The Journal: October Already and TMI

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* The first of… October?
* The return of Blackwell Ops 8
* A little personal good news
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write.” James M. Cain in the preface to Three of a Kind

“[M]y style is rural rather than urban; my ear seems to like fields better than streets. I am glad of this, for I think language loses a bit of its bounce the moment its heels touch concrete.” James M. Cain (ibid)

“He said if truth were the main object of writing, I would have a hard time competing with a $3 camera.” James M. Cain (ibid)

“My purpose is to entertain myself first and other people secondly.” John D MacDonald

Wow. The first of October already. Where did September go? Anyway, I didn’t do any writing yesterday at all. I took the day to do some yard work I’ve been putting off, then caught a movie.

I received an email from a reader who was previously unknown to me. He wanted to know whether I’d be adding to the Blackwell Ops series, and if so, when the next book would be out. After my Journal post yesterday, I can only assume that’s kismet.

So because of that email and after reading over the past few days both Dean’s post on “Dare to Be Bad” and one of Farland’s comments in one post or another about writing what feels “right,” I decided to add Blackwell Ops 8 back into the rotation. I reported it “stalled” and stopped reporting on it in the Journal back in early September.

So you’ll see it below. I wasn’t really stalled. I just stopped writing. So I’ll update numbers on both it and Body on the Beach plus whatever else I write as I get to them. So it might be a little confusing down there in “Numbers” for awhile, but I seem to be going through a transition. Frankly, I hope it all clears up soon.

A little personal good news — after renting for the past several years (the whole time we’ve been in Arizona this time around), I talked with my friend and landlord a couple days ago and he agreed to sell us our current house on +- two acres (including the Hovel, of course).

That’s very good news because of a windfall that’s coming in about a year. At that point, we were anticipating making a final move, probably to Sierra Vista. And frankly, even the idea of packing up and moving everything and basically starting over at my age was more than a little off-putting.

So all’s well at Casa Stanbrough. We’ll buy this house and be here for the duration. I might even name the house if my wife will let me. I can see it now: an ornately put together sign that reads Final Destination. (grin)

Yeah, I already know that sign ain’t gonna happen. She doesn’t always appreciate my morbid sense of humor. You should’a seen her reaction when I told her I wanted to be cremated. That part was all right, but she wasn’t delighted with my notion of having my cremains relegated to a tin that reads Fossil on the front. (grin) If you look closely, toward the bottom left it even reads Truly Inspired. (grin)

Talk with you again when I can.

Of Interest

See “Inspiring Quotes From Inspiring Crime Thriller Writers” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/10/inspiring-quotes-from-inspiring-crime-thriller-writers.html.

See “Words on Writing from James M. Cain” at https://kupps.malibulist.com/2013/09/17/words-on-writing-from-james-m-cain/. So intensely written I had to bookmark it and read only a bit at a time.

See “Remembering When Women Ruled a Wild West Town” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/remembering-when-women-ruled-1920s-wild-west-town.

See “Postcards From Mecca” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/postcards-from-mecca-california-lost-desert-pictures.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 640 words

Writing of “Turnaround” (short story)

Day 1…… 1092 words. Total words to date…… 1092 Day 2…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXX (done)

Writing of Blackwell Ops 8 (novel)

Day 1…… 1653 words. Total words to date…… 1653
Day 2…… 1043 words. Total words to date…… 2696
Day 3…… 1711 words. Total words to date…… 4407
Day 4…… 1221 words. Total words to date…… 5628
Day 5…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXX

Writing of Body on the Beach (novel, working title)

Day 1…… 1135 words. Total words to date…… 1135
Day 1…… 1409 words. Total words to date…… 2544

Total fiction words for the month……… XXXX
Total fiction words for the year………… 335194
Total nonfiction words for the month… 640
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 151030
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 486224

Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 213
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31