I went to recommend a book to a friend today and the damn thing’s out of print:
This is a book I’d like to read again one day. Nevermind the dumb reviews — it’s a great book. Lots of Easter Eggs for anyone over 40 yrs old.
Dammit, gonna buy it.
*Update: the Internet’s an amazing thing, but sometimes it breaks your heart. The poor man died in 2008. *
*Update 2: the book arrives in the mail in about 5 days in “very good” condition.*
Filed under Just Cool
E.E. Giorgi, who recently did a book cover for a short story I released under the pen name “J.M. Waltz,” has written a fascinating guest blog post about viruses: 8 Things Authors Should Know About Viruses. If you only know 3 things, go there to find out the 5 you’re missing! 🙂
Filed under Just Cool, Writing in general
Spice Ralphie
So I just polished off the last line of the last chapter of the book, and the first draft is done. There are still some holes in the story, some small spots I skipped writing to maintain momentum. There’s still a ton of rewriting and fixing and hedging and pruning and weeding I need to do. I think I also want to write an epilogue, because the other two books had one and I like consistency (the hobgoblin of small minds, as well as the thing I most like about pudding).
From this point on, until publication, I won’t be posting any more word count updates. I’m also going to be working on finishing another story while I let this one rest. I’d like to publish that one before Kick-3 because it’s been sitting in a drawer for a few years now — and because someone is working on a cool cover for it 🙂
Filed under Word Counts, Writing Experience
I pretty much enjoy all the interviews with Russell Blake, and am about to listen to this one now.
*Update*
This guy really digs in and asks good questions based on pre-show research, etc.
Filed under Indie Publishing, Writing in general, Writing Market
(he has yellow eyes!)
What a weird last couple of days. I thought I had the flu on Friday — weakness, nausea — and found out I had intestinal issues on Saturday. Then I went to the hospital, where they suspected blockage (based on a CT scan) and put me up for the day/night. I’m fine now, no signs of blockage or what the issue was, just that there was an issue. I got home about 30 minutes ago.
Official word count:
2k for a short story draft I did for my Goodreads group (Proactive Destruction) but didn’t get to submit because I never got to edit it.
1k for my Jenkins Cycle book 3.
Filed under Uncategorized, Word Counts
I’ve been meaning to read something by “She who is called E.E.” for a while now, and here’s my chance.
Snag it while it’s free, and be sure to leave a review 🙂
I think Carol Ervin will get mentioned tonight — sorry for the late post!
Filed under Podcasts
So I’m doing some repetitive tasks today and put this on in the background. Surprisingly, I can follow along. It’s actually quite interesting, fun, etc.
Filed under Podcasts
Woot, I broke through my 7k resistance barrier. I’ll go back and remove that 1000 word string of “…very very very…” later when I start my rewrites. For now, I’m just happy to have what continental philosophers call a gasundheit moment.
And would you look at me with the fancy philosophy stuff? I say a lot of clever things like that, and the world is a better place for it.
Just the other day I was shopping for red meat and whiskey when a man stormed in with a gun and demanded everyone hand over the cash. Know what happened next? He took one look at me, with my red meat in one hand and whiskey in the other, and said, “John L. Monk…oh my gosh, I’m sorry…if I’d have known you’d be shopping here I wouldn’t have…”
I just stared at him, not saying anything.
“Please don’t hurt me John L. Monk!” he cried. “I’ll just leave, ok? Just like I was never here! Please don’t hurt me!”
I kept staring, still not saying anything, but I did give the red meat and whiskey a slight twitch.
“Aaaaaaaahhhghhhhh!” the man screamed and dropped the shotgun.
The shotgun went off. The slug went flying toward a set of Siamese orphans, but I jumped in the way and deflected it using a kung fu move I’d seen in a movie one time. The bullet’s trajectory adjusted such that it split the orphans in half, freeing them instantly. And because I’d added a little extra English to it, the slug’s rotation cauterized the wound.
Two childless couples standing nearby adopted the lucky kids on the spot.
Everyone crowded around me and asked for a speech but I didn’t say anything.
Why? Because sometimes the cleverest thing you can do is say nothing at all. I think we’ve all learned something today, now haven’t we?
Filed under Funny, Word Counts
John L. Monk 