Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

April 6, 2018April 5, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 67 Comments

Another Friday is upon us. I hope your week was good. Ours was fantastic. Our little rescue puppy, Twiggy arrived, and we haven’t been the same since. She is a bundle of energy and has a household of boxers and humans attending to her every whim. Of course, Eight-week-old puppies don’t have many whims. Eat, play, poop, pee, and sleep is about the repertoire. She does love to chase the boxers, and one cannot help laughing out loud at that scene. Two huge dogs running from her as if she just stepped out of an MGM lion logo shot.

The Contract is nearing completion. The paper edition is formatted, and the e-book should be done by the weekend. Gwen and I are formulating the marketing plan and know we will need some volunteers for a launch post. The launch is scheduled for June 11th with a pre-order period of a week before. We will need enough blog stops to fill two weeks. Stay tuned.

Today’s John Ku talks about the newness of life to the young. I hope you have a super weekend.

What seems old to us,

Takes on a new-minted face. . .

When a baby looks.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

March 30, 2018March 29, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 58 Comments

Another week in the bag. (so to speak). We are happy that all the repairs have been made at our house. Yesterday was the first day in six months that no one was scheduled to come in and do something. The sound of silence is deafening. I have to say after all the angst and loss of hair, the house looks great.

Here is the photo I ran on this blog before the flooring work started.

So here is the finished item. Wider planks, darker wood, more texture in keeping with a beach house.

Today’s John Ku talks about the new normal in a disaster area. I hope you have a great weekend.

Normal completion,

Can be months instead of weeks . . .

Learn patience virtue.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 60 Comments

Friday is here and a good thing too. I am heading to Galveston to participate in the Galveston Book Fair. The fair is from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM tomorrow. I am driving, and it is a 41/2 hour trip by car, so I need to go up the night before. I have been anticipating this festival in that I have decided to take a local approach to helping spread the word on my books. I plan on two others for this year, and then I will make a decision if I need to continue or go in a different direction.

Like you, marketing my books has been one of the hardest things about being an Indie author. Intellectually I know they won’t sell themselves so outreach tactics are necessary. I still haven’t found the magic bullet for success but will keep trying.

Today’s JohnKu talks about finding the formula for success. I hope you have a lovely weekend.

We all want success,

Although the way may be hard . . .

Quitting’s no option.

Friday – JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

March 16, 2018March 15, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 55 Comments

It all begins fine,

The Gremlins put in two cents . . .

The timeline heads South.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

March 9, 2018March 8, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 56 Comments

Friday is here again. (yay) This week has been busy. I’m doing a beta read, and it is an excellent book. My only problem is getting enough time to sit and read. I think we all know what that’s like. I usually read at night before going to sleep, but the timetable on this book is such that my average pace is a little too slow. So it will be a photo finish. I’ve planned to wrap my day as fast as possible to spend quality time with this piece.

The Contract came back from the editor and so now it is time to do the fine tooth comb read to make the decisions necessary on the excellent suggestions. What I like is we plan to publish the book in June so we can take the time to do the job right. This reminds me to pen a JohnKu that talks about doing the job right. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

A job worth doing,

Is worth doing the right way. . .

So which way is right?

Friday JohnKu – AKA- TGIF

March 2, 2018March 1, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 71 Comments

Friday is here, and I am in the bunker on the lower level of the house. The rest of the space is taken up with saws, hammers, and flooring people. I can’t complain much since I have the internet and electricity. I am separated from my beloved refrigerator which right now sits somewhere in the middle of the kitchen. Well, we can’t have it all. I’m hoping the kitchen gets completed today, but sometimes that is a danger. (hoping that is)

The trek down the long road to completed repairs is almost over. I must say it has been an experience to remember. Each repair crew has different ways of doing business. Some are neat and tidy, and others seem to relish the saying, “You need to break eggs to make an omelet.” Somewhere in between is the finished product. We will be glad to do without the noise, concrete chips, plaster parts, wood splinters, aluminum bits, dust mounds, paint splashes, grout blobs, nails, and footprints. In short, we will be glad to make our own mess.

We are the fortunate ones. There are still families who have no home and still doing battle with the insurance company. Others have taken their settlement and run. It is estimated that our community lost a third of its full-time residents to Hurricane Harvey damage and will not return.

Today’s JohnKu talks about our sense of home. I hope you have a super weekend.

Taken for granted,

Our home is a safe haven . . . .

Being together.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

February 23, 2018February 22, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 72 Comments

Friday is here. (YAY) With the arrival of Friday starts the last project on our Hurricane Harvey reconstruction list. I am shuddering because this one will involve a lot of inconveniences, dust, and barking dogs. It is the total replacement of the floors on two levels of the house. It will require moving the furniture, lifting the baseboards, and then ripping out the previous floor. Obviously, this will need to be done while we are living here. To give you an idea of the before and after here is a photo of before.

The reason I picked this shot is it will give you an idea of the complexity of the project. All the baseboards have to be taken off. The objects on top of furniture have to be moved to someplace. Then the furniture moved as well. In addition, the refrigerator (in the background) has to go somewhere as well. The pantry and closet (white doors) floors need to be done too. Then the floor has to be taken up and the new one installed. Finally, the baseboards have to be reinstalled, caulked and painted. This action has to be duplicated throughout the house. So when the job is finished, I’ll take a shot of this area and we’ll see how they do. The flooring is delivered and needs to rest in the house for a couple of days so it gets used to the environment. (I hope it likes us)

This week’s JohnKu talks about inconvenience. Hope you have a great weekend.

We must face challenge,

Even inconvenience . . .

In moving forward.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

February 16, 2018February 15, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 53 Comments

I’m glad to see Friday come around. We had a cold and rainy week. I know the rain is needed but I certainly missed the sun this week. We are expecting another cold front this weekend so I think the cycle one day sun, six days cloudy will continue. For an area that has over 325 days of sunshine a year, this is unusual.

One nice thing this week. Gwen and I decided (Well, we think we have decided) on the cover for our collaboration, The Contract. Here is a peek at the design as it stood last week. We asked for a few little adjustments so this is not the final but will give you an idea. We hope you like it.

Today’s JohnKu talks about collaboration. I hope you all have a super weekend.

Collaboration by John W. Howell

Working together,

Takes a give and take approach . . .

The end is worth it.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

February 9, 2018February 8, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 68 Comments

Another Friday is upon us. Unlike last week this one feels like it flew by. I guess we can never explain from one week to the next why some are quick and some seem to drag.

This week was pretty productive. Gwen and I got the cover for The Contract finalized. There are a few little tweaks left but all in all, it is how we want it. We also received the last of the Beta reads and the suggestions were outstanding. So we are finished with the Beta phase and if our editor is reading, it will be your turn come the first of March. We are now in the process of blurb production and marketing plan development.

Today’s JohnKu talks about what it takes to publish a book. I hope you all have a nice weekend.

A Book by John W. Howell

Looks like just a book,

Behind the words agony…

Forgotten when launched.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

February 2, 2018February 2, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 63 Comments

Friday is here and not a moment too soon. This week has taken it’s time to get to the gate of the weekend. I can’t put my finger on why so slow, but the week just seems like it went on forever. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the weather has been so bad. Why not blame the weather for everything? Doing that will give Obama a break since he is blamed for everything else.

Today dawned with a full moon and a gorgeous sunrise. That is the bellwether for a terrific day. This is also Superbowl weekend. With it comes the fervent hope for an Eagles victory. Hey, hold on you Pats fans. I know it is a sacrilege to root against Tom Brady but hell, someone has to do it. I’m not a big Eagle fan since my Steelers didn’t make it, but they are the underdog after all. Who doesn’t cheer the underdog? The sad part is Sunday is the last game of the season. Wah! I sure love my football and will miss it. Today’s JohnKu talks about the game. I hope you have a great weekend.

Preseason starts up,

Before you realize it. . .

Superbowl Sunday.