October 2020! Wow....

The weather for writing out on the patio has been wonderful lately!

A cool breeze floats in from the E/SE, into my backyard and then into my covered patio. I take a cup of matcha tea, some toast and my laptop out there, spending the morning talking to my characters. 

It's pretty quiet and calming. Sometimes my snoring is the only sound you'll hear. ;-)

During this great weather I've been able to 'finish' Book 5 of my 'Arlo and Jake' SciFi series! Finish is in quotes because I'm now in edit/modify/reedit mode which can take a while. With any luck I'll be able to wrap it up next week.

Then I have to make a book cover picture, upload everything and get it validated for publishing on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. No rest for the writer...

Next I think I'm going to write a few short stories for magazines. I want to get published in Asimov or Analog or one of the other SciFi/Fantasy mags. I have several stories I've put on the back burner while I try to finish book 5. I'll pick 2 of the best stories and finish them.

Here's one of my favorite memes. So funny because it is so true!!

A little humor for my friends who truly do not understand what being a 'submariner' means... ;-)

If you haven't checked out my books, take a look around the blog. You'll find a tab for each current book. There is a blurb about the book and a link to Amazon and Barnes and Noble to pick it up. Thank you for your support!!

Stay safe everyone and keep reading!!

September has started off much cooler!

 August zipped by like a shot! It was so hot most days I couldn't have lasted outside for long even if Covid wasn't forcing me to stay inside! 

We usually take a 1 mile walk in the mornings so we've missed that chance to get the blood flowing and get some fresh air. But in this heat it's not worth it. Walking around the block in the heat and humidity would have done us in for the whole day! ;-)

The recent rain storms rumbling through our area of North Texas have been so wonderful! I've taken a few pictures and movies to post to show my friends out of state that Texas actually does have that 'water from the sky' stuff occasionally.

I came across this image somewhere and it brought back so many memories from my childhood in Levelland, Texas, a tiny town 30 miles west of Lubbock. Brought memories of run around all summer long in 105 degree weather.

Hot, dusty, hot, eye-burning, hot and did I say 'hot'!? We looked like coffee beans by the time summer was over. Tasting the cold well-water coming straight from the hose seemed sweet as honey. After a deep gulp we would drench each other with spray fights. I can feel the goose-bumps rising even now.

Then it was off to build corn-stalk forts in the field between our house and the house of my only childhood friend, Brett. We lived about a mile outside of town in a line of house on the east side of the highway. The tiny field between our houses was always used by Brett's Dad to grow a little summer corn. After the corn was stripped the stalks were left standing. Brett and I would find a patch where we could cut out walls and a roof and spend weeks playing games.

We had pop-guns with those curled up strips of tiny powder dots that would explode as you pulled the trigger. I had a Roy Rogers two gun and holster set! God, I wish I had kept that toy. You might notice that I did not turn out to be a gun-toting maniac. ;-)

One good thing in this isolation is I have plenty of time for writing. I've almost finished book 5 of my SciFi series 'Arlo and Jake' and have written several short stories. Looking forward to hopping on several magazine stories and more short stories to publish.

Have a great week and stay safe!

Is it August already???

I CANNOT believe it's the middle of Summer! Where the heck did June and July go?

I think the Pandemic has triggered a TWC, a Time Warp Conundrum, causing my sense of time and space to fracture and sizzle like an egg dropped on a hot Texas sidewalk!

I've been doing a lot of writing on the latest book in my 'Arlo and Jake' SciFi series and mulling over other stories that are waiting in the wings. It seems that the closer I get to finishing this story the more 'cool' ideas pop up and try to tear me away. It's like having a room full of puppies yipping around my ankles while I try to walk my dog.

One of the things I've been doing is collecting pix online related to my US Navy experiences. Some people remember their time in college doing crazy stuff and wondering how they survived. I served on nuclear subs in the 70s so I remember doing crazy stuff and wondering how I survived. ;-)

Here's a cool pix that gives me 'fond' memories. Before an extended run we would load as much food and coffee as possible. The Navy runs on coffee, trust me. What you see here is one of the crew's quarters lined with food/coffee cans on the deck. As the stuff was consumed we finally got to see/walk on the actual deck! ;-)

Those curtains hide our 'racks', our beds. Under the thin mattress is a 'bed pan' about 12 inched deep. That's where you store all your clothes, personal items and gedunks you bring with you. Gedunks are things like beef jerky, chocolate and for some guys cigarettes. The racks are stacked 3, 4 and in some places 5 high. Chiefs and Officers have their own areas that are not quite so cramped. 

I've also been collecting pix from the early 60/70s, including my high school years in Boulder, Colorado.

This is a shot of 28th street in Boulder around 1968, looking south. The Volvo is turning in off Walnut Street I think.

The Texaco on the east (left in the pix) side is my father's station, where I worked during High School at the old Fairview HS on Cherryvale Road.

On the west side is a King's restaurant. Great place! You sat down in a booth that had a little music juke box and a telephone on the wall. You 'phoned' in your order. You plopped a quarter into the juke and listen to some music until they called you back to pick up your order at the counter in the back. Grub-Hub before there was Grub-Hub!!

This is what a coke machine looked like in the 50/60s, except that the first one I remember at my Dad's station cost 5 cents not 10 cents. Everyone was appalled when the price of a coke went up to 25 cents! Outrageous! ;-)

You dropped in your coin and pushed down on the handle. That rotated the big vertical drum inside and lined up one of the bottles so you could pull it out. 

Best tasting Cokes on the planet. Really cold and of course the original recipe made your throat burn as it went down. On a hot Texas Panhandle day it was liquid heaven!

Stay safe and wear the mask, friends. 

When the pandemic is over we can a huge party to celebrate!