Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

September 18, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 19 Comments

Friday is here in a heartbeat. Always good to have a holiday on a Monday since it makes the week seem so fast. (Unless Tuesday was one of those painful “please shoot me” days). I didn’t get a lot done this week since I’m trying to work on formatting my book. It’s almost like making a new recipe. I have the instructions in one hand and am slowly trying to execute with the other. One handed typing is the worst especially when you are trying to make things all pretty. Oh well, it will take time and I certainly have some to spare right now. Today’s JohnKu talks about doing the job right.

The job needs doing,

Bring all the effort and skill. . .

It’s worth doing right.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 14, 2015August 13, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 22 Comments

Friday YAY. Yes, I’m glad it is here. I spent most of the week working on the various cover submissions for the second book in the John Cannon Trilogy titled His Revenge. It is a daunting task in that I had four designers competing for the business. They came up with over 60 designs, and I must say all the artists were good. I will withhold final judgment on the service until I have the finished product. So far I have been pleased with the results. As a reminder, you can still vote for the cover that you think works by going to this link. http://99designs.com/book-cover-design/vote-uyatn3

I will say one designer took me to a final design and then had to change it because he was not authorized to use the graphic he presented. That was not forgivable as far as I’m concerned. Total time waste. The design was great and in the final four, and then it disappeared and he substituted another. This week’s JohnKu is about honesty. I hope you like it.

Believing the words,

Based on the integrity. . .

At last finding none.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 7, 2015August 6, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 27 Comments

Friday is finally here. I don’t know about you, but it seemed to be a pretty long week. I was full of productivity this week. I got my manuscript for His Revenge off to the editor. I will be holding my breath until the surgical procedure is finished. I also launched a cover design contest and so far the covers look amazing. My last beta readers checked in and between being too busy and having computer troubles I learned a lesson about reliability. In spite of some participation disappointments, the beta results were very good, and I’ll run with what I have. The beta reader situation gave rise to this week’s JohnKu. It is about expectation and I hope you enjoy it.

Reaching out for help,

The expectation runs high. . .

Trumped by agenda.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

June 19, 2015June 15, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 23 Comments

Friday is here, and we all are glad to welcome the day as the gateway to the weekend. It is a great day in the week since it is Saturday eve. Only a few more hours and the hard work for this week can be behind us. That is unless you are one of those souls who can’t let it go for a couple of days. We all know who you are. If you are not working, you think your foot will fall off or something. You are a group of obsessive overachievers I have to excuse myself from this group even though I never stop working.I’m a writer, and we know writers are allowed to obsess over the never-ending task of writing. For the rest of you there seems to be some logic in taking some time off. Go ahead, remove your shoes and lay that computer down. After all, none of you will be on your deathbed saying,”my only regret is I couldn’t work more.” Today is the first day of the rest of your life (where the hell did that come from?), and you need to get started on a new objective to smell roses. I realize you can’t just stop. The withdrawal might be harsh enough to kill you. Maybe you can take baby steps. Try this

1. Put down the notebook and phone.

2. Go outside. (Yes outside with all the heat and bugs)

3. Find a flower. (You’ll recognize it by the fact it is in the ground)

4. Lean over and inhale through your nose like you are in a Pilates class.

5. Run quickly back into the house and congratulate yourself on completing the first rose smelling exercise. Next time we will try to find a rose.

Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about smelling the roses.

Work is a blessing,

For the purpose fulfilling. . .

But not as a life.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

May 8, 2015May 7, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 33 Comments

Lovely Friday again. It has been a busy week. Among other events, I went to a poetry reading and tossed out a couple of short stories to an audience of four. Almost made me laugh that in a town of four thousand there are four people who are interested in the written arts. Two of the four were fellow writers so it was a fun night and brought to mind the idea that no matter how small the group writers will still read. The poor souls who were the only civilians in the audience had a good time as well. At least they laughed in the right places and clicked their thumbs when it was over. The reading took place beside a marina overlooking some beautiful boats, and I would call the scene peaceful. All in all, I didn’t care about the quantity of the audience it was the quality that mattered. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) talks about quality. Hope you like it.

Quantity is good,

Until something needs fixing. . .

Quality shines through.

Friday JohnKu -AKA – TGIF

April 24, 2015April 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 20 Comments

Friday again. Seems just like it was Friday a short while ago but of course I’m not getting up and hitting the outside world. I don’t have to struggle to get to work and when there struggle with co-workers and well-meaning (I’m sure) bosses. Time becomes a relative thing since I don’t have a clock that needs attention. The only thing scheduled in a typical day that serves to get me out of bed is potty and breakfast for the dogs and pacifying for the cats at 6:30 AM. The rest of the day is pretty much on the pet schedule. Let’s see there is beach walk at 8:30 followed yard sun bath at 12:30. Then there is brushy at 3:15 and another beach walk at 4:00. This routine demands dog dinner at 5:00, the yard at 6:30 and final potty call at 9:30.

Come to think about it, I am a slave to the pets and my schedule looks every bit as complex as when I worked in organized commerce. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) talks about life’s schedule.

Beating the deadline,

Receives high praise, compliments . . .

Till the product fails.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

April 3, 2015April 1, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 22 Comments

Friday is here at last. I have been editing my last book and I am constantly amazed at how stupid I am when I’m in the writing zone. Words fly like the wind when I’m working on a piece and, unfortunately, at times when I go back I have to scratch my head and mumble to myself, “what was I thinking.” I thought the words all came out right the first time. Yet here I am faced with what would be my version of the dead sea scrolls to interpret. I might as well be in some dusty tomb with a spyglass and a flashlight as to be sitting in front of my computer. I write a thousand words a day and the work boils down to about eight hundred understandable. So my editing is all about the dreaded rewrite. The story line is good, the characters solid it’s just I can’t understand what the hell is going on with words like gret, sid, ot,form,laght, sotp, saop etc. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words 4jp) is a reflection of my thoughts today. hope you like it.

Typing is God’s gift,

To save us from handwriting . . .

Typos Devil sent.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

March 27, 2015March 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

Finally, the good weather is here for us locals. It is still forecasted to rain over the weekend, but the week has been fabulous. The beach is vacant, and you can move around in town. We will venture out to our favorite places again and enjoy the surroundings. The next big deal will be Memorial Day, and hopefully this little curse I bought from the medicine man will continue to serve up inclement weather over that holiday as well. Today’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about home and what it means.

Always welcome there,

Bringing burdens and troubles. . .

Eased, refreshed now go.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

March 20, 2015March 18, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 17 Comments

Friday is here and with it comes the responsibility to begin to relax. Yes, it’s true. Everyone owes themselves some relaxing time. Think about all the stuff you accomplish for the week. Heck, just getting up five mornings in a row is worthy of an award. Beyond that is the fact that you worked all week. You wrote some nice stuff, and you were kind to some folks who didn’t deserve it. You made your boss feel good, and you supported your spouse. You were in meetings, on the phone and in your car. All this activity takes energy, and there has to be a recharge period or like a battery the charge may get too low to continue to power the machine. This week’s JohnKu (a term coined by Words4jp) is about recharge. Hope you like it.

The power is on,

To carry the spirit up. . .

Rest to continue.

TGIF – AKA JohnKu Friday

March 6, 2015March 4, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 23 Comments

Friday is, here again, which means it is JohnKu (a termed coined by Words4jp) Friday or as most of the world knows is the day we thank God for its arrival. Yes, good old TGIF. This week has been pretty quick.

I am still averaging one thousand words a day on my Work in Process. I am currently at 69,500 words and I fully expect it to reach 92,000 when complete. So if all works well, I should be finished in twenty-four more days. That means at the end of March. Okay let’s just draw a line in the sand and say it will be so. This book is totally off what I would consider my normal track. In fact, right now I can quite pin the genre. It is a Mystery but not the classic who done it. It has some Thriller aspects but only a couple of twists. It has a lot of scope like a Literary piece, and it has some paranormal occurrences. Since I’m not planning this book to be published by my current publisher, I might just let a group of Bata readers give me some suggestions.

I do know I’m enjoying the hell out of writing it and so who knows its future. Today’s JohnKu is about making up one’s mind. I hope you like it.

A decision now,

Or else the world will collapse . . .

May be good to wait.