Happy Wednesday

I’ve been slacking off on the blog, because I’ve been doing a lot of things that don’t relate to the author’s life. When I do, they aren’t the sexy things. One of the things I’ve always done is share this life – warts and all, so that’s what today is about.

I spent the last week in a trade conference for my paycheck job. There weren’t a lot of extra hours available. Next week, I’m going to Texas for a conference that is more directly related to what I do. All part of the job.

This week was my week to catch up… except… we scheduled job interviews. This is because all of us on the interview team have been in and out for a month. The other two members are tied up for the next two weeks.

There is an outside chance that I can make some real progress on Friday, so I have my fingers crossed.

On the writing front, this was my flex day, and I spent it working on the stuff nobody ever talks about. It’s part of the writing life, and it has to get done too.

I wrote a post for Story Empire that will go live next week. I also assembled and scheduled a Lisa Burton Radio interview. I mention this, because this stuff takes time. It has value, so I forge ahead. It has value to me, and it helps other authors too. If you haven’t checked out Story Empire, you might want to cruise over. There is a wealth of information authors can take advantage of.

I dedicated a big part of this morning to finishing up a book I’ve been reading. I fiddled around with this for far too long, and I needed to finish it. I even resorted to reading one chapter on my 30 minute lunch breaks. At least I got four chapters per week that way. It was a wonderful story, and I gave the author a five star review on three different sites.

Time. It’s all about time, which seems to be in short supply these days.

I like to read on airplanes, but I like to find things I don’t necessarily have to finish. This time, I have a couple of craft books saved that I might dive into. Other flight, I’ve chosen short story collections, or even novellae, because I can finish them. (I made that word up, but novellae seems like it should be right.)

On Tuesday, I got another Lisa Burton poster via email. (It looks really cool too.) That means I have the Lanternfish cover, plus two promotional posters. I ordered the last one, and it looks like I’ll be able to meet my winter publication deadline pretty easily.

To round out my day off, I worked through nine chapters of Lanternfish. I found a few things to correct, even though this is about my third pass. Good news is that I’m really enjoying the story still. I think that bodes well for my future readers.

I nearly wrote that I worked through nine innings of my book. Can you tell I’ve been watching the baseball playoffs? I don’t have a dog in this fight, but the games have been very good. (I’m not cheering for any specific team, but I’m glad the National League will go back to Front Row Amy’s ballpark.) There’s one on right now, and I’d better get back to it.

What do you do?

I’ve been pretty quiet here this week. Things are going on at my paycheck job that have kept me hopping. It’s convention season, and I’ve had to cover the office while others are absent. We’ve all been tied up at one this week, but at least it’s in Boise. I’ll be heading to Texas soon for my own convention, followed by another week of covering for others.

This is how real life works sometimes. I try to keep the blog updated regularly, but might have let it slip this week. I have my Macabre Macaroni tales on Tuesdays this month, and I usually have Lisa Burton Radio. There has been a drop in authors wanting interviews, and honestly, I needed some of that time. There are two in the works right now, so we will likely have a couple of interviews over the next few weeks to help keep some original content here. Lisa needs guests, so if you could use a bit of free promotion, drop me a line.

On top of it all, I will have company at my house before I get out of the convention tonight. I’m looking forward to the visit, so it isn’t a burden or anything.

New fiction slides at times like this too. I have some editing to deal with, but might not be able to get serious about it until November. Since there is nothing I can do about it, there’s no sense in dwelling on it.

This is the kind of stuff you never seem to get on other author sites. We would like you to believe it’s all robot girls, and rocket packs, but that isn’t realistic. Authors have to deal with real life too.

I have a draft underway, and might not get to revisit it until November. I’ve always filled in the cracks with writing related projects, but there aren’t many cracks right now. About all I can manage is to read a few blogs before work, and tweet those out to help the bloggers out. I’ll get back in the swing of things, I always do.

What do you guys do about the real life stuff? Do you wring your hands and gnash your teeth, or just go with the flow? I’m learning to go with the flow. It’s about time for me to clock in, and I hope to deal with comments later this evening.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Home cookin, and my own bed

My work trip is over. I’m really looking forward to some home cooking and sleeping in my own bed.

The work part was productive, even if it was a bit of hard work. McCall is a pretty nice place, and it isn’t too far from Boise. It’s a resortish area. It isn’t quite like Sun Valley, or Jackson Hole, but it’s getting there.

This is an iPhone shot out the window of the restaurant we ate at last night to give you an idea.

Speaking of the restaurant, how could I pass this up…honestly?

As the author of The Yak Guy Project, I felt obligated to try them. They were good, but very lean. Reminded me a bit of range beef, if anyone knows what I’m talking about. This is beef that never went to a feedlot to get fattened up before going to the slaughter house. Growing up out West, range beef is kind of a staple. You can always buy directly from the rancher, say a 1/2 beef at a time.

Home cooking amounted to a scrambled egg sandwich. Meh, can’t have everything. Old What’s Her Face didn’t know when I was coming home, and I respect not wanting to prepare something fancy if I wouldn’t be home in time. I honestly didn’t know when I would get home. I was at the mercy of the group.

I’m off for the next three days, and hope to accomplish a couple of things. I need to work on some interviews, and I’d like to move my pirate story along too. I’ll have prime writing time, because my daughter is already in Sun Valley, and my wife has to work.

I already know I’m going to have to force things on the pirate story. In real world time, they are holed up doing repairs that will take a long time. In story time, I’m going to have it take a month, but that’s speeding things up. My mission is to deliver the concept of time to my readers, and divert their attention with a side trip for two characters. This is because I want to expand them a bit, make what is really going on be a surprise when it’s revealed, and maybe even dabble in a tiny bit of romance on a tropical island.

I can keep some tension by having the best friend complain that the main mission seems to be getting lost. Spread a bit of dissent, that kind of thing.

Piece of cake, right?

I probably missed some things while I was gone. I’ll browse pretty fast in an attempt to catch up, but I’m almost certain to not read every bit of what I’m trying to catch up on. Hope you guys understand.

Trying to get something done

I’ve had a lot of time to myself, but not a ton of motivation. That isn’t quite right either, I desired to work on some writing related projects, I just didn’t feel like it. Today seemed like a day to accomplish a bit more.

My daughter happened to be home again today. This means she talks my ear off. I’m pretty patient about such things, because I know there will come a time when she has better things to do. For the last three days, I’ve learned how to load a pit on an airplane, how bags get broken by falling off the conveyor belt, how some people try to sneak pets on the plane without paying for them, etc. Today I learned all about the color wheel and how to apply eye makeup. At some point my ears started to get tired.

After my makeup tutorial, I told her I needed some quiet time to get some things done. She decided today was a good time to run some errands downtown. It feels kind of mean, but she is an adult and I need my time too.

My partner and I went to work on projects.

I opened my art program and did what I could to decorate for Christmas on my blog. Could be better, could be worse. It was time to retire the time machines and move ahead. It may seem like a tiny effort, but I’m counting updating the site as an accomplishment.

My app added some cool new brushes to the mix. Now it does things like add falling snow with one swipe. There is even one for a corrugated tin wall. Don’t know how I’ll use those just yet, but they’re cool.

I finished up a small guest post I committed to and sent it off. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but it’s all delivered.

I lengthened my manuscript out to the end of a short chapter one. Two thirds of my characters are on the page, they have a problem, and a dream for the future. What they don’t have is personality. The damned thing reads like deadpan facts. I need to work on it, and have a few physical hand brushes and such that can add something to their relationship. Rather than just grabbing a quick bite before they head for the shelter they could feed each other. Little flourishes, but I’ll work on it.

Chapter one ends with a scream, and chapter two will introduce my antagonist. (There are only three characters in the story, plus a few news reports and such.)

I’m going to claim daily blog updates as an accomplishment too.

I fiddled around with Pinterest, which is a great time waster. One of my folders is called Loose Collections, and it’s getting too big. There are some things I can break into their own folders, and should do that. I have a lot of classic cars, some pinup art, that kind of thing. I also need to revisit the board for Estivation. I’m writing it now, so there some inspiration and a few reminders are stored there. Moving things around is kind of a pain from what I can tell. First I have to make the new board, then re-pin everything I want in it, then delete the pin from Loose Collections. They really need a way to mass select and move the pins.

On the spinal front, I managed a tiny pop yesterday, and it felt a bit better. The pain has virtually gone from my left leg. I started waddling up and down the sidewalk out front. Just short stretches, multiple times. I feel like I need to move around.

Yesterday I was limping on two legs, today it’s just one. I didn’t feel like I was getting a full stride, if that makes any sense. I leaned against a post, and just swung my leg. It may have looked like a kick, but it was more of a dead-weight type thing. My back popped again. I felt even better.

Everything is improving at the speed of a glacier, but it is improving. I’m determined to go into the office tomorrow. It all depends on how hard it is to get out of bed, and get socks on my feet. I’ve been sleeping in a chair, and I’m trying the bed again tonight.

I already told my boss I would try. I also told her I might not last all day. That all depends upon how my desk chair treats me. It’s pretty hard, but it’s uber adjustable too. She has no problem with me staying home, but I’m dedicated.

I could write a country song

I could write a country song called “Vending Machine Imodium.” The only problem is there isn’t a poetic bone in my body. I may have to put the touch on Marissa Bergen to write it for me. I know she has the chops for such a song.

My paycheck job sent me to beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho yesterday. Somewhere along the way, I wound up with whatever plague Old What’s Her Face had earlier this week. I’ve got to stop sleeping with her.

My group was booked on a tour of the lake last night, and dinner in a nice restaurant. I skipped the tour and opted to put on all my clothes, crank up the heat, and crawl in bed. They saw some bald eagles along the shore too, so I missed out. I stayed in bed until I stopped shivering.

I met them at the restaurant, and there were eagles about half a mile off-shore circling. Not much of a view, and I don’t feel like they brought me much luck. If I get through this presentation without a foul of some kind, I’ll change my mind.

I’m writing this in my room, before I get dressed. No sense adding a layer between me and the toilet. Since I’m bringing fellow bloggers into this one, I’ll note for Victo Dolore that bad things do actually happen in hotel rooms. Wear a hazmat suit. (It wasn’t me, probably the previous guest. Yeah, I’m pretty sure.)

I’m being paged, so I may have to finish this after I get home. That will give Lisa’s advice column a bit more time in the spotlight.

***

It’s now 8:30 PM. Our flight got delayed multiple times, and I haven’t eaten in about 36 hours. Back to my country song.

There would have to be a verse about straightening your dollar bills, feeding them into the machine, and watching the spring shaped thingie spin around. Then the product drops.

Check that photo. It wants me to compare this to Imodium. They have to know that nobody will ever do this. I bought it in a hotel vending machine. If I had Imodium in my other hand, I would have bought Imodium. They get to posture as to how big a favor they’re doing me, but there is zero risk that I will compare before buying their product.

The dosage says to take two at the outset of problems. Then you take one every time you:

The box only has four pills, and I took them all in about 30 minutes. The only thing that stopped the flow was running out of material. This is why I stopped eating. Maybe another verse about the expiration date. These things could have been stuck in that vending machine in the 20th century.

I braved a cup of coffee this morning, but it didn’t settle well. Fortunately, I was able to score a cup of English Breakfast Tea, and that seemed to be fine.

My crowd has been trying to force food on me all day long. I’ve been offered a sandwich, soup, and several other things. I’m not interested, folks!

I had to ride in a twelve passenger van for over an hour. I am the driver, but had to bow out for the trip home. I wound up with double vision before we left, and while death would have been okay for me (preferable even today), I didn’t want to inflict it upon my co-workers. We went into downtown Spokane for over two hours. While everyone else walked around, I protected the van. I know what the risk involves, and was unwilling to take it.

Now I have an hour at the airport, before taking a one hour flight. I swear I’ll eat something when I get home, where I feel safe, and can run for the toilet if things don’t work out well. Where nobody can get disgusted if things don’t work out well. Except for my wife, who will take great glee in watching someone else suffer after the week she just had.

Sunday update

I was pretty worthless today. I have some regular events, like calling my parents, that I do every week. I accomplished that much.

The fact is, I didn't even try. Some days you just need to take a day off. I work a full time job, then I hit things hard on the weekends. I limited myself to a little bit of blog work, like assembling the next Lisa Burton Radio, and that's it. I also scheduled my next Story Empire post about Flipboard.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm recording The Walking Dead. In the interest of preserving my marriage, we are watching the Grammys. Which marketing genius on either side made sure both shows competed with each other?

In other news, Larissa Takahasi followed me again today. Maybe she'll actually say hi one day.

Things have gotten busy at the paycheck job lately. I have some presentions to make in the next few weeks, and one of them could be to over a hundred people. I'm ready for them, but I have to write the material for another one due in May. I suppose, just because I'm not writing fiction, doesn't mean I'm not writing.

Looking forward to completing the drafts of The Yak Guy Project, and The Enhanced League. They're both very close, but I'm not going to force either of them.

So it's back to the paycheck job for me. My floating day off is Wednesday, and those are usually pretty productive. I still might not finish anything, but I'll bet I get closer.