Finally...

The hot weather is now well on its way out of here. Unfortunately, around here, it begins to get warm again by mid-February. That leaves us what...about 4.5 mos. of semi cool temps? Mother Nature is definitely on crack....

Recently got turned down on a story. The editor offered some really good input though, and I will keep it mind when I start the rewriting process. I did, however, get a limerick accepted for a print issue titled Appalling Limericks. It's not much, but I still get enjoyment out of getting something in print. Poety is fun; it breaks the monotony when I'm working on a longer story. I can pop the poems off fast.

Christmas will be here soon. I was planning on writing a sequel to Merry Deathmas, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Not sure if I will. Too many irons in the fire right now.

Been talking to a very nice lady down near Jesup who's a distant relative of mine. I found her while doing a search on the Akin name. She told me about an old Scottish castle that belonged to my ancestors. It's on the island of Skye across the channel from the town of Kyleakin in the Scottish highlands. It's called Moil Castle, but there's not much left of it. I thought that was pretty cool.

Anyway, gotta jam...later.

Joe

Summer's here!

And I absolutely hate it. I used to love summer as a nasty little snot-nosed fucker running the equally nasty streets of Augusta. But back then I didn't have enough sense to know it was so damned hot. Besides, summer meant NO SCHOOL, which offset any discomforts the heat would bring. I told someone the other day that I wished I had a home down in Australia that I could go to during the summers up here. Then I could fly back and forth twice a year and stay cool. I imagine some people are saying "Why not just move north?" That won't work though--it's hot as hell up there too. I'd have to go to Barrow Alaska, and it's probably about 80 degrees up there!

Fuck it...burn, baby burn.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. I think the whole city has left town (silent celebration). One can actually drive in peace; eat out without having to wait on a table; go to a movie without listening to crying kids, cell phones, and igorant assholes talking to the friggin' characters on the screen. Dumbasses. Anyway, it's quiet...just the way I like it.

I began editing on Moon Phases again after I began editing on it the last time. It's so very, very hard to maintain a normal train of thought these days...so much going on. If I ever do make it big I'm gonna have to buy me a cabin in the woods somewhere and not tell anyone where the hell it is. If I drop dead....oh well. Maybe the bears will smell my rotting corpse, break down the door and eat my remains. Hey, it's good to know someone would care.

Guess that's about it. Maybe I can get in another post before the end of the year.

Later...

Spent...

Have been very tired lately. Nothing seems to be going right....

Lea D'Archer is doing fairly well though. Was asked to do a signing up in Atlanta, but I don't believe that is going to happen -- there are just too many other things going on right now. I turned 45 three weeks ago and am feeling every year of it. I may try to arrange something locally.

Started back to work on Moon Phases. It's amazing how a writer can turn a story around after not looking at it for so long. The whole thing seems clearer, and I can now make the necessary changes for the better. I guess that'll be my goal, my resolution, for the '06 year: get it finished.

After an extensive hiatus from submitting to anthologies and such, I've decided to begin considering a few again. The money's not all that great, but they're fun and good way to keep one's name out there.

Guess that's about it for now. Will try to keep the blog more up-to-date.

J. K. Rowling strikes again!

Yep, the lastest installment of Harry Potter hit the shelves this morning at 12:01 A.M. All the bookstores had parties last night. Parties! For a book! I just got finished reading her website and she says that Harry Potter was turned down quite a few times before it turned into the mega-seller it is today. I'm seriously thinking about changing my genre. I'm currently in the process of doing one...last...final...revision of Lea D'Archer and then I'm self-publishing it. Finis. I've read the damn thing so many times now that I'm actually getting sick of it. I want to trash the whole thing and say "Fuck it!" It would only be eight years wasted. No big deal.

What else...

Another hurricane is coming, only this time I don't think it will come this way. It, Emily, seems to be going more west this time and will probably plague Mexico. The rain here has been nearly constant. One more good downpour and we will probably flood. I'm not complaining though; if it's raining, the sun isn't baking our asses like it is on the West Coast. Right?

Guess that's it for now.

Joe

Strange dreams

I've been having these weird dreams that usually wake me up in the middle of the night. They seem to be about ghosts and haunted houses, simple moths that turn into flying razor blades, and spectral arsonists who mysteriously pack 18th century clothes in and around space heaters....

Yeah, I did drugs in the 70's.

What's left of hurricane Dennis is now somewhere up around Missouri by now. We're still getting some rather dark clouds around here, but other than that, it's still hot as hell.

Finally got word from Gill over in the UK. We were all a bit concerned about her after the bombings and all, but she seems to be okay. She lives to write another story....

Guess that's it for now. May try to get in some fishing before the rain comes.

Joe

Storm a-comin'...

Yep, another one. Hurricane Dennis has torn through the Carribean and is now in the Gulf, making its way towards the Florida panhandle. I don't know how those folks can put up with this. It has been the worse two years for them. My ass would've packed my bags and left a long time ago. But I guess it's hard to leave home.

Hotter than a nympho at a viagra convention here though. Went to Helen, GA earlier this week and I didn't want to come back. The mountains looked so awesome with the clouds swirling around the tops of them. We also went to Unicoi and Anna Ruby Falls and hiked to the top. Got lots of pictures. I wish I could live up there....

On the last lap of my vacation. Going back to work on the 18th and still have a lot to do.

Haven't done much writing lately. Mike Philbin is taking subs for Chimeraworld #3 and I actually had an idea for a story, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing it. The theme is terrorism/antichrist/genocide, and mine had something to do with genetic engineering. My main character will create a DNA strand that will piggy-back with a common virus and wreak havoc with the entire world. I've got to educate myself on all the technicalities first. I've been reading up on genetic polymorphism.

I guess that's it for now, kiddies. Got work to do....

Joe

Been awhile

...Since I've written anything of substance. That includes stories and in this blogger. I've been very busy lately and haven't had much time to do anything except sleep and work. Stay tired a lot. Probably getting diabetes or something....

Went to see Episode III not long ago, and thought it was okay. It's still not as good as those first three (IV, V, VI). Then again, I'm not a big Star Wars fan anyway. White Noise sucked a fatty, I know that much. Michael Keaton needs to stay with comedy; horror just isn't his thing. Planning to see the new George Romero movie. It's kinda bad when one finds the dead more interesting than the living.

Going on vacation soon! Got things to see and people to do! Then somewhere in there I may be able to squeeze in a story or two. Was thinking about changing the beginning of The CMN Syndrome to make it a little more believable. Right now it just starts out with a bang...with everyone grabbing each other and, well...let's just leave it at that, shall we? I figured this way it will build tension, acquaint the reader with a few of the major characters...stir things up a little.

I've been talking to a screenwriter whose been giving me some pointers on how to write the screenplays for some of these stories. Since they're all shorts, I was thinking somewhere along the lines of Twilight Zone/Cat's Eye/Tales From The Crypt type of thing. I began writing one for The Bali Mynah, but I abandoned it. I guess it was because I wasn't really sure of what I was doing. It would definitely make for an interesting feature, providing an "R" rating would suffice. (Sorry, pervs...no beastiality here!)

It's been hotter here than an aborigine's asscrack. I saw the devil buying bags of ice the other day.

Oh well...enough of that shit. Catch y'all later.

Joe