Fifteen Books and Still Writing

 December 27, 2021

Well, like most everyone else, we have finished another Christmas Season. Bring on the new year. Right now, we are back to the two of us and the dog – again. Great atmosphere for writing and watching football, but almost too quiet at times. 

On my morning walk, I realized that I was not sure, exactly, how many books I had written. Guess it is time to count them up.

Nonfiction

The Civilian Conservation Corps and the building of Guernsey State Park

Beginning Gardening & Other Entertaining Lies - With Four Bonus - Murder in the Garden Stories

On Turning 70  

Elderly – A Sensational Day Every Day

Western Fiction

Commitment  (western mystery)

The Ghost Dance (western mystery)

Ghost of the Fawn (young adult)

Under Western Skies (collection of short stories)

Under Christmas Skies (collection of short stories)

Interview with a Gunfighter (short story)

Kids Chapter Books

Melvin the E Street Ghost

The Mike Said, There's a Zombie in My Basement

Yikes – My Neighbors a Vampire

Howling at the Moon

 

Finished but Not Yet Published

Morning Walk ( the third in my series for senior citizens)

Wendover  (my third Blade Holmes western mystery)

Almost Ready

County Fair (book five in my Mike, and Moose and I kids growing up chapter books)

Essays from the golden years  (fourth in my series for senior readers)

 

Wow, that was an exhausting search, not really. Thirteen published books and one published short. Two more books are finished but not yet published. I am not sure why these two, which will be self-published, are still waiting. I figured it out and can answer my question – lazy. Soon.

That makes 15 completed books with two in the almost category and the single short.

I am not always one to write out New Years Resolutions, but I aim to have all 17 of the books I listed earlier published. I hope to continue with my senior reader's books, with at least one addition in 2022.

Photos – All taken in the past week within 15 miles of where we live in Wyoming

Happy New Year – 2022

Keep reading and keep writing

 

 

 

Christmas Slowdown - But, Not Much

 December 20, 2021

Writing –  My writing slowed down a little this week. Too much Christmas shopping and a couple of doctor appointments slow me down. Only a few over 2,000 words for the week. When I set goals, I wrote well over 300.000 words each year. Without goals, I write about half that. I still have not decided if I will set a word goal for 2022 or continue writing as I have been the past three or four years. We will see. 

I am doing heavy editing on my long-finished historical mystery/western. Trying to rework the second half – love the first half of the book.

As often happens, a new inspiration – yes, I started another book. Mostly notes and thoughts so far.

 

Reading – David Baldacci’s Memory Man. Off to a good start, and so far, it has kept me interested. Looks like a good one 

 

Weather – Cold and wind this week. A few days of blustery snow. All in all, typical December weather.

Quote of the day – “Any word that doesn’t advance a story slows it down. Which is reason enough to avoid expletives. Contrary to popular misconception, the term ‘expletives’ refers to a whole class of empty words, not just gratuitous profanities. Most expletives simply fill out the syntax of sentences. The most common is ‘there are, ‘there is,’ ‘there was.’ ‘it is,’ ‘it was,’ and son on.” -  Jack Hart

 

Today’s Photos – All shot on my walks this week. 

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Writing Time Again

 Writing – Still writing at a pace of about 1,000 words per day. That is about the best I can do, and for me satisfactory. In the last week, my best day was 1,950, and the lowest was 540. For many years I was writing anywhere from a quarter of a million words up to my highest output, 320,000.

Reading – Rereading Ron Scheer's most entertaining book on early western writers – How the West Was Written.  Enjoying it as much as I did my first read a few years ago.

Weather – Another nice snow this week, eight inches from late Friday to early Saturday. That snow gives us a total of 28 inches thus far. Not bad!

Quote of the day - "Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it, just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window." --  William Faulkner

Today's Photos – All shot over the past two or three weeks – Wyoming is a most photogenic state.

Have a terrific week everyone - Might be a great time to get your Christmas shopping finished. I know, pretty early yet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here We Go Again - I'm Back

 

Welcome Back - I have not written much in the last three years. I did publish two books for older (retirement age) readers. Not sure what slowed me down. Life, I guess.

I also finished the third book in my Blade Holmes western mystery series but have left it alone for more than a year – I was not too fond of the ending.

I seem to be back writing at my old pace —5,000 words in four days – pretty productive for me.

What am I Reading? – Edward Curtis – The North American Indian. A good read with all, or nearly all, of the Curtis collection of photos. This one feeds both my reading and photography appetites.

 

I am working on – Third book in my series for elderly readers and the fourth book in my Blade Holmes series. After some reworking, I am also hoping to publish the Blade Holmes novel (#3) I mentioned earlier.  

It looks like winter is upon us – good luck with your reading and writing, and stay warm.

Photos – Are from a recent trip up to Esterbrook in the Laramie Range