Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Journal Update: I Melted.

With all the summer heat I've melted away into a puddle.  Bye bye.  All gone.

No, not really.  But I have been very bad at getting the blog updated.  Sorry for that.

As far as life goes, we got the kids a new/used playground.  All assembled and painted, and just in the nick of time, too, for a wind storm came up and smashed the old metal tube one like it was made out of soda straws!

Yeah, we get a lot of wind here.

I also had the wooden recycle center I'd made out on the back deck awaiting minor repairs.  Now it's all down the hillside and needing *major* repairs!

As far as old man news goes, since the snow melted, my back/shoulder has been killing me.  Long story, but, back when I was a wild and crazy kid in Boy Scouts I had a falling railroad tie clobber me there.  At the time I shook it off like, "I'm invincible." but nowadays... not so much.  It could even be coincidence, but I'm thinking there may have been some fracture that's coming back to haunt me now.

My wife and I are arguing whether I should go to see a chiropractor, which, frankly, I consider one step above a witchdoctor on the scale of quackery.  Yet the constant, chronic ache has almost driven me to it.

Who knows?  Maybe I'll be proven wrong, as I have with some other alternative medicines.

What do you call that look?
Johnny Cash meets flamingo??
Also, those who follow me on the socials might have seen that she did talk me into getting some new, higher quality shoes. →

So far they've been helping out my feet immensely.

*sigh* Nobody ever warned me that getting old would be this hard.  Well, at least nobody that an indestructible youth would listen to. ;)

Anyway, enough over-the-hill talk.


Let's talk books!

I have two books out in the hands of alpha readers: Moast Unusual #2 and, what should have been #3 but is probably more like #1.5, because it looks like it may make it first.  No matter.  I'm trying to make the "series" more like a syndicate novel, like a Hardy Boys or Louis L'Amour, such that the reader can start anywhere.  Doing so, it is also helping me out since I can release whichever gets done first.


While waiting impatiently for the readers, I've started another novel (also set in fictional Santa Augusta, California, because, why re-invent the wheel?)

← Again, social media followers may recognize this.  About which I was asking:
Hello all, I need a character name for a story I'm planning.
The protagonist is a working mom in her mid 30's with a life, which, although hectic, is unbelievably dull. She frequently sighs in frustration and asks herself, "Is there life out there?"... until one day she finds out... in a big way!

I want something contemporary-sounding that feels like dull/in a rut. Some thoughts I've had:
Doris
Toni
Terri
Sam
Paige
Ann (without an 'e', if you get the reference ;) )
 
Despite a number of great responses, I'm still leaning towards Doris because I've found it easier  to make fun of her.  (Poor gal.)

I also needed a best friend for her, who I initially named Pat.  But Pat turned out to be more generic than "dull" Doris, so, having already recycled the location, I decided to make Melinda Moast her bestie instead.  It's turning out to be kind of a delightful cross-over, with both lady out having secret adventures that the other knows nothing about.

Currently standing at about 20k words, and most of that action, peril, and double-crosses.  Needless to say, I'm pleased with how it's coming together.

And, hey, I finally gnawed my way through that A.W. Tozer book and posted a review.  Yay!

Now only two more to go.  *sigh*

Who knows? Maybe I'll get a handle on my life and get caught up yet.

"Maybe".

Well that's enough chitchat for now.  Stay cool, and...

Live YOUR adventure!
- E. L. Fletcher