The last Friday of 2019 has arrived. It is hard to believe that 51 of them have preceded this one. The good news is that there are now 52 more getting ready to be issued as soon as the new year turns over.

I hope you all are having or had a great holiday. I managed to keep to a timetable and am just about finished with the final edit before beta read on my WIP. I will be working on a blurb and will send out a call after the first of the year. The beta will be available in three formats, MOBI, ePub, and PDF.

The beta readers will have six weeks to return comments. Since the MS is about 305 pages, this should not be a burden. If you would like to read the story, which I’m tentatively naming The Eternal Road – the Final Stop, look for the announcement on Monday, January 6th.

Today’s John Ku talks about the New Year. I hope you have a great weekend.

New Year by John W. Howell

Always great promise,

In starting over anew. . .

Old habits die hard.

 

Here it is another Friday. It is Friday before Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. It makes it a pretty important Friday for sure. It is that kind of Friday that makes you really nervous if you don’t have all the gifts bought and all the plans made. It is the kind of Friday that makes you wish you had started the holiday preparation a wee bit earlier….like October. Don’t forget there are 24 hours in a day and if you don’t need a lot of sleep, plenty of time to get everything done. Well, maybe not everything but enough, so no one will know you put off your preparations until the last second. Yeah, that’s what Friday feels like, the last second.

Todays, JohnKu talks about procrastination. I hope you have a delightful weekend getting everything done.

Last Minute by John W. Howell © 2019

Many things to do,

Not enough time to do them . . .

Why did you delay?

To really get into the spirit if you want a really great time go to Sally Cronin’s blog today. She is hosting a fabulous Christmas Wish post which features music, food and the wishes of a number of your friends and fellow authors. If you don’t visit another post today this has to be the one. https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/12/20/smorgasbord-blog-magazine-christmas-party-just-one-wish-guests-food-music-and-laughter/ 

 

Another Friday has finally graced us with its presence. I think most of us are glad to see it here. I can imagine a nightclub bouncer would not be too thrilled with Friday, but for the rest of us, it means the eve of freedom. It means the beginning of the end of the workweek. Eight hours is all that separates us from our work world and our relaxing world.

I think given all that is going on in our country these days we definitely need to spend time in the relaxing world. I’m not sure but I have to wonder who is really enjoying all the vitriol coming out of Washington. I for one have had my fill.

Today’s JohnKu talks about trying to live through stressful times.

I hope you all have a very relaxing weekend.

Living by John W. Howell © 2019

It’s not all roses,

And living can be stressful. . .

Need an inner strength.

 

Friday. So good to see your smiling face. We can celebrate making it another week. Here in Texas, we got hit by a cold front that took the wind chills down into the basement. Man, it was cold. We are not expected to get back to the 70s until next week. I know, I know you folks in the North have no sympathy. My only defense in being such a weenie is if I wanted to be chilled to the bone I would have moved to Alaska. At least I would know what is waiting for me during the winter. This year here the temps went from the 90s to the 30s overnight. No chance to get used to a gradual decline.

The WIP editing is coming along. I’m at page 223 out of 300. I also cut out about 2000 words so far and am down to 93,000. I would say I’ll be finished in another eight days or so.

This week’s JohnKu talks about having to cut precious words from a manuscript. I hope you have a great weekend.

Sacrifice by John W. Howell © 2019

You hate to do it,

The words were hard to come by . . .

Sacrifice is tough.

 

 

Let’s hear it for Friday. YAY. Always lovely to see your smiling face, Friday. It makes us glad we made it through the week and now only have two days of relaxation ahead.

I’m looking forward to painting the front door. “What?” you say. “Your front door is unpainted?”

Yes, it is painted. The problem is it is not painted the right accent color on the outside. So, the forecast for Saturday has the humidity at 50%, which means good painting weather. I’ll take some photos (I know real exciting stuff) and run them on Views of the Neighborhood on Sunday. Wow. Does it get any better than that?

Still editing the WIP. It is moving slowly but surely.

Today’s JohnKu is about editing. I hope you have a super weekend.

Editing by John W. Howell © 2019

If you don’t do it,

Life later will be like hell . . .

Before publish, edit.

 

Here is that beautiful day of the week that traditionally signals an end to the workweek. Only eight more hours and then the weekend is available for maximum enjoyment. I certainly hope you will enjoy yours.

Not too much new around here. We saw the temperatures drop into the 30s, and for next week, it looks like more of below-normal conditions. The daytime highs are expected to be no more than the high 60s and lows in the 50s. This would compare to the ’80s as a high and 70s as a low. So, yes, sweater weather but not subzero. Tonight is the only low in the 30’s. We are due rain next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

The WIP is coming along but slowly. I work on it everyday but for me, editing is a much slower task than writing. So far, our heroes have been to Dodge City Kansas in 1878, Tombstone Arizona in 1881 and have just arrived at the Alamo in 1838.

By the way, in case I haven’t mentioned it, these two, James and Samantha, are on a quest to find the best eternal home. They are sampling places and time dimensions to see what fits the best. Along the way, they are seeing plenty of action. If you are a history buff you know some things happened in each of those years. For example, right now they arrive at the Alamo a couple of days before Santa Anna’s attack on the Texas stronghold. Well, more of this later.

Today’s JohnKu talks about the weather which we all seem to find something to complain about no matter what it is.

Weather by John W. Howell © 2019

When it’s hot or cold,

Rain, snow, dead of night or clear . . .

Half want a change now.

 

 

 

Friday has arrived as it does each week typically. The prospect of spending a couple of days catching our breath makes Friday a particular day. I used to call it Saturday eve when I was a prisoner of organized commerce. Friday was the day to put on casual clothes and take a little extra time at lunch. Friday was also the day when company re-organizations would take place and thus became a “day of the long knives.” Even if this were the case, Friday was also the day the eagle pooped. Yeah, payday. Payday was a cause to stop after work for a couple of drinks and to celebrate making it another week, bi-week or in the old days, month.

I once asked one of my co-workers if he would like to stop after work for a couple of drinks. He said, “If I can only have a couple, then no.” He was one of those funny guys that every office has on hand.

This week was more editing on the WIP. As I was working, it became apparent to me that my deadline was in serious jeopardy. I had planned to have the MS into my editor’s hands by early November. This would have included beta reader input.

I find that my second draft is taking me longer.  I did beg my editor for more time since I hate to send her an MS that isn’t as complete as I can make it. The beta read part of that is essential. If I sent it without input from beta readers, then there would be a chance of another rewrite, which would then be a waste of the editor’s time. So I pushed the launch and will be ready to solicit beta readers shortly.  (My editor is an angel)  If you would like to read the book, I will be posting an invitation separately.

Today’s JohnKu celebrates the weekend. I hope you have a good one.

Weekend by John W. Howell © 2019

It was a hard one,

Now that the week is over. . .

Time to celebrate.

 

 

What a week. It seemed to go pretty fast. I don’t want anyone wishing their life away, but I hope it moved quickly for you as well.

I started editing my WIP on Monday and was pleasantly surprised that the story still looked good to me. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I go back to things I’ve written, and they look like something that requires some starter and a match. I’m glad this one has salvageable parts.

I was delighted to get an excellent Circumstances of Childhood review on Thursday from Kevin Cooper. If you missed it, you could go HERE

I was also a guest of Teri Polen’s Bad Moon Rising. She asks some outstanding questions, and it is always a fun time. You could go HERE  as well if you missed it.

I certainly want to thank Kevin and Teri and all of you who visited the posts. Thank you.

Today’s John Ku talks about encouragement from others. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. We are looking for temperatures in the 70s Whoo-Whoo.

Encouragement by John W. Howell © 2019

Writers work alone,

We struggle with our own ghosts. . .

Comments make our day.