Snow, shoveling and writing

Let me start by saying I hate snow.  It may look pretty in photos or for hallmark card moments but it has no use for me.  Its cold, icy and slushy.  The sidewalks and driveways all need to be cleared.  Your car gets filthy and your constantly washing your windshield.  You spend your time cooped up in the house unless you are one of those people that loves wearing 18 layers of clothes to go outside and thow a snowball or build a snowman only to be soaked in cold melting snow inside your boots or gloves with your nose running, ears reddened and clothes dripping on the outside with melted snow and on the inside with sweat.  And did I say its cold?  What I wouldnt give for a few weeks in the caribbean, weaing flip flops and a bathing suit, sitting on a beach or at a beach bar drinking a few fruity concoctions while the sun goes down over the water.  Yeah I hate snow.

I did however get dinner out of the deal, my parents sprang for pizza after we went over and helped my father dig out.  We got the sidewalks cleared in time to have some pieces of sausage and mushroom.  Cant beat that in the winter.

Finally I got about 650 words towards the story down and another 700 or so in foundation notes. This story may never win an award, never see a publisher or ever really be worth much but it will someday be finished.

Week off

I’m off this week and looking at the stack of books I have to read and pondering a little writing action. Meanwhile I’ve worked shoveling, Creationary, and some video gaming in!  This staying at home for more than a couple days is great.

Speaking of Creationary, what a cool Lego game.  It’s Pictionary with Lego’s instead of drawing. Very fun but I’m thinking a 3 minute timer per turn is necessary.

Goal of the week, write 250 words a day and read, read, read!  Oh and potentially find out what I look like with facial hair.

Sh*t My Dad Says

In a word, Hysterical! Justin Halpern has conveyed the insanity of his father in such a simple, spoken word method that you can't help but laugh and breeze through his book looking for the next!

Remarkable Creatures

I started Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier.  If she sounds familiar she wrote Girl With A Pearl Earring.  So far not bad, but I am definitely not the target audience.

Testing BlogJet

I have installed an interesting application - BlogJet. It's a cool Windows client for my blog tool (as well as for other tools). Get your copy here: http://blogjet.com

"Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination." -- Albert Einstein

Holy Books!! It's Christmas

My wife got a copy of my wish list on Amazon and wow did she go crazy!  I got ten books ranging from a useless facts bathroom reader to a george Washington Biography with a Steve Berry thrown in for good measure.  I am looking forward to reading each and trying my hand at a thorough review of each book.  Of course they would all consist of my opinions, but hey isnt everything we do really just based on opinion?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

So I finished The Girl Who Played with Fire and it was amazing!  I immediately dove into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Finished!  It was great.  Now onto The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.  But in the meantime I started and completed Michael Crichton's Pirate Lattitudes.  It was ok, I suppose.  A very quick read, not very deep and seemed to want to be a Jack Sparrow adventure with every pirate action cliche possible stuffed into the last two thirds of the book.  I give it an eh, or one banana out of five.

Apologies for the long break between posts, I actually had to go to work!  Its a busy time for us in the National Guard and I was away for 16 days.  Back to the grind. 

David Hewson's Latest

I am looking forward to getting a copy David Hewson's new book in the Nic Costa series.  Titled (in the US) "City of Fear: A Novel," it hit the bookshelves in May '10!

Self Publishing and writers block

I am writing a book based on some of my experiences but in a fictional format.  Has anyone out there done any self publishing and if so do you have any tips?  What about writers block, I mean I have the concept and outline but actual writing of pages sometimes seems to bog me down, any ideas?

What I do with the Books I read

Bottom Line..... I donate them.  I bag them all up and drive over to the local library and put them in the donation bins.  I have no desire to accumulate tons and tons of dusty used books.  If I were a collector or had a small book shop that would be a different story but I live with wife and step-son in a ranch with no room for things to sit accumulating dust. 

What do you do with your books? Perhaps you EBay them, maybe thats something I should have done.  Start a used bookstore on EBay or Amazon.  Send me a message, maybe there is something I can do with all the books I read other than dropping them in a bin.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

I'm hooked.  I 'm about 150 pages in and I am hooked.  The characters and their backstories are very well done, drawing me right into their lives.  I can't seem to put the book down.  - Update I am on page 260, love the characters in the book.  I want to visit Sweden now.

Books I have read

I have read a ton of books and Im not slowing down anytime soon. Currently I am reading "The Girl Who Played with Fire (Vintage)", and just prior to that I finished "Ford County: Stories." I am going to put a list, from the best that I can recall,  of books I have read with links to their authors. Feel free to send me your authors and books. Particularly if they match the genre or style of things I have read

September 8th, Indiana

There is nothing to do in Edinburgh, IN. There is always beer at Ruby Tuesday's, ...... Really? Is that the best we have here? Well I suppose it could be worse, I could be travelling to Ft Dix, NJ. But at least there is a golf course on post at Ft Dix!