Pushing 200 Blog Posts

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Thank you for stopping by for post 199. We're approaching a bit of a milestone, aren't we? Now, I would have been to 200 much sooner had I posted more often; however, I learned a long time ago that with my time constraints I had time only for posting once a week and visiting the sites of others with what little time remained. The other thing is I also don’t offer advice. I never really felt qualified to be doing that. I share what I’ve been up to and where I’ve been – with regard to this writing career; I clue you in on what I’ve been reading, watching or listening to. Really, until I feel the day has come that I deserve a full website, I’ll just use this place. Some will offer that having an official website just conveys how professional one is – and I get that. It just gets back to that time thing…

With hitting this number comes the opportunity to offer giveaways. I think I will do that, but not just yet. There’s simply too much in flux at the moment. The fabulous author/cover artist Maria Zannini is putting the finishing touches on brand new covers for my first two books as we prepare to do the big cover reveal on book three. I would counsel patience in this matter, but I can hardly stand it either. *laughs*

Let’s get back to the issue of time constraints again. This new job I just transferred into has really thrown me. It’s going to be great once I fully settle in, but in the meantime it has blown up my routine. I worked from 7 am to 7 pm my first two days in this gig. I haven’t seen my treadmill since last Tuesday and I have barely touched this laptop. If you don’t catch me prowling about your blogs or hear from me across the social networks – you’ll know why! During the week I barely had time to check my iPhone. I have two more days to work with the outgoing supervisor this week, but then I am on my own. There are so many new things to learn that I feel as if I’m cramming for a big final…

When the new facility becomes smaller in my eyes and I set up my routines, life should be so much better…and you should mercifully hear no further whining from me. *crosses fingers* I pray once we get into the 200's there will be much more discussion over new covers and new interest in my first two crossover vampire books, followed by the release of my Paranormal Romance which I really am excited to present to you, a secret collaborative writing project and much more. Big things are coming. I promise.

I’ve learned quite a lot over these past few years, as I know we all have. There really is so much to learn, isn’t there? On the other hand, it is all so very exciting, too. No matter how successful each of us are, we’re really living the dream.

We are living the dream, aren’t we? And we have made so many new friends to help us celebrate along the way. Thanks, you guys.

We’ll talk soon.

Happy Anniversary, Dear

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts

So I had a polite quarrel with a sister in law once, before she and I had become family. You see my fiancé and I were planning a Friday wedding for June 22, 1990. I say “we” but it was mostly my wife who did the work. I just want to make sure that I give the credit where the credit is due…

In any event, nobody gets married on a Friday was the argument. No, we needed to wait one more day and get married on Saturday which would have made more sense. I suppose that was a pretty good argument, except for one little thing. At the heart of the matter was the minor detail about that Friday being our two year dating anniversary. We met at junior college and became really good friends, until I went and fell in love and messed that all up. Thankfully, God was in the thing. When she told me that we would only ever be friends, I didn’t get mad, and we parted as friends. Over that summer, the woman who would eventually become my wife missed our time together and looked me up. She did not have my phone number, but managed to locate it through a friend of my brother. She called me June 22, 1988.

My friends, I may not be the most romantic guy in the world, but I am a little bit, and I was not about to get married on my two year anniversary plus one day. Hell, no! We became husband and wife on a Friday evening in my brother in law’s backyard in front of God and a large group of friends and family.

I tell you this because I want to acknowledge the woman who has stood beside me on this incredible journey that I suddenly find myself in. She knew that I was a writer when we met. During the course of our marriage that dream remained only that while two people became one flesh, and then eventually became a grand total of four. And after all of these years we find that the writing dream did not die, but simply waited.

I’m a published writer now. People are reading my words each and every week. Although I am all too often found sitting before my laptop after my very long and tiring day job, my wife has given me the space to do this, applauded my successes and loved me still.

I love you, too, dear, and I thank you for this and so much more. Happy Anniversary.

We’ll talk soon.