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I’ve spent much of the weekend editing Ulrik, cutting here, adding there. Right now I’m printing a full second draft of the manuscript to give it another thorough reading, then another editing. I just thought I’d post a new word meter since I’m currently over my stated goal of 100,000 words. 100,300 / 100,000(100.3%) With…

The new puppy came to live with us yesterday. On a weekday/school night. Sara went to bed, but the as-yet-unnamed puppy wasn’t ready to call it a night, so she followed me around. Yes, I said she. We adopted a male almost a month ago, but when we went to pick him up yesterday, the…

Damn. In America we argue about things like funding faith-based programs to keep people off drugs, kids out of trouble, etc. But in Afghanistan, where our soldiers are still dying to help people who were too weak to help themselves, converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death. This guy was arrested for owning…

I got an e-mail from the publisher at Scrybe Press this morning. I sent the cleaned up version of Seven Days in Benevolence to him last night and asked about Shara again. There’s good and bad in his answer. I should have copies in my hands by April 15, the day I’m scheduled to speak…

Spouses can be so harsh. Kim gave back the 396-page first draft manuscript of Ulrik today and didn’t hold back telling me how disappointed she was. As if the red ink she added to the pages wasn’t enough! Shara’s weak. Character development is inconsistent. The flashbacks are boring. Ulrik isn’t as smart as he was…

My new job is with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s public affairs office. I’ve known the director and some of the other folks there for a long time, going back to my time as the Mr. Traffic columnist for The Daily Oklahoman. They’re nice people and I’m looking forward to working with them. Telling the…

I could post about the juvenile flame war my name has been involved in the past few days … but why bother? In news that actually matters, I’ve been asked to contribute a story to a new paying print magazine’s June issue. I’ll name it later, probably after the story is accepted … assuming it…

I don’t really have much to say, but wanted to post a link to James A. Moore’s fantastic blog entry for today. This should be required reading for every author. It’s a bit long, but if you’re considering a career as a writer, you’ll do yourself a favor by reading it. James is not only…

The kids are out of school for 10 days beginning today. Ten freakin’ days! That never happened when I was in school, other than the Christmas break. Will I remain (relatively) sane? Stay tuned! We’re still unable to pick up Sara’s dog. It’s a bit aggravating. After we paid for the puppy, the animal welfare…

It is March 7, 2006, and I have turned off the heat and turned on the air conditioning. Take that, Oklahoma Natural Gas! It’s time to pay Oklahoma Gas and Electric the bigger bills. (Yes, you out-of-staters will wonder why Oklahoma Gas and Electric doesn’t provide gas to customers when they have gas in their…