A New Book and Finding Steampunk

With the weather here wet and cool, I have plenty of time to write. If it were sunshine and warm, I would be out finishing the painting of our garage. I am always happy to have an excuse to skip painting.

What Am I Working On? – At last, I have finished my second volume of Christmas stories. I enjoy writing them, but it might be a few years before I am able to come up with enough for a third book of Christmas tales.  This book titled – Under Christmas Skies, is already available as an eBook. The soft cover should be ready in the next two weeks.

What Am I Reading? – My first ever steampunk story. (Artificers Apprentice by D.H. Edwardson) It is a short story of 25 pages, I read the first half or a bit more before, I became distracted and started writing this post. I do not have much of an idea what steampunk is, that is why I decided to try one. The story, so far, is excellent and well written. By the way, I found this one free on Amazon. If you, like me, want to learn a bit about a genre called steampunk, I linked above to this free story.

My Photo of the Week –

North Platte River in Guernsey State Park

As always, you can find all my books here on Amazon - 

https://amazon.com/Neil-Waring/e/B00XV26KLC

Look me up on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on reading and keep on writing – have a sensational rest of the week.

Photo 2 -

Young Big Horn Sheep

Late May Writing Update

Seems pretty quiet around here. Schools out, and the pool and golf course are busy. I am spending time working on my lawn and garden, and my wife is planting flowers. As far as my writing, I am doing some, but not as much as I should be, churning along at a pace of 500, or so, words a day. I am still working on both a fiction, and a nonfiction project at the same time, most often working nonfiction sometime during the day and working the fiction story late at night when I should be sleeping.

Another Book About to Go – An odd time of year for it, but I am putting the finish touches on my second volume of Christmas stories, to be released in mid-October. It has been complete, except for one last story, since January, right now I am adding the front and back matter.

Book Sales – After a slow couple of weeks, sales are picking up once again. Happy Days.

Now Reading – I should say looking through, Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters, by Bill O’Neal, interesting nonfiction read.

Photos today from our Memorial Day trip up into the Snowy Range.

Meanwhile, enjoy the start of summer, and keep on reading and writing.

Find all of my books here on my Amazon Site.

Writing Snacks and Other Nonsense

 

It's Warming Up and I Am, Once Again, Up and At Um

So much has been written about the habits of writers, so much, that I decided to make a list of some of my writing habits. Seems since most who write do it differently than others, we all might be a bit odd – but here we go.

1.  Most of my writing is on my laptop, (touchscreen, no mouse) sitting in my favorite recliner with the television on. (Seldom could I tell anyone details of what was on, I like the noise I guess)

2.  When writing in my office, about 10% of my writing, I also turn on a television

3.  Writing snacks – Salted peanuts, black licorice, dried cherries, hot or iced tea

4.  I always have both fiction, and a nonfiction project going on

5.  My best writing time – afternoon, evening and late – too late

6.  Mornings I use for news, and social media, and new research

7.  I try to walk a mile or more or play golf, usually 9 holes, every day. (When playing golf I ride, I figure I get plenty of steps along with twisting and turning in the 90 minutes I am on the course)

8.  I spend time in my gardens, or out with my cameras, whenever possible

9.  I spend an hour or two each morning reading, outside in the sun when possible

10.              I sign books with a black rollerball pen, I sometimes use fountain pens when I write personal notes from home.

11.              Last, I check my online sales twice a day – morning and evening

12.              Another last, my wife and I take lots of day trips when we do I take one of my cameras, but no writing when we are out enjoying the day.

There you have it,  as Frank Sinatra put it, My Way.

So how do you write? Anything that seems a bit far left or right of the norm?

Feeling Better – Writing More - I am spending more time writing, the past two weeks, than I have for several months. At last, I feel well enough to think and write. Seems the older I get the tougher it is to get through the winters without various health problems. Nothing serious, just the same old, cold and flu stuff, to which I added an ongoing problem with my left foot.

Writing – Still spending most of my time on the third book in my Blade Holmes western mystery series. I changed the tentative title yesterday and also a bit of the focus of the book. Now working on an updated character list and outline of events for my famous marshal.

Reading – Still reading Sioux Dawn, by Terry C. Johnston, also taking my time reading, A Guide to Photographing Rocky Mountain Wildlife, interesting and with so many terrific photos.

Today’s Photo’s – From the mountains 20-30 or so, miles west of town

Keep on reading, and keep on writing, see all of my books on my Amazon author site – here.

Here We Go Again

It’s 2017 day number 2. So, how are those New Year’s Resolutions going? Funny how so many people set goals on only one day of the year. I recently set a goal for the month of December, and it worked. Goal setting for writers needs to be an ongoing process. I have several books to publish this year and am sure I will get at least three published, more I hope. I am not afraid to adjust goals as I go that I do try to not soften them too much.

Beautiful Winter Look the Last Few Weeks

I am waiting to publish two books that are ready to go as I decide what to do with ISBN numbers. In the past, I have used the $10.00 option from Amazon. That is no longer available, and now I am looking at purchasing ten numbers for $250.00. Twenty-five dollars each is still not bad, it is the initial $250.00 I am holding back on. For me, that is a lot of money at one time. Create Space/Amazon does offer a free ISBN number option, but then I would need to give up my own publishing company, Old Trails Publishing, which I want to keep using.

At present, I have decided to get the three books that are close, finished, then decide what to do about a number. I have also thought about publishing some of my work, only as eBooks, but there is just nothing better than leafing through a book that a writer can call his own.

Stark - But I Like It

Meanwhile, keep on writing and keep on reading.

No Looking Back Now - It's 2017       Happy New Year!

Write for the Love of Writing or For the Big Money

Is writing a business or a literary pursuit? Depends on who is asked and who is doing the writing. I read many posts each week about the business side of writing, something of which I am most deficient. That must make me one pursuing the literary side of putting together a good book. I write because I love to tell a good story, not to get rich – seems to be working so far.

Nothing to do with this post but I thought this one of a Bull Elk
 I snapped last weekend was pretty sweet

 I also read and get advertising matter from multiple sites dealing with selling books. Some of my newest finds deal with writing short, quick, inexpensive material that, supposedly, people want to buy. They even offer ghostwriting so that the author could put out as much as a book a day, for a rather substantial price, I am sure. This sounds like something that would never be good for an author, a publisher or any type of bookseller.

Forget everything else, because it will make you rich – I’m not so sure about this one either. The type of books that come out of these short book mills are mostly self-help. Books such as, build a fence in a day, build a table in a day, build a chair in a day, build a deck in a weekend, I’m sure everyone is getting the point by now.

I took a look at some of these types of books yesterday and here is what I found. All are priced at 99-cents, all are short, most less than ten pages, all are in an eBook only format, not odd, considering the length of the book. Many are no longer available, and lastly no reviews, although I have a couple of very good books without a review. One last thing I noticed, research to write one of these books would take about 15 online minutes. Oh, and everything in these books can be found for free in multiple places on the net.

When I am looking for a book I always check to see its length, I think something nine pages long, is a short and should not be called a novel or a self-help book.

Ghost-of-the-Fawn   In other news, it’s done, finally. Sometime this weekend I will download my newest novel, Ghost-of-the-Fawn. I like it, and its modern day setting, from Casper to Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation, the Medicine Wheel and Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall. Oh- and well over 200 pages, which I think is a pretty good length, 52,000+ words for a young adult book. The good news, or better news, about it, for me anyway, is that adult readers said, no, this is and an adult book, they loved it. Hoping others will as well – Coming this weekend.

Meanwhile, Keep on Reading and Keep on Writing

Have a terrific weekend

Writing the Blogs

Have you ever noticed how bloggers come and go?

I started blogging toward the end of the year in 2006, eleven years ago – how time flies.

Over the years I have followed many bloggers, and I often see some very good ones go away. Sometimes bloggers give up because they run out of material. Others give it up because it becomes too tough to keep up a schedule. I had two very good blogs I followed, where sadly, the writers passed away.  One other I loved reading, I fear the writer just became too old and gave up on it. Often blogs disappear with no explanation, all of the sudden they are just gone. I appreciate and look forward to the blogs that I have been following for many years. One thing I have found is that those who last do not try to post too often. I have followed a few who were able to keep to a three or four posts each week schedule for a while, sometimes even for a couple of years. Seems that, after a while, it gets too hard for most everyone to post that often.

My Office - A Great Place to Sit and Write

In my nearly eleven years I have posted, over 1,000 times, matter of fact, this one is 1,090.  To do that I post on seven, yep 7, sites. I keep all of them active, but my posts numbers are vastly different, depending on the site. Some, like this one, I post, on average six times a month. My cooking site I post once or twice a year. Other sites, as often as every five days or as seldom a few times each year.

Nothing is worse than telling myself, “Hey you gotta write something today.” I try not to do that, and most of the time I look forward to posting and always look forward to seeing what others post each week.

Today I thought I might give readers a look at all the other interests I have where I post, at least occasionally. So here they are

Wyoming Fact and Fiction  - By far my most popular site with nearly 3,000 openings last month is my Wyoming Fact and Fiction site.

 http://wyoming-fact-and-fiction.blogspot.com/

I taught history of the American West and Wyoming history for more than four decades at the Jr. High, High School and Community College level. I am a professional historian and love to read about, study, contemplate nearly everything dealing with the Oregon Trail, Indian Wars, Gold Rush, the building of the Railroad and anything else about the old west of America.

Inside the Sleeping Area at Fort Laramie - I am at work on two books about
Fort Laramie, one a historical fiction,the other a nonfiction 

Confessions of a Writer of Westerns – This site, gets a bit over a thousand hits a month and maybe more comments than any of my sites.

http://confessionsofawriterofwesterns.blogspot.com/

Like No Place on Earth – We are blessed to live three minutes away from a fantastic, 8,000 plus acre state park, Guernsey State Park. I even wrote a book about it a couple of years ago. This site gets about 600 views each month

http://visitguernseystatepark.blogspot.com/

The Incredible, Civilian Conservation Corps built, North Bluff Castle at Guernsey State Park

My Wyoming Garden and Other Lies

As a certified Master Gardener, not sure how I made it through, it may have been a slip-up by the garden people, but somehow I did. I just have to write about growing stuff, at least once in a while.  I also use this sometimes for other things I have on my mind and is the reason it has a rather unusual web address.

http://stuff-i-made-up-yesterday.blogspot.com/

Old Guy Who Went to Play Golf – Mostly stuff for senior golfers. I still play a lot of golf and on occasion feel the need to write something about it, not often, but I do put up a few each year.  http://oldguygottothinking.blogspot.com/

Crazy Cooking In Wyoming

Believe it or not, this one is also in its eleventh year. I don’t post but once or twice each year on this one. Seems like I ran out of things I knew how or liked to cook. Still, has quite a few readers.

http://crazy-cooking.blogspot.com/

Old Trails Publishing

The one you have been waiting for, my last one. It is also my newest, and I use it to keep followers aware of my books and upcoming new releases.

http://oldtrailspublishing.blogspot.com/

There you have it, that’s what keeps me busy, out of trouble, and my wife from having to chase me out of the house. I do also, post on additional sites on Google Plus, but that is a story for another day.

 

I snapped this one Friday - a two and a half hour drive from here. Great day in
the hills with family. 

A Good Old West Resource

I have spent most of today researching and reading, and that’s not a bad thing on a 100-degree day. It all started with, what was to be, a thorough cleaning of my desk and writing area. Something I have been putting off for quite some time.

One of my first tasks was to decide which books to keep on my desk and which to move back to the family room bookcase. Seems when I move a book to my desk it stays well past its needed time.

Mr. Blevins Fine Dictionary

As often happens I ran across a book, that was a favorite, picked it up and gave up cleaning for reading. The book – Winfred Blevins, Dictionary of the American West. The book, now more than twenty years since its first publication, can make for really nice thumbing through reading. Some of us call that killing time.

Mountain Man Tales

For years I have enjoyed reading westerns that featured Mountain Men. I would guess that everyone who writes about these early day explorers, trappers and traders have read Winfred Blevins, fine tribute to, and history of, the Mountain Men in his wonderful, Give Your Heart to the Hawks.

By that time I had reached a non-cleaning/organizing state of being. I sat back in my office chair, now free of boxes and a ream of paper, and tried to remember some other of my favorite mountain men books.

My Favorites

I believe that I have read all of the William Johnstone and Richard S. Wheeler mountain man novels and enjoyed James Michener's mountain men in his massive novel, Centennial. I still give a try to most new mountain man books I find. Right now I am rereading Mr. Wheeler’s terrific books and the adventures of his character Barnaby Skye.

The Livin’ Was Easy

I have posted a few times on my Wyoming blog, stories of how tough life was for mountain men when the weather turned bad, wonder about hot. Yesterday we took a drive up into the mountains and even though we didn’t reach much over 8,000 feet the temperatures dropped 15 degrees.

As we headed to the high country yesterday

Now with my feet up and my office chair tipped back I can almost see those mountain men of old on a hot summer day. There they are, picking raspberries and currents, fishing and swapping tall tales in the shade of mountain aspen grove. Not bad.

I can usually find a nice cool spot to spend some time on a hot day

Back To Work

Well, it’s time to go back to work, but maybe to the freezer for an Ice Cream sandwich first – then back to work. Maybe!

 

Meanwhile, the gardens are looking fine

What Makes a Good Edit?

It’s not often that I edit something and am satisfied with the result. This one was pretty good. I am working on a novel with an opening chapter of 3,200 words and not very good ones at that. It is a story I like, but the first chapter has me putting it on the back shelf, time after time. What did I do? I gutted it, streamlined it back to 1,800 words, and now it works.

Thought I might need the Military to blast out parts of this book!
Took this photo on a recent walk - nice fly over

Novels do not need fillers - I should have known better, I tried to explain everything in the first chapter, even things the reader would discover later. It not only had laundry lists of facts that were not needed, it had too many things that had no relation to the rest of the story. It reminded me of the parts in newspapers and magazines that we used to call, fillers or interesting tidbits, whatever that is. For me, it was useless added information that would not become part of the story later.

Now this is pretty good filler and will make a great novel scene someday

One last comment - I like a shorter, not a longer opening chapter. Maybe that is what bothered me, a 12-page opening chapter, I like the all-new look of the now seven-page chapter. Now off to the press, not really, but I always wanted to say that.

A note on the book with the new first chapter – here is the cover (shot moments ago with my cell phone).

The Photo is Centered on the Actual Book
Not So Much Here On My Cell Photo

The book should be available in the middle of July. It has already been proofed and edited, I just did not like it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Editing – I love reading Emerson, and in my historical fiction book, Commitment, the protagonist, Blade Holmes quotes him, as he will in my upcoming, book two, of the Blade Holmes trilogy.

  Emerson said, “Let the reader find that he cannot afford any line of your writing because you have omitted every word that he can spare.”

Not sure he was always that sparse but he often was.

 Meanwhile - Have a great week - keep on reading, and keep on writing, and sadly we must all keep on editing and rewriting. 

My Wyoming Garden is doing fine, and thanks for asking!

Spring Fever? - Might Be!

This is my third post tracking my writing progress this year. For those of you who have not been lucky enough to read the other two fantastic posts – here is a synopsis. This year I am keeping a journal of my daily writing, the number of words and what I was writing. Not too hard. The goal was to write almost every day. I know, I know, big time writing blogs keep telling us to write every day, no exceptions. Well, that’s too hard. I can't’ t do it, but I am not doing badly.

Maybe I will get my writing flying along again soon

We are on day 52 of the year and I have written 49, pretty good for me. On big days, I go 2,000 words and more and on slow days, I go two or three hundred. This week was tough, just didn’t get it going. I skipped writing on Friday and Saturday, two days with zero words. Friday we were out of town shopping, ugg, and Saturday looking at Golf Carts and then playing golf, now that was a nice day.

Some days are good writing days, others are good hiking days - like today

And speaking about writing every day my, On-Line friend, author Oscar Case at -   has a fun post today on the same topic, not getting enough writing done. If you have not yet found his blog, give it a look.

Even with the days off I am averaging a bit over 1,000 words a day, about right for my goal of 350,000 words this year. If I could write in the morning, it would help, but I cannot. I read and work outside, but unlike most writers just can't get going in the morning. Maybe someday. On a good morning, I will get in an hour or more of research on one of the two nonfiction books I am working on.

My nonfiction books take a great amount of research
Research on guys like William Scott Ketchum
at one time the commander of nearby Fort Laramie

Took time today for a nice hike in beautiful Guernsey State Park.

The difference between a good hike and a great one might be  the view

Keep writing.

Getting in some camping before he needs a reservation - Smart Turkey

Know Your Weapons

Seems like I see lots of author advertising lately for services offering expertise in areas that modern writers need. Two particular standout, one a guide to firearms and then yesterday a guide to bow and arrows. I grew up shooting both and it seems to me that if one is not familiar with a weapon they should, head out to a range and try it out, or leave it out of the story.  Or in my case, drive out in the country and shoot away at a target on BLM land. 

 

BLM

It reminds me of the old author advice, write what you know. If a writer does not know anything about guns or bows, write it simply. “the bad guy raised the gun or bow and shot him.” In many cases it depends on the reader, will they need to know the caliber, model, and manufacture of the gun? As a reader, I have never found it to be something I could not live without. As an avid target shooter, I don’t mind reading stories that go into some detail about weapons, but if the story is good, the word gun is okay, as far as the weapon, for me.

In my own writings, over the years, I have referred to both Army and Navy Colts,  made a simple reference to handguns of .38, .22 and .45 caliber and rifles of .306 and 30/30 caliber. All simple stuff, and all guns that I own and shoot. I also own several shotguns but have not, as yet, hey, I’m getting an idea here, worked one into a story.  In some cases like my Historical Fiction novel, Commitment, I get a bit more specific, but it’s not a required, must know, for the story, but it will be fun for gun buffs and those knowledgeable of historical weapons. 

Tell a great story, use details in things you know, write the rest of the story in a simple and straightforward manner and let the story carry the day.

Just my thoughts. Write on!

Well - It's A New Year

I mentioned here last week, on my first 2016 post, that I was going to attempt to keep track of both my writing,  the number of words, and reading, name and number of books. 

Watching the Bison - Research and Photo Ops
 Something I can do even when it's cold outside

At the end of yesterday, eleven days into the new year, I had written, 14,815 words, an average of 1,347 per day. That number seems to work out close for my goal of a half million words this year – hope I can keep it up. My reading, about the same pace as always is not bad. I have set a goal to read three books a month or 50 books this year. My biggest problem with reading is that I continually read more than one book at a time. Here is what I am reading now.

Time to read when the lights come on in our little town

1.   Fort Laramie – Military Bastion of the High Plains ( one-third through this one) by Douglas C. McChristian

2.   Cabin Fever – by B. M Bower (half way)

3.   Cowmen and Rustlers -  A story of the Wyoming Cattle Ranges – By Edward S. Ellis

4.   Force of Nature – by C. J. Box (Travel book on CDs listening, I have read it but I like the narrator and enjoy this as our present car book)

These books are different enough that I do not have any trouble keeping them separated in my mind, cluttered that it might be.

I should be able to finish all of these before the end of the month. I have stacked three books, as my next ones on my bookshelf, and will probably add at least one EBook.

Speaking of Books - Here is the Link to my Western

I am in my second edit of my YA modern western/mystery, and am through the first draft of an introduction to my new nonfiction book and working on the first chapter. Still not finished with the first phase of research for the second half of the book, which also keeps me busy.

Getting my ducks - er- a - deer all in a row

I am keeping busy and with the weather turning mild for the next ten days it looks like I will be able to continue walking. I have been out with my camera, as usual, and have taken a bit over two hundred shots so far this year. I will keep 70-80 percent of these in folders on my computer.  The random photos on today's post are 2016 shots. 

Nice color at sunset yesterday
 sun setting behind a post -- patching together an old fence