Blog Archives
Update on a few different things.
Up first: Live stream scheduling.
I know I’m not on a schedule with the live streams to YouTube. My apologies for that. I’ve many things to figure out, like how to set up my feed to alert people 30 minutes before I “Go Live”. The main purpose of the streaming instead of recording and uploading is time savings. I also need to figure out the background music and title shot before I start streaming. We’ll get there. Please be patient while I figure out new technology.
Secondly, my person schedule. I still work all day. That’s not going to change any time in the near future. What will change is I’m getting up earlier to do my workout rather than taken an hour after work for my workout, then shower, then get dinner, etc. I’m getting as much done in the morning as I can, so, when I’m done with work, I can get to the writing business.
That said, today I got done with work and took a nap. I’m old. My body doesn’t want to adjust as quickly as I want to. Again, this will take time but we’ll get there. Much like my brain, my body is learning new things as well.
Finally, Jack Kane book 3. My intention was to sit down last night, crank out a couple of thousand words, and get the file over to Mike so he could do his chapter. Well, I’ve been in the story of 3 other series, lots of edits, and getting things scheduled and uploaded. My brain wasn’t fully in the Jack Kane brain space. I didn’t get as much done last night as I’d hoped.
Tonight, I’ll get further along and hopefully get that over to Mike.
If’n you’re curious how I got started in reading and writing Steampunk, check out the video tonight.
I’m off to go make words happen.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/5-a-Day-With-Jay—0138-e115jhs
Monday Update: Wait…what?
Call me nuts. Call me crazy. I spent the last two weeks of April trying to write 3K per day. And failed. I did write a lot of words over those two weeks and had a LOT of fun. Even though I failed, I still succeeded by writing more words than I thought I would. Percentagewise, I made it to 77% of my objective. 42000 words in two weeks. Sheer madness!
So, I thought, why not try to do that for an entire month! Even if I fail, I’ll still have written a lot of words. Right? Why not try and see how close I can get. 21,000 words a week for 4 full weeks? I must be off my rocker.
How did the first week of May go?
I’m glad you asked.
Total doomed failure yet again.
um… Jay…no, it wasn’t.
Wait…What do you mean it wasn’t a failure?
Just that, you succeeded.
What? I hit my target of 21,000 words for the first week of May?
Well, not really.
I told you! FAILURE!
You overshot it by 3200 words.
*double take* Wait…what?
Yes, you read that right. I didn’t hit 21,000 words. I passed 21,000 words in the first week. 24,165 words to be exact. I know, I know! I’m shocked as well. After missing badly the first two weeks, I ran past it on the third week. Who’d’a thunk?
Here’s the breakdown of week 1
Monday: 3002
Tuesday: 3007
Wednesday: 3028
Thursday: 3067
Friday: 3090
Saturday: 3887
Sunday: 5084
I crossed 67,000 words in Golden West 3. I’m around 20,000 words from the end. That means, if I stay on pace, I’ll blow past the end this week! I started the book just 29 days ago. I’ll be done with the first draft in less than 40 days. I’m flabbergasted.
Now, I knew I could write quickly. I know I type faster than average. But with life, work, family time, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, friends, etc. I honestly didn’t think I’d hit my target, but I thought it would be fun to try.
If all goes well, I’ll be done with GW3 in 7 days. So far this month I’ve written 24,165 words. So far this year I’ve written 230,982 words. I’m more than half-way past my annual goal I set at the beginning of the year. Remember that? 438,000 words on the year. 1200 words per day. I thought it would be challenging. Averaging that many words a day for an entire year? I didn’t think I’d make it. Now I’m contemplating how far beyond that initial goal I’ll make it.
Not only that, how many books I’ll get written at this pace. I’ve already finished two books this year. I’m coming up on the end of a third. Mike and I will have Jack Kane 2 done soon. Before the end of the month, I’ll have these books done and unpublished.
Jack Kane 2: Jack Kane and the Kaiser
Almost-Super Heroes
Golden West 3
Of Gnomes and Dwarves 1: Chance Encounters
Giant Robot Planetary Competition 2: Villain
That’s 5 titles under my belt, ready to go. One will require publisher edits and timeline. The others are mine, all mine, to do with as I please. And I shall. In my own time. I was planning on starting my release cycle in July. I may postpone that slightly. I don’t mean to tease or not give you stories to read. I’m still working through how to best do this for maximum impact. As you can see, all of these titles are different series. They’re scattered all over. My brain wants to just drop them and move on. But I need to think about the business aspect of all this.
OGAD is a fantasy series. GW is steampunk. Jack Kane is steampunk/humor. ASH and GRPC are both set in the V&A Shipping universe.
What I’ve done is spread my efforts among many titles. I had the theory of “write one of each, see what sticks” and I didn’t give any of them a chance to make an impact by continuing my efforts in one direction. So I’m having to rethink my entire gameplan.
Yes, Golden West 3 will come out first. That’ll end that trilogy. It was always intended as a trilogy, it’ll be finished as a trilogy and I’ll be done with that story line. Jack Kane will come out when the publisher is ready to put it out. When I finish GW3, I’ll start work on Almost-Super Heroes 2 (already have the entire plot in my head). Then I’ll go ASH3, then GRPC3, and V&A3. Why? Well, let me fill you in.
All three of those titles, V&A, GRPC, and ASH, all are set in the same Universe and if you follow along with those stories, I’m leading into a major event. That major event will be a new trilogy that I’ve been planning for over a decade, but my brain was never to the point I thought I could pull off the storyline. Now I think I can. With those titles, I’ll be leading into a Military SciFi trilogy. I plan on making it epic and there will also be tie-in novels with the three other titles giving different perspectives of the event that will occur.
That means I want to get deeper into those books before I start dropping so I can release faster (one every two months). So you will see a couple of titles drop this year. Of Gnomes and Dwarves will have to wait until I get through my SciFi phase.
Why?
When I start dropping fantasy, I want to be knee deep into fantasy and drop that series all in a row. Not one book, then two years later, the next. I want to drop series titles in rapid succession. I’ll do the same with my Supernatural Learning series. I’ll do the same with <top secret series title>. I’ve picked up a head of steam. I have a direction. I have the motivation and the power of momentum behind me.
What I’ve always lacked over the years has been focus and direction. I’m somewhat confident I have both of those now and going into 2018, I plan to make a big splash…finally. It’ll be an exciting time and I’m glad you’re here at the beginning of it all. I’ve had many false starts over the years, but this time, I’m ready.
I’ve got a LOT of words to write over the next few years. If I don’t write ’em, no one else will. Stick around. Watch this space. In a couple months, things will start to get interesting.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Monday Update: 3K a Day Until May!
Hey, Howdy, Hey, Gang! I hope everything is well in your world. Mine? Crazy, Hectic, Fun! So much going on and I’m having a great time!
Let me start with a breakdown of how I finished out my Lent goal. If you recall, my plan was to try to average 2750 words per day (Pulp Speed 1) until the end of Lent. Well. I failed. There’s no easy way to put it, I dropped the ball. Had I stayed on pace, I should have written 63,250 words during those 23 days. Instead, I only managed 56,112. Horrible.I know. I hang my head in shame. I only managed 2440 words per day on average.
Oh, who am I kidding? As I keep saying over and over. Set your goals higher than you can reach so it forces you to stretch and fight and claw your way toward that goal. I do NOT look at what I did as a failure. Not even close. I failed better than many succeed. That’s why I pushed myself. I know I could have hit the word goal had I not done one thing in the middle of all that.
What happened, Jay?
So glad you asked.
I jumped from one series into another. If I’d jumped into GRPC3, V&A3, or ever Almost-Super Heroes 2, I probably would have maintained that speed or done even better. Instead, I jumped into a world I haven’t been in for 3 years. That meant I needed to re-read two full novels, make notes, and still try to tap out a few words a day while I did that. Not an excuse, just a reality of what happened. It also took me a few more days to get them back into my head so I could start pounding out words.
Where am I at with that story?
Golden West 3: Showdown, will be the final book in the Golden West trilogy. That’s why I wanted to complete it. I’ve gotten nearly 12,500 words done in the story thus far. I’m excited. I’m ready to rip through this book and git it done. I’ve had these scenes planned out in my head since I typed the first words of the first book. I know how the entire trilogy would end. How the final few scenes would play out. Just like all the other books I want to do this year, I’m crazy excited to write this one.
That said, now that I’m ready to go on a tear, why not give myself a bigger challenge? I mean, come on, why not? I set a HUGE goal for Lent, and I crushed it! That means I’m capable of more, right?
Oh, yeah, Lent goal. I should probably give you the final numbers on that, eh?
This year, Lent was 46 days long. I wanted to write, on average, 2000 words per day or a grand total of 92,000 words. What I wound up doing was averaging 2250 words per day for a total of 103,495 words. So I set, met, and surpassed my original goal. Was it set too low? I don’t think so. I was coming into this year with a nearly two-year hiatus of not writing much at all. By “not much” I mean maybe 10,000 words per year for two years. That’s awful.
I set the goal at something I thought I might be able to obtain. I never thought I’d fly past it. I honestly didn’t.
So, back to where I was before. I need a new goal. A new challenge to get me through to the end of April. Something that might be beyond my grasp, but unless I try, I’ll never know. From today, April 17, 2017, until May 1st, 2017 I plan to write (on average) 3000 words per day. 3K a Day Until May! I’m back into a groove with this book. I’m excited to hit some of the upcoming scenes, why not? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Right?
What does that mean for word totals? If I hit my target of 3000 words a day, I’ll write 42,000 words over the next 14 days. That’s nuts! That’s crazy! I must be off my rocker! No, being off my rocker would be trying to hit triple my daily word count which I’ve set at 1,200 words per day this year. 3,600 words a day? That sounds very difficult. So let’s stick with 3K per Day Until May. That also has a better ring to it.
Again, this is all words of new fiction. It won’t be blog posts or emails or anything like that. It’s ONLY new words in a fiction world. Be that Golden West 3, or Jack Kane 2 (If I can nudge Mr. Plested along, wink wink). Who knows what’ll happen. I surely don’t! But it sounds like fun to try. Ready to watch me fail in spectacular fashion? Here we go!
Until Next Time,
Stay Awesome!
Monday Update: Book 2 of the Year Complete
Good Morning and Happy Monday! Did you read the title of this blog? If not, let me repeat it here. Book 2 of the year is complete!
That’s right. I plan on writing 5 books this year, and the second is DONE!
Well, if you recall I’m only counting this as a half book. When Mike Plested and I complete Jack Kane 2, I’ll also count that one as a half book.
But, hey! Another book done! I really love the way Almost-Super Heroes came to an end. Yes, yes, I left it open for a sequel and I already know how the book will start, how it’ll go, and how it’ll end.
I’m so excited. I finished the book on Saturday. I wrote nearly 5000 words that day to finish the book. I also did a bunch of things around the house including fixing the fridge. I can’t wait to share this book with you. I really can’t. It ties in with GRPC and V&A Shipping. I’m working on something really exciting story-wise with these titles and it’s something I’ve dreamt up for the past few years. It’s so awesome to see it all coming together.
What am I working on next? Glad you asked.
I’m working on Golden West Book 3: Showdown.
Wait, Jay, I thought you said you were excited about GRPC and V&A Shipping, and all that.
Yes, yes. I am. I’m super crazy excited about that series and what I’ll be writing in all those books. But I need some closure. The way I’d ended Golden West Book 2 was desperate for an ending. I need to finish that one off. The third book will be the last in that series. I don’t know if I’ll ever visit that universe again. So, I need to finish that series off and let it be done. Between yesterday and today, I read through books 1 and 2 and wow are they emotionally draining books to read. I really put these characters through the ringer.
Book 3? Yes, I know exactly how the book will go. I’m weird like that. Books pop into my head fully formed and it’s only a matter of sitting and writing it out. Unlike books 1 and 2, this one will be longer. I have a lot of threads to tie up and a build up to a satisfying ending. I’d always intended this to be a trilogy. That’s why I’m not certain I’ll ever visit these characters or this universe again.
Why?
I have soooooo many books I want to write. I have a list of running ideas. I need to get back to the Astel series (it will no longer be a trilogy). I need to work on my Epic Fantasy series, Of Gnomes and Dwarves. I want to write more Billy stories (none will fall into the V&A Shipping Universe). I want to crank out more Supernatural Learning books. I even have an entirely new series that I haven’t even started that I think will be a BLAST to write. Plus I have three other titles/series that I want to dig into and write in.
On top of that, I want to record everything as audio and get all my current titles published. Those are just waiting for me to record them and get them out the door.
Will this be an active year for my writing? Oh yeah! Will next year? Oh yeah!
Where am I at today?
Let’s start with, done with my Lent Goal and still one more week to go! That’s right. For the first time since I started tracking my words, I hit my Lent writing goal!. Over 46 days I was going to write 92,000 words and as of my writing this I’m sitting at 92,881. So I actually passed my goal on Saturday.
How’s my secondary goal of 2750 words per day average going? Close. Very close. For the past 17 days I’ve averaged 2676. So I need a couple good days to get back to that target. What happened? Well, yesterday happened, that’s what.
As I said, between yesterday and today I re-read Golden West 1 and 2 to get back into that world so I could work on book 3. I had the first little bit thought out and it’ll be a bit explainy as I get readers up to speed on what came before. So yesterday I only had ~500 words. Now that I’m caught back up on… oh, wait, if you haven’t read books 1 and 2 I can’t tell you what I’m getting caught up on. Shame on you. You almost had me tell you.
Suffice to say, it feels good to be in this world. Can’t wait to lay down words, but I have to. I need to get a chapter back to Mike in Jack Kane 2 as we’re nearly done with that book as well. Then I’ll bang out some words with Abigail, Jax, and the rest of the gang.
So there will be many, many words in the future. I’m sorry to make you wait on them, but I have a super-secret plan in my back pocket and I hope you’ll still be here for the ride. I need to get to writing so…
Until Next Time,
Stay Awesome!
NEWS: Jack Kane 2 is underway!
It’s been far too long since I mentioned Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty. Yes, this stand-alone book is wonderful and you would love a copy (you can get a copy right here). Mike Plested and I worked very hard getting that one out the door and then both of us had life events that took up a majority of last year bleeding over into this year.
Suffice to say, we’re finally up and writing once more! Jack Kane 2 is under way. We don’t have a full working title yet, but that will be coming along any time I’m sure. We’re passing it back and forth so it should get done in a far shorter time than the first go ’round we had with Book 1. The writing and plotting will be tighter. The characters are already fully formed. It’s great fun so far and we’re nearly 20,000 words in! WOO!
So if you haven’t read book 1, now is a great time to get caught up. You won’t need to read book 1 to understand the events in book 2, but it’ll help get to know the characters. As soon as this one is complete and off to the publisher, I’ll be sure to let you know. Needless to say, I’m very VERY excited to be back sitting at the keyboard. I think doing these little blogs posts are helping as well.
It’s an exciting time. I’m glad you’re still with me for the ride!
Until Next Time!
WOO WOO!
JACK KANE NOW AVAILABLE!
Two and a half years ago (or more depending on who you ask) Michell Plested and I began work on a book. We wanted it to be funny, filled with action, and readable by people of all ages. He pitched it to a publisher, and Ta Dah! Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty found a home.
It’s been a long time and a lot of work to get here and it’s incredibly exciting. We’re so happy to share this book with everyone and hope that it finds its way into the hands of millions (not just because we’re greedy, but because we love to have people read our work and feed our egos as well as our bank accounts). If you’ve found a copy, I hope you enjoy the adventure as much as we did creating it for you to read.
So if you’re one of the millions who will read Jack Kane, thank you. If you haven’t picked up a copy, here’s where you can find it. Bear in mind, that it’s currently ebook only. Once we sell a hundred copies, this WILL become a print book as well. So if you’re holding out for a print edition, convince your friends to buy the ebook. The sooner we hit 100, the sooner it’ll be in print. It’s only $2.99 and oh so worth it!
Champagne Books: http://champagnebooks.com/store/index.php?id_product=527&controller=product
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Statue-Liberty-Michell-Plested-ebook/dp/B00Y4BIY8Q
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/jack-kane-and-the-statue-of-liberty
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jack-kane-and-the-statue-of-liberty-j-r-murdock/1121998264?ean=2940152165241
Stay awesome!
JR
Authors You Should Be Reading: Michell Plested
Michell Plested is a shady character capable of unscrupulous behavior. He’s been known to darken the door step of many an unsuspecting host. On his best behavior he may be found digging in your back yard convinced he’ll locate a secret tunnel to China. At his worst…. wait a minute. I’ve got the wrong Michell Plested. Pardon me. Let me make sure I’ve got my facts right.
Oh, there’s another Michell Plested. Pfft. Silly me. Let me start over.
The Short:
Michell Plested is an author a number of books including the podcast novel GalaxyBillies, The YA super hero novel, Mik Murdoch(no relation), the Action Pack adventure Boyscouts of the Apocalypse,(also over at Wattpad) and is currently looking for a home for his colaborative work, Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty. The last story he penned with that mighty, mighty author, J.R. Murdock (why does that name sound so familiar?) He’s also edited an excellent anthology with an abundance of great authors (such as that J.R. Murdock fellow again) entitled A Method to the Madness: A guide to the super evil (That’s quite a mouthful for a book, isn’t it? You’ve seen the cover on the main page, right? You ran out and bought a copy, right? You didn’t? Why? Go now! BUY BUY BUY this book!) He also has a bi-weekly podcast, Get Published, where he interviews
The Long:
Michell Plested, a close, personal friend of mine, was discovered on the shores of California in 79 A.D. covered in seaweed and struggling for life. Oh, wait, wrong Mike again. He was actually born in the Great White North (where he currently resides) and is married to a beautiful woman and has two wonderful children he loans out on weekend (wait, no he doesn’t).
Mike had been writing for some time and wanted to become a published author so he could be on easy street and line his pockets with hundreds. So he started a podcast, Get Published, to get his name out there. He’s not missed a show in 17 years (wait that’s not right, how about he started in January 2009 and you do the math?). He’s interviewed professional in publishing including editors, agents, publishers, authors, and everyone in between. He’s been nominated nearly every year (could be every year, I don’t know) for the Par Sec awards and has always lost (don’t want to see him break that perfect record or anything).
During his podcasting of Get Published, he had delusions of grandeur and decided it would be a good idea to podcast a novel AS HE WROTE IT! What Madness that was, let me tell you. Insanity at its highest form! But podcast GalaxyBillies he did and it was a lot of fun to listen to.
Someone (well call this someone Dan Dan the Art Man) suggested on Twitter that Mike and I should write a book together. Sheesh. Talk about insanity. Well, the two of us thought it was nuts and went for it anyways. We came up with Jack Kane and the statue of Liberty and it’s currently been through a few rounds of editing and is currently in the hands of another publisher. We’ve already plotted a second novel in the series as we had so much fun losing our minds doing a collaborative work once, why not suffer through the pain twice, right?
The Mike decided he’d work with another person (cheater!) and joined forces with Jeff Hite (I’m sure I’ll talk about him at some point so I’m not going to link to him from here. This is all about Mike after all. Why do you think I didn’t like to Dan Dan the Art Man? pfft. Just read and quit questioning what I’m linking to). Mike and Jeff came up with the idea of putting together an anthology. The opened it up to submissions and put together A Method to the Madness: A guide to the super evil. Why come up with a short name when you can come up with a long name, right? I mean, it is catchy and just rolls off the tongue, right? <sigh>. They got about 1500 submissions (or 10, like I know. I wasn’t part of the assembly process, I just sent in a story like any other writer). The anthology was a rousing success! They managed to get just enough submissions to fill a book!
BUT!
During this time, Mike had Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero picked up by a publisher (5 Rivers) and was now doubly busy. He managed to put Jack Kane on the back burner as he was far too busy to deal with our book (I’m not pouting. DON’T LOOK AT ME! at least my name was in the title, sort of, wait… what’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Why did I just now notice that. Hmmm… Mike, you’re weird, #justsaying). So he got his book out and 5 Rivers (they used to be 4 rivers, but 4 rivers doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as 5 rivers) and they decided to also take on his anthology (I wonder why they didn’t make the title to A Method to the Madness: A guide to the super evil a longer title, I mean, at least another two or three subtitles or something).
So during a short period of time Mike went from an unpublished slacker to an author with a writing credit and an editing credit under his belt. And what about Jack Kane? Huh? What about it? DON’T LOOK AT ME!
His success has catapulted him to the ranks of authors like…uh… what authors have actually sold a negative numbers of books? Anyway, he’s got a couple books out there. Good job. I’m proud of you, no really. Don’t worry about us little people.
Once he was done with all this great success, he decided that he’d throw me a bone and he and I (Along with Scott Roche, more on this slacker later) started the Action Pack Podcast. (Later as in another post). There was Boyscouts of the Apocalypse,(also over at Wattpad), Golden West by J.R. Murdock (Hey! I know him!) and … uh.. Scott’s story… The house of the Planet from out there? Planet Express? My Planet looks like a banana? Oh, let me look it up, hold on…here it is! Invasion From The Hidden Planet. (No, really, I’ll talk about Scott on another post, quit bugging me about it. Seriously.)
So Mike and I spent a year writing and podcasting our stories (Scott, not quite a year, but that’s a story for another post, really, it deserves its own post. You’ll enjoy that story. Seriously. I’m not putting it here.)
Mike, still a close, personal friend of mine despite his attempts to leave me behind, went to some cons and got some interest in Jack Kane. It went to one publisher that eventually passed and is now on the desk of another. We have high hopes for this one and one day hope it’ll see print. In the mean time, he’s busy working on a new story for the Action Pack Podcast, a sequel to Mik Murdoch, probably another anthology with someone else (cheater! I’m not bitter, really. DON’T LOOK AT ME!) and I’m sure he’ll forget about Jack again and write another book and make a million dollars while I dwell in self-publishing squalor. But hey, that’s how it goes, right?
So there you have it. Michell Plested’s quest to fame and greatness. He’s got some good stuff worth your reading. I hope you take some time to read his work even if he is a two-timing author who can’t focus on one project at a time and see it through to fruition before jumping ship to the next big shiny project leaving his co-author behind while he has fun playing in another sandbox.
I’ve linked all over the place to his work. Buy his books, read him on Wattpad, avoid his anthology (unless you really need a book with an extra long title), and listen to his podcasts. If you like anything I’ve written, you’ll hate his even more and that’ll make me feel better! So stop reading my stuff and go read his stuff. By comparison I’m fricken Hemingway. But hey, not everyone likes filet mignon when they can have a hamburger.
mmmmm Hamburgers. I think I know what I need to go do now. You should be out buying books!
Until Next Time!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Jack Kane Edits are done
Last night I had a marathon of editing and I got through the rest of Jack Kane. I got through the last third of the book and my oh my does my brain still feel like mush. Not in a bad way. More like the way when you decide to walk for the first time in months and you feel wiped out but there’s the surge of endorphins that makes you feel elated. I’m riding that kind of high today.
What Mike and I created together is a fun, fast-paced book. It’s still got a couple of holes that Mike and I will likely pass back and forth and fill in, but over all it’s a fun story. A little more polish and we’ll get it sent off to beta readers, some editing friends, and then it’ll be the big agent hunt. Our intention is to find an agent or publisher for this book. We’ve already talked that one through.
We’ve both read and re-read all the talk of going Indie, contracts, royalty rates, and the like. At this point in our careers it’s a matter of gaining momentum. Once we have that momentum, there’s nothing wrong with creating another property and going Indie. It’s a matter of keeping an eye on the contracts to make sure all the clauses are in order. I also have friends that know contracts and have offered to give them the once over to make sure we’re not signing over rights that we should retain.
I was going to write a long post about “To Indie or Not to Indie” but I will write that when my brain isn’t as mushy as it currently is. I tried to read a little before I went to bed and I could barely keep my eyes open. I also slept in until nearly 9AM. That hasn’t happened in a long time and it felt great. Nearly 12 hours of sleep. After the week I had and getting through the edits of Jack Kane, I think I earned that little nap.
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I don’t know when I’ll get around to my daily update so Happy Mother’s day to all you moms out there. I hope someone special in your life makes the day extra special for you.
Today is too beautiful of a day to stay inside. Tomorrow I’ll write about Mother’s Day. And Ducks.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Oh my mouse!
Yesterday was a busy day. A lot of work needed to happen and it did. Once I finished with all that work stuff, I picked up my favorite daughter from school and we headed over to my mother-in-law’s house.
She had a busy day with doctors opening her chest up just a little so they could replace her pacemaker’s battery. While they were in there, they poked around and everything looked good so they just replaced the battery. They didn’t go any further than that. Today she’s doing great. The outpatient procedure went without a hitch.
My father-in-law proved how sneaky he can be. With a bunch of us there he asked who would like something to eat from the taco shop. He took orders, called it in. I told my favorite daughter “Let’s go. We’ll pick up the food.” I know he had a stressful day at the hospital and I figured he needed a rest. He thanked me and said not to leave for ten of fifteen minutes. It’ll take a while for the food to be ready. I said, “Oh, ok.” My favorite daughter and I sat back down and he took the roundabout way to get out where I couldn’t see him and next thing I know I see his truck driving up the street.
I could only sit there and laugh. I guess with a waiting room filled with stressed out family members, he just wanted a couple minutes of alone time as all of them followed him home as well.
We ate, we talked, we laughed. My mother-in-law looked tired, but was in great spirits. Today she’s doing even better.
So today was an even earlier day than yesterday. I’m used to getting up at 5am or 5:30am. I’ve done that many times before. Today it was 4:30am because I needed to be in the office by 6am for an early morning call that, of course, got pushed back to 6:30am once I was in the office. Well, these things happen. I made good use of the time.
I was happy to be in the office. I have my mouse once again. A week without it and it feels like finding an old friend. It’s like riding a bike. It’s like sitting down and clicking all the right buttons and having the mouse do what I want versus not having the buttons I need at all. The bug mouse will be put back into cold storage until another day when I forget my mouse in the office again. I hope that’s not any time soon.
I’ve given serious consideration to getting a mouse with more buttons. I keep seeing gaming mice with a large number of buttons (one has a 12 digit thumbpad), but I’m sure more than I’d need, but I see other mice with a few more buttons than I have now. It’s one of those things that once you get used to the buttons, you miss them. I’ll keep it under consideration for now.
Another thing I’m thinking about doing it putting a SSD (Solid State Drive) into my netbook and upgrading to Windows 7. But I might make it a linux machine or even a dual boot. I’m not sure just yet. I’m still thinking about this one. I love the keyboard on the netbook so I’m not thinking about getting rid of it just yet. I also saw a way to replace the screen with a touchscreen for around $100. I might do that too, we’ll have to wait and see. Like I said, I like my netbook, it’s just a little slow. I’ll have to see what I can do with it first.
On the writing front. Edits for Jack Kane and progressing nicely. I’m about 8 or 9 chapters in. Probably 30 more to go (or less I’m not sure). There’s lots to edit, I don’t think any major rewrites will be required. There will be some new chapters needed to fill in a couple small gaps, but overall it’s looking good. Once I complete my edits, they’ll be over to Mr. Plested and he’ll be able to give them the once over and then it’s off to Beta Readers.
Speaking of readers, Don’t Eat the Bread is not out in the wild. It should be available on the Nook, Kindle, and Smashwords. Go pick yourself up a copy and let me know what you think.
There is a lot to do, so I’d better get to doing it. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll write about ducks. We’ll see.
Until Tomorrow!
Woo Woo!
Daily update:a short post today
Today is a busy day. I got up early. Got an oil change on the truck. Got the air conditioner recharged. Got it washed inside and out. I am now washing the Tahoe and I will fill er up with gas.
This afternoon my favorite daughter has a volleyball clinic. Hopefully her ankle hold up today and she’ll be able to play in tomorrow’s game. Her team is the #1 seed and they do need her. It has been difficult for her to sit on the sideline during practice and not participate.
Tonight we will be heading up to LA. We have a two hour drive ahead of us. This will be the furthest tournament we have driven to. It is also the last ‘real’ tournament for the regular club play. So my favorite daughter is trying to deny her ankle hurts.
I went walking this morning again. I am not back to walking every day but I can do two miles in thirty minutes. It feels good to get outside and stretch my legs again. The shin splints don’t seem to be bothering me and that’s a huge plus.
On the writing front: I completed My Teacher is a Werewolf. I will give that an edit of my own before sending it off for further editing. While I let that one digest for a bit I have dived head first into the Jack Kane edits. Once I complete those it’ll be off to Mr Plested for his edits then off to beta readers. A lot is happening on the writing front.
I was thinking of changing the format of these daily updates. Thoughts? Opinions? I would love to hear them. I know there will be more book reviews in the future. I am heart done with Mike Stackpole’s In Hero Years I’m Dead. A review will follow.
There is still a lot to do today. So…
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
J.R. Murdock 