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Sad News

February 25, 2024
| No Comments
| old age, School, Writing
Book cover of Here Be Monsters by Jamie Sheffield

Last week I received word that a former colleague of mine passed away. His name was Jamie and he died after a brief illness. Even though I had not been in contact with him for quite some time, we were friendly when we worked together and I will always think of him warmly and as a friend. He was an author himself, a very good one in my opinion. He started his writing journey long before I got moving on mine. Actually, that may not be entirely accurate. I think we may have begun around the same time, but…

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Long Time

January 19, 2024
| No Comments
| old age, Writing
Medical walker with wheels in front.

Welp, it’s been a while. I guess an apology of sorts is in order. I’ll toss out a couple reasons/excuses for the delay and get to the ‘sorry’ in a couple minutes. In my last blog I wrote of how I’d been having issues moving around. There was a lot of pain where my left leg joined my hip. If you are a regular reader of mine you know that the problem was arthritis and a hip replacement was in order. I’ll give you the gory details on that momentarily. One thing I did not mention was the fact…

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Exhausted

November 20, 2023
| No Comments
| Holidays, Writing
Sleepy cat hanging off the arm of a chair

Hi Folks. I’m about to launch some old guy complaining stuff at you, so be forewarned. This past summer I noticed I was having a lot of discomfort where my left leg met my pelvis. Various movements, like twisting and turning, really hurt. So did putting weight on that side of my body. Going uphill and up steps was also also a real treat. And sleep… forget about it. I’m a restless sleeper and every move jarred me awake. Being a guy, my first thought was groin injury. It’s sort of a “go to” thing for guys if pain…

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New Novel, First Draft

September 18, 2023
| No Comments
| Ideas, Seasons, Uncategorized, Writing
Mid September swim in Adirondacks

It’s been a while. It wasn’t my intention to have such a long gap between posts, sorry about that. We have been dealing with some health issues here at Chateau Mullane and it’s been taking up a lot of time and, more specifically, energy. Nothing has really been resolved yet, but it’s time to forge on ahead and stop just treading water. Speaking of which, yesterday I enjoyed my weekly kayaking with the old guys and afterward, as we usually do, took a dip in Lake Placid. For mid-September the water temperature isn’t too bad. Your breath leaves your…

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Post-Book Signing/Editing Woes

August 7, 2023
| No Comments
| Seasons, Writing
Author at table with his books, ready for signing at the Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY

My book signing at The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid has come and gone. Overall, I would have to say it went well. Unfortunately it rained steadily most of the day and instead of being out on the sidewalk under an awning in front of the store, we were moved inside. I think it cut down on the amount of traffic, but at least it was dry. There was a steady flow of people approaching the table to talk, peruse, and purchase the books. Speaking of which, my most recent novel Break with the Past, the sequel to my…

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BOOK SIGNING!!!

July 18, 2023
| No Comments
| Writing
Ice pick on gray wood with ice and blood

Hey Folks. Yeah, I know I mentioned it in an earlier post, maybe even the last one, but I will be doing a sidewalk book signing at The Bookstore Plus on Main Street in Lake Placid, NY on July 29th, 3-5 pm. I realize it’s about two weeks away, but since I usually only post these blogs twice a month, one in the beginning and one in the middle of the month, this is my last opportunity to toss out a reminder. If you are in Lake Placid and find yourself on Main Street, I would love to see…

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Break with the Past

July 2, 2023
| No Comments
| Writing
Ice chunks melting with an icepick covered in blood and spilling out on a light colored wood tabletop.

This feels like it’s been a long time coming. For the last nine months or so (maybe longer) I’ve been saying that my next book is just about done. I should be uploading it any day now. Obviously, it did not happen “any day now.” Daily life tripped me up, I realized maybe it wasn’t quite as ready to go as I thought, etc. However, it’s now ready to send to amazon and hopefully I’ll get my author’s proof back for review in a timely fashion. The goal is to have copies of the book available for sale by…

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Readers Aren’t Stupid

June 16, 2023
| 1 Comment
| Writing
Black and White Godzilla

They’re not. Although you’d never know it the way some authors write. It’s frustrating and I keep finding myself wanting to say, or actually saying, “Well, duh!” Or something much more specific laced with words I probably shouldn’t use in a public (semi-public?) forum. Let’s look at a simple example: The young mother surveyed the room. Her daughter’s clothes were strewn across the floor, the desk was piled high with plates of dried food and empty cans of Red Bull. The television was blaring from the corner, but Emma’s eyes were glued to her phone, earbuds jammed in place,…

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You Can’t Go Home Again

May 2, 2023
| 2 Comments
| School, Writing
Author studies ceramic mosaic of sun, sky, clouds and flowers at Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico

This past week I’ve spent a few days back at the school I retired from last June. One day was a straightforward substitute teacher job for the grade I taught for 17 years. The other 3 days I was helping to grade the New York State Assessment Tests that are given by the state to the students every spring. It is 3 days where the students are pulled from regular routine and forced by the state to take time-consuming exams that are, my my opinion, often very poorly thought out. An example of this is penalizing students for not…

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Stuck

April 16, 2023
| No Comments
| Ideas, Writing
toy plush shark isolated on white background

It’s not often I get stuck on what to write. I sometimes get stuck on how to write it well, but the actual what isn’t usually a problem. However, as you may have guessed, it’s a problem at the moment. But there may be a couple valid reasons for this. I just had eye surgery. Nothing major, just cataract surgery in both eyes. Yup, that procedure old people often have done so they don’t end up driving off the road at night. I guess I am now officially part of that group. As I’ve stated on several occasions, I…

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