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Last of the Year

11/19/2017

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Hello. First off, I must confess that this will probably be my last post until after Christmas. I expect to be working fifty to sixty hours a week after Thanksgiving and until Christmas. And there's no guarantee the hours will ease up after the first of the year. I can handle the hours day-to-day. But after four days of that, I just get worn down. Age? Or mileage?
There is some good news. My wife's health is noticeably improving. Her doctor's appointment last Friday was mostly good news. Also, I was even more of my usual smart-ass self. The wife, doctor, and nurse got into the spirit of the situation and we were all laughing like crazy. 
Mrs. Waiss was sitting on the exam table and I said something smart-alecky (but funny!) and she told the doc to hit me. He did! He stepped right over and popped me in the shoulder! I said, "Hey, what happened to 'Do no harm?'" He responded with a grin, "She's my patient, not you."
That was just a little bit of the funnies of that visit. Primarily, he was very pleased with her progress concerning the pain. It has noticeably declined and she hasn't had to take much of the pain meds recently. In another month or so she might be quite a bit better and stronger.  
I got another rejection. On my 10/12 blog I mentioned the short story, "The Affair." After all that cutting, the publisher didn't accept it. Darn.
I did something really stupid with that story—something I've never done before and hopefully will not do again. I didn't keep a copy of the original longer version. Now all I have is the shortened version, and I think the one that existed for a short time with an additional one thousand words was better. To quote Bugs Bunny: "What a maroon!"
I contacted two more agents about Saving Atlantis. One provides no info on response time; the other predicts about four weeks. She wanted to see the first fifty pages or the first three chapters, whichever was greater. Those coincided exactly. So she will see more of the story than the others have. I hope that will work in my favor.
For those of you keeping up with The Mascot Serial, I'm going to try very hard to get one more chapter done before the end of the week—maybe on Thanksgiving—but I can't promise.
And that is all I have. I wish you all an enjoyable and thankful Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas and good New Year.
 

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Work, Work, Work, Senora...

11/1/2017

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I'm sorry I have not been able to post here recently. I'm having to work ten hours every day. I don't mind the extra hours at work, but I hate the two hours less at home.
On top of that, my wife spent another few days in the hospital. We went to Rochester for her appointment Thursday afternoon and the doc decided he needed to run a few tests...and he couldn't do it as an outpatient.
She wanted me to stay in Rochester with her at least to the weekend. She's spoiled, so I did. I had no necessities of any kind for staying a night or two. I could buy that stuff. But I had not taken along my laptop, so I couldn't do any writing.
I did think about writing a long email on my yahoo account and then I could access it here at home. But I need to look at what I did last before I can write what's next. If I'd taken my laptop (and I had considered it, but decided it wasn't necessary—fooled myself) I could have had this up Sunday.
And I have a new personal concern that uses up a little time...or a lot. Depends on how much I want to spend. But I enjoy every minute, so I've allowed the writing to slack a little for this new diversion.
I did take one small step on the writing front at the hospital. I left my name and book titles with the librarian; maybe I'll get a sale or two. They have a nice library on the seventh floor of the Joseph Building, with a few computers, lots of books, of course, and they'll charge your cell phone for you. My wife's nurse told us about that, which is how I found myself in the library in the first place.
Not much on the writing front to mention. I chopped the "Prelude" off Saving Atlantis, but it hasn't helped get acceptance from the last two agents I submitted to. I'll start approaching some of the publishers directly.
I also got a brand shiny new rejection for a science fiction story called "Guidelines." I think it's pretty good, but I must be wrong because over half a dozen editors have kicked it to the curb.
One bit of good news. Sunday morning, October 8th, I woke up and had a funny little idea about how one certain word sounds a lot like another. So that morning I wrote it, edited it, and submitted it to Page and Spine for their Crumbs tab.
The editor, N.K. Wagner, apparently found it as funny as I did. She put into the End Notes tab, which pays better.
If you want to get a quick laugh (read it aloud to others—it'll work even better) you can find "Plastic Passion" here: http://www.pagespineficshowcase.com/end-notes.html
Scroll down to the 10/13 entry. Then, if you don't already, read the rest of the issue. All good.
Thanks for reading, and I hope the next posting will be sooner than this one was.
   

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    I'm a former teacher and current warehouse grunt that loves writing.

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