Hope Springs Eternal

Mississippi River cruise

Greetings, Fire Enthusiasts. How is everyone? I am well. As I pen this we have just recently returned from a vacation that a few of you may have heard about. More on that later.

Usually, all I do is complain about the day job, and the length of my work day - the 12 hours days and all of that. However, I can report some very good news. Since I took this supervisor position at my company's Cold Storage Facility, I had really been in an unofficial acting-Manager role. Now, I am pleased to announce that I have been officially promoted to Facility Manager. It's a big thing for me, and they will be making it official this week.What's big is the recognition of the hard work I had already been doing.

For book news, it's taken a bit longer than I'd hoped, but I should have my edits back any day now. I guess that's what I get for writing something that is about 40k words longer than I usually write. The hope is to have the book available in all formats by the middle of May. We'll see. As soon as I get those back and begin the final phase of this production, I will begin sharing the cover more - as well as teasers.

I was interviewed recently by Fiona McVie for her Author Interview site. It's been a while since I have taken part in one of those. It was a bit of fun, and she's a cool new buddy. You can find it here.

The bank of the Mississippi

Breakfast, anyone? 

We just had the opportunity to follow our 17 year old's high school Jazz Choir to New Orleans. Many have asked me how the choir did - and they did fine. They took silver in the festival; however, the performance was secondary to the trip. Originally, there was supposed to be a New York trip, but that fell through on New York's side of things. The choir teacher then began looking for some other trip to take the kids on. I had hoped we wouldn't do anything since my wife and I celebrate twenty-five years of marriage this summer. I wanted to find something just for us in June. However, when the idea to visit New Orleans came up, it proved too tempting to pass up. We called it early celebrating.

Cemetery Tour

In any event, we took in a swamp tour, an old cemetery tour, a ghost tour, cruised down the Mississippi River for lunch and visited the National World War 2 Museum. Perhaps New Orleans might not have been the most appropriate city for the teens to be visiting; however, all in all, I think they had a good time. It might be one of those deals where they look back at some future date and look upon it very fondly. It's not Disneyland. It's a historic and old city, and one might need to be a bit older to fully appreciate where you're standing.

KHS Jazz Choir

Thanks for stopping by.

Rian & a 3-ft gator.

Oh, and it's baseball season. I'm wearing one of my Cubs shirts as I pen this post, and my beloved Cubbies start the season Easter Sunday night by playing against the hated Cardinals. "We" haven't won a World Series since 1908, and haven't played for a championship since World War 2 ended in 1945. But hope springs eternal. Let's Go Cubs! This is the year!

Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment.

We'll talk soon.

At the Bourbon Street Hard Rock Cafe w/ Morrison.

A June Update

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… ;)

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…

We’ll talk soon.

Stop the World, I Just Want to Write

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I thank you so much for the well-wishes as I’ve dealt with my allergy flare-up. Your encouragement really helped. Thankfully, this has been a pretty mild case this year. I feel good and haven’t missed any work, although I sound terrible on occasion, constantly clearing my throat or choking on the dreaded post-nasal drip. I’m making all of the sound effects as I type this to you, but thought I would leave out the graphic details – unlike last week. *grins*

Speaking of the dreaded day job, I hope you’ll forgive my colorful language, but it’s been kicking my ass. The hours are a solid 11 now of triage-like conditions. You wouldn’t have thought that possible with processing and packaging raisins, but it’s true (And I certainly mean no disrespect for those in the medical community). On top of the hustle and bustle, there are lots of Saturdays sprinkled in for good measure.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about the day job. Believe me! It’s the last frigging thing I want to talk about. All I will tell you is I can no longer function on 20% power when I get home, especially as the week nears its end. My inbox is full of blog posts, Facebook or Goodreads Event invitations, etc. I’m just so exhausted now that all I can do is sort through them daily, process the ones that need immediate attention and then hope to deal with the rest on the weekend. What weekend there is, of course! My cough has kept me off the treadmill as well – something I’m not very happy about.

I have managed to continue work on my newest WIP. I have completed another draft and I like where it stands. I’m starting an edit now as I prepare to hand it off to betas. I am still looking for a beta or two, if anyone might be available. Speaking of that, I’ll leave you now with another teaser from the forthcoming paranormal, Ghosts:

 

We were up early that next day and were already in the tiny breakfast nook area of the hotel when Anne Bircher came walking in and rocked my already fragile world. Ray saw her first.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, and it couldn’t have been more appropriate.

I looked over my shoulder in the general direction of Ray’s gaze and suddenly lost my appetite. Neither one of us said another word. She stood five foot six in her brown heels and green skirt and matching blouse. A long gold necklace hung at the middle of her chest. She sported a short hairdo which perfectly accentuated her face and neck. It framed her well, as if the lovely woman needed any further framing, but we stared at her as if she were the only woman left in the world.

She was the spitting image of Angie.

Ray turned to me, but offered no words. I saw him struggle, and simply touched his arm with my hand. I was engaged in my own struggle. Not only did I no longer feel like eating, but no longer felt like visiting Salinas, California, either. It was uncanny what I felt then. It was as if someone had just ripped off an enormous scab which I had taken great pains in maintaining, which I suppose was true. I saw Ray lift his right hand into the air and wave her over.

“Hello,” she said as she approached our table and I blinked hard when it was Angie’s voice which greeted me.

“Miss Bircher, is it?” Ray asked, half standing.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Good to meet you,” he said. I vaguely saw him extend his hand across the table. I just stared at my plate. “I’m Ray and this is my brother Paul. Please have a seat.” There was a tiny, well-manicured hand in my space then. I took it, gave it the customary shake, but hardly made eye contact with her. And I certainly didn’t stand up. I merely pretended that my half-finished plate of brunch was the greatest food in the world and that I hadn’t eaten in days.

“It’s great meeting you both on such short notice and on a Sunday,” the woman said. “This really works out for me and my schedule. I hope this has worked out for you both as well. I would hate to think that I twisted your arms somehow.” She seemed genuinely sweet, but I was having a terrible time hearing the woman Anne was and not the ghost that was Angie.

“No,” Ray said, taking a sip of his coffee and then setting it back down. “Both of us were free. We came up yesterday and spent the day on the coast.”

“Fantastic,” she said. “Very good.” She produced a thin briefcase that she had carried in and set it down upon the table. “I have paperwork here that we will need to get started, but otherwise everything is ready for us to head over and have a look at the property.” The paperwork had highlighted places where Ray and I were to sign. Lots of them.

“Excuse me,” I asked her, only briefly looking up at her. I couldn’t yet take more than bite-sized portions of her face. “I’m still a bit confused by this whole thing. I don’t even remember this Flora woman, and yet I’m now part owner of her home.”

“That’s right,” Anne replied. “I have a photo of her, if that’ll help.”

She pulled a photo she had clipped to a folder and passed it over. I drank what little remained of my coffee and looked at the face that I didn’t recognize. She had grey hair with streaks of the dark hair that once had been. Whether black or brown, I couldn’t tell. She was unsmiling and serious, as if life had mistreated her. I passed the photo to Ray.

“Everything’s all here and everything has been taken care of,” Anne continued. “You owe no monies and there are funds to cover future taxes, repairs, etc. All that remains is for me to show you the property and hand you the keys, basically. Neither of you may remember your Aunt Flora, but she remembered you.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Ray asked. We signed everything and then headed on our way. 

That wasn’t very scary, was it? See, I’m not all about the horror. ;) I offered you this peek into my WIP in order to demonstrate the relationships that will be developed in and amongst the very literal ghosts that I have for you. There most definitely are scares, but there are sweet moments, too. Now that I have whetted your appetite, I guess I’d better get back to the editing, huh?

If my writing does interest you, you can have the two e-books in my crossover vampire series for $4 bucks.

We’ll talk soon.

 

A Future Without Twitter?

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How are you all doing? Are we in the Christmas spirit yet? I hope so. I am getting there, but some things have risen up to do their best to dampen them…

Things have gotten tough at the dreaded day job. Due to many factors, we had a lousy busy season and have been forced to work weekends. I got out of working a weekend ago and the subsequent Monday due to the fact that we already had plans to accompany our high school freshman and his choir to Disneyland and the Candlelight celebration. It was a very cool time, but now I’m on the clock for weekend work and worked this past Saturday. I typically take two weeks off during the holidays – you may recall my having been sick for them last year. In any event, even that is in jeopardy, and I may have to work during this time as well.

Not only are we really busy, but now I find myself really tired. It didn’t take long at all for the busy workload to wipe away that three-day weekend I just had. Christmas makes us all busy. I’m trying to get some writing in, but my three hour window is shaky now because some days I am far too tired to concentrate. Lately, I’ve hardly blogged at all. Many have continued to visit in spite of the fact that I have rarely reciprocated, which I adore you for, and hope to improve upon.

Then this past Wednesday morning during a work coffee-break I attempted to do my #WriterWednesday shout-outs on Twitter, only to discover that the Follow Friday App had been permanently shut down. This left me with no real way of doing that work – which is more of a labor of love for me, to be honest. I just don’t have the time to check Facebook or Twitter feeds, so doing my #WW and #FF work from my trusty iPhone was my only dedicated method of continuing that interaction. I was left more than a bit disappointed by the fact that I only heard from a handful of friends last week when I usually hear from so many more.

Out of sight is out of mind, so I suppose what really bothered me was the very real possibility that I might be quickly forgotten in a community where we literally “know” hundreds and thousands of people. One might have thought that less Twitter interaction might actually be better, giving me more time to write, read or blog, but I don’t see it that way. To me, it’s a big loss.

So, my friends, does anyone have any suggestions? Is there another App that can help me do the same thing? I’m not interested in mass following and unfollowing people which seems to me to be what these bigger and better mousetraps are for now. How do you Twitter-loving folks keep up and reach out? I just want to be able to interact with my friends, even if it is only at 140 characters.

We’ll talk soon… I hope.

Keeping From Drowning

Greetings and salutations, Fire Enthusiasts. Thanks so much for dropping by and hanging out with me for a few minutes. I realize that there is plenty of competition for your time and hardly any of that as it is! And this is precisely what I have come to talk about this week.

You see, I feel bad when I don’t spend enough time with you guys. When I started writing again a few years ago, finished the novel and found my publisher, it was all about me. It was about the first of many novels which would propel me into the consciousness of the world, or at least my little part of it. *laughs* Back then, I had no idea that any of you were here already or about to join me in this crazy pursuit that more often than not consumes us and drives us beyond normal means to get our words out into the world.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that there was a wonderful community of writers and/or readers out there. During that first year, many of you held me up and tirelessly encouraged me to hold the course in spite of newbie roadblocks, obstacles and potholes in the road before me…and us. Now, I feel like one of those tireless encouragers (is that even a word?), and I love that!

My part of the Packaging Department Office. Forgive the tape on the window.

The Problem: You’ll recognize it because it’s probably your problem, too. I have between 4:30 pm and 8:00 pm, and that’s it. During this time it's shuttling kids around, appointments, eating dinner and cleaning the kitchen, and occasional performances at the schools for those kids that I mentioned. It makes it tough to keep up with everything that you guys are up to, though I try.

Working and writing: I have an 11 hour day job (which I have whined about many times) which I have to wake up for at an ungodly hour. I sneak my writing in during coffee breaks and finally on Saturday morning where I have a chunk of time before the house wakes up.

Reading: I pretty much only read before bed. This also helps to tire my eyes and to induce sleep. When I’ve got something really good to read, I take trusty Kindle to work with me and read there. That’s good news for many of you guys because I’ve only been reading indie books for a year and a half. That’s how well written your books are to me. *raises glass in toast* Speaking of reading, my TBR pile is literally a mound of books. I’m getting through them as fast as I can, but…

When I need to get away from the house noise, I retreat to the bedroom.

Networking: Throughout the day I am attached to my trusty iPhone, constantly sorting through e-mail and blog posts that I have delivered to my inbox (As a side note, if you have yet to add this feature to your sites, I highly recommend it. It saves so much time, rather than readers having to go hunting for your posts). I save the ones that I really want to address and delete the rest. It hurts, but there is no time for them all. When I get home I go through what I have saved and visit everyplace that I can.

Promotion: Throughout the day, I might tweet or Facebook post about my book or my one blog post a week, but I really try and keep that to a minimum. I get so much more enjoyment re-tweeting, sharing and "liking" what you guys have going on. Any more promotion than that is really only spam, isn’t it? Eventually, it becomes invisible, skipped or deleted without a second thought. It’s sad, but the reality.

The reason my left knee hurts now. Lol!

The Why: Why did I explain all of that? Really, the answer is because I care, and want you to understand that more often than not, I’m barely treading water. You'll notice that I didn’t mention anything about articles that I write or housework or the treadmill that we just bought to help defeat this rapidly increasing middle of mine. My hope is that by the end of the week, I will have “liked” a post or two of yours, re-tweeted, or shown you some #Writer Wednesday and #Follow Friday love, and said hello to you on your blog or website. Often I read your posts but have little to add, and the last thing that I want to do is simply add some lame comment that takes up more of our time. There’s already very little time in the day as it is. #justsayin’

By the way, if I haven't thrown you some Twitter love, blame the Follow Friday app that I use. I could never forget any of you. *grins*

How do you guys keep from drowning? I'd love to hear your advice and recommendations. We've been holding each other up for a couple of years now, haven't we?

I think my cat has the best idea yet. 

We’ll talk soon.