Well, I made it through another Imaginarium convention. I learned quite a bit about writing and it can be summed up in one brief sentence: I ain’t done crap.

I think the person with the lowest book count on any of the panels I listened to was thirty. Thirty! I’ve written… six? Five? Either way, I am nowhere near the double digits I apparently have to be to be considered successful. So many of them were USA Today Bestsellers. I’m giddy if my one of porn piece gets a sale.

I am way behind on this sort of thing. I’ve got to get cracking on finishing up a couple more things. Seriously.

But all was not me wringing my hands and screaming ‘I AM WOEFULLY UNDERPREPARED!’ – I talk to a pulisher who is hold open submissions next month, I have two stories that can be ready in that amount of time: The Show Must Go On and Alien Voices. They just need a little bit of polish, maybe another run through and I can submit them (if they’re looking for horror).

Going to Imaginarium has whetted my appetite for getting stuff done. I might even take my laptop to GenCon and write after I get back from the daily events. I know that GenCon is supposed to be a vacation, but I also got to get this done by the end of August and that’s not very far away. When I was at Imaginarium, I did manage to get some writing done, but it was an hour at the most because I was stacked from open to close with panels. I’m surprised I ate anything at all to be hinest. People who have attended conventions can testify to this.

Well – that’s it really. I spent a lot of time sitting in metal chairs, taking notes. I get to see a couple of writing friends that I hadn’t seen in a while, so that was nice. I even made myself a QR business card, but never got a chance to use it. Next year – I’ll put it on a t-shirt and wear it all three days. Hopefully, by next year, I’ll be in the lower double digits enough to justify putting up a table and trying to sell some books.

Stay safe, everyone.

Sorry I haven’t been on here in any substantial way for a while. To be honest – there hasn’t been any news worth reporting. I upgraded the word count on Tribal from 60K to 80K because I was two thirds of the way through, and I realized I had more story to tell. I also changed the deadline to August 31^st just to keep the daily work count in the realm of the obtainable. Fortunately, my wife has been reading the first eight chapters and has given me notes to act on. I’m going to give her two or three chapters when they get finished so I can try to hit the ground running when it comes to editing.

The only other thing going on for me is the laborious countdown to GenCon. We’re in the final month and I am getting everything in place. We bought a wagon to carry all the loot I am going to buy, and I am still saving up money to buy all the loot. This is going to be my last GenCon for a while, as I am saving up for something big. I’m not going to say anything major right now, but I am going to say this: it’s big.

I am currently reading Ann McMann’s The Blackbird of Chernobyl. A nice little romance for a change from all the true crime and writer’s guides I’ve been reading as of late. This is seriously a book I can’t put down. I recommend it highly.

Tribal is still coming along. Ot quite done with Edgar and the pack, but the story continues to pluck along. After this, I’m going to get seriously into Serve Me Now, even though my wife is slightly turned off by oversexualization of the main character – especially in the beginning pages. When it’s finished, I might get a second opinion. I think this is the one I should try to get some mainstream action on.

Other than all of this – things continue to go along swimmingly. Still feeling good about writing, still attracting projects and ideas like honey to flies. Also got to remember that I have a chance to listen to my baseball team tomorrow as they play the Mets. Hopefully, my listening to them won’t jinx them too much.

Until later – ta-ta for now.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth! Next week, I’ll try to scrape something together for y’all.