Frontline on social media.

I'm an amateur.  Hell, I'm not even an amateur, I haven't even begun to learn the rules of the game.

If social media is where it's at, I'm not at there...wherever 'at' is.

Thing is, it all makes intuitive sense.  I can see the outlines of it.

I have a person I thought was a friend, and I've been putting up with his torrent of video and pictures on Facebook, and I was talking to him the other day and it became clear to me that while I was getting his vomit-ous output, he wasn't getting anything from me.

"Is it text?" he asks.  "Cause I don't do text."

Well, I went home and deleted him, feeling kind of hurt.

But that documentary made it clear that's what it's all about with that age group.

But you know, someone has to create the original content for them to all text and like and such.

Right?

The continuing adventures of Virginia Reed.

I'm getting ready to start writing again.

Somewhat to my surprise, I think it will be a sequel to Led to the Slaughter, instead of continuing Ghostlander like I originally intended.

The ideas started flowing yesterday, and I liked them quite a bit.

Something that I've realized that I need to do before I start the book is have a general idea of the theme and what I hope to accomplish.  But even more important, making sure I have all the ingredients for a book.

So, for instance, I knew that I wanted to continue Virginia Reed's story.  I knew I was going to throw in a werewolf or two.  I knew that I was going to go toward a Bigfoot type character and that the 49's gold rush would be the background..

Yesterday, I realized I wanted to bring in the California Native American genocide, which was one of the worse in the country.

That should be enough ingredients to mix together for a satisfying tale.

Back Cover synopsis.

I've got a couple of versions here, based on my original draft.  See which one you think is better.

One is done by my publisher, Roy.

Trapped in the Sierra Nevada without food, The Donner Party are led to the slaughter. After being manipulated and coerced into a string of bad decision, the travelers, frozen and abandoned, find themselves unable to go forward or back, and are preyed upon by werewolves in their midst––the very people they thought were friends.
A tale of resilience, horror, and betrayal, the survivors of the expedition are hunted.
But the human spirit endures.
As the creatures grow hungry and desperate, a showdown is born between the people struggling to retain their humanity, and the creatures seeking a massacre.
Told from the diaries of young Virginia Reed and others in the party, the truth is finally revealed. 

 One done by Lara, my editor.

-->
The Donner Party has been led to the slaughter, manipulated and coerced into bad decision after bad decision. Trapped in the Sierra Nevada by a merciless winter, they are starving, freezing and, even worse, being preyed upon by monsters in their midst … for some of their fellow pioneers, people they thought were their friends, aren’t people at all. They’re werewolves.
As human and werewolf alike grow ever hungrier and more desperate, the party’s fight for survival becomes a showdown between men and women clinging to their humanity and inhuman creatures determined to leave no witnesses to their existence.
From the diaries and firsthand accounts of the ill-fated travelers themselves, the true story of the Donner Party has finally emerged.


My version, combining the two:

 The Donner Party has been led to the slaughter, manipulated and coerced into bad decision after bad decision. Trapped in the Sierra Nevada by a merciless winter, they are starving, freezing and, even worse, being preyed upon by monsters in their midst … for some of their fellow pioneers, people they thought were their friends, aren’t people at all. They’re werewolves.
A tale of resilience, horror, and betrayal, the survivors of the expedition are hunted.
But the human spirit endures. 
As human and werewolf alike grow ever hungrier and more desperate, a showdown is born between the people struggling to retain their humanity, and the creatures seeking a massacre.
Told from the diaries of young Virginia Reed and others in the party, the truth is finally revealed.  

 

 


 

Cool Blurbs for my book.

I humbly asked some professionals I know if they would blurb Led to the Slaughter.  I didn't really expect an answer.

Got a couple of cool blurbs.

One from Mike Richardson, and another from Steve Perry. I'm pretty overwhelmed by their generosity:

The first from Mike:

"Duncan McGeary is an accomplished writer who knows how to tell a great story. Led to the Slaughter is a riveting tale sure to please the most discerning reader."

Mike Richardson: Founder, Dark Horse Comics, creator of The Mask, Executive Producer, Aliens versus Predator.

And a nice one from Steve:

"If you like your history with a sprinkling of killer lycanthropes, have I got a book for you …

Duncan McGeary's new novel, Led to the Slaughter: The Donner Party Werewolves, offers, among other things, an alternate explanation for the cannibalism in the Donner Party, when it became trapped in the snowy Sierre Nevada Mountains in the winter of 1846.

There is plenty of gore and gruesomeness as werewolves do what werewolves do.

McGeary's latest horror novel is a welcome addition to the ranks of alternative histories."

Steve Perry
New York Times Bestselling Author

Awesome!  (I don't think I THAT gory...)

I'm not going to hover.

I've done my duty by the four sold books.  Blood of Gold is with Lara to be copy-edited.  When it comes back, I'll immediately send it on its way.  Then all four books will be done on my part.

I'm not going to hover.  Whatever the publisher decides to do is OK with me.  I have no idea what his schedule is, and I don't feel like bugging him about it.  I have no idea if he's going to do e-books first, or second, or at the same time, which ones, how much, how often -- that kind of thing.

So the best thing to do is just switch gears.  Forget about it until something happens.

So, as soon as it has fully sunk in, I want to continue writing Ghostlander.  Get back in the creative frame of mind. 

I'm just hoping I can do that.  Ever since I turned my attention from away from writing -- and instead to rewriting and to marketing -- I've been distracted.

I kind of miss that pure creative zone I was in for a year.  I want to get back to it.  If I can put together another really creative year, I think my writing will probably progress.  Learning by doing.

Led to the Slaughter is ready to go out.

Or it will be by the end of today.  I'll be sending it to the publisher this evening.

Lara did a great job on the last edit.  This is the book I set out to write.  I wanted a cross between Cormac McCarthy and True Grit (not that I would claim to be as great as either of those writers.)

With werewolves as a 'reasonable' explanation for some of the events.  To me, werewolves aren't a supernatural creature, they are a cross between man and wolf.  So I could explore their nature -- that of man and beast.

I tried to make it as realistic as possible.  I stuck to the fact whenever possible.  I changed events or times slightly, but not so much that it changes the basic story.  (It's amazing how many incidents that really happened could be easily adapted to werewolf explanations.)  Everyone (even little kids) seem to know about the Donner Party -- it is a fascinating survival story all by itself.

This is the most confidently written book I've done -- it is what I set out to do.  I think it's a good book -- and I'm not always so sure about my own writing.  It almost feels real to me.  I'm now sure this is the way it really happened.

I stuck the the bare facts of the Donner  Party and used my imagination to flesh it out.  I did do research on wagon trains and pioneer women and such -- so that hopefully the journey has an aura of verisimilitude. 

I spent the time and effort to get the writing as professional as I know how, and it reads that way to me.  I called in every favor from friends, and had my copy-editor go over it more than once.  I think it really reads well -- and even --dare I say it -- attains some depth at the end.

I'm really proud of it.

Writing backward.

While waiting for Led to the Slaughter to be edited, I've been giving Blood of Gold, the third book of the Vampire Evolution Trilogy, a final polish.  The first two books are with the publisher, and I'm happy with them, but I thought the third book could probably use...one... more...rewrite...

This time, I started from the last chapter and worked my way backward.  I think this may be my strategy from now on for rewrites.  The first half of a book tends to get more attention, because I'm figuring out the plot.  The second half is usually just a matter of writing it, because usually I have the story all worked out by then.  So the second half doesn't tend to get as many rewrites.

It is also very easy to run out of energy by the end -- not in the original draft, but in the rewrites.  Rewriting is work.  So I feel like I should do the hard part first.

Here's the thing -- the beginning of a book is critical when you're trying to sell your book.  It is critical in getting the reader to accept your book.

But what the final reader actually thinks of the book when he or she if finished, probably comes more from the ending.

So while it is important to get the beginning right, what a reader remembers of the ending may be even more important.

Bend snaps.

Security cameras downtown.  This seems to be a pet project of some downtowners.  I have to wonder about the need.  We've had no problems that I know of in our little corner of downtown.  Seems like an over-reaction.

*****

Housing prices going up in Bend?  Inventory going down?

Hey, it's been 7 years.  That is exactly the number of years that some of us Bubble Bloggers were saying it would take.  So...there you are.

*****

Barnes and Noble has fired most or all of their Hardware team.  I think that means they are giving up on the Nook.

So now they have to sell books.  Can they still do that?

*****

I think the publishing industry created their own problems.  They gave too much power to the chainstores and Amazon, and now they are reaping the whirlwind.

Short term thinking at its finest.  Classic.

*****

So many of the changes in Bend that are going to impact on downtown Bend are in the future.  The four year college -- by the time that's truly in place, I probably won't still be doing what I'm doing.  And so on.

*****

I'm still amazed that there isn't a full independent bookstore in Bend.

*****

People are always saying -- "Yes, there are bookstores.  Yours and the Open Book and Dudleys and  the Bookmark."

The definition of an independent bookstore is that they sell "new" books.  Otherwise, you're a used bookstore.  Different animal.

*****

Snow melts.  Don't give yourself a heart attack.

*****

Comment in the paper about all the beer breweries.  Paraphrased:  "Hey, it can't be a bubble because they're still expanding."

Uh -- that's the very definition of a bubble.  It expands -- until it pops.





Miracle Year for writing.

I wonder if I'll look back on 2013 as a miracle year for writing.  It started a few months earlier, in September, 2012, with The Reluctant Wizard.  That's when I broke through.  I'd been struggling with Almost Human (now entitled Faerylander) for a year and a quarter by that time.  I liked the book, but it wasn't coming out right.

So in a way, I rediscovered my path with The Reluctant Wizard, quickly followed by a book I wrote for fun, Freedy Filkins.  Then, it all sort of came together with Death of an Immortal.  (I woke up with a vampire story in my head, all the while screaming, "No!  Vampires are played out!")

After that, I seem to have busted loose.  I wrote continually for the next year, and on into January, 2014.  In total, about a year a half.  But the meat of it was contained in 2013.

I knew it was unusual.  I just went with it.  I figured I'd slow down eventually.  I wear out, or run out of ideas, or something would come along to distract me.

Funnily enough, the thing that finally kind of brought me out of my creative "fugue" was the need to rewrite some of what I'd written.  I didn't want to get so far ahead of myself that nothing was actually completed.  I figured 4 or 5 "complete" books would be better than 10 or 12 first drafts.

And that's what happened. 

I don't think my creative spurt is over.  I'm excited by Ghostlander, the third Lander book that I have written the first two chapters of, and I think I'm finally getting Faerylander into shape.  So in the not too distant future, I should have at least three of these Lander books done.  I intend to continue that series.

Unless -- Led to the Slaughter is a huge success.  Because my main character is only 13 years old at the end of the book, in 1847.   There are many more adventure tales I could set in the period with Virginia Reed as the protagonist.  I really like the character, and wouldn't mind writing more of her adventures.

And then there is my first love -- the fantasy books.  I've got a bunch of them in various stages of completion.  I'll tell you -- no one is more surprised than me that I started writing Horror.  I think the fantasy books need more work.  There are rough outlines of a couple of trilogies.  I'd love to have them all be in the same universe, but that may not be possible.

I also have my kind of s.f./fantasy books, Deviltree and Deeptower.  Deviltree I wrote 30 years ago, and -- to my great surprise -- I wrote a sequel in 2013.  I'd like to go back and make them a little more hardcore, with horror elements.  The kind of soft fantasy I was writing so long ago no longer interests me.  The Deeptower worlds have great potential, and I think there is another trilogy there -- just written with a stronger edge.

Counting the 2 Lander books I've already written, which are about Cthuhlu and Werewolves, I've now completed 7 Horror genre books.

But you know what?  I think this genre has a whole lot to offer.  I don't think it has been quite as overwhelmed as fantasy, for instance, or mysteries.  I like my fantasies with a bit of darkness these days, I guess.

I'm still shaping up the 2 books I haven't yet sent the publisher.  Led to the Slaughter will be done in a few days, Blood of Gold a couple of weeks after that.

Then I'll see if my creative spurt continues.


Success as a de-motivator.

Sheesh.  Listen to me.  It's been all of two weeks.

I was driven by the idea of getting published.  If what I was writing needed to be better, then I would re-write it.  Or I would write something new.  And keep doing it, until something happened.

So the minute I sold my finished books, the air went out of me.  You'd think it would be the opposite.  You'd think I'd be so excited and pumped that I'd be inspired to write.

But my goal all along has been to prove to myself I could do it again, that someone would pay me and do all the things necessary to get the book published.  It didn't really matter how much I was paid, or how the books eventually sold, or how they were received.  Which I realize is probably kind of weird.

Of course that matters.  Now I've surmounted the one step, I see how important the next steps are.  I'm actually proud of myself of taking the time to polish the books before I handed them over to the publisher.  I'm pretty sure that 30 years ago, I probably would have handed them over as is.  After all, they had sold.

This publisher doesn't sell out of bookstores -- or go through book distributors.  He has his reasons, which seem like good ones.  I think he knows what he is doing.  (Basically, being published by one of the Big Five and/or being sold in the brick and mortar bookstores, is no guarantee of success -- and indeed, returns are probably a killer.  Better to concentrate on the online world, and the sub-culture of horror books through conventions and show.)  I get that, but I can't help but be a little disappointed.

Still, I think he'll do a good job.  He looks like he really wants to put out a nice package.  He has the established platform to get my books out in the world more than I ever could.

But I've been kind of laid back about writing over the last couple of weeks.  Like I said --- Sheesh.  Two weeks.  Like that is a long time.

So I'm sure it's just a little bit of relaxation before I start off again.  I have a clear path ahead of me -- getting the Lander books written.  Possibly a sequel to Led to the Slaughter.  And my fantasy books are there to be completed and rewritten.  

I'm part of the way there.  Now I just need to keep trying to write that "great" book.

It really doesn't de-motivate me when you get right down to it.  It's the sort of encouragement I really needed to keep trying.

But I'm way too relaxed in the short run...


Books are no longer "culture" but a "sub-culture."

Worked yesterday, and was completely exhausted at the end of the day.  How was it that I used to work seven days a week for years?  Did I walk around in a besieged fog?

Probably.  I know that it was wearing and stressful.

Had Paul come in and give me some praise for the two vampire books he's read.  He read Faerylander for me, and while he still liked the vampire books better, he said it was mostly good -- "except for some slow spots just before the final battle."

Anyway, I think the book is getting closer and closer to what I want it to be -- and it seemed to me for a long time as if I would never get there.

I took the week off from writing.  Gave my eyes a rest, and they have mostly recovered, which tells me that it was eyestrain that was causing the problems.  I read a year's worth of N.Y.T. Book Reviews.  My takeaway -- that the literary world is as insular as any other sub-culture.  Because that's what it is in today's world, for good or ill -- not the "culture" but a "sub-culture."  They still think they are of primary importance, but I think it's a bit of a delusion.

The publisher seems to be moving forward on Death of an Immortal and Rule of Vampire.  He wanted the name of my copy-editor and I asked him not to "steal" her.  He 'lol'ed and said, no, he just wanted to give her credit.  He also is talking to Andy about designing -- which is pretty cool.  He wanted my bio, and I gave him a bunch of stuff that he transformed into a reasonable sounding description.

Lara is just a couple days from finishing the copy-editing on Led to the Slaughter.   She says that all the changes and additions were an "improvement," which is reassuring.  As soon as it gets back, I will spend a couple of days accepting or rejecting her changes -- (mostly accepting) -- and then send it off to the publisher.

Then I'm going to spend the next few days giving Blood of Gold one last brush-up.  Both Death of an Immortal and Rule of Vampire came out pretty much fully developed.  Blood of Gold was a bit more unwieldy (wrapping up three books worth of storylines) but pretty much there.  Just maybe an extra polish is needed.  It's no mistake that I chose these vampire books as the first books I was willing to show the world.

The pressure is off.  I can take my time getting my Lander books the way I want them.  I want to write a whole series about Cobb and company, and it was always the problems with the first book that concerned me.  Now I can move forward.

Faerylander is an example of a problem book that by working on it over and over again, and taking lots of times between drafts, is finally shaping up.  3 years.  Which for me is forever.

Whether I'm a better writer or the same writer or a worse writer than 30 years ago, I can say this -- I've handled the process in a much more mature and professional manner.  It's the difference of an immature 30 year old versus a seasoned 60 year old businessman.  Heh.

So I'm hoping I'll have everything squared away with the publisher by the end of the month or so, and I can get back to creating new material.  Which is the funnist part.


Amazon is a disaster waiting to happen.

Reporter George Packer, whose previous experience was with military bureaucracy, found that Amazon was even more secretive.  He wrote a recent article inhttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_packer?currentPage=1 in the New Yorker about Amazon.

He's followed that up with comments about how he believes that a secretive organization will eventually be blindsided by outside events, that it will become a group-think organization. 

Which goes along with my contention that Amazon is a disaster waiting to happen. 

Their basic strategy seems to be to grow, grow, grow -- without making profits in the meantime, with the ultimate goal of being able to recoup their money at the end. 

To me, that's a dangerous game.

I'm no Amazon.  I'm just little guy -- but I had about five years in Central Oregon to be the only sport card dealer.  My sales grew exponentially.  I wasn't making any profits, but boy was I raking in the dough -- which went right back out again.

Then the chainstores got ahold of the product, and started selling it for cost, and the wild ride was over.

I had made no money during the ever increasing sales, and then I started losing money.

It made no sense -- the card companies were committing suicide.  Why would they do that?

But that's what I learned.  Corporations think in the short term, and they commit suicide on a regular basis.  They aren't smarter than we are, just bigger.  I was nimble enough to change course and recover.  Most card shops and distributors and manufacturers weren't.

Magic realism isn't fantasy.

I've often bemoaned that fantasy isn't taken seriously -- unless it is, and then they call it "magic realism."

That isn't really true, though.  One Hundred Years of Solitude isn't fantasy, even if it has scenes of magic.

There's a movie adaptation of Winter's Tale being released this weekend. The reviews are saying it's "ponderous" and "plodding."  The reviews also imply that the book was somehow different.

No -- the book was "ponderous" and "plodding" as well.  It's one of those rare mammoth books that I read halfway through and gave up on.  It reminded me of Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, which also bored the daylights out of me.  (I finished it, barely.)

I've talked to other people in my store that liked that book -- in fact, I seem to be the only one who doesn't.  But I want a payoff when I read a book.  I don't want something written so subtly that they bury all the pleasures of the genre.

I'm not opposed to magic realism, per se.  I absolutely loved One Hundred Years of Solitude.  But it never occurred to me at the time to think of it as fantasy.  I think the idea of magic in the time of Napoleon was such a cool idea, and the book was marketed as fantasy, so I bought Jonathan Strange... on that basis.  Same thing with Winter's Tale, which had -- if I remember rightly -- a Pegasus on the cover.

I will say that almost every time a book is marketed as a "literary" fantasy, I've not much cared for it.  I don't much care for Connie Willis for the same reasons -- a bunch of others. 

To me, they almost always have the weaknesses of bad "literary" but none of the strengths of good "fantasy."

A dedicated writing laptop.

I bought a small laptop after Christmas.  I bought the Word program for it yesterday.  When I get back to writing again, it's going to be my dedicated laptop for writing and writing only.

My desk computer is now my "solitaire" player.  My old Mac is now my desk computer.  Its battery is completely useless.

This new laptop has at least 4 hours of power, and it weighs all of 2 pounds, so I'll be able to take it with me everywhere in my backpack and write any time and any place I feel like it.  I'm looking forward to that freedom.  The biggest downside to writing is being cooped up -- and I'm a guy who usually likes being cooped up, but even for me, it becomes too isolating.  Isolation breeds isolation.

I can see myself hanging out in a coffee shop somewhere, or at a park, or out in the woods, writing away.

I've not written anything for 6 days.  I was planning to give myself a couple of weeks.  But it's a strange feeling.

One thing this whole experience has taught me is that I like telling stories -- even if I'm just telling stories to myself.  Above and beyond anyone else reading me, I like living in that fictional zone -- which feels real while I'm doing it.  I feel a little empty when I'm not doing it.

Those of you who are compulsive readers will know what I mean.  It's like not reading a book for a long period of time.  It just doesn't feel right.

I've really, really slowed down reading books.  Over the last three days, I've caught up on about a third a of year's worth of New York Times Book Reviews.

Hey -- there is no shortage of books in the world.

Trying to learn patience.  Whether my books are good or bad, I want them to be well edited.  I think I owe the reader that much.  So the reader will know that I've done everything I can to make my book as readable as possible.  If nothing else, I'll stand out in doing that.  It takes work, but that may be the thing that most distinguishes a professional from an amateur in this brave new world.




Simple logic.

I wonder sometimes if some business owners just don't get it.   Like, you know, that the purpose of business is to make money and stay in business.

I have seen this same scenario over and over and over again over on Shelf Awareness (the independent bookstore site).

Here it is -- see if you can see the lack of logic:


A bookstore goes out of business.

 They proclaim how successful they were in event planning.

 Uh...no.


So I'm going to detail the following entry from today's Shelf Awareness, and use the real names because frankly these people should be called on their lack of critical analysis.

OK.

There are a couple of bookstores in Minnesota called Reading Frenzy.  They've been around for about 3 or 4 years.

They just closed up shop, saying:   "...sales didn't cover costs..."

The very next line is:  Reading Frenzy had an "...an extensive schedule of author appearances and creative events, including mystery dinners, a pie contest, turtle races and the Frenzy Games (at which "contestants competed for a hundred-dollar gift certificate in near-death matches of rock, paper and scissors.)""

What conclusion do they draw from this?  The owner is quoted as saying she's..."good at events planning and aims to set up a marketing and events planning business."

You just went out of business!  How is this successful!!!

The only reason I call this bullshit is -- I see the same exact chain of illogical thinking over and over and over again.  It's the common wisdom.  It very much reminds me of the same chain of illogical thinking about downtown events.  I'm one of, if not the oldest existing business by the same owner in the same location in downtown Bend.  I don't do event planning.  I'm a thriving business.

But I've talked to so many business owners over the years that are gone, gone, gone.  And each of them said, "Events are bad for business on the day they happen.  However it is good for business the rest of the time."

I repeat.  They are gone, gone, gone, and I'm still here and I'm just going to say it -- they were wrong, wrong, wrong.

But once a certain mindset sets in:  "We were fabulously successful in our events.  But we made no money."  You just can't seem to get rid of it.

It's simple logic.  If you can't do simple logic, don't open a business.

Just so you can see that I'm not exaggerating or misrepresenting the lack of logic, here is the original article in full:


"Store Closing, Reading Frenzy.


Founded in Zimmerman, Minn., in 2010, Reading Frenzy opened a branch called Reading Frenzy Corner last April in the new Elk River Area Arts Alliance Building. The original Zimmerman store closed six months ago, and the Elk River store closed at the beginning of the month.

Reading Frenzy sold new and used books and had an extensive schedule of author appearances and creative events, including mystery dinners, a pie contest, turtle races and the Frenzy Games (at which "contestants competed for a hundred-dollar gift certificate in near-death matches of rock, paper and scissors").

Sheri Olson, who owned the store with her husband, Mike, said that sales didn't cover costs, so they decided to close "even though we'd had a fantastic time and had all these fun events."

One silver lining: Sheri Olson said she learned that she's good at events planning and aims to set up a marketing and events planning business."


Here's the thing -- I've seen the exact same chain of logic -- or lack thereof -- dozens of times over the last few years, and no one seems to see it.
 

Fits and hats.

I spent all day shoveling the snow.  It is so easy to over exert, for a 61 year old guy who doesn't exercise.

A few years back I cheerfully shoveled the walk and came back in and nearly keeled over.  You don't even know it's happening.


*****

Spent much of the day reading the New York Times Book Reviews I have piled up.

Came to the conclusion that most writers are self-serious and pompous and most "literary" books are boring and depressing.  Sorry can't read one more book about depressing topics.

*****

Watched the Beatles tribute last night and it was...ok.  I mean, those people are talented.  But ultimately, the song covers are almost never as good as the originals.   The whole show was so over-produced, it was off-putting.  I kept thinking, what if they just had an open mike and people came up all rough and just did their thing?  Would be interesting, less packaged, more unpredictable.

And there's something just...I don't know.....cold, about Paul.  (And Yoko really is weird.)

*****

The last few days have just crushed business.  So my reserves, which I thought were plentiful, are being quickly depleted.

Of course, I'd just overspent by restocking the store over the last few weeks, because January was pretty good. 

Of course, that's the way it always seems to play out.  Good business, spend money, bad business.  Gotcha.

Three days of doing nothing.

Welcome to my blog where I apparently feel I'm so fascinating that I can blog about nothing.

Have slept heavy ever since I finished Led to the Slaughter.  I was really intense there for a couple of weeks, probably the most intense I've ever been about writing.  I wanted to get done and I wanted it to be as good as I can make it.

Been watching documentaries on Netflix, and B-movie stuff.  Last night, watched another documentary about the folk movement in Greenwich village.

This kind of music was the stuff my older brother and sister, Mike and Tina, were playing in their folk group.  6 and 4 years older than me.  Went the Unitarian church camps.  Since I hero worshiped those guys, have a very nostalgic sense of those times.  I really need to see the new Coen brothers movie about this.

I'm going to work today, since Cameron called last night and said he couldn't make it.  That's all right.  I'll just putter around the store, and not expect much.

Just kind of decompressing for awhile.

All cocoony like.

Slept in again this morning.  Not even going to try to get my newspaper from beneath the snow in the driveway.  Hey, pedestrians, stay home -- my sidewalk won't be snow-shoveled this day!  I may try to get some of the snow off the deck, before it starts to get too heavy.

Meanwhile, I'm assuming the main roads are getting plowed, and presuming my employee Matt will make it to the store.  Though I doubt many customers will.  Still, haven't closed for weather in 30 years and don't want to start now.

This is going to cost us money, for sure.  

So today will be Netflix day.  For some reason, the movies I gravitate to most are the documentaries.  Saw "Good Ol' Freda" yesterday, which is about the Beatle's secretary for 11 years; and then started watching a documentary about Drew Struzen, the artist to all the Indiana Jones and Star Wars and many other movie posters.

The first is really about a average girl who turned out to have great integrity and honesty; the second seems to be about a man with great talent, but who seems humble and grateful.  I don't know -- maybe they are real terrors in real life, but I like the Karmic message in these movies.

Can't seem to concentrate on reading a book, for some reason. 

Just letting myself relax for awhile.  Not try to do any writing.  Letting my eyes get a rest.



Collapsing when the pressure is off.

Sometimes you don't know you're under pressure until the pressure is off.

I slept until 10:30 this morning!

The books are in the hands of the copy-editor, after which they will be in the hands of the publisher, and my work is done.  I almost don't know what to do with myself.  I'm thinking I'm going to try to do some catchup on reading and going to movies.

Linda and I are trying to go on our little 3 and 4 day vacations to places, though that is quickly getting expensive staying in motels.  But it really is good for the soul to visit new places, even if it is just to wander around aimlessly.  Actually, I kind of like wandering around aimlessly.

Last month we went to Eureka, California.  It kind of reminded me of Bend, circa 1995 or so.  I really liked it at first, but the more we were there the more I noticed the homeless people.  They were all over the place.  Income inequality indeed.

Wandering around, we found the zoo and spent a morning there.  That was unexpected fun.

Visited the bookstore in Arcata and some of the outlying areas.  Tried to talk to the owners, most of whom -- as usual, and I know this sounds conceited -- didn't seem to have any real idea what they were doing...

But even on this trip, I got a writing bug and spent much of the time working on the re-write of Led to the Slaughter.  I was making really quality changes and didn't think I could pass up the opportunity.  On Sunday night, while Linda watched True Detective and Sherlock, (which are two of my favorite shows) I barely looked up.  I've watched them since, and realized that I hadn't paid any attention to them, I was so deep into rewriting.

My eyes hurt.  Just really burn.  I think I need a break from staring at a computer screen.

I should give myself a chance to relax -- as a reward for accomplishing what I set out to do.

I'll give myself the luxury of waiting for inspiration for a month or two, before going back to a writing schedule.