watch a DVD and make microwave popcorn, call a friend on the telephone - just stay in the AC.

7. Skip the sneakers and socks. Wear sandals or slide on shoes that you can wear without socks. And put baby powder on your feet to keep them dry and cool. If your feet are cool, it will be easier for you to cool off. I'm not sure why this is, but someone gave me this tip in high school and it works. It also works in reverse too - when it gets extremely cold this winter, put away the flip flops and put on socks.

8. Consider cool meals and snacks. Salads, ice cream, popcicles, watermelon, pineapple, cantelope - you can even stick apples in the refridgerator and they make good, cool snacks.

9. Take it slower. When the nighttime lows are above 70 degrees, it doesn't give your body or the environment time to rebound. That means that you're more prone to exhaustion and heat related problems. Your body is busy enough trying to stay cool, so what you normally do could put more strain on you than you realize. This is why the meterologists tell you to make sure you stay hydrated and to limit exercise when it gets extremely hot. I usually cut back my treadmill time and try to space out my housework more so I'm not pushing myself as hard as I usually do when it gets extremely hot. Likewise, you might want to try to get more sleep too.

10. I know you've been told this, but PLEASE bring in your pets and make sure they have plenty of cool, fresh water. If you're hot, imagine how they feel with feather/fur coats on! And animals can't sweat to cool off, so they usually have to adapt in other ways like drinking more or immercing themselves in water. Come to think of it, Chloe wasn't as disagreeable about her shower tonight as she usually is and she isn't pouting as much either ...

So there are a few more tips from a native southerner on how to adapt to the heat. Because I don't care what they say - you can't really beat it. I've tried for almost 37 years anyway and I obviously haven't won that battle or we all wouldn't be cooking these days. But I've learned to adapt, and I hope sharing some of what I've learned can help you adapt as well.

Happy Friday to you. Have a great weekend.

Bye!

A Little Bit of Everything

10/24/2011

Hi everybody; I hope you're off to a great start to the week. Remember my last entry, when I said that the truth was showing itself? Well, it happened again. Somebody that turned on me got turned on by the very person they were defending. All I can say is to pick your tirades carefully. You look like more of an igit than they do when they show themselves. It's not judging in this case. It's truth showing itself, as it always does.

I tell you, reaping and sowing is so true that it seems people would have a reverential fear of it. Granddaddy certainly respected this as a life truth, and I see why. Heck, my own experiences have taught me that lesson, and other people remind me of it all the time. If I ever forget to check myself, I only need to live for a day to be reminded.

Anyway, moving on ...

I finally started my next writing project: Improving my skills at writing short stories. It's something I've long neglected. I've known for a long time that I need to study up on writing stronger short stories, but I've always pushed it to the background to work on novels. Well, I'm ready now. I found a couple of ebooks on writing better short stories, and I did a couple of drafts of 600+ word stories that I posted to my portfolio at Writing.com for feedback. I hope this works as well as it did with the novels. I made progress with them fast - in a matter of months! We'll see.

Hopefully, my meeting schedule is letting up. In fact, Wednesday is the last meeting on my schedule until February. That doesn't mean that some won't pop up. In fact, I'm certain they will. But the degree of formality should be much less. Nothing to up the ante on the dress code at least (I hope!).

I can't believe it's almost Halloween! I know a lot of people said it was a long, hot summer, but it seemed to leave without warning. I was out watering my roses and thinking, I can't believe these will probably be my last blooms of the season. So I cut 3 of them and put them in a bud vase in the kitchen. One last taste of temperate weather. I'm sure the first freeze is probably a matter of weeks away.

You know what I believe my problem really is? It's not the season, it's displacement. Usually, Fall is a natural season of winding down, but I don't feel like winding down. I'm marketing a book, have another one on the way, and am focusing on improving in another area of writing. I usually slow down this time of year, but I just don't want to this year. Then again, the reason I did that in the past was because we went into license renewals at work around this time of year - but since they changed us to biennial license renewals, well, there are no renewals because everything is valid through 2013. Wow, that's odd! This will be my first year without license renewals since I started this job over 12 years ago. No wonder I feel like something is missing - it is! It's amazing that this one change in my job is causing so many adjustment issues. I don't need to wind down at home in preparation to gear up at work. Everything is different, but you know what? I'm not really bothered or upset by it. I see it as opportunity

Yes, life has a rhythem to it and mine's been thrown, but I'm sure I'll find a way to establish a new rhythem. I've never done much writing in the fall before last year when I participated in NaNo, so this will be carving out a new experience for me. I think I want to keep this up and see where it can go. It's refreshing, and kind of exciting!

Well, there are snippits of a little bit of everything going on in my life. I hope you're doing well. Somebody will be back later to update - and since I'm doing short stories, who knows what it will be? A character? A new draft? More in my Sidekicks to Superhereos series? Who knows? You'll have to stay tuned.

That's all tonight. Take care.

Bye!

Summer's Over Already?

9/4/2011

I cant' believe tomorrow is Labor Day and the summer will be over. Well, summer isn't "officially" over for a few more weeks - maybe a month or more based solely on the weather - but Labor Day is the end of the summer season. Wow, where did it go?

If I had to sum up this summer, I'd call it a perfect reflection of real life. There have been highs - like publishing a book, and lows - like 2 friends dying of cancer. And everything in between. It hasn't been perfect, but I honestly can't call it bad either. And I feel I must add that there were so many great movies out this summer too - the DVD's coming out this fall are going to be awesome!

I know a lot of people say it's been a long, hot summer. I'll agree with hot, but long? No. It seems we were just having our spring free thrift day at the church - but that was in mid May. It doesn't seem like over 3 months ago but it was. Time flies. Granddaddy always warned me to not wish my life away, but I suppose it's equally futile to cling to the past. Best to live in the present.

Am I ready for fall? Doesn't seem to matter - it's coming at the speed of time and it is what it is. I suppose one thing I do need to accomplish this fall is finishing up Splinter. That's the novel I was working on before the contracts for Blurry and Anywhere But Here came along. I suppose I better get that wrapped up before Anywhere But Here goes into pre-production in early 2012 if I want to submit it for publication next spring.

Well, that's my musing for the day. Enjoy your Labor Day. It's supposed to be a rainy one here, but that's ok. The summer came in with some vicious storms (and power outages at interesting times and under interesting circumstances too). I suppose it's natural it should go out that way.

Goodbye, Summer 2011! It's been real.

Random Musings

8/20/2011

Hi everybody; I hope you're having a great weekend. Today is kind of a slow going day for me, which is refreshing. It's nice to not be rushing around all day!

My wrist is feeling better, and I'm glad it healed quickly because I've had a lot of writing ideas lately. Over the past couple of weeks, I've done some flash fiction, some non-fiction, and now I have ideas for two more pieces. One will be fiction and the other is non-fiction/inspirational. I'm glad that I'm inspired to write things in different genres. One thing I don't want is to be a one-trick wonder. I like writing in a variety of genres and styles. Although fiction is my favorite, I'm pleased that my inspiration for the non-fiction work that got me started seems to be returning. I'm probably rusty in that area, but I'll brush up. I do believe it's time to make my muse evolve and to embrace both fiction and non-fiction as fully as possible!

Tomorrow is Rick's birthday, and my birthday is next Friday (August 26th). I think Rick is a bit down about getting another year older - you know, the whole magic of birthdays is kind of lost after you turn 21. But honestly, my age isn't bothering me too much. I know mid-30's bother a lot of people, and from time to time I do ask myself how the hell I got to turning 36 in a week. But by and large, I have to say that I don't feel old. Wiser, definitely, and extremely grateful for that. More life experience to draw on, which is a good thing. Wishing I looked more like I did 10 years ago but Rick still compliments me so I guess I'm still in "average" range with the looks, which isn't bad. But not old. No, I'm not feeling the mid-life crisis right now. Guess I'll have to have it later.

But I would like to take this opportunity to publiclly wish Rick a Happy Birthday tomorrow.

It hasn't been as hot lately, and I'm grateful. A lot of people are saying they're ready for summer to be over so this hot weather will pass. Yes, it's been brutally hot, but truthfully I'm not eager to see summer go. Why? What would we be wishing away. Extreme heat for what - extreme cold? No thanks. Actually, I hate the cold, so I'll cope with the heat. And as I said, it's been more seasonable lately, so it hasn't been bad. So no, I don't want to see summer go. I still like it. I like the sunshine and long days, the green plants and blue sky, and the fact that the world is still alive. And there's something almost charming about a summer storm. In fact, I believe one is brewing now. I hear wind and thunder.

Well, that's all today. Just some random musings. I hope you're having a good weekend. Take care. More later.

Bye!

The "WOW!" Factor

6/4/2011

I am hoping that the "wow" factor is coming back into my life. After a year and a half of not finding it anywhere but in writing my own novels, it seems to be making a return. Bless it, and I hope it stays. It seems that the older I get, the harder it gets to, for lack of a better term, knock my socks off. I don't know if it's because I've been stressed out with so much change in my life lately, if life itself has jaded me into just not caring as much, or if the effort hasn't been put in by others to produce outstanding efforts.

I will admit that I have just started reading and watching new movies again, after quite a long hiatus. In fact, I've been to the movies three times in as many weeks, which must be a new record for me. "Thor" was the first movie that I saw since "The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian." The reason for this is simple: Going to the movies is kind of expensive, so if I'm going to spend that money to sit in the same place for 2-3 hours, then it better captivate me. And you know me - I'm a plot junkie that loves movies that spend a ridiculous amount of money on special effects. "Thor" certainly met that criteria, and today we saw "X-Men: First Class." All I can say is that between the 2 movies, my eyes nearly popped out from all the outstanding effects - and they had great story lines too. They definitely had the wow factor going, and it was great to see it again. I'm glad to see more will be coming in the way of "The Green Lantern" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." The summer of superheros is what I've heard it called, and it's right - but that's alright with me. I love this stuff.

I'll tell you what else is alright with me: I'm writing again! That's why I haven't blogged here in a while. I've been working on a short story, 2 flash fiction pieces, and yesterday I had an idea for another short story. One very common theme that seems to be running through them all is transitions - especially in the sense of endings and new beginnings. That's understandable, considering the events in my life over the past year. It concerned me a bit, but I decided to just roll with it and see if there are ways to package it differently in each piece. Why not? I've always written what was in me before, so why try to push myself to something I'm not feeling now? Reality inspires fiction, and frankly it's good to work on short stories after over 18 months of working on novels. Don't get me wrong; I love writing novels, but it's good to do something different every now and then. Novels are so intensive, and short stories are great because you can do a burst of work here and there and have something great.

So I have the "wow" factor going in entertainment and writing now, and I'm glad for it. Let's keep that train running for as long as we can! Now if only I could find more time to read. Well, as hot as it's getting outside already, I suspect I'll be doing more reading this summer since it's way to hot to be outside!

That's all for this time. I hope your summer is off to a great start. So far, I have to say I'm pretty happy with where this one is going. I pray it stays on this great track.

Bye!

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