What a Year So Far

Well, of the things that could have started the year off, most of us didn't expect the spate of mortality among the arts. The loss of a number of iconic musicians and actors within a hideously short time frame has come as a shock to many. People are reeling and wondering who might be next. The mood of the new year is somber.

And this holiday today is a reminder of what happened to one who was working to make a profound difference.

Few of us know the number of our days. We should try to make the most of each one of them, enjoy, and live well.

Some have asked why I work so hard to produce books and stories so quickly. I fear being cut off before I can get these tales told, and I have so many to tell. So I'm pushing like a freight train, racing time to produce what I can while I'm here.

Books are a time machine, and I'm trying to speak to people that may not have even been born yet. If I can communicate to them in meaningful words, then my time here was well spent.

I approach the craft with a will to make it good, make it right. This quote captures it:

So live well. And do something meaningful. Make your time here count in some way.

Hello Again

Sorry for the radio silence, but it's been a trying time. Coming back online now to share all the latest and greatest.

Hope your holidays were good. We had a power outage on Christmas Day (not the big storm one, just our street- how nice to be so chosen...). So we had to postpone our nice meal, and settle for Chinese food instead, the only place open. We thought folks going out for that on Christmas was just a movie made-up thing, but yup, the place got busy.

And so were the movies, because, hey, why sit in the dark and moan. Instead we watched dwarves fight orcs. Way cooler.

So an unintended more expensive Christmas. Yuck.

Another audio book of mine is up for sale- Crooked Paths, 5 tales of people and crimes gone wrong, narrated by the talented Fred Wolinsky. And check out the company I keep when it finally got listed:

My book is listed under those by Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Ed McBain.
Uh, wow.
I'm not saying I'm in their league, but if you like good short stories about mystery and crime, you'll enjoy hearing these.
Have revamped my website to include audio releases, since they're happening at a rapid pace.

So more work to do- have a safe and happy New Year!

Working Through the Pain

It's been a tough time recently, so the posts haven't been as frequent. I've been dealing with a few different medical issues, and a terrible amount of pain. The medical "profession" has been of little use, except to assure me the problems aren't life-threatening.

Hah! Fat lot they know. Last night the pain was so intense, I'd have done anything to make it cease, so it was indeed life-threatening.

Consequently, didn't get much done yesterday.

Today was merely a dull ache, so I plowed through and got back to writing. Made some progress on book #3 of the Zack Taylor series, A Shadow on the Wall.

Would like to get back to health. This current situation sucketh mightily. Feeling the pressure of not knowing when the dials are going to light up is awful. And when it hits, it pretty much wipes out any other activity.

Other than that, though, things are okay, I guess.

Make a Better World

There was a recent terrible tragedy, where one person perpetrated an act of absolute brutality, ending some lives and destroying others.

This senseless act of violence is so deplorable, and leaves us questioning life and the randomness of the universe.

How do we respond? One of the best ways I saw was on the blog of Chuck Wendig, who challenged his readers to post something *nice.* I'm going to quote from the site, because it matters:

"We balance out the horrors of a day like this by willfully doing good for others.

So, hug your kids, give to a charity, rescue a puppy, something, anything.

Evil can’t be undone, but good can outshine it.

So, if you feel like it, post something below in the comments that’s good and nice in this world. Don’t talk about the shooting or other bad shit. Don’t politicize anything (today is not a real good day to defend the second amendment, or talk about naughty pop culture or liberal-conservative fol-de-rol). Just post something nice. A story. Charity. Something your kid said or did. Anything at all.

This not in service of forgetting tragedy or ignoring it, but rather, to remind ourselves that people aren’t all bad and that one aberration a species does not make."

One of the posters responded to this with a personal story:
"A week ago, I was picking up odds and ends at Walmart on the way home from work. There was a family ahead of me in the checkout line that was having issues paying. The dad’s credit card was being rejected for the n-th time, so he decided to give up and started giving back the bags they had loaded into their cart. After taking a quick peek at their loot (mostly frozen dinners, rice and beans), noting that they weren’t buying any alcohol or tobacco, I offered to pay for it. It was about 60 bucks worth of stuff. Not much, but the mom teared up, making me almost tear up, and so on.
After helping get their bags back in the cart, I turn to the cashier to pay for my items. Only, the guy behind me, sporting a big, shit-eating grin, had paid for my items. At that point, the lady behind him, insisted to pay for his, and so it went in a line of about 8 people. It was a great moment of good will, and I’m glad to have kicked it off."

It's that kind of act we should remember, and celebrate.

So-- go forth and celebrate at least one human act of kindness, of connection, of just pure goodness. Evil deeds are done by the weak and stupid. It takes real strength to build something good.

Tough Week

Whew-- been another tough week. TGIF!

Sure the weather was nice, but I started off by greeting Spring with a nasty cold. Apart from my day job, I put in time writing and working to get more readers, so when I'm down sick, that's too much not getting done.

Had to take our vehicle in for an awful grinding noise, but it didn't cost us hundreds of dollars this time. Okay, that bullet was only a flesh wound.

And my daughter's turning 18, while waiting to hear from colleges on acceptance, so it's been pretty nerve-wracking.

So good news-- I'm appearing at the Dunstable, Mass Public Library tomorrow, where I hope there will be some folk to hear me talk about writing!