New Book in the works

Some years ago, my writing partner, Cyd, and I wrote a screenplay called Reality Check. It got to the quarter-finals at Austin twice, and a couple of prodcos showed some interest, but nobody bought it. So it sat.

It's a good story. We always like it. Post-apocalyptic science fiction action/adventure. No aliens or space ships, just future technology in a devastated world.

So we decided to rewrite as a novel. We've been working for over a month now and today we'll finish the first draft. And we like it. We hope to have it done before the end of the year and cross your fingers for us that we find a publisher. Lulu is a last resort for this one.

Book published, painting done etc.

Driftwood is done and published. It's on amazon, like At The Lake is, but all four of my books are on lulu.com. Check them out.

I did my first oil painting a few weeks ago. It's positively awful. Like a five year old did a paint by numbers blindfolded. But I learned a lot about mixing colors and brush techniques and stuff, so the next one might not be so embarrassing.

Betsy has reached a plateau in her recovery. No better or worse than before. But still a happy girl.

The next book is percolating.

Two weeks with a horrible head cold and I've gotten absolutely nothing creative done. Aargh. Sick sucks.

Spring. I need it to be spring soon. Sunshine. Flowers. Blue skies. Spring.

Still crazy...

And still not done with the latest book, the one with the short stories and poems. I've changed the title to Driftwood, Afloat On An Ocean Of Eclectica. I found some old stories I had written, typed way back before computers. I need to scan them, rewrite them and get them into the book. Then I'll be done.

In the meantime, Betsy is nearly recovered. As well as she's going to be anyway. She clumps around and is pretty clumsy, but she's happy as hell to be able to walk and run. We're happy too.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

From the left, my Bob, my cousin Beth, her husband Fred, and me. And in the foreground, Molly and Betsy. Christmas dinner, 2006. It was quite a year. We finally moved into our house. We got our two dogs. Bob had a couple of good gigs on the east coast. I published my books and am nearly done with the next one, the book of short stories.

And, sadly, I lost my Dad this year. He was the sweetest, nicest guy on the planet and his sudden passing was devastating. It was back in April and I still miss him so much.

I'm really looking forward to '07. I still have much I want to write, and now I'm getting back into sketching and painting. I like impressionism so I might try my hand at that, particularly with those gorgeous mountains right outside our back door.

I wish all of you a wonderful 2007, too.

Holiday Greetings

Betsy is doing so much better. She's still pretty uncoordinated, but she can walk and almost run. She's the one in the back. Molly, her mom, is in the foreground. The Christmas decorations are faux, applied to the photo at pikipimp.com. I don't dress up my dogs in clothes. But CGI is okay for Christmas.

I promised myself I'd finish the latest short story by Christmas. I got close, but then I thought it might work to extend it quite a bit more. I like the characters and I think I can continue with their adventures. Something to think about.

Happy Holidays!

Doggie news

On Halloween morning, it was a Tuesday, our two dogs got out of our fenced yard by digging under it. One of them got hit by a car. It was bad. At first she was paralyzed from the neck down.

No broken bones, but swelling around the spinal cord and possible nerve damage. She was in the hospital two and a half weeks (quite a vet bill!) and is now recuperating at home.

She's on Prednisone, a corticosteroid. She's improving but it's slow going. She has a lot of spirit though, and we hope for a full recovery at some point, although we know it could be months and months.

Needless to say (funny how we say that before we feel the need to say something anyway) I haven't done a hell of a lot of writing. I did some work on that short story that I've been stuck on since forever. And I started my autobiography. Actually, not the full story of my life, and it'll be published under a pen name with names changed so that I can tell the juicy details. I'm having fun with that one.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, folks.

And a Happy New Year!

The Prodigal Returns

The Prodigal Returns

About a month and a half ago, we adopted two adult dogs, older dogs, both females. Molly is around six or seven and is the mother, and Betsy is three and is her daughter. They're both mutts and absolutely beautiful. Large dogs, gentle, wonderful. So most of my time has been spent with them. It's like having a couple of two year olds around the house! So rambunctious and playful. So fun. We just love them like crazy.

So I haven't done much writing on the Green Wool book. I do have plans for it though and I think I'll soon be back at work on it.

At The Lake is selling slowly on amazon. My efforts at publicizing aren't doing much good yet. Hopefully, word of mouth will help. So far, everyone loves it.

Winter is coming. We had our first bit of rain today here in the desert. Just a sprinkle. And it's pretty cold out there. Around sixty. Brrrrrr. I've got a space heater running here in my office.

Holidays are coming. I've already started my Christmas shopping. It's not even Halloween yet. lol. Hooray for online shopping.

I'll try to post more often for the three of you who might have stumbled across this blog. ttfn.

Another Sunday

Another Sunday

I don't know why but this week I decided to try my hand and mind at writing haiku. I've done three and quite like them so I'm going to do two more and include them in Green Wool.

I didn't hear back from any of the newspapers so my press releases might have gone into the circular file. Oh well.

But sales are going nicely on amazon. I've sold a dozen or two so far. And there are reviews on amazon and b&n besides Jeff Cohen's. They seem to really like the book. Hey, I'll never get rich on this thing but that's okay. I just want people to enjoy it, maybe get something out of it.

Happy Sunday, folks.

Press Releases

Press Releases

I'll be sending press releases via email and fax today to our local newspapers, one of which is an eight page weekly (one of the reasons I love living out here.) I hope some of them will run the story, or better still, call me for more info. Wish me luck.

Got Distribution

Got Distribution

Thrilled to report that my novel, At The Lake, is available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. And author Jeff Cohen gave it a very positive review on amazon. Very cool.

Passing

Passing

Right after returning from Vegas, my dear friend Lois got a call that her father had passed away. Needless to say, the next couple of weeks were intense. But at our ages, we know we'll be losing those near and dear to us. Among my friends, very few have parents still living. We're a bunch of middle-aged orphans.

I finished that difficult short story yesterday. Got misty as I typed the last sentence. It was a hard one to write, and emotional (because of the content.) I'm glad it's done. The next one will be humorous, if I have any talent in that direction. I'll find out soon enough.