House Of Cards, Arrested Development, The Brooklyner

My latest short story was published online today at http://brooklyner.org/2013/late-winter/ . It's a good one, about an old guy in the late winter of his life. It may also be the shortest story I've had published, I think it is around 800 or 900 words.

A couple of days ago, I finished Stephen King's "From A Buick 8". It was average, definitely not his best. I left a review of it on Amazon.com, my first review. 3 Stars. I wish more people would review my books. Well, only if they have something positive to say and leave 5 stars, of course.  I'm now reading John Grisham's "A Time To Kill". I haven't read it in 7 or 8 years and I remember really enjoying it. I've read 2 chapters and I remember now how fast-paced the book is, really well done. I enjoyed "The Firm" a lot also and will try to read that within the next few months.

I'm up to about 16,000 words in "Rock Star". I'm beginning to find more ideas to explore while writing it, which is always a good sign. Once the characters really become clear, the story becomes very easy to write. Well, not very easy, but it creates a flow. "Be like water", as Bruce Lee said. Don't think he was talking about writing, but it works.

I began watching "House Of Cards" on Netflix. I like it, I wouldn't say I love it but it has my interest. I watched episode 3 last night and every episode has been better than the one previous. Problem is, there are only 13 episodes total and if I grow to really enjoy it, then what?

Really looking forward to the new season of "Arrested Development" in May on Netflix. The funniest show ever, in my opinion. I'm going to watch all 3 seasons again before watching the new one, I think. I'm just not sure how I'm going to find time.

Stephen King, Twilight, The Band on Vinyl

This morning, I wrote for about an hour. The working title of the new novel is "Rock Star" and it's about...well, a rock star. A former rock star. I've got about 12,000 words written so far. Where it will go from here is anyone's guess. This afternoon I sent query letters for "The Auctioneer" to a few literary agents. I absolutely hate doing that, but somebody has to.

I'm reading Stephen King's "From A Buick Eight". Definitely not his best work, I thought it would be like "Christine", which would not have been great because he'd be repeating himself, but instead the car seems to be not really a car. So either way, I wouldn't be happy. And I'm less than halfway through so I really don't know what's going to happen.

I've been thinking about the "Twilight" books. I may have to read them again for inspiration, because the first time I read them I said to myself, "I can do better than this crap." The story lines are actually not bad, I like the werewolves and vampires fighting.  Nothing like a good werewolf vs. vampire brawl, I always say. The romance is junior high and immature, which I guess makes sense when your books are directed at young teenage girls. But after reading the series about three years ago, I decided to start submitting my short stories to literary magazines. I got my first acceptance letter within three months, and two more in the month after that. So thank you, Stephenie Meyer, for inspiring me with your poor writing and blockbuster sales.

I'm listening to "The Best of The Band" on vinyl. I like when songs sound different on vinyl than they do on cd or mp3. It's because the digital songs are so compressed, they don't have the highs and lows of vinyl. Or maybe they are actually different versions of the songs and I have no idea what I'm talking about. Either way, I like it.

The Brooklyner, Valentine's Day

I found out last night that the magazine The Brooklyner has accepted my short story, "Late Winter", for publication. It came as quite a surprise because I originally wrote the story in October of 2011 and I submitted it to The Brooklyner in March of 2012, so that is quite a long response time. It's kind of cool seeing stories that I wrote so long ago being accepted for publication now.

I'm ready for summer. I can't stand the snow, can't stand the cold.  For the first time we had to have our driveway plowed this weekend because the snow was just so high, drifts up to five feet in front of our garage.  It's not as fun drinking beer on a cold winter night as it is on a hot summer  night, I know that. So I guess that's what it comes down to for me, what is the best time of year to drink beer.

I'm reading Rod Stewart's autobiography, "Rod", and it is one of the best autobiographies I've read. Much better than I expected. I've read a few lousy books in the past few months so it's nice to read one that I look forward to. I've been wanting to watch the movie "Better Off Dead" all week but instead I've been reading. Oh, and watching Frasier. Kind of going through a Frasier addiction, we are almost finished with Season 6 on Netflix.

I've been writing quite a bit in the past week if you don't include last night and tonight. Last night I read and then watched "Justified", the only current show that I watch. I'm not a big fan of the graphic violence, but the storylines are great. As for tonight, well, the night is still somewhat young so there is still time to get in a few hundred words. We'll see.

Valentines Day tomorrow. Michelle and I are the only couple I know who do not celebrate it. We do absolutely  nothing. No flowers, no cards, nothing. We feel that it is ridiculous for people to spend money on each other so companies can get rich. If you don't show your love for each other every day, why is one day a year going to change things? We'd rather celebrate our anniversary and things like that.  I have, however, written her a couple of dirty valentine's day poems in the past. It's just the romantic in me, I guess.

Karate, Better Off Dead

Samuel started Karate last week, American Kenpo. It's taught at Curtis Lake Church and it is not the most disciplined, organized class, but it is good for a beginner and Sam really likes it. Plus, it's only $10 a month which is a great price. As long as he uses his powers for good instead of evil, I'm all for it.

I've been working all week on a query letter for The Auctioneer. Why does it take longer to write a one page letter than an entire novel? And really, it's the one or two paragraphs describing the manuscript that make it so difficult. I almost have it the way I want it and I will begin sending a few out to agents next week. I'm sure they can't wait.

I saw "Silence Of The Lambs" last night at Smitty's Cinema. I love Wayback Wednesdays. However, I don't think I would go see that particular movie again. There are enough horrible, twisted people in the world, I don't need to see it onscreen.  It was a very good movie but I'd rather watch a good comedy. Unfortunately, they don't really make good comedies anymore. I guess that's what Wayback Wednesday is for. Speeking of comedy, I went to the library today and took out the movie "Better Off Dead". That is a movie I used to love, it was my favorite comedy for years. I'm wondering if I will still like it or just think it is ridiculous. I'm sure I'll enjoy it, if only in a nostalgic way. But I think I'll probably crack up like I always did. I pretty certain I haven't matured too much to enjoy it.

Writer's Market, Super Bowl, Rod Stewart

I have 2 or 3 short stories I'd like to submit for publication but I'm not sure where to send them. This thing with duotrope.com costing money really stinks. It was so easy to look up different online and print magazines on there. I suppose I could use the poets & writers website. They offer a pretty good list, not nearly as long as duotrope's and not as simple to use, but I guess it's better than nothing. Unless I want to spend $5, which I really don't. That's like sending in stories to magazines that charge reading fees. I can't imagine paying someone to read my stories.  Are they really so bad that I have to pay someone to read them?

I bought the new Writer's Market book from amazon.com, it came in the mail today. It's not really new, I bought the 2012 version because it was only $3 for a new copy. I haven't looked at it yet, I've had a couple of the older copies a few years back and I remember that there really isn't much in there as far as fiction markets. Better than nothing, though, and they do have a good list of book publishers. It's better than paying $5 to that damn duotrope.com!!

Okay, that felt good. So, the Super Bowl. Apparently Jesus loves Ray Lewis and the Ravens a little more than he loves the 49ers. That's too bad. Not that I like the 49ers, but I really don't like Ray Lewis. If he goes to work for ESPN, I wonder if he will wear that ridiculous-looking black paint  all over his face while commentating. That will make quite a mess if he bursts into tears like he is prone to doing. Ah, well, we can only hope.

I am currently reading "Pontoon" by Garrison Keillor. Man, that guy is funny. My next book after that is "Rod", about Rod Stewart. I wonder if his real name is Rod (guess I'll find out when I read the book) and if his parents realized the phallic symbolism involved. I mean, if he'd been a plumber named Rod, you'd think of a snake going down a shitty drain pipe to unclog it. Not the sexiest thing in the world. But a rock star named Rod, well, line up, girls!

I was going to continue on with the rock star novel I started last spring (and I still could) but I've begun writing another novel. I have 1 1/2 paragraphs written. I'm nothing if not prolific.