Here it is. The end of 2020 and the start of the new year. I have seen TONS of post about this, so mine might be a little redundant.
If I'm honest with you, I always think I can't tell if something is good or bad until I see it in my rearview mirror. For example, presidents... Sometimes long after a president is dead historians look over their lives, and the overall state of the US and the world, and they say that they guy did okay. And other times, the history books highlight in glaring obvious detail how bad someone was at their job. But in the end, you never can tell until the dust settles. That is how I feel about saying goodbye to 2020. I moved this year which might have been the best for me or terrible. We will see. I released a book and bought a truck and another car and I mourned the lost of some of my friends. I even said goodbye to my therapist and am trying out the world without her. It's a little scary. I guess to put it in a nutshell, this might have been an amazing year or a crap one, but I wont know for a while. Normally on New Year's eve I watch a movie set in the future (but not really the future just some directors idea of what that year would look like.) I didn't do that this year because I was driving, but I still might... just because I think it's funny. However you all are saved from listening to my movie thoughts. Soooo, I'm going to say that is a win for you. No matter how your 2020 went you were spared from my rambles on a lame B movie and so that's something. If you like the bright side, that is what I can offer. Anyway, Cheers my friends! I hope 2021 is a great year for you or at least some facsimile of that.
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-HEY!
Sooooo It is that time of year again. Thanksgiving, shopping, Christmas, shopping, New Years, more shopping. Cool. But you know what you need? You should take a break with a cup of rum filled eggnog and curl up in your favorite chair. For a moment or two, you could put down your phone... and read my newest Ice Era Chronicle. Right now I am looking for a few people to read advanced copies of Holiday Cup of Joe and join our read for review team. If you think you'd be interested, you should message me. I will send you a FREE digital copy and then you can write a review and tell me what you think! Of course, if you want to give a struggling author a dollar or two, that is very "holiday gift-giving" of you. Holiday Cup Of Joe comes out on December 1st and you can PRE-ORDER now! Here is a Blurb in case you missed it! Today is an important Ice Era Holiday! Instead of going to a party, Joe rushes to a cave-in. Everyone knows Snow-Everyone-Joe. He’s a feared member of the H.S.P.C. And on this day, Joe doesn’t want to be anyone special. When he saves a trapped doctor, Joe discovers the joy of being “Jack.” A no one. Just a friend. Heading to work, Mather carries the snowmen cookies for Sky Serum Holiday. Right as he thinks this celebration will be like all the others, in a flash, a blast rocks his world. As Mather accepts his death, a stranger saves him, altering his life forever. “Jack” and Mather are simply friends. What starts off as strangers, grows into more. Problem is, Joe isn’t who he says he is, and Mather isn’t in any hurry to change the slow and easy love building between them. So we just got moved in...
The house is a lot of work, but it's bones are good and I can't beat the view. This is a picture from my deck. Now when I sit and write, this is all I see. I get to listen to the forest with the cars a long way off. To those of you who miss us, we miss you as well. If you didn't even notice we were gone, then that's cool too. And... If you're here to keep up with our writing, well, well, you are in the correct place, my friend! Right now, we are hard at work putting the finishing touches on "Holiday Cup Of Joe." This is a holiday Ice Era Chronicle that we have planned. I always thought Joe needed his own book. After that, we will be back on time. 3:05 a.m. will be the next work. I will admit that the internet here isn't the best, but we got a little something-something, so I will be here on my blog and on Facebook and Twitter. Plus we are now on Pintrest looking at ideas for re-designing the new house. All and all, we are here and I thank all of you who are sticking with us! As some of you know, we decided to move out of the state of Minnesota.
It's funny because I like almost everything about Minnesota. This was a nice place to live for the last 15 years. However, about a year ago, we came to the conclusion that the weather no longer worked for us. As a war vet, my injuries are exasperated by the cold. I think anyone old (or with arthritis) knows what I mean. Since we are not the rich snow birds with two houses (one in Arizona and one in Minnesota) it came down to the choice to move to a little warmer climate. Anyway, that's what we are up to. I tell you this because I know some of you are wondering why the next book isn't in your hand right now. I'm sorry that this change in where I sleep at night has slowed us down, but I promise, we are writing. So far we have finished Hands Of Clay (which is the throw back I told you about in the last post.) We also wrapped up a fun side novel called Holiday Cup Of Joe and 3:05 a.m. An Ice Era Chronicle is ready too. During the packing process for the house, we have written a couple off-the-rails books that fall after 3:05 a.m. The first one is called One Strong Gale and the second is called Sky's The Limit. As soon as I unpack, I plan to start on 4:05 a.m. I am hoping that this trek to a new place will fire up my creative juices. So we are moving forward!!! Thanks to all of you that are still sticking with me and the Ice Era Chronicles. I say the same thing over and over again, so much so that my better half wants to put tape over my mouth. I always say that “The seeds of my end are in my beginning.”
People always ask me how I can write a whole story. I have a few friends that often only write the beginning of their books, but then they don’t know where to take their stories. For me, a book starts out as a little idea. Maybe it’s a character that I think would be fun or even a job I’d like to explore. After I have my one little inkling, I tend to do something with my hands. I paint rooms. I fold laundry. I cook or wash dishes. Agatha Christie said “The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes.” True that. I like to do things that are repetitive and it opens my mind to wander. The story grows from there, but I won’t even try to plot out an outline until I know the end. I have had books where I thought I knew how it was all going to wrap up and then about three chapters in, my characters stop talking to me. So, I don’t do that anymore. I simply go about my sweeping or scrubbing or car fixing, and think about how everything will finish up before I sit down with my computer and my better half. Once I know the end, only then do I plot the chapters one by one. When the outline is finished, the real typing begins. So far Monica and I have never disagreed with how a book will finish. But that might change in the future, I have the idea of how the series will end in 12:05 a.m. The last Ice Era Chronicle. Monica isn’t a fan. I have some time to convince her that I’m right. We will see if I’m successful. |
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