A Writing Year

There Goes 2018 – Like so many people, as the year comes to an end, it is time to do a bit of looking back. This year seemed to be a slow down year for me. We didn’t travel as much, I took a few thousand fewer photographs, and I did not write as much as I have in the past.

Writing Year – I have written 250,000+ words each year since 2012 – this year about half of that. I posted on this site 43 times down from 59 last year. The other sites I post quite a lot on really took a dive. My Wyoming history blog went from 27 posts a year ago to seven this year. My Guernsey State Park blog went from 21 posts down to three. I did manage to publish a couple of books this year, although much of the writing on one was completed in 2017.

2019 Goals? – Looks like I could use some goals for the next year. Like most Americans, I would like to lose a few pounds and get in better shape. That being said, what about writing goals?

Writing Goals – I would like to get, at least, back to my quarter million words a year mark. I would also like to publish another book in my kid's chapter books series and another of my Blade Holmes western mysteries. I also hope to finish at least one other novel and work on my nonfiction book and continue writing short stories. Wow – that’s a lot of writing, hope I can do it.

From the Old West – When a cowboy’s too old to set a bad example, he hands out good advice.

Photo of the Week –

From the Narrows at Guernsey State Park

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

 And

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and keep on Writing

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Have a wonderful New Year.

My Writing Days

Another Christmas has passed, and life will soon be back to normal. For me, normal means back to writing, taking photos and attempting to lose a few holiday pounds. I enjoy the holidays, but no matter how laid back we attempt to make them, there is always a certain amount of stress.

Today it’s cold, with an occasional flake or two of snow. Looks more like winter than it has for weeks.

 I have one short story to finish, then it will be back to one of two novels I have been working on.

New Year Resolutions – Not sure yet, I often try a few and fail miserably, but I do find them fun.

Have a terrific rest of the week!

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Twitter  - @wyohistoryguy

Writers Block in the Movies

Merry Christmas

Our Special Day – Today is our 50^th Anniversary. We spent the afternoon in one of our favorite places – up in the Laramie Range. All of today's photos are from today's four-hour outing. Except for the one above, which was taken on a  summer trip to the Blackhills, another of our favorite places. 

20 Miles west of town and going uphill - usual traffic

Not So Deep Thoughts On Writing - This time of year my wife and I try to watch a Christmas movie every night. We also love listening to Christmas music. I know that some people bash these movies and the music, but not us. Are all of the movies and songs good? Nope. But we still watch and listen. Might be the older we get, the more nostalgia takes over.

I am surprised each year at how many of the movies are about writers and some type of writer's block they are afflicted with. Seems to me that, according to the movies, getting over writer's block is easy. Writers need to simply move back home and find a new boyfriend or girlfriend – problem solved and best seller on the way.

Writing Quote –  There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.

Terry Pratchett

Six Bulls far away from the herd

What Am I Working On? Finished the fourth book in my kid's chapter books series. I am waiting on copies to send to my beta readers. Now a restart on the third of my Blade Holmes western mysteries.

From the Old West –  Be thankful for fools. Without them, none of us would amount to a damn.    

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

 -and-

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and keep on Writing

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Merry Christmas Everyone!

Writing & Publishing

One thing I have learned is that when I am not feeling well, it is hard to write. Other than a handful of blog post, like this one, and a bit on social media I am nearly down for the count. A bad cold is whipping me, every day I think it will be better but, so far, not much. Enough about how I feel – read on.

Writing Quote – Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.

Henry David Thoreau

What Am I Working On? Two weeks ago I had a book nearly ready to go to my first reader – it is still there. Hopefully, who knows, maybe today, I will feel like working on it again.

Christmas Books – Don’t forget about my newest book, a book of Christmas short stories – G rated and fun. This one follows volume one that I published a few years ago. Both books, each containing 14 stories, are available on Amazon. Brighten your Christmas season and read a few short Christmas tales, all with happy endings.

Reading - I am doing some reading, presently enjoying C. J. Box’s Trophy Hunt. I thought that I had read all of the books in the series, then discovered I had missed one from several years ago. Like all of Box’s books, this one is an excellent read.

From the Old West – When a cowboy's too old to set a bad example, he hands out good advice.

 Photo of the Week – Like my writing, photo opportunities have been few the last ten days. I did get out this week for two sunsets and found some interesting opportunities.

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

 Or

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and keep on Writing

& 

Have a terrific week.

Writing Week

Quote of the Day - An author knows his landscape best; he can stand around, smell the wind, get a feel for his place. Tony Hillerman

Dinner Time

Writing & Sleeping (My Life) – Writing has been a bit of a tough go for me the past five or six days. At my age, writing when I do not feel good is not easy. Seems like I am trying to set a record with a bad December cold now three years in a row. The bad cold keeps me asleep for more hours each day than I am awake. But, at last, today I may have turned the corner, at least long enough to write this post. Hopefully, later today I will get in some work on my final run through edit, of my kid's chapter book. I have been stalled, for two weeks and really need to finish. Good luck to me on this! (-:

How to Sell More Books – Know who reads your stuff, and publish a couple of books each year. Those are the two things I try to follow with my writing. Most of my writing is geared to older readers, and I keep that in mind as I write. I also need to work on my author page on Facebook and maybe upgrade this site. Actually, I definitely need to upgrade this site. I do about one-hundred dollars worth of Amazon adds each month, it helps but does not make me a best seller.

From the Old West – Outlaws and martyrs are greatly improved by death.

Photo of the Week - 

My Christmas Books – One more mention of my two volumes of Christmas stories. Each book, of 14 stories - Under Western Skies and Under Christmas Skies, are available as eBooks or as fine looking books to place on your coffee table.

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

 Or

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and Keep on Writing

&

Enjoy the weekend along with the shopping we all need to finish.

 

                                                                                           

Writing and Editing - Christmas Stories Too

One Afternoon in My Life – Yesterday I spent an hour and a half taking out and installing a new(er) radio and CD player in my wife's Explorer. As always, it took about as long to find the proper two tools I needed as it did to complete the project. It works great, not bad for a 70-year-old word-scribbling curmudgeon.

Selling Books –  Both book sales and KDP pages read continue to be healthy - interesting that I do spend some money on Amazon adds and the more I make, the more I seem to spend. I am not good at the spend little and make a lot. I seem to be more of the spend and take in about the same. Oh well, I will keep experimenting and continue enjoying the strong sales. 

From the Old West – Damn fool mistakes are always made by the other guy.

Christmas Books - I have two books of Christmas stories for sale on Amazon and other online retailers. Each book has 14 short stories. The first has been out for a couple of years is titled - Under Western Skies. My newest, out now for about a month, is titled Under Christmas Skies. Take a look and read a few free tales of Christmas by clicking on the Amazon link. Thanks!

My Photo of the Week - 

Writing – I am back at it, revising, for the last time, in one book, and reading through the first 20,000 pages of another WIP. 

My Best Selling Book - My western mystery (Commitment), continues strong sales, take a look at it here and read the first chapter for free. 

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

 Or

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and Keep on Writing

& 

Have a wonderful weekend

Writing Communities

Writing Communities – I have been seeing a considerable increase in tweets and blog posts about writing communities. For the most part, they seem to be people trolling for followers using a writing community hash-tag. I am always looking for good writing people or groups to follow, but have not found much by following the links from hash-tag, writing communities or anything similar.

Mixed Messages – Lately I am starting to wonder why so many who try to sell books or services on social media make so many political posts. Most political posts are very one-sided, which is fine, but won’t this turn away half of your customers?  This type of marketing seems odd to me when anyone could simply create another profile, for political posts, and not offend half of their potential customers. My readers will see nothing political on my posts, other than a rare comment, or like, I keep that world to myself. 

Photo of the Week - 

Selling Books – I enjoyed a fantastic last two weeks of November selling quite a few books and seeing my KDP pages zoom upward. I am not sure what December will bring, but with my two Christmas books, I expect it will be good.

From the Old West – There are two sides to any man’s argument, his and the wrong one.

Snow Today – Days like this are nice for old people like me. I am sitting in my easy chair, snacking, drinking tea and watching football on TV.  A few minutes ago, a squirrel made a sneak attack on the bird feeder in our backyard. Right now, light snow is falling turning my view out our family room windows into a Hallmark Movie scene.

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

 Or

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and Keep on Writing

& 

Enjoy the coming of a new workweek.

We have reached December, creeping toward 2019