The Mind of a Struggling Writer

 I started National Novel Writing Month strong this year. I hit my word count every day in the first week. But as always, work and life have started to slow me down. I'm still working on writing every day, though I am falling behind on my word count. As of right now, I will be finished with this draft beginning of December. Plus I still have a couple works in progress that I need to work on.  On the upside, I did self-publish one of my first NANO books, " Paradise of the Locusts " this month. You can find it on most ebook providers. It should be available on Amazon Kindle soon. After doing research and getting feedback from people in my writing groups, I think self-publication is the way to go for now. While I still have the dream of traditional publication, I also know that it can be difficult. Finding an agent to take up my work can be trying, as it is also subject to their own personal taste. But, if I self-publish and get some traction, who knows what will happen. The...

 So next week starts National Novel Writing Month (or NANOWRIMO or NANO). The idea for those who may not know is that you give yourself the challenge of writing a 50k word novel in a month. The official start date is Nov 1st with the goal of being done by the end of the month. I have done it for a couple of years now, and it is a great way to get the first draft of a novel written. If nothing else, it builds great writing habits.  Some people set some pretty lofty goals, like trying to write a novel in one day. To me, that just seems like unneeded stress and chances of having 50k words of garbage to have to go back and heavily edit. Given, you won't have a polished novel doing NANO, but at least a serviceable first draft.  I have a few that I have done, that I am in the process of going back and editing. I hate editing though. I always feel like I should be working on the next project. But, it is part of the process and editing and revision are important to make a book th...

 No surprise, Covid sucks again! Since last March I have been doing distance learning with my students. The spring was not a colossal failure, but it was not what it could have been. So many students simply checked out once we were not going back to in-person school. This year has started off better, at least in that there is some accountability for students as far as grades go. But it isn't the same. I miss standing in front of the classroom, a room full of eager minds ready to learn. And while I will say the kids are becoming more engaged and interacting, there are still kids that barely turn in any work. Right now looking at my grades, half my kids have turned in assignments. Some of these will be the kids whose parents will be complaining about low grades, no matter what grace I give them. There are also the kids that turn in blank assignments consistently, and probably will continue to do so until we go back in person. Maybe when they get their report cards it will be a realit...

 After several years away, I have decided to dust off the old blog again. A lot has changed in the last few years since my last post and I feel like I have neglected this blog for quite a while. With being busy with my career in education and trying to get some writing projects done in between I have not been utilizing this great tool as well as I should.   My new goal is going to try to post at least once a week, which I think is a doable goal. I'll be posting previews of writing projects I'm working on, links to things that I have published, either by myself or through a publisher (fingers crossed!). I'll also give my insights on my writing process, what I'm working on. I'll also be sharing some travel stories, though they will be more of past events for the time being (thanks Covid!). Sometimes, it may just be a recap of my week, who knows. So, speaking of current projects I am currently working on a short horror story collection that I started back in July. I wa...

Several years ago, I was part of a book project called Game of Thrones and History. Sadly, the editor lost the publisher, and the project was in limbo ever since. After no correspondences were replied to since 2014, I am pretty confident this book will not see the light of day. So instead, I figured I would post the contribution that I would have made to the book, since I did put several months of work into it. Enjoy. Blood and Wine: Entertaining the King             When audiences first meet King Robert Baratheon, he is visiting his old friend Ned Stark at his castle in Winterfell. What follow are several days of feasts and hunting to entertain the king of the Seven Kingdoms. After his departure, maester Lucian laments to Catelyn Stark of the of the king’s visit.  It is not only a strain financially for the Starks, but also strains their resources.  When Ned is made Hand of the King and arrives at King’s Landing he...

I grew up loving rock music. When I was sixteen my dad bought my me first guitar, and I dreamt of rock stardom. Years later, that dream did not come to fruition, but I discovered a love for music that has never died. Sadly, the same cannot be said for some of the men that started that love in the first place. First there was Layne. Then Scott. And a few years later Chris and Chester. These were men that shaped my idea of what music could be. I mourn them like members of my own family. I was lucky to see Chris Cornell several times (once was two days before I married my wife; we had our first dance to his version of "Thank You") and to see Chester with STP. It still blows me away that these voices are forever silenced now. One thing that has struck me, is how the passing of a musician hits most of us more than, say the loss of an actor. For instance, can we say a particular performance of deCaprio, or Julia Roberts really effect or lives or make an impression on us emotion...