Tag: moving

Weekly Roundup – What a Summer!

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

I cannot express, in polite words, how relieved I am to see the end of summer. Hot weather, work hassles, financial woes, writing issues – yikes! It’s time to put it all behind me and focus on what promises to be an interesting fall. I welcome the cooler weather, despite being hay-fever season, as my personal life and writing enter a different phase.

I’m moving again. Yes, you heard me correctly. In about five weeks I’m relocating to another part of the metro area. I was able to secure an apartment which not only offers more amenities for less, but is closer to my jobs and my son. This move will be well worth the hassle, as it should improve my living situation, reduce commute times, and make it easier to see my grandson.

I got a second job. What? Yep, I’ve taken on a Saturday job cleaning offices to help sort out my finances. Last weekend was my first solo appearance and it just about killed me! Cleaning sounds easy, but my body reminded me of all the muscles I hadn’t been using. Aside from aching head to foot and being bone tired, I slept poorly two nights in a row. Reporting for work on Monday looked iffy at best, but thanks to pain medication I made it. Hopefully I’ll get used to the new routine quickly and be able to enjoy at least a little of my weekends in the future. More important, the extra money will relieve some financial pressure and provide much-needed breathing room.

Given the above, it’s no surprise my writing has taken a hit. I don’t expect much to change until after the move, but a lot depends on how much overtime is required at my full time job. It will be a challenge just to produce a weekly post, let alone anything else. I’m going to focus on completing the Rise of the Draman series, including a very thorough edit & polish. The tentative goal is to have it finished by December, and if I have the funds, publish the stories as one volume. Anything else I might have time for is simply gravy.

Things are a bit crazy right now, and certainly not what I wanted, but I know the sacrifices will be worth it in the end. Margo Channing knew what she was talking about when she said, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Weekly Roundup 11-7-18 Ten Unusual Things About Me

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

Today I’m responding to an unofficial tag from H.R.R Gorman, who published a list of unusual things about himself. Check out his blog – he always has interesting things to say! Anyway, the challenge sounded like fun, so I’m going to give it a go.

  1. I come from a family of eleven children. This was something my parents planned right from the beginning, and if my mother hadn’t miscarried once, they would have had twelve. I have eight sisters and two bothers and am number nine in the lineup. OK, enough math.
  2. I really hate getting lost while driving, as in stressed out worried I will never find my way back to civilization. It’s even worse if I’m running late, the weather is bad, or I’m in a strange city. If you’re ever riding with me when this happens, you may hear some colorful words!
  3. Not sure what the percentages are, but I never had my tonsils or appendix removed. Sad to say, this is not true of my perfectly healthy gall bladder which was mistakenly yanked from my insensate body at the hands of an HMO physician (don’t get me started!).
  4. I learned to drive on a Ford Pinto, a stick-shift gas-saver without any amenities which my father purchased new and kept running well beyond its normal lifetime.
  5. Since leaving home for college, I have moved a total of thirty times. Yes, I’m getting too old for this, and no, it won’t be the last.
  6. As far as I know, I have only wet the bed once. I was nine years old, and my family was vacationing in Minnesota. On the very last morning, I did the deed thinking no one would notice – including my older brother who shared the bed with me. You must understand; we were staying in a cabin by the lake where it was pitch black at night and a family of skunks was living under the outhouse. There was NO WAY my nine year old scared of the dark (and woodsy creatures) self was going to venture out to pee! I certainly didn’t get any sympathy from my mother, who was forced to delay the trip home while she dashed to the laundromat in town to wash the sheets.
  7. I have a master’s degree which I used for less than a year and will never need again. Yeah, I would definitely do some things differently if I could go back in time.
  8. At one time, I was serious about becoming an actor or a singer. Later came the nature photography phase, followed by the current author career track. Hey, at least my recent choices are a bit more exciting than the mailman or garbage man I wanted to be when I was kid!
  9. People who are afraid of heights normally stay away from them, yet I still enjoy riding roller coasters. The worst part is the slow clink-clink-clink up the long hill to the top. Once you drop over the edge, the certainty of plunging to a gory death outweighs the mere fear of heights. Go figure…
  10. I feel lost with out access to a clock. I not only wear a wrist watch but have clocks in every room of the house. I think it’s part of a need to feel in control of my day and avoid being late. Perhaps I should have been a horologist.

And there you have it -all my weirdness in one list! Well, the list probably could have been longer, but I don’t know you well enough to reveal anything else.

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I wish I could report some progress on Traitor’s Moon, but I’ve been swamped with work and getting settled in my new apartment. Except for wall art, I’m almost done unpacking boxes and finding new homes for things. While I like my kitchen, its layout is opposite of the last one, and I find myself turning in circles trying to find things which used to be next to the stove but are now on the other side of the fridge. Light switches also have me goofed up, and if it weren’t for strategically placed nightlights, I would be slamming into walls in the middle of the night.

I dearly miss writing, and my poor book cries out for me to finish it! Now that I’m getting used to my work schedule and the move-in is almost complete, I should be able to make some progress. My goal is to start again tomorrow, or as soon as I can get caught up on changing addresses and paying bills. Tune in next week to see what happens!

Weekly Roundup 10-03-18 What’s the rush?

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

This ever happen to you? The book you are reading has been enjoyable from the start, but as you get close to the end things begin to change. The pace of the action picks up considerably while the characters begin speaking and acting strangely. Suddenly, the book is brought to a whirlwind conclusion and you’re staring at “The End”, wondering how you got there.

I’ve encountered this phenomenon many times and it’s always a shame. For whatever reason, the author enters a race to finish the book as soon as possible – and it shows. Perhaps they were tired of living with the characters and simply wanted OUT. It may be their editor slapped them with an impossible-to-meet deadline, or maybe the author simply got lazy and declined to put as much thought and care into the end of the book as they should.

As a result, the readers are left disappointed, having been cheated out of the carefully crafted ending they deserved. How unfair! I didn’t pay for the “lite” version of the book, and you better believe my displeasure will show up in the review. What happened to pride in a job well done? Did the author truly believe no one would notice?

If nothing else, incidents like this remind me of my responsibilities as an author. Readers deserve my best effort from start to finish, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because I want them to keep reading my books into the future. As my father used to say, “If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all.”

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I have missed you the last couple of weeks! The move went as planned, almost, and I’m as settled as I can be. The idea was to find a place to live while I was here for my son’s wedding, but instead I’m camped out in his living room. By the way, the wedding was lovely and a good time was had by all! It was great to see some of my family in attendance, and I enjoyed being together with both my boys for the first time since 2011.

Anyway, as it turns out the rents here are high and there are few units available – I simply couldn’t find anything before I had to return and pack up the truck. My stuff is all tucked away in a storage unit for now, and I am busy searching for a job. Once I secure employment, I’ll begin the search for an apartment. I’m getting too old for this nonsense!

Needless to say, my writing has taken a back seat, and I am eager to resume working on Traitor’s Moon. I actually did get a little bit done on Chapter nine, but nothing significant to report. Hopefully, by next week I will have a job and will have made some progress on the manuscript. As I said, hopefully…

Weekly Roundup 9-12-18

Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!

Grandparents Day was Monday September 10th, and this year turned out to be super special. While I already have two granddaughters, my grandson was born on Monday – nine days late! I certainly appreciate my daughter-in-law’s sacrifice in waiting to give birth just to make the day even more magical for Grandpa!! Don’t know when I will get to see the little guy, since he’s all the way out on the east coast and I’m getting ready to move.

It’s crunch time now. Yesterday was my last day of work, and I have a few days to finish packing and cleaning before traveling to my younger son’s wedding. After that, I return here, pack up the truck and head back out again, arriving on the 28th. I’ve moved MANY times before, but this one is proving to be a bit more complicated than I would like. I don’t relish the thought of doing it all by myself, but there is no one available to go with me. I’m grateful for friends here who are helping me prepare and pack the truck for an eight-hundred-mile trip.

The farthest move happened many years ago when I went off to attend graduate school. The journey was eighteen-hundred miles and took over twenty-seven hours across mountains and two time zones. Two years later, I turned around and did it again. No way in the world I would try it now, and most certainly not by myself! Looking back, I have moved at least thirty times since graduating from high school. I’d like to think this month’s relocation will be my last, but I know it won’t be. Maybe someday I’ll be able to afford a house and put down some roots.

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Traitor’s Moon: chapter eight is complete and initial feedback was very positive! There was a lot riding on this pivotal chapter which included action, danger, drama, and the set-up for relationships in the second half of the book. You’re going to love it! Word count stands at 64,000+.

I was pleased to get it done, as I have to set aside my writing until I get moved and settled. It bugs me not being able to continue – I feel as though I am shirking my duty! I’ll try to keep you informed during the next couple of weeks, but don’t be surprised if I have to skip a Roundup or two.