Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

October 30, 2015October 29, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 26 Comments

Friday at last. Long week this week. I had a bunch of things to do, and it seemed everything I needed to do took more time than originally estimated. The result was less got done, so it became a little frustrating. All’s well that ends well, however. By the end of today, I will have all the to do’s done. Today’s JohnKu talks about the challenge of attacking the list of things to do. Have a great Friday.

Many desires wait,

The accomplishments take time. . .

Some done, some never.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 26 Comments

Friday here at last. We finally have been getting some rain. The Gulf looks like a boiling pot of navy beans, and the water is right up to the dunes but at lease our reservoirs are getting an excellent refill. This week saw a bunch of book activity. I have a tour starting with 4Wills Publishing on November 6th and did manage to get the posts written. I am currently in the process of updating all the various places where you can list your book for free. When I introduced My GRL back in 2014, I was a younger man. Right now my eyes hurt from squinting at the update various forms. I am happy that all is going according to plan, and I will be sending an e-mail out soon to those nice folks who offered to help spread the word. I plan to announce the launch of His Revenge on November 1st so the month of November will be pretty occupied with launch activities. Today’s JohnKu talks about being prepared which is a good idea when it rains or when launching a book. I hope you like it.

Prepare by John W. Howell © 2105

Just in time is fine,

Better is to plan ahead. . .

To avoid a miss.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

October 16, 2015October 15, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 23 Comments

It is Friday again and another tense week of proofing the next book. It seems that when you find one mistake there may be three others hiding somewhere in the words, the art, or even in a page number. It amazes me that any book can be written and published error free. I found the word “straffed” sitting in a sentence and keeping a low profile. The profile was so low the spell checker never found it. My eye hit on it, and I did a highlight with the Encarta dictionary. Sure enough one “f” too many. I can see the review now. “If only he knew how to spell strafed.” How the hell it got misspelled in the first place is anyone’s guess. I will now rest easy since I caught it. I have to wonder how many are still in there, though. If you want to really lose your mind put the word kidnaped in your prose. Microsoft hates it. Wants it to be kidnapped, Encarta for North America says kidnaped. So what does one do? Shoot yourself that’s what. Today’s John Ku talks when it is time to relax.

Tense, tight, shoulders hurt,

Worried the work’s not perfect. . .

Need to release now.

Friday John Ku – AKA TGIF

October 9, 2015October 8, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Friday is here and with it another week of reading writing and arith— No hold that. The only arithmetic I did this week was when I had to buy new stainless steel screws at the lumber yard. That’s a story for another day.

Well, that’s not fair to dangle that one out there is it? Okay here’s the story. I opened one of our outside doors facing the Gulf and one of the hinge plates came away from the wood. The screws that had been holding the plate in place rusted, and the screw heads simply fell off. When I inspected the rest of the doors I found all of them in a similar condition.

What I had to do was drill out the old screws and put wood back in the holes so the new screws would have something to hang on to. A total of eight doors needed to be fixed. Each door had three hinges and each hinge had eight screws. That’s a total of 8 doors x 3 x 8 = 192 screws. I had to have a Brinks Armored Car employee walk me to my car with the 192 screws made of gold…er stainless steel. The process took a while but now it will be my wife’s next husband who will have to deal with this problem again. Here is a photo of one of the hinges finished. I was too perplexed to take a before shot.

Which finally get’s us to this week’s JohnKu that talks about a stitch in time.

Temporary things,

By nature need nurturing. . .

For maximum use.

Friday – JohnKu – AKA TGIF

October 2, 2015October 1, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 37 Comments

It is Friday again and I have to say I’m glad it is here. This week was a buster. I finally got the book ready for paperback publishing. This next week I hope to get the e-version ready. On top of that I need to line up some guest posts and will be sending out requests. The regulars know I sent out a call for volunteers yesterday for a blog tour to support what looks like a November 2 launch for His Revenge. Keeping fingers crossed everything works. There are so many things that need doing. I guess anything worth doing requires a lot of effort. Today’s JohnKu talks to this point.

Some work takes effort,

Other works appear easy. . .

Reward in effort.

Friday – JohnKu – AKA TGIF

September 25, 2015September 21, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 28 Comments

Friday is here again, and only one day left until the weekend. I am so glad football season is finally in full swing. Our house has several teams we follow. In the pros we are Pittsburgh Steelers fans. My wife was born and raised there and I was born in Detroit. If you want to call me a traitor to the Lions I accept. If you think I’ve turned my back on the Cowboys, you’re right. Say I am disloyal to the Texans. Damn straight. I like my wife and the Steelers.

In college ball my wife went to West Virginia University and I to Michigan State. We like both. I also went to Notre Dame so we like them too. (we have a very hard time when Notre Dame plays WVU and MSU). Our daughters went to Baylor University and Indiana University so we are fans of both unless they play WVU and MSU and then we have major problems)

In any case we are very glad the mayhem has begun. Today’s JohnKu talks about football.

Waiting all summer,

The spectacle called football. . .

Over in a flash.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

September 4, 2015September 1, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Friday again. It has been an interesting week pretty much filled with catch-up work for me. I’m getting ready to publish the sequel to My GRL and have decided to self-publish this time around. As most of you self-published authors know there is a lot to do before the book is ready. I am waiting for the final editor proofread and will then do the formatting. I have done some formatting so I think I can handle this part of the exercise. I plan to do a paperback and a Kindle edition so I will need to get the proper formats for each. My GRL was published by Martin Sisters Publishing, and they did all the work, so this is all new to me. Hopefully, I won’t blow a gasket in getting it done.

With the launch of My GRL, I had no control over price, timing, cover, or the internal appearance. This time will be different. I have control over all of these things. One thing I wished I could have done with My GRL was to get it into the hands of reviewers before publication. After the formatting is complete, I plan on putting it into the hands of those reviewers who will graciously agree to review and then publish the book with a more organized launch. I’m not sure it will make any difference, but it can’t hurt. This week’s JohnKU is about timing. Hope you like it.

Starting a project,

Time spent planning the outcome. . .

Finishes it well.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

August 28, 2015August 26, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 27 Comments

Friday again. Boy what a week in the financial market. It was one for the record books and not at all enjoyable. I now realize why I don’t like to go to Las Vegas and put my hard-earned money down and watch it being swept away. It sucks when money disappears. (Okay, okay it’s on paper and not real money) I hope everyone who is determined to continue the carnage in the stock market has a nice weekend. Maybe then they will come to work Monday with the idea of buying instead of selling. I for one decided to sit this whole mess out. I don’t need to sell stocks and so maybe when the time comes when I do the market will return to normal. Either that or maybe I can take up collecting aluminum cans. Heaven knows there are enough left on the beach. This week’s JohnKu talks about concern around money. Hope you like it.

As the worry stops,

And life becomes easier. . .

The Dow interrupts.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

August 21, 2015August 19, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

Another work week in the history book (almost). Friday feels so good and we can take a little time to give ourselves a bit of a break over the weekend. At least those of us who have a paycheck issued by the company can take a break from that process. if we write and work for a paycheck the break then becomes more time to write. Although we can’t completely fall into a state of relaxation, at least the tasks are different from each other. If you enjoy writing then the break from a job is an opportunity to do what you enjoy. (Of course, you know all about this write on my free time stuff.)

Today’s JohnKu is about doing what you enjoy when you have an opportunity.

When the Man’s time’s done,

Pleasurable jobs can work…

To satisfy more.

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.