The Daily Journal, Monday, April 29

In today’s Journal

▪ Quote of the Day
▪ My two year old says being sick sucks
▪ Note on Joe Lansdale’s essay
▪ Daily diary
▪ Of Interest
▪ The numbers

Quote of the Day: “[N]ever fight what’s working.” Joe Lansdale
***

Wow, April 29 already. Where does the time go?

I’m one of those unfortunate souls for whom the ticking of the clock is a powerful catalyst. It’s been that way since I was about ten years old.

When an hour passed, even when I’d accomplished something during that hour, it was still an hour I’d never get back.

Being sick sucks. In my fugue state, I’m just aware enough to know there are things I need to get done and that the clock is ticking relentlessly, but I’m literally powerless to do anything about it.

Hence yesterday and the day before passed with me filling the role of Casual Uninterested Observer. I was neither invited nor encouraged to participate. And today probably will pass in much the same way.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m able to hurry up and wait — Lord knows I had ample practice in the USMC and as a cop for a year — but I don’t like it. At all.

And as an entity who possesses free will, I want to exercise that will. I want to do what I want, accomplish what I want, be farther along the road an hour from now than I was an hour ago.

Yet I sit. I alternate boring myself with TV shows and sleeping. Then I wake up, gripe for awhile (if you hadn’t guessed, I am not a good patient), bore myself a little longer, and lapse back into sleep.

My poor little healthy-as-a-horse (knock on wood) wife is probably relieved that she gets to go back to work for awhile today. If she is, I don’t blame her.

I’d like very much to get away from this guy that I am at the moment and go back to work as well.

But I haven’t so much as looked at photos for the cover of Blackwell Ops 6. I can only imagine the horrible result I’d come up with in my current state.

I haven’t written the promo doc, the description (back cover blurb) or re-considered what I believe is the “ending” yet.

I haven’t done anything worthwhile other than chatting with you since this crud descended on me.

And You. You poor unfortunates provide me with an audience before which I can air my grievances. And even though I’m certain you have grievances of your own, this Stuff, whatever it is, renders me selfish enough that I continue to blather-on about nothing.

Well, at least I’m writing Something. (grin) I suspect it’s my way of keeping my fingertips in the writing pie.

But be careful not to lean-in too closley as you read this drivel. I wouldn’t want you to catch this stuff.

I only wrote all of this to add something other than the items in “Of Interest” to today’s edition of the Journal.

Thanks for reading. I’ll do better when I eventually drag myself out of this nonsense.

Tick. Tick. Tick.
***

Note: Reading Joe Lansdale’s post a couple days ago on Facebook and again in Dean’s post today helped me. Not only with overall knowledge but in my current situation with my current WIP.

Every book writes differently. In my current WIP (the one I just “finished”) I’ve decided when I’m no longer under the weather, I’ll cycle through the whole thing, allowing myself to touch it.

Then, when I get to the current end, I’ll know whether it’s truly the end or whether the characters have more to say. If they don’t, I’ll ship it off to my first readers (maybe) or read it aloud (probably) and give them a break.

If you DIDN’T read Joe’s post on Facebook the other day, please read it today. Talk about something that’s chock full of gems… wow.
***

Rolled out at 2:30 after sleeping off and on All Damn Day yesterday. I do feel a little better, I think. I feel better enough at least that I can be fairly sure I’ll come back to the Hovel later to finish up today’s Journal with more than only two links in “Of Interest.”

So at 5, up to the house to waste what I need to waste of yet one more day.

I actually rebounded a bit and created a cover for Blackwell Ops 6. That’s it on the right.

Talk with you again tomorrow.

Of Interest

See “Great Advice from Joe Lansdale” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/great-advice-from-joe-lansdale/. Seriously, copy/paste this into a Word or Notepad or Something document and read/re-read it occasionally.

See “First Page Critique: Ghost Wind” at https://killzoneblog.com/2019/04/first-page-critique-ghost-wind.html.

See “Free Fiction Monday: Thorns” at https://kriswrites.com/2019/04/29/free-fiction-monday-thorns/.

To understand why I’ve never created or caused to be created or used book trailers, see “Book Trailers?” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/book-trailers/.

See “How to Fight the Commoditization of Books” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-fight-the-commoditization-of-books/.

Fiction Words: XXXX
Nonfiction Words: 840 (Journal)
Total words for the day: 840

Writing of (novel)

Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… 43669
Total fiction words for the year………… 261470
Total nonfiction words for the month… 33670
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 110740
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 372210

Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 6
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… X
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 43
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 193
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31