First, I’m already sweltering and haven’t even left the house yet. Just want to through that out there. Especially since this weekend is going to be busy. You’ll get some pictures tomorrow or Tuesday if I can muster the energy.
This week was the last one of school for my son until he starts his summer session. So, I didn’t do much besides prepping The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks for a July 3rd release and finishing a future book outline. Also, I watched Claymore, which is a manga I need to get into. Anyway, that was really it aside from biking and errands. Didn’t have much of an urge since the next two weeks will be a lot of parenting. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it means I won’t be online much and the chances of me going ‘meh’ and just clearing my Inbox at the end of the day will be high. Sorry, but it’s hot and I’ll be chasing an energetic 7-year-old around.
Speaking of heat and running around, we’re having a Double Zoo Weekend. Today, we’re going to a small zoo that I’ve never been to before. Not sure why we never went there, but it might be due to the parking situation being a pain. It’ll be a fun outing and they have dingos there. This is a precursor to tomorrow where we go to the big zoo where they now have baby bison, baby lemurs, and possibly a baby porcupine. That’s a full day thing and will mean Monday is an indoor day for us. I’ll try to post some pics of the baby animals if I can get them from my wife. She’s the shutterbug and pack mule while I’m the kid-wrangler. Before anybody complains, she carries a backpack on these trips regardless, so why should I bring one too?
As far as writing goes . . . I don’t have much. Fiddling with a new superhero idea where the character wakes up with a new power every morning. Not one that is added to the other, but a reset when they sleep. Trying to figure out a story that utilizes animals too. Like a person in a place devoid of animals and they’re looking for something to revive the fauna. I don’t know if that one will be it’s own world, Windemere, or Super Earth. This is really just a distraction from my main problem.
I have NOTHING for 2018. I’ve more time into Bedlam and the Windemere finale than preparing for next year. I’m hoping to work on the Legends spin-off over the summer, but that’s a release for next summer. This means I need to get to work on War of Nyt and I worry that I won’t have the first book ready by next spring. I have the characters flushed out and the outline done, but it’s still daunting to step into a new series. I don’t know what to do about Bedlam either. The blog-only story is getting some compliments, but no activity on the published books. Do I really want to put a bunch of effort into a 3rd published book when it seems very few people care? Especially when I have the next Windemere series to start up. Maybe I can do it later in the year? Might depend on how long it takes to write the spin-off. That’s about a 17 day project if I go 3 sections a day, which is doubtful.
So, this week of nothing will definitely give me a chance to get my head wrapped around all of the projects. The voices (not in my head) have been calling for me to quit or reconsider my path again. Really have to wonder how much longer I can keep going with the sea of negativity. I mean, I get 90% of my positive support from online, but I have to be on the computer for that. Why do people think it’s helpful to repeatedly question a person’s path? Is the saying now ‘when the going gets tough, the tough quit and work in a cubicle’?
So, what will I work on this week?
- Father/son outings.
- August posts to give me plenty of writing time in the summer.
- Sleep apnea follow up on Wednesday.
- Stay hydrated. This is harder than one realizes.
- Prepare the file for Quest of the Broken-Hearted.
- Try to make sense of the next Sin story outline. It’s like 3 stories collided and made a mess on the page.
Legends of Windemere 
Hmm… I suspect that the problem with Bedlam’s blog posts is that your blog’s audience has already bought the previous two books — not that the books are no good.
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Considering how few have been sold, I don’t think my entire audience has bought a copy. Might be that I have mostly fantasy fans, so I’ll have a problem with any new genre.
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I hear ya on the staying hydrated being harder than some people realize thing. I live so close to the beach you could see me waving from my window if you were on it, yet I got dehydrated enough going down there for a short walk with the puppy the other day that coming back I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up or pass out, and am pretty sure I was close to doing both.
If she takes a backpack anyway, and if you’re agreeing that in exchange for her playing pack mule you’ll chase the kid when he runs off, that sounds fair to me.
I’m sorry those voices that aren’t in your head are putting you through this again. It’s unfair that you have to deal with that kind of thing. It’s probably making it even tougher for you to figure out what’s next while those voices are hounding you like that. One way or another, I hope you get things figured out in a way that makes you happy. In the meantime, enjoy the zoo trips.
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The heat really sneaks up on you at times. Especially if it’s hot and overcast. Not to mention you can only carry so much water. Been there with the feeling like death. Hope you’re better.
Thankfully, he doesn’t run off, but he doesn’t wait for pictures. So me and him tend to get ahead of the shutterbugs.
At this point, I don’t even know if I should say they ever stopped. Like being hunted, they’re quiet while lurking. It really does make it hard to decide on Bedlam and start something new. I feel pushed into streamlining myself and ignoring the creative urges that aren’t main series connected.
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Yeah, I’m feeling better now, thanks.
Glad he doesn’t actually run off. That’s got to really help the enjoyment factor when you’re on outings with him, knowing you won’t spend half of it trying to keep him in sight.
I’m sorry that’s the case. Like I said, I hope you can resolve the situation with the voices in a way that makes you happy.
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He did it once and got in a lot of trouble. Thankfully he hasn’t tried again.
Fingers crossed that things work out.
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Have a great week.
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Thanks. You still having your adventure?
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Yup. Return next Friday.
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Awesome. Must be having a blast.
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Eating too much. Seeing a lot of sights for sure.
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Vacations were designed for both. 🙂
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Thank you, doctor.
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Staying hydrated can be tough, I get so involved in what I’m doing, I forget to drink water for an hour or two, which isn’t smart at all.
Maybe instead of ignoring those voices, you should find a job they respect even less than being an author and offer to do that.
A few suggestions:
Garbage man (you’d be the one raising a stink!)
Telemarketer (you only have to work at supper time)
Snowplow driver (you’d still get half a year off!)
Stuntman (free trip to Hollywood and a personal hospital room!)
Politician (they’d beg you to start writing again!)
Assassin (just say you did a job but your boss stiffed you and you stiffed him right back)
Enjoy the zoos!
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That’s what happens to me at times. I also focus more on keeping the kid hydrated, so I wear myself down arguing with him. Going out for the day isn’t easy with the prices of drinks too.
Garbageman, Telemarketer, and Politician have all been suggested to me, so I can’t go for those. Snowplow is a possibility, but I think the local lawn care people do that. Assassin and Stuntman . . . Why not both?
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I’ve got another good one, tech pundit!
Someone actually suggested you become a garbageman or telemarketer? I thought those were two jobs no one would wish on their worst enemy!
You could start up a lawn mowing business too.
Or, you’ve said you ride a bike, start training for the Tour de France.
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Garbagemen are civil service and telemarketer was dubbed a ‘lazy job I could write during’. Maybe I’m worse than their worst enemy and haven’t realized it. Tech pundit would be tough since I’m bad with tech.
If I start biking now, I could get to France by 2019.
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Tech pundit isn’t as hard as you think, just take any tech news and say it’s bad news for Apple.
For instance: Apple announces new laptop, its bad news because that mean the old models are obsolete.
Amazon buys a sock company, that’s bad news for Apple because it means Apple is behind the socks with internet access curve.
Those might be extreme, but I’ve seen such articles.
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I’ve seen headlines like that. Everything is a potential IPhone killer or something.
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Didn’t realize Ichabod was so close. I’ll return to our post today and send it your direction. Aim for July 6th right after it drops. You should have a link and all that jazz by then.
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Got the email, but won’t be home until late. Do you mind if I send you back everything except the sale link since I won’t have it until next weekend?
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No problem. Can’t post it until you have that available.
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That availability thing is always a sticking point.
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