Perpetual Motion

April is getting into full swing. It’s the time of year when the schools all have their major field trips, the music programs have recitals and evaluations, and the scouts start preparing for the upcoming summer camp. It starts next week with my eldest daughter, Audrey. The middle school bands… Continue reading

How Much Borrowing is Okay?

Sometimes when you’re trying to start a new project, especially a long project like a novel, the brain can get into a condition where the wheels spin but there’s no forward progress. It’s like getting stuck in the snow. My tires got stuck in the snow when I started Rigel… Continue reading

Long Term Project

As I sat out in the sun digging still more Bermuda Grass from my pool landscaping, I had a crazy idea to add to the list of things I want to do in my life. This one is something that will take significant preparation, and is something I probably won’t… Continue reading

ET Phone Home

Sometimes you just have to wonder about kids. Last autumn, my daughter sent her cell phone through the washing machine. Last night, she went out to the movies and lost her replacement phone. Allowing a cell phone to the kids is getting to be an expensive proposition. Fortunately, we got… Continue reading

Beeline Landslide

Sometimes it takes a small disaster to recognize just how isolated Arizona cities really are. A recent landslide closed state route 87 (aka the Beeline Highway) between metro Phoenix and Payson. In order to get to Payson from Phoenix, you had to take and alternate route that added a good… Continue reading

Momentum

Momentum is so hard to keep. After a week of making good progress with writing every day, along comes an evening like this one. I get the computer turned on and I have to hand it over to my daughter for an online math test. After that, it’s help with… Continue reading

Back on the novel

Now that I have a complete draft of the collaboration story in Ruth Nestvold’s hands, I’m turning back to the novel that should be done already. I’ve really struggled with this thing. This novel, Rigel Kentaurus, is completely different from Neanderthal Swan Song. I’ve been spinning my wheels on the… Continue reading

Collaboration

Last fall (or was it last summer?), Codex Writers Group held a captive collaboration contest. I was thrilled to learn I was paired with Ruth Nestvold, a writer who has collaborated with several writers, including Jay Lake. We completed about 4500 words before we both got pulled off the project… Continue reading

Easter Eggs

For all I complain about the heat, it sure beats a foot of snow on the ground. I got my first sunburn of the year this afternoon during my continuing battle against rogue bermuda grass. This stuff is nasty. It grows where you don’t want it and doesn’t grow where… Continue reading