The Journal, Wednesday, 10/18

Hey Folks,

Not sure what the day will hold. I’ve been a bit depressed lately, mostly because I’m allowing myself some remembrances of a camaraderie I’ll never know again. Sigh. I miss it like air.

I mentioned this to an acquaintance a few days ago and he said, “Well, at least you have the memories. Not everyone has them.”

Well duh.

Of course, what he said is true, but it didn’t help. Not that it was intended to, I suppose.

When he said that it reminded me of the scene in Men in Black in which Agent J caught Agent K looking at a Google Earth image of his wife in her garden.

Agent K quickly closed the scene, and Agent J began with, “Well it’s better to have loved and lost than—”

And Agent K turns on him with some simple but profound advice. “Try it.”
***

The coyotes were yowling out around the home place this morning. My little girl stayed close. Good girl.

Well, it’s late morning and thus far all I’ve accomplished is messing with my Android phone (an old Motorola Razr). It’s already been degraded so a lot of stuff won’t work on it, but because I use it primarily as a TELEPHONE I don’t mind.

I’d almost talked myself into getting a new phone soon and being “connected” all the time, but why? I don’t want to be connected all the time.

The other day I went to the store (about 10 miles away in the next town) and forgot my cell phone at home. When I realized I didn’t have it with me I actually felt FREE.
***

Weird. I haven’t even looked at the WIP for the past several days. Haven’t even opened it to look at it.

I guess I will when the time comes. Until then, I’m not going to worry about it.

Of course, the novel-per-month thing is in the back of my head. But that doesn’t really bother me either.

I think maybe it’s kind of a been-there-done-that sort of thing. I know it’s possible to write a good novel-length story in less than a month (even two, if I pushed) because I already have.

So there’s nothing there to entice me other than simply writing the story. And that can be done in any length of time.

Possibly part of my current fugue is due to my cigar cessation endeavor. Mixed in with the other stuff, of course. Not a big deal. Just indulging in a little self-psychoanalysis. (A buddy in Dallas and another one in Tucson, having read that previous sentence, thought “emphasis on ‘psycho’,” I’ll bet.) (grin)

Anyway, back tomorrow.

Of Interest

Via The Digital Reader, see “The delusions continue” at https://madgeniusclub.com/2017/10/17/the-delusions-continue/. Excellent article.

Also see, for a bit of SF history and even instruction, “When Science Fiction Grew Up” at http://conceptualfiction.com/whenscifigrewup.html. There is also a series of essay links vertically along the right side of this article.

Still wondering how to publish an ebook on Amazon’s KDP platform? Honestly, there’s nothing difficult about it, but if you need to, see “KDP Jumpstart Guides Authors…” at https://the-digital-reader.com/2017/10/17/kdp-jumpstart-guides-authors-steps-publishing-book/.

Fiction Words: XXXX
Nonfiction Words: 530 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 530

Writing of Pulp Novel 5 (a Stern Richards novel)

Day 1…… 1080 words. Total words to date…… 1080
Day 2…… 2167 words. Total words to date…… 3247
Day 3…… 1370 words. Total words to date…… 4617
Day 4…… 1840 words. Total words to date…… 6457
Day 5…… 1193 words. Total words to date…… 7650
Day 6…… 1407 words. Total words to date…… 9057
Day 7…… 1180 words. Total words to date…… 10237
Day 8…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… 12462
Total fiction words for the year………… 446608
Total nonfiction words for the month… 9580
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 162263
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 608871

The Daily Journal blog streak……………………………………… 688 days
Calendar Year 2017 Novels to Date………………………… 9
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 27
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 182

2 thoughts on “The Journal, Wednesday, 10/18”

  1. So we all have those days. Like Saturday when I sold 0 books at the Allzona book fair and then yesterday 4 different people requested latest book…instant healing. 🙂 So this won’t help even though it is intended to….you’ve sent me and others I know into the joy of writing and publishing and getting responses both yea and nay. Who says you can’t take a break when you want one. Not I. You’ve earned the right to take your writing skills and give them a hiatus if you want to. Maybe out of your sense of loss you can write something that serves as a tribute to the friends remembered. At any rate, among other things I enjoy about your Journal is the total honesty about whatever you are struggling and or succeeding at. (That’s about three sentences too many ended with a preposition so I’ll stop now before I make more.)

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