Category Archives: Blog Post
A long day, and a long video
Dan and I suffered through many technical difficulties to record this. Once his KickStarter campaign ends and he is comfortable with time, we may do this on a biweekly basis, perhaps moving to weekly. We won’t talk about the craft of writing, but instead, the books that inspire us to read.
I need to get some sleep.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
More free ebooks? What?
Hey Gang!
First, I’m still crazzzzy busy getting the contents of ever ebook and print book updated and out there. It’s a tedious process and I’m working through it. I’ve gotten everything updated that isn’t part of the V&A Universe.
As for the V&A Universe, there are currently 6 books available and the 7th is on its way soon enough. What I’m doing is to aid readers to follow the reading order across all the series. It begins with Stowaway: V&A Shipping Book 1. But if you don’t read each series in the Universe, you’ll miss that Orphan: Giant Robot Planetary Competition Book 1 is the next one to read. There’s no harm in reading Hollow: V&A Shipping Book 2 next. Both are separate stories. Yet there are threads that run through each, building into a bigger tapestry.
For that reason, I’m adding a note to the reader inside each print book to gently point to the next book in the reading order. For those getting the ebook editions, I’ll have the first 4 chapters of the next book in the series included. This will help the reader decide if they wish to read in the author’s preferred order, or go at it on their own. Neither way is wrong.
That said, it’s a LOT of work. I’ve done a ton of uploading and editing over the past couple of days. I’m in the home stretch and I hope to have it completed this evening.
Also, September 28th, many of my books will no longer be part of Kindle Unlimited. It’s time for my distribution of these titles to go wide! If you wish to read them in KU, now is the time. If you would like to pick up some free ebooks, the Supernatural Learning Series will be free this week. Astel and Billy Barbarian will be free next week. The sale of Paradise Palms didn’t go as intended, so I’m not too concerned with it getting pulled from KU to find other markets.
Here’s the link to My Teacher is a Zombie. From there, you can find the others in the collection. Happy Reading!
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Head down, doing some work.
Hey gang.
Short post this evening. I’ve got my head down reformatting all my ebooks and print books. For reasons.
The main reason is that on Sept 28th, all my KUs will expire on my main books. Everything except the V&A Universe of Space Opera book will go wide. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while. While I was in there checking the formatting of the ebooks and preparing for getting those distributed everywhere, I noticed I needed to redo the print versions of many of those same books.
And I ran into formatting issues with Scrivener 3. <grumble>
After a longer-than-it-should-have-been learning curve, I’ve for everything down and I’m getting ALL those files exported and ready to upload. Obviously this is a trial-and-error thing with the print versions. Once I’m confident they all look good, I’ll begin the mass uploading.
I’ve learned a lot this weekend. It was difficult and frustrating. It’s also all part of doing this all on your own.
I’ve off to get as much done before I head off to bed.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Some authors are awesome.
I’ve met many authors over the years. Most of them are great. Some have disappeared over the years. Others, well, let’s not speak ill of the others.
I posted some time ago on my YouTube channel about the time I met Neil Gaiman. It was a great meeting and I’d gotten a couple of things signed by him. It was a good time.
I’ve also had many books signed by authors I’m close, personal friends with.
Then there’s another category of author I’ve met, they’re friendly, and I support them either by buying their books, following them on Social Media, or I may even support them on Patreon. One author I support there is Tobias Buckell. If you enjoy short fiction, he puts out a short story a month over there and it’s well worth your support.
I’d met Tobias at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego in 2016 when his book, Arctic Rising came out. I’d enjoyed his Crystal Rain series and figured I’d go meet him, buy his new book, and get a few seconds to say hello. He may not remember me, but I do remember him.
Now, I’d never met Tobias before. I’d never seen a picture of him before. I didn’t know who he was. When I got to the store, as I do, I bought a copy of the book. At the register was a many in the floppy had talking with the person behind the register. They stopped talking. I said I was there to see Tobias and I’d like to buy his book to show my support. The man in the floppy hat said “He really likes it when people buy his books.”
I didn’t know who this person was and didn’t respond. I can be awkward in situations like this when someone is making a joke. I looked at the person trying to ascertain his intent. Decided not to respond. Bought the book and went and took a seat in the store.
It wasn’t until Tobias came to stand in front of the crowd to talk that I realized it was the person in the floppy hat. I’d missed an opportunity to speak personally for more than one minute, with Tobias. When you get something signed, you rarely get more than a few seconds or a minute as they’re there to meet as many people as possible and you don’t want to hold up the line. I took a moment to apologize for not recognizing him at the door and he took it well. We joked, he signed my book. I went home happy.
Fast forward a few years.
When we rearranged the living room the last time, I put several of my autographed books on a shelf in the living room. I’m proud to own those books and having met those authors. Why not put them out instead of putting them into a box in the garage? I’m not collecting these to hide away. Right?
When we took our trip to Florida, Hijo (My Favorite Daughter’s boy) house sat for us. He brought over his puppy, Mya. A Heeler, Sheppard mix. Koda was also here. Koda sleeps when no one is in the house. Mya? She’s on the move 90% of the time. Even at night. She’s inside. She’s outside. She’s getting into trouble. When Hijo was in the house, all was well.
I think you know where this is going.
Mya got herself into trouble a few times when Hijo had to go to work. One time she tore up a small section of carpet. Another time she ate the welcome mat at the back door. One time she took a few books off the shelf and proceeded to reduce them to far smaller sections.
One of those titles was Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell.
Now, I don’t monitor that shelf with any regularity. It did seem there was something missing from that shelf, but we’d rearranged recently and I figured I was missing something. Hijo felt TERRIBLE for signed books getting destroyed and, though he’d told us about all the other mishaps Mya had, he didn’t say anything about the books.
Hijo reached out to the authors to let them know what happened and ask if there was any way he could purchase a replacement copy and have it autographed. Two of the authors I follow on Social Media, but they’ve disappeared some time ago. Another was Neil Gaiman and I doubt a reply will be forthcoming. The last author, if you haven’t guessed, was Tobias Buckell.
One author replied and sent along a signed copy. Hijo had taken a picture of the signature and note in the book, and Tobias signed with the same note.
Thank you Tobias!
Mishaps happen. I’m not angry this happened. I wasn’t angry when a week after we returned, Mya went back to that same shelf and tore the dust jackets off 4 of my GFL novels by Scott Sigler (which Scott and A have generously said they will replace for me. Another awesome author you should be following). Since this happened and given that we’ve a new puppy in the house, we’ve moved things to where the dogs can’t get to them. Though I’m not upset, I’d prefer it not happen again.
Again, Tobias, thank you so much for replacing the book for me. As I said above, you might not remember me, but I do remember you. I wish I’d taken your joke better and spent a few minutes to get to know you. Hopefully there will be another time.
Boy it’s been a week.
Ever have one of those weeks where it felt like 2 or 3 weeks passed and you wonder how you got everything done that you did? Yeah. That’s how this week felt.
Work is busier than ever. It ebbs and flows like that. This week just happened to be a busier than normal week. Part of that was due to an outage we worked yesterday. I was woken up at 6am by a text message. Got online, and worked past 6pm my time. I still got in my workout and watched Big Brother with the Mrs, but wow was yesterday a LONG day.
Today was another wonky day. We have something at work called No Meetings Fridays. Yeah. It happens. Sometimes. Today wasn’t one of those days. Lots of little items kept popping up and I kept dealing with them. Given the nature of my work dealing with Cybersecurity in a major telecom, I can’t talk about what I do or what I did this week, but suffice to say, it was a busy day and a busier than normal week.
Pile on top of that, I’ve been running a sale on Paradise Palms that, because I haven’t been able to put too much effort into it, I haven’t sold a single copy. Please, if you’re not interested, don’t buy a copy just because I said that. It’s an older book, it sold well in the past. I figured some might like it for a buck. I really don’t mind if it sells 0 copies this week. It’s not like it’s sold any in the past couple of years.
But this gave me a thought. I think, for certain titles, I need to start expanding out. Paradise Palms will likely be the first title I go wide with. Really go wide. See what happens. I’ll need to work on the description, but that’s an easy fix. Given that I’ve got the latest epub version ready to go, I shouldn’t have an issue getting it dropped everywhere.
Why am I not doing all my titles at once? Simple, I’m still figuring out my strategy here. I very well may do that. V&A Shipping is Space Opera which, normally, does well in Kindle Unlimited. So, for now, I want to leave that there. As for other titles, like Golden West, I very well may go wide with that one as well. And Supernatural Learning. I don’t see a benefit staying locked into Amazon with those titles at the moment.
Again, still learning here. Feel free to argue with me in the comments about my decision either way.
I’m also contemplating bringing back 5-a-Day-With-Jay. It’ll be a shorter show with one long episode per week. I’ll try to have a punchier topic daily and move on from there.
I spoke with a good friend of mine today. See Yesterday’s post for his KickStarter campaign. We’re thinking about having a weekly, or bi-weekly book talk. We spent a few minutes talking about books each of us have read and that prompted the other to go “Yes! I remember that title. In fact, I was reading some Lovecraft a couple of years ago…” “Wait! What? Me Too! I was reading some Poe and wanted to see how it related to Lovecraft…” “OMFG! I love Poe!”
And the conversation kept going like that with us talking about Tad Williams, Frank Herbert, Heinlein, and so many other authors. if Dan and I do this, it could be quite a hoot. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Finally, I think I know what I want to do with TikTok #writertok #authortok #booktok. It’s a simple idea I’ve had for quite some time. I can easily get 30-40 videos ready to go in no time at all. I can upload one per day. It’ll be a lot of fun and hopefully give room for others to interact with the content. That’s the goal of TikTok is audience engagement. I think I’ve an idea to engage people. We shall see.
Because I’m going to spend some time tomorrow sitting around and recording.
I lied, one final thing. Gracie (formerly Abby) is still doing great. She loves to lie on my feet while I’m working. It’s strange because she’ll snuggle up with the Mrs at night, but once she goes to workout and comes back, Gracie acts like there’s a stranger coming into the house and hides. We haven’t even had her a week yet. I know she’ll get less skittish over time. We’re working with her on all that. All in all, she’s a good dog and we’re both happy she’s in the house.
I need to get a good night’s sleep. My brain is on overload.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
A few small updates.
The Computer
For those following along, the home PC is doing well. Yes, I did a backup of my writing (I do weekly regardless as should you!). I’m still amazed that the CMOS battery (a $2 part) caused my machine to go belly up. I’d like to think, being that we live in the future now, that this wouldn’t be as critical of a failure.
The Puppy
Gracie (we haven’t renamed her again, previously she was Abby) is doing wonderful. She still won’t go in or out of the doggie door on her own. The sound of it closing scares her. Heck, any noise scares her. We need to walk her later in the evening when there isn’t as much sound about. Still getting her used to the neighbor.
The Mrs did a great job of leash training in 2 days. She doesn’t like to be pulled and will stop often for no apparent reason, but at least she won’t freeze when on the leash and refuse to move at all. That took some time and effort (and little chicken treats). She will, on occasion, lay down as if to say “I’m done.” It’s cute.
The Book Sale
If you haven’t read Paradise Palms yet, it’s still on sale. Reformatted and updated the print book contents (the print edition isn’t on sale at this time).
A Kickstarter
Finally, J. Daniel Sawyer is a close, personal friend of mine. You’d do well to seek out one or two of his many books. He’s currently running a KickStarter campaign for his latest, non-fiction book where he delves into the Young Adult books of Robert Heinlein. Dan is witty, funny, well-written, and smarter than I am. I’ve already ordered my copy and, if you’re nervous about this campaign succeeding, it’s already funded (on the first day). There are some great rewards.
The Secrets of the Heinlein Juveniles
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
224.
A few months ago, I committed myself to losing weight. Like many, I’d put on the COVID 20 (probably a few more). I’d been working from home. Rarely leaving. Eating full meals every day as if I was leading an active lifestyle.
Well, I wasn’t. Not even close. I needed to do something.
So I started losing some weight, then we took a bunch of vacations and I was right back where I started.
Nothing fit correctly. I wasn’t happy with how I felt or looked. Sure, I’d bought a bikes, one recumbent stationary, and one regular bike. But I hadn’t used them with any frequency.
If there’s one thing you take away from all my blogging I’ve been doing since the start of this year, take away this.
Stay consistent.
Once all the vacations were over, I had the time to get on that recumbent bike. No excuses. 1 hour, every day. I tried for the morning, but getting up super early with the Mrs doesn’t work for me. I’m a morning person, but not a 4am person. So I do my workouts as soon as I’m done with work.
It’s working for me. I’m enjoying that hour and watch some videos, TV shows, or movies (I’m about halfway through The Matrix right now). It’s a good hour. I work up a sweat. Take a shower, spend some time with the Mrs watching a little TV, and start the cycle over again.
I’ve also been more diligent about what I’m eating. I want to lose weight. So I put less food in my mouth. What I’m trying to do and getting better at it, is have fruit for breakfast, a good lunch, a snack, and a smoothie and popcorn for dinner. I’m not weighed down by all the food I eat any longer. I feel so much better. Yes, I’m still doing my best to stay full vegan, but every once in a while, Taco Bell calls my name and I need me some bean burritos and a black bean crunch wrap supreme.
For the most part, I’m sticking to my diet. It’s not always easy. I want to go buy donuts. I’d like to grab a snickers at the checkout stand. Oh! I need some Ben and Jerrys!
Just not yet. I’m using all my willpower to not do that. Knowing that I’m doing the best with my weight loss than I’ve done in a very long time. Honestly, I’d almost given up even trying and sticking to what I was doing. I didn’t break.
When I started this journey, my goal was to get back down to 200 pounds. That’s a doable target. Except when I weighed 248 pounds, it looked like it was forever away. I would never get there. Losing 1 or 2 pounds a week? I didn’t want to spend a year working hard and taking forever to get to that far, distant goal. I didn’t This is why it was far too easy to put the weight back on once I’d started losing it.
I’d dropped 10 pounds before all the vacations and fell pretty good, but it all came back so fast. I was over 250 when all was said and done. I felt defeated. I’d lost. I didn’t want to start all over again. I really didn’t. I just wanted to eat and throw up my hands and say, “This is me. I’m fat.”
I did get back on the bike.
I did get back on my diet.
I’ve worked very hard to stay on this diet. Yes, I’ll have a meal out now and again. I’ll have a vegan shake from Plant Power (OMFG! They’ve got Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie shakes!). I’m not going to stop enjoying sweets. Once in a while. I won’t go back to having two or three pints of ice cream a week. I won’t eat cookies just because they’re there. I won’t pick up a treat at the grocery story just because I went to the store and it’s my treat and they sit there at the counter calling to me.
I won’t.
Right now, I’m down to 224. This is the first time in a VERY long time I’ve been under 225. I’m half way to my goal. Yes, it’s taking longer than expected. Yes, it’s hard at times. Nothing worth having is easy to obtain. Now that I’ve crossed the halfway point, I don’t see myself stopping until I’ve achieved my goal. It’s nearing time for me to stop with 100% cardio and mix in some weight training as well. That’s the next step in my journey.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Really? That was it?
So this morning, the PC didn’t turn on. It was a bother. I ordered a new PSU because of what happened last time. I figured, rule out the most inexpensive part first, right?
Well, spent half-an hour ripping out the old PSU, and plugging in the new PSU outside the case (cuz I didn’t want to have to rip it out again if it didn’t fix the problem.
Well, it didn’t fix the problem. Still nothing happened. I’d started out with the original cables, switched the new cables. Still nothing. Since I was only a little bit into the fix, I searched the internet, as you do when you’ve run out of ideas, and there’s a post.
Oh, the CMOS batteries are garbage and need to be replaced after 6 months if you didn’t replace it with a quality battery when you installed the MotherBoard.
<sigh>
I had to remove all the cables, again, remove the Graphics Card to get to the CMOS battery. Popped it out. Put in a new one (it’s the same battery size as the car remotes so I had some handy, thankfully). Plugged everything in once again (externally) and…
PRESTO!
Lights, color, fans spinning. Hazzah!
So I removed all the cables, again. Put them into the modular PSU. Mounted the PSU. Routed all the new cables. Tried a test boot before closing the case (success). Closed up the case, plugged everything back into the computer. And here I sit, happy with my success.
Yes, I know this is the second post today and I normally only do one. I felt excited to be able to sit at the computer and type something up.
I’m all sweaty and in need of another shower before I head to bed.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Short post…
Just popping in to say…the home PC died again. Pretty sure the power supply went out as everything is dark. It was good yesterday and today, nothing. <sigh>
New PSU ordered and it’ll arrive this afternoon. I will RMA the old one so I have a spare. Not sure what happened.
Don’t forget, Paradise Palms is still on sale and will be all week.
Will resume normal posting once the PC is back up and running.
A new week, a new sale!
Good Morning and Happy Labor Day (in the US). I hope your week is starting out great!
Gracie (aka Abby) has been renamed. I don’t know we’re firm on that as her name yet. She’s still growing into her name. We shall see.
Yesterday we took her to the park to meet Mya and Koda. Mya, being a Blue Heeler and Australian Sheppard mix, saw a new dog from across the park and shot like a silent rocket across the park and scared the pee out of Gracie, literally. When not in an open area, the two got along great because Mya couldn’t rush into Gracie’s face and say hello aggressively.
With Koda being a teacup Yorkie, Gracie spent time getting to know her quietly while watching Mya and avoiding her as much as possible.
Then, because that wasn’t enough trauma on the day, we went to Abuelito’s house. My Favorite Daughter and Hijo were already there with Mya and Koda at the pool. Being on the other side of the fence, Gracie was more brave and sniffed noses with Mya and TJ (Koda can walk through the fence). TJ is much more calm with new dogs. He’s a Boxer and knows Mya well so those two play rough. Alone, TJ did great with Gracie. Mya still needs to learn about personal space and approaching in a less aggressive manner. Gracie did snap at her a few times.
We spent a good deal of time walking all the dogs around the backyard to get them better acquainted. It’ll take time.
Oh, and even Zion showed up. That’s Hijo’s mom’s dog who doesn’t like anyone except for Hijo. Not even other dogs.
Mya and Koda spent time in the pool. Gracie and TJ got along great. Zion spent as much time hiding as possible. It was a good day.
That brings us to the title of this post!
Today, Paradise Palms is only 99 cents. It will be until next Monday. This is my SciFi murder mystery. It’s my only foray into this genre. I never intended to write a sequel, and I’ve seen more than one comment asking if the story continues and wishing the story would continue. Perhaps one day, there will be a Paradise Palms Two.
One a side note, for some reason, the paperback prices for Golden West fluctuate wildly. Book 1 is currently $5.60 and book 2 is $2.80. I have no idea why, but if you want to take advantage and pick up a hard copy of either of those books, have at it! Nothing better than inexpensive print books! From what I can tell, these are new versions, not used. I haven’t seen book 3 drop below the $7.99 price point. Here’s a link if you need it.
https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=murdock+golden+west&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
I’m off to spend some time with Gracie, who just learned she can go down the stairs on her own. She learned up the stairs yesterday. I don’t think she’s ever been around stairs.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
J.R. Murdock 