the writing life

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/10

Hey Folks, Well, I kind’a held off posting the Jurnal just in case, but today is a nonwriting day. My brain’s too fuzzy. (grin) Might be this way tomorrow too. We’ll see. I’m putting this up only to keep the blog streak going. Thanks to those who forwarded their good wishes re shedding the nicotine habit. At present I’m wishing I’d never started again. But it’ll all be fine in a couple more days. Then I can get back to things that really matter. Back tomorrow. Of Interest Nothing really of interest that I saw online today. Fiction Words: XXXX … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 10/9

Hey Folks, Well, we had a good visit with our youngest son and our oldest grandson. Also very much enjoyed watching the baseball games yesterday, especially Cleveland at New York. Even though Cleveland chose to put off sending New York home until today or until they make them travel back to Cleveland first. (grin) Today it’s back to writing. For anyone who cares about nominal personal nonsense, today is also my last day as a cigar smoker. I have three left, including the 1/3 that’s currently clenched between my teeth. I figured it’s only fair to my wife that I … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 10/8

Hey Folks, Not a lot to see here today. I thought I might return to the story today, but I’m not going to. It’s been a tiring and emotional day, just family stuff. Two big-deal (to me) baseball games coming on, so I’m gonna watch those. Back tomorrow. Of Interest See Dean’s “Anthology Workshop Surprise” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/anthology-workshop-surprise/. If you write short fiction, you could potentially earn enough from sales to editors at this workshop to make back your investment. Just sayin’. Fiction Words: XXXX Nonfiction Words: 100 (Journal) So total words for the day: 100 Writing of Pulp Novel 5 … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 10/7

Hey Folks, Well, it’s Saturday. A very short post today, maybe making up for the longer ones recently. Today was to be my first day as a nonsmoker (leaving cigars behind) but I thought that might not be fair to my visiting grandchildren. (grin) So I’ll make a trip later to Tombstone or Sierra Vista to buy enough sticks to get me through the weekend. I’m looking forward to leaving the habit behind me. Ah, after the sun came up, I found out my son and one adult grandson are here, but the little ones aren’t. So maybe I’ll buy … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 10/6

Hey Folks, Well, another long post, but one I think you’ll find is worth it. First, while searching for something else, I ran across an article titled “Master of Magic Realism Harvey Stanbrough is Offering a Free Short from His Collection of Cantina Tales.” You can see the brief article at https://davidjrodger.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/master-of-magic-realism-harvey-stanbrough-is-offering-a-free-short-from-his-collection-of-cantina-tales/. I remembered I had left a ‘thank you’ note in a comment below the article. I never received a reply or a follow-up comment. This morning I clicked the home page of that WordPress.com site, and I learned that David J. Rodger passed away the same day that … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 10/5

Hey Folks, Well, another long post today. Sorry about that. (grin) It turns out I wrote quite a bit yesterday, considering. I revised the total yesterday before the Journal posted, and today’s numbers are current.  I don’t remember the last time I had such a great day as yesterday. It’s like someone turned on a light. One thing I realized was that my current WIP isn’t “just” a PI-noir novel but a PI-noir suspense novel. That’s what it was wanting to be, and that’s where I took the wrong turn. Topic: Writing Environment The post by Nate Hoffelder in “Of … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 10/4

Hey Folks, Well, this is a long post. Awhile back, Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader mentioned that soon Google will begin prioritizing sites (in search results) that are secure (https vs. http). As a result, I was going to spend part of the day today converting my main website over to https. But the more I read, the more I suspect SSL is primarily a necessity for monetized sites, which mine is not. Everything on the site itself is free, and anything that can be ordered goes through a secure site elsewhere: Amazon, B&N, PayPal, etc. The cost involved … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/3

Hey Folks, Rolled out on time this morning and went through my usual routine, albeit in 47 degree weather. It wouldn’t be bad, but there was a light breeze. Brrr. For my first sojourn outside this morning I was in sweatpants, a long-sleeved thermal shirt, and a thick, hooded zip-up sweat shirt. (grin) It wasn’t pretty, but it was dark, so…. And to think when I was living in Indiana I was running around outside without even a t-shirt on in 30 degree weather. Of course, I was wearing pants ’cause the cops get picky over stuff like that. After … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 10/2

Hey Folks, First and foremost, my heart goes out to the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas, and my unbridled rage to the shooter. Damn him. Rolled out way late this morning. Almost 5 a.m. That’s a couple of hours late for me. Partly though it was a choice. As I work toward snapping off my cigar-smoking habit at the end of this week, the later I get up the easier it will be to smoke fewer cigars per day so my current stash will last through Friday. I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see the little monsters … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 10/1

Hey Folks, Hmmm. Strange things going on with the Internet lately. Sites that have been fine for years suddenly not working. Then a few minutes later, they’re fine again. I’ve encountered problems with some of the plugins on my own site, DWS has encountered several problems recently, and other sites I visit regularly have experienced glitches of various levels of severity. Just wondering, is anyone else seeing these problems? At this point, I’m only hoping I can access hestanbrough.com (The Daily Journal) when it’s time to post today’s edition. It’s already blanked out on me three times this morning. (grin) … Read more