Everything From This 1991 Radio Shack Ad You Can Now Do With Your Phone

From an article at Huffington Post.

More Newspaper Coverage

This article is from the Herald Dispatch in Huntington, WV.

Black and White and Read All Over

The local paper did an article today on the changes at the radio station. You can read it here.

Broken Resolution

So, about that pledge to blog every day...

The last week has been spent on a major work project, with no time for writing. It went a little something like this:

The format flip unfolded over several months but, due to technical constraints, the majority of the heavy lifting had to occur over the final seven or so days. Fortunately, I work with smart and dedicated people, and we managed to get it done on time.

Now I'm ready for things to return to normal, or at least as close to it as it gets in my world.That includes writing. I hope to have more to report very soon.

And While We're Talking About Boneheads

The guy who thought it was a good idea to tape firecrackers to his face and light them would like a moment of your time.

I Know It's Early...

...but, so far, this is my favorite picture of 2014.

Slow Sunday

I made little progress on the book today because I went back to fix a character issue. I don't usually like to do any revisions (other than typos) until the first draft is complete, but this issue affects the rest of the book, so if it ain't right, the book ain't right.

Tomorrow I go back to work after my holiday vacation, and I'm in for a very busy couple of weeks. If I can squeeze out a thousand words a day on the new book, I'll be happy. In fact, I know of one day where I'll probably have zero writing time. I'll have to make that up down the line.

The book is due at the end of the month. It's going to be tight.

Once it's done, I'll move on to a novelette I've promised a friend, then to finish a novel I've been tinkering with for a couple of years.

Also this year, I want to pitch a horror comic called Usher's Furnace, and Dave Wilbanks and I are discussing another Dead Earth book. 

That should take care of my free time.

City Councilman Resigns in Klingon

I bet the city council meetings were full of mIS Dun. Details here.

Aw, Poop

This was not my most productive day, which is indicated by the traditional Internet symbol for disappointment: a cartoon rendering of dog poop. 

Okay, it's a traditional Internet symbol that I just now made up, but still...

Today's Writing

While not nearly as exciting as the magnetic alignment of pooping dogs, I did manage 2162 words on the new book today, my best day's writing in quite some time. I'm at that point where key elements of the story are orbiting my head and starting to fall into place. I just hope I don't end up like the guy who used to repair appliances for us. 

When he once fixed our washer, a couple of big parts were left on the floor. 

"What are those?" I said.

He glanced at them and said, "Aw, don't worry about it. You don't need 'em."

***

I've been reading the year-end recaps on other blogs, and I realized I should tell you that I don't know how many books I read last year. I don't keep track of how many movies I watched. I don't care how many books anyone else read. Apparently I lack the OCD gene necessary to count all of that. Or to, you know, care on any level. Man, it just seems like a lot of work. Isn't life hard enough? I mean, dogs are lining up their poops according to Earth's magnetic field. Wake up, people!

Breaking Dog Poop News

As one who grew up with dogs (grew up with, not raised by; that's a different family member), I always wondered why pooches had to spend so much time picking a spot upon which to deposit their doo doo.  It turns out they have to align their bodies with the Earth's magnetic field. It's explained in this article. And remember, you don't have to magnetically align your body to pick up the poop.

Saving Mr. Ellison

Here's the shy, retiring, polite opinion of one of my heroes, Harlan Ellison, regarding the film Saving Mr. Banks.

A Quick Writing Update

This a brief note because I did say I would blog more and because it's good for me to talk about my writing again. I managed about four pages tonight on the Current Fiction Project (CFP). It's not the total I wanted, not the pace I had during the last book. But I think that's okay. I feel like one of those old steam locomotives, starting out slowly, huffing and puffing, building up energy. I can feel this story swelling, ready to explode. Or maybe that's my head. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with the output. 

Oh, and I also wrote another newspaper column earlier in the day, so today's word count is respectable. 

Let's see if I can do more tomorrow.

Wholock

This is so well done that I was fooled into thinking it might have been a BBC promotional gimmick. But, no, this is an impressive fan -created mashup up of Sherlock and Doctor Who. After you watch it, you might wish to check out the "Wholock-VFX Breakdown", which shows where the clips  originated and what was done to make them fit into this mini-movie. I've embedded it below.

Welcome to the Future

Like almost everybody I’ve spoken with, I’m looking forward to better year than 2013.

The year wasn’t horrible. In fact, several great things happened in 2013. Unfortunately, writing wasn’t one of them.

There was a lot of chaos swirling near my life and I allowed it to interfere with my writing time. Did I say interfere? Hell, I meant practically eliminate. This was my most unproductive writing year since I turned pro. In fact, the only writing I turned out on regular basis was my weekly humor column for the Ashland Beacon (which you can read right here; this week’s column is my New Year’s “revolutions” for 2014).

(Oh, and for what the specific cause or causes were for the chaos, forget it. It’s personal and that’s all you need to know. Except that some of the reasons for the problems have been resolved.)

Obviously, things have to change. I have deadlines to meet and several projects I want to complete. My focus this year has to be to carve out time at the keyboard every single day. That means other things will be delayed. For instance, I managed to produce only one episode of Pod of Horror in 2013, due to the same reasons that kept me from writing. Moving forward, I do want to continue PoH. It’s a labor of love. But writing is going to take top priority. I will do PoH when I can.

I will also try to blog more regularly, if for no other reason than to update the status of my writing. That serves as motivation for me. I’m not sure I’ll need it, but it’s here if I do. I will continue to do the bulk of my social interaction on Facebook.

So thanks to those of your who have supported my writing. I hope to have a few things to announce here over the next 12 months.

Oh, and Happy New Year from the Evil Flatwoods Tree.