Full Buck Moon July 22

Greetings again. Well, it’s raining AGAIN in NE Ohio after what we all thought was the long awaited commencement of summer. Not to be. After a soggy May and almost three weeks of rain in June, then two weeks of hot weather starting @ July 4, we bottomed out again and its rain, rain, rain. One thing good about rain is I spend more time at the PC and, by default, have been writing a lot more than usual. On vacation in the mountains of PA and MD last week and put a dent in what’s needed to finish my demon novella. Regarding my short story collection, I seem to have fallen off the radar of my publisher and editor. I haven’t been able to get any response for three weeks. Maybe they decided to bag my re-release project. If that’s so I guess I have to seek another pub house, not a prospect I look forward to. I need all the time I have to finish some of the ‘started-but-now-languishing’ tales I have on my “TO-DO” list. 

Better go. 

Enjoy the Full Moon if you are in a land where can see it, not one where the clouds are perpetual, like Ohio.

Summer

I know, it’s been a month but I've been swamped at the day job tying up loose ends so I can get time off in the summer. It was a good choice because so far the weather here in NE Ohio has been sketchy. Maybe three hot, sunny days. The rest, a wild mix of rain, clouds, sun and cool temps. And I worked like crazy to rewrite three stories in my horror collection. With that, we did get beyond the impasse with the horror collection reissue and I am waiting for a contract. I hope to get the new edition, now with two original tales removed and one new one added, out by September to hit stride with Halloween times. I’ll post things as they unfold. Thanks and think SUMMER. It’s finally here!

Reworking Long Hour

Full Strawberry Moon: Wow, two months since last post. Well I've been slacking off on blogs but otherwise have been busy. Still negotiating final contract for The Long Hour Before Light re-work. I'll have to pull two stories from the original publication and am rewriting four that were singled out as being OK with some substantial editing. Plus I am trying to complete at least one short to replace the lost two. Once I have a contract and get a feel for the new editors I'll have a handle on projected release date. I always like late summer so it's ramped up by Halloween.

black hole of winter

Man, I think we fell into a black hole of winter weather, and we can't get out. It's first day of Spring and I almost froze pumping gas this morning- 19 degrees!!!. Now it's snowing like crazy and the forecast is same, same, same for days. My maple sap is frozen solid in the plastic jugs and I'm out of wood for the stove. Next week is Holy Week and I hope we finally get something of a break.I guess we're paying back the installments on the hot weather we enjoyed last March- four days in the eighties.

I have a major decision to make and soon. My publisher of the short collection has pulled my book due to some "adult" situations. I have been offered the option to re-write some of the stories, remove some, and essentially get it back to a PG-13 rating,or to have rights reverted back to me and try to sell it elsewhere. This a tough one. I really don't have time to re-write, even with the generous help of their editors. But I also don't relish throwing my lot back into the query game for a book that I already did that groundwork lesson on. I have a few weeks to decide so I'm milking it for now.

Until next post (think summer temps!), my best

ron

New moon

Once again swamped with no time for writing, or is that a over-used excuse? Anyway, I have been working out a lot since my doctor told me I was heading into troubled waters with blood pressure, a little too much belly and some poorer that expected blood work. So I bike (inside and out), lift and pound the bag.

My work schedule is likewise astronomical but I better not complain about that. I know too many here on NE Ohio who are out of work. I am blessed with a good job and, notwithstanding the doom predicted by my MD, good health (I wake up alive each day).

Stories: I've pulled back on the novel but found a path for a novella I started four years ago but couldn't progress. Werewolf with a twist. And I worked out a pathway for another short that started with a murder-in-progress.I think I'll work on these for a while. Who knows, maybe I'll finish something.

Calamity with my publisher also. I'll update you with that tale next post.

Keep your eye on Orion. He'll be leaving us soon

Looking back

Full Snow Moon waning

It’s still cold and surprisingly, it’s snowing hard. But even though it’s very cold, 26 degrees, it’s a soft snow with big flakes and no wind. It feels like this could be winter’s last gasp. For one thing the daylight is lingering on well past 6:30. That helps a lot. I think I hate the darkness of northern latitude winters more than the cold.  Oh, I’m sure there will be some more snow and the archetypal Ohio Spring comprised of Rain, Fog, and Temps in the 40’s. But, I welcome it after this hard winter so far.

I was reading some of my earlier posts from years back and I often mentioned my wolf, Yukon. With sadness I have to tell you that we lost him this fall. A month later we lost Kato, our Husky. Yukon was thirteen so he lived a long life. Kato was eleven. We got Yukon as a pup from a farm in New Alexandria PA. He was hiding in a cave-like lair and from that day on he always preferred holes. He burrowed under his dog house and laid there instead of inside. Kato was rescued from a pet store where he was sickly and underfed. When Diane bought him, Yukon had been gone seven days having run off with a pack of feral dogs. We’d given up on him. Then, like a miracle, Diane saw him running on a ridge-top while she was driving Kato home from the pet store. He came running when she called. Kato followed Yukon everywhere. After Yukon died, Kato wandered around the house looking for him and, when he came down with an infection, I think he just gave up. He died one month after Yukon. I still miss them, especially on winter nights when the moon is full and Orion is glistening in the southwestern sky. I’d stand outside with them and marvel at God’s cosmic artwork, give them a bowl of evaporated milk mixed w/ water.

I’m making myself sad again so I’ll end this. Until next post.

My best

Full Snow Moon raining

Well I weathered another trip to the doctor. I'm not in perfect shape (like I didn't know that) but he couldn't find any fatal ailments. When you get to be of my vintage these ordeals become more and more dreadful. You just know that one day, one visit, they'll find that short,lit fuse, drop the bomb so to speak. Not this time anyway. I've got some things wrong, a few parts wearing down, but I'm not planning the wake just yet. So I celebrated by lifting weights and pounding the bag for an hour. Now that almost did it, almost had me calling for the pall bearers.

Ah the weather! It's raining to beat the band and cold as hell-33 degrees. So the second day of Full Snow Moon has it completely hidden by ground-hugging clouds, rain and mist.The forecast is for dropping temps, more snow/rain/snow. But I think we're close to turning the corner on this winter. The Ground Hog said it would all end soon.

I haven't caught up to my goal pace (1 page/day) but I working on it. I have the story getting a foundation, my characters slowly being pulled farther down the dark road to ruin. I'll keep everyone posted on how things progress.

Hey, stay warm, take care, 'til next.