100th post.

I have been away from blogging for bit now. I knew I had my 100th post coming up and I was thinking on things to write for it. While I find it amazing I have put up a hundred of these so far, I have had some things going on in my life that took up my attention. 

My sister is in school to become a Dental Hygienist. She has had members of our family and friends come in as patients throughout her time there. Over Christmas she asked if I would mind coming in, I agreed and we set a date. 

Time went on and I went for the exam to see what she might be able to do for me. While in the chair she had to inspect my mouth, which is kind of awkward having your sister putting her fingers in your mouth. I was worried she might take the moment to enact some revenge from earlier childhood shenanigans. Everything went smooth until she found something on my tongue. 

As she is in training an instructor is required to come behind her to check her work and in doing so she inspected the spot. There was a moment of, "Hmm." And a, "Yeah." She then asked me if I had an oral surgeon. I replied no, as I have not been to a dentist since I was a child. I was given a referral and left with a hug from my sister and the look of worry clearly stamped on her face. 

Now I have to say that I am generally healthy. I have a few extra pounds hanging on and have issues with my sugar, but I workout and have never had surgery or been hospitalized for anything so far in my life. This thought of something being seriously wrong sort of took over. Fear was a clear and present thing. I set up my appointment and had to wait a week before I could be seen. 

The first session was to see if I still had the spot and what she thought it might be. After some inspection she saw some things that worried her and gave me my options. Now the do nothing option, while seeming less painful, was not something I could do. I had to know. So, the biopsy was set up and I had to go home to stew in my thoughts for a few more days.  

In these moments of the unknown I think it is natural for people to start looking at their lives. With a wife, two children and another on the way, I have a lot ahead of me. I want to be here for graduations and weddings and grandchildren. I began thinking about legacy and what I would be leaving if I left sooner than later. Trust me it was some heavy thoughts and while making for good fodder for further writing, in the moment I just felt down. 

Still, I have amazing people around me and positive thinking was always pushed upon when I needed it. I am happy to say that I got a call and the results did not include the word cancer. I have a few stitches and am craving anything solid to eat, but small prices to pay for some peace of mind.

I hope to be around for quite a while, talking with you amazing people, growing as an author and getting to see my family grow and expand and enrich. I know it is cliche to realize how important life is after something scary happens, but some of the best things are cliche. 

Anyway, hope all of you are well. Thanks for reading my post and being here for the 100th. Can't wait for the 1000th. As always, have fun and keep writing. 

Weaver!

Hey guys wanted to take a moment to share JA Ellis's new release, Weaver.

Here is a Blurb for the book:

As a Weaver, Myra Castor has always depended on her ability to read the lines of the universe, and create new possibilities in the fabric of reality to keep her footing in a world that most people have no control over. But when she hears that her mentor, Susan, has died of a heart attack, Myra's world begins to fall apart.

Before Myra can process the news, Jack, another of Susan's students - and Myra's former lover - appears on her doorstep. He tells her Susan's death wasn't a heart attack, and when he shows Myra an anomaly - a hole in the universe - that leads to a dead world full of ghosts, Myra begins to question her perception of reality. She knows that without intervention, the lines holding the universe together will unbind, and slip away into oblivion, and their world will cease to exist.

Together, Myra and Jack work their way through the anomalies riddling their part of the universe, searching for a portal that will bring them closer to the source of the chaos. But an ambush ending in tragedy sends Myra across the universe in a desperate bid to save her world.

Go say hey to the author at her blog:

www.jaelliswriting.com

Here are some places you can find it:

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IAA3YSM

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406027

Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/weaver-ja-ellis/1118358418?ean=9781495227035

My Robo-plea.

So I don't do a lot of recommendations as far as movies, or even books. I tend to leave it up to you to decide what to watch and spend your money on. I went to the movies yesterday and saw RoboCop. I felt the need to write this post today as a result. 

So, I was apprehensive going into see this. Especially so after the whole Total Recall debacle. I was a big fan of the satire filled early movies, even as they got progressively worse. I, like many children of the 80s, walked around using robotic sounds and spouting robotic phrases from the film. So I, like many, worried this movie would not grasp what we loved about the early movies.

So, how did it do? I have to say that casting was in rare form here. I didn't feel any character fell short in their roles. The plot was great and the internal struggle that progressed with several characters as the movie goes on seemed well thought out. Which leads me to pacing. So many movies these days think the audience is stupid and wish to just throw the movie at you in a breakneck speed. This movie was paced very well and let things develop in a way that it felt natural. 

Besides the black armor they eventually go for through most of the movie, I find it hard to see fault in this film. In action movies these days I tend to find myself rolling my eyes at least once in the movie where something outlandish transpires and I have to reach deep to suspend reality. With this movie I never found that moment. 

I truly hope America can get this right and support this film. I would love to see sequels. If you are on the fence or feel that your childhood is being destroyed, all I can say is give it a shot. I went in full on skeptic and came out a full on fan. 

Anyway that is my plea for moviedom. As always, have fun and keep writing. 

Snow Thoughts.

Well it is snowing here in SC. The kids are out of school and I am doing my best to fill my time writing. I honestly love it. The idea of it as well as the application. I love telling stories. I love being with my characters and seeing them grow and change through the course of thousands of words.

I know that I am not alone. Why else would there be so many people self publishing their works every year and why else are there those of us still sending out the thousandth query letter. It is love for our stories and pride in them that pushes us. 

The business is in a state of flux. There are many scary stories floating around that could sometimes discourage a person on this journey. The fact is, a lot of them are true and in ways it is easier to be a published, successful writer and in ways it is now harder. Things may level out soon, or it may take time. The thing we have to all keep in mind is, people will always love a good story.

Keep writing. Keep going. There is no magic timetable, no quick and easy way to achieve our goals. Much like getting in shape, the only way to do it is, get off our (metaphorical) butts and get to writing. Write thirteen books if that is what it takes. Write twenty. Your story is who you are and with time you will find people who love it as much as you do. 

Anyway, on a cold and snowy day these were my thoughts. As always, have fun and keep writing. 

***UPDATE***

Here is some pictures of our winter storm.

IWSG

This is a great group formed of people who are willing to share their insecurities and/or offer hope for people out there struggling with their own. If you'd like to join up click here.

I had a few ideas about what I should write for this month.  Ultimately, something that I have been working toward getting just right, for quite some time, seemed like the best thing to talk about.

The most important thing a writer can learn in the their journey is how to manage their time. A lot goes on in our lives and as many of us tend to be procrastinators anyway, putting off writing seems to be the first thing we do. 

What is the answer? For me the answer has always been...dun dun duuuuuuh...a scheduled routine. I know, I shudder even as I write it. Still, if we want to be the writer that gets their books done, that grows in their craft and finally gets our books(or whatever you are working on) out to people that will love it, we need to write.

So, what makes for a good schedule? It is a hard thing to get down. Life tends to be a fluid thing and changes a lot. 

The other thing we have to keep in mind is, writers tend to be two people at once. The person that wants more than anything to sit their butts in that chair and write out their thoughts. At the same time, the person that would rather do anything but sit in that chair and write.

So, the first step in a good schedule is—fluidity. If the schedule is too tight then when things get crazy the whole system falls apart. You have to have goals set out for the day, but make sure they can fit around other things that may come up. 

Second, be forgiving not failing. If you miss something in your set schedule don't beat yourself up and feel you failed. That eventually leads people to say that the "schedule thing" doesn't work. Instead forgive yourself and move to the next thing.

Third, give projects and be specific. It is perfectly fine to spend your writing time researching. In fact it is a great use of time, but be sure you are researching a particular thing. All too often a general research for writing can easily go like this. "Hmm, let's do some research. Okay the history of the Slavic people is interesting. Oh they had cats. Youtube has cat videos. I should post this awesome cat vid on Facebook. They said what on Facebook? I got to tweet that. Oh man Twitter you got some awesome pics I need to post this on Tumbler...."

Last in the list is—time. No schedule is perfect the first few days(weeks, months). The thing that makes a schedule work is time. The more you do something the easier it becomes to do it. Soon your schedule is your life not something you are making yourself do. 


Something else cool going on today is Our fearless ninja leader's book CassaFire is 99c today. You can get your copy here. 






Anyway, I hope some of this helps. As always, have fun and keep writing.