Happy National Coffee Day!

That's it, really.

Happy National Coffee Day!

Projects Update

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

Well, it's been far too long since I posted anything here.

I don't know if anyone is actually interested, but I have almost completed the first draft of my second novel, and I'm pretty happy with it, really. The good part is that it's pretty well finished and the plot and scenes hang together well; the bad part is that I hate rewriting.
I don't mind revising paragraphs and sentences - I'm pretty well able to accept that the first choice of words that came to my mind isn't necessarily the best.
I don't like wholesale re-writing, however. If I wrote a scene, I generally like it, and I will resist removing it from the finished product. I'm better at adding scenes where things simply don't flow properly, or where I've left out something that the reader needs to know.

I haven't gotten back to the two cookbooks that are in my writing / editing pipeline, but I have at least collected most of what needs to go together, so I'm at the point where I can get things going pretty quickly.

The interesting thing is that November is coming soon, and we all know that's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I really don't think they like to count revisions as writing - that's kind of the antithesis of the "write, write like the wind!" fever of getting 50,000 words done in the course of those 30 days. I have my doubts that I can both revise / rewrite one book while pouring out another 50K words as the basis of another.

I also have to go through a thorough revision of my Mass setting. I seem to have a bunch of projects backing up right now.  Better that than no idea of what else to do, I suppose.

Coinage du Jour - 07 September 2011

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

VIRUS EX MACHINA - n

def. The too-convenient solution of a dramatic problem by way of a computer virus.

sample - "The aliens in Independence Day were defeated by Jeff Goldblum's character's handy virus ex machina."

More Shameless Self-Promotion

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

Well, almost as soon as I posted that coupon code for my books on www.lulu.com/grandteuton I got another one - this time for 20% and up to $100 in savings.

Now the code is SEPTEMBER305, and it runs through September 9, 2011.

Enjoy.

Shameless Self-Promotion

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

If you have any interest in buying one of my books, here's a 15% coupon code that's good for the month of September at my lulu.com store (max value $25).
Just go to www.lulu.com/grandteuton and make your selections. Printed and digital versions are both included. At the checkout, enter the code AWESOME305 and you'll get 15% off the total (before shipping, I believe).


Enjoy!

Surgery Can Be Amazing

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

You know, modern medicine is pretty spectacular. Today, through a four-inch incision, a knee can be repaired.

When I was a kid, the best we could do for knees was Mercurochrome; and we liked it.

A Fun Musical Pairing

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

I had a great time playing a hymn in church with my friend Dave last Sunday.

I played guitar and sang, while he played harmonica. (We did Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.)

It was very fun, well received, and actually sounded quite good, I think. Maybe it wasn't quite as good as when Buddy Greene did it, but we don't practice as much as he does.