Hello, Fire
Enthusiasts. Jimmy, here... Jimmy!! You
remember. My name is plastered all over this site… Oh, Good Lord! No wonder you don't remember... *clears
spider webs, squashes three as countless more scurry, accidentally kicks over one dead rat* Sigh!
So I was
going to title this post: Jimmy's Last Will and Testament, but I was sure the only
one who would find it amusing was me. I was equally assured that I would offend
some, and I don’t want to do that. There’s nothing wrong with me, and many
others out there in the world do have health issues that I do not want to
belittle.
The heart of
the matter is that the day job has taken over my life and doing its level best to kill me slowly. Many of you have not heard anything
out of me in many weeks. That is why. I am penning this post from work on a
Saturday morning coffee break where I have a fairly large crew working on a
“hot” project. I will finish the week at about 58 hours which isn’t much until
you recall that the week began Tuesday. I did get most of Memorial Weekend
off, but did have to come in for a few hours last Saturday, too. Nearly all of May has been 11 to 13
hour days.
I did have a
good turn-out for The Swedish Festival last month where I sold many copies of my books. My
first book is actually set in my town and takes place just before the festival.
I enjoyed sharing that with people who stopped at my table. Their eyes got big
with surprise, and many bought a book because of it. Here's a few photos. That's my pal Lisa. These events also provide opportunities for internet friends to "meet" which is what we did.
Other than
that, however, there hasn’t been much to share. No treadmill. No writing. No
laptop. I promised I wouldn’t spent time ranting about my day job here this year, but
since it’s actually gotten worse rather than better, I figured I’d better let
you know I’m okay – just swamped.
Earlier this
month I did have an opportunity to meet a frequent visitor to this site over
the years, the multi-talented author and dear friend Diana Murdock. I was thrilled that my wife
and I were able to find time on a trip we were on to stop and spend it with her. We exchanged autographed copies of our books which was awesome. I read her novel Again a few years ago and loved it. I hope it won’t be the last time we meet. Next time Vegas, right Diana?
Anyone else want to join us? You think I’m kidding… ;)
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So, what am
I going to do this summer? Well, I hope things will calm down at work. I was
all set to dust off the manuscript for my fourth novel today, but here I sit.
In any event, I need to begin that second draft immediately. It is book three
in my vampire series and I am introducing a new character who I’m naming after
my 90+ year old grandmother. She lives in town and is doing
great. She has been one of my biggest supporters and a real inspiration for us
all - believe me. She lives alone, but can still take care of herself. My mother checks up
on her daily and drives her to wherever she needs to go, but other than that
she’s very much self-sufficient. I call her and stop by periodically for coffee
every few weekends or so as I can. I am dedicating this book to her as well, so
as you might well guess, I don’t want to take too long getting it into her
hands.
So, if you
still do not hear from me, that’s where I’ll be.
I hope all
of you are finding time to do what you want to do. I wish you a great summer,
and every success with everything you do. If nothing else, I’ll check in again
in July.
I’d better
get back to work. As I said it's a "hot" project…