tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11258126431478675592024-02-20T04:04:27.403-06:00A Continuity of ParksMusings on literature and the art of writingJamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.comBlogger373125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-2404260682922922192010-08-13T07:54:00.000-05:002010-08-13T07:54:40.312-05:00Not a productive weekI blame the heat. We have had a heat index of over 100 (between 105-115) all week. It doesn't even cool off at night. The kids haven't been sleeping in like they should and now it is Friday and I have managed to write about 1300 words all week. I am hoping to double that word count today, if the boy doesn't stop coming in and telling me what to do.<br />
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Sometimes life really does get in the way.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-48302316132680047952010-08-10T09:08:00.000-05:002010-08-10T09:08:59.991-05:00RandomnessThis post may start a half dozen times, I don't know for sure and I apologize in advance. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Hhcxg0DZL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Hhcxg0DZL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>First off, in the shameless self promotion part of the blog, my story <i>The Ghosts of Cheyenne Trail</i> is featured in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zombist-Undead-Western-Tales/dp/1450502903/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1">Library of the Living Dead Anthology, <u>The Zombist, Undead Western Tales</u></a>. I have to say, and I am probably prejudiced, but I love this story. I was only introduced to what zombie fiction could be last year and I have tried to make the most of it without making it a cliche that almost all creature horror seems to have become. I believe it is also available on Kindle if you have one. Just look up Zombist. <br />
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In other news, my wife picked me up a copy of Cujo by Stephen King earlier this year. It is one of the few early King books that I hadn't already read. I am beginning to think there is a reason for this. It is not that it is a bad story, but the way he put it together is a far cry from what he has put out in the past. I don't know if he turned off his internal editor and decided to leave in a bunch of information that doesn't seem relevant to the story just so he could make pages and not have a novella or if he is going somewhere with all of this extra <i>stuff,</i> to put it lightly. Maybe it is just me and I am being a little picky at the moment. I just got done reading Michael Crichton's last book (the one they found in his files after he died) Pirate Latitudes. It was not the polished storytelling that I was used to from Crichton. Again, it wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't quite done I felt. The paragraphs seemed choppy and the characters undeveloped. I have a feeling it was in his files for a reason and he died before his vision for the story completed itself. I have the same feeling for King's story. Something is off in it and I can't quite put my finger on it yet. I will know more when I finish.<br />
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Lastly, on the whole Leisure books ebook/POD thing. I know that bookmakers need to make themselves more profitable. The old paperback waste was just that, a waste. I can understand that they have to do something with unbought paperbacks and the way they do returns on them is to tear the front cover off and send that back to the publisher and destroy the remaining pages. It is horribly inefficient but more cost effective than actually returning the books. Something needed to be done with this. I would have been for marking the books down myself, but they didn't see it that way. I don't know what the answer is but I have a feeling the turbulent times in publishing are far from over.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-7503475510900357082010-08-09T07:54:00.000-05:002010-08-09T07:54:45.449-05:00Man, this Monday thing rolls around quick anymoreI spent the weekend in the company of family, rodeo clowns and large animals that didn't want the riders on them in the least. It was a good time and of course that means that it was the annual rodeo trip for my family, much to the chagrin of my wife, who was not raised around the rodeo and only suffers through it because the kids like it. It is a lot like Star Wars and electronic stores for her. She does a good job at humoring me, bless her heart.<br />
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This also meant that I got absolutely no writing done and I am at a loss for words this morning. Maybe that second cup of coffee will infuse me with ideas. Have a great Monday.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-17562613016940391112010-08-04T08:41:00.000-05:002010-08-04T08:41:10.449-05:00Hemp DiapersSo, I had my root canal yesterday. It wasn't bad at all. I had a good endontist do the work. I didn't feel a thing and during the procedure we had an interesting conversation going on. Full story and it has nothing to do with writing, I just wanted to share. <br />
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Each of the rooms had a little television hooked up to satellite. It was tuned into the today show, which is fine but the program was drawing to a close and I had no desire to watch whatever was after that (Regis and Kelley or The View, I don't know but I didn't want to watch it). They asked if I wanted to watch anything else. While the urge to watch cartoons was great I resisted and told them to switch to channel 269 (The History channel for those of you without Directv). there was a documentary on called Killing Pablo about the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escebar. It was interesting and kinda violent but what little I watched (Most of the time I had my eyes closed as two people worked with their hands in my mouth for 3 hours) it was pretty interesting.<br />
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Because it did take three hours and I missed out on the first hour of the documentary they started in on a second documentary. This one was also drug related but it was about the spiral of drugs in the United States from legal status to illegality. Again, it was fascinating. the surgeon had a good laugh about the marijuana stamp act of 1937, which simply states that you needed a stamp (tax) to have pot, but you needed the pot to obtain the stamp. Since you didn't have the stamp before you obtained the pot it was illegal and you were in violation of the law. A real catch 22. This got his assistant talking about the diapers that she is using on her son. They are made of hemp fiber which her mother was worried that because hemp is weed that the drug would leech into his system and he would be the happiest baby in the world. She said it took her quite a while to convince her mother that this was not the case and this is when the endontist said, "If that was the case Mark (her husband I am assuming) would be wearing them on his head."<br />
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I really don't know if that had a point at all. Have a great Wednesday. :)Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-49609208816055974672010-08-02T14:08:00.000-05:002010-08-02T14:08:40.349-05:00Wow, I am really bad at this.There is something about finishing a project that is taking me forever this year. I don't know what it is. I blame the hiccuping butterfly syndrome. I am flitting from one project to another with absolutely no rhyme or reason. Still, while I am not finishing anything I am getting words down and with every word down I feel just a little closer to the end on each one of them. Okay, not all of them. Some of them are going to go on forever I feel. ;)<br />
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Now if I can find another ten minutes to cough up another 200 words or so I will feel better today. Seriously. I have lost track of the number of words I have written today because I have wrangled a couple of hundred words in each of about 4 or 5 projects today (seriously, I can't even keep that part straight. I am a freakin' mess). I am going to blame my teeth because they are killing me and I can't have anything overly hot (goodbye coffee) or cold (sorry soda and tea) so my brain is shriveling under the lack of caffeine that I usually inundate it with. Lucky for me I am having a root canal tomorrow. Yippee!<br />
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this is making no sense today, so I will talk to you in an caffeinated state later.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-18360053217348777862010-07-26T10:26:00.000-05:002010-07-26T10:26:33.893-05:00Old GhostsI like it when I look at words that I have given order to and realize that I wouldn't change a whole lot about them. I was looking at a story that I haven't looked at in six months (that is how long it has been with an editor) and realized that I really like them. I am changing a little here and there on it. Expanding my characters story, just a little, wondering where the road can lead him, but the bones of the story are still there.<br />
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I have been thinking of revisiting some of my longer pieces (And they shall have pages and we shall call them books) and seeing what I would change this time around. I have nothing to lose but time.<br />
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Just what I needed, more projects.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-84345654776902193972010-07-22T09:13:00.000-05:002010-07-22T09:13:53.890-05:00FearlessThe wife and I took the family to an amusement park yesterday. It was a lot of fun and I think that my wife got it right when she said she hadn't had that much fun since she was little and got to experience much of the same rides the first time. It was a lot of fun, I will admit. There is something about being whipped around until you are dizzy that is satisfying and unnerving at the same time. Before I go any further, I am a roller coaster junkie. I love them, the faster the better. I am proud to say that my seven year old is one as well. She loved being plummeted toward the earth with several G's of force trying to force her from the seat only to be whipped skyward again at the last second, laughing the whole time.<br />
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It reminded me a little of writing. You never know where the action will take you and you hope that every failsafe works and you don't go crashing into the ground. At least my writing is like that, I don't know about you. All I know is that I enjoy the ride.<br />
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I would post a picture that the park took of my wife and daughter at the bottom of the first big drop, but they would both kill me, so next time you come over for a beer remind me and I will be happy to show you.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-31942316163935213082010-07-18T08:49:00.000-05:002010-07-18T08:49:09.626-05:00Anniversary Date, sort of. . .My wife and I (it will be 14 years sometime next week of wedded bliss) have celebrated our anniversary in many different ways. We have taken in Broadway musicals, looked for household fixtures (sorry about that one, Ann), worked on the house(Yep, sorry about that one as well), and just gone out for dinner and a movie. Yesterday's will go down in history as perhaps the weirdest Anniversary date of them all. We went to a bodies exhibit.<br />
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Yep, you heard me right. A bodies exhibit. Dead bodies and their parts laid open for the world to see. It was fascinating. Vivid sections of the human anatomy peeled back for a closer view. And apparently there are a lot of people who will pay good money to see this as well as the place was fairly busy with people, old and young, male and female looking at the nerve ending and dissected lung tissue, the male and female sex organs in all their glory (and without skin). If you want to know what I actually saw they have a pretty good web page. <a href="http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/omaha/">Body Exhibit</a>. You know you want to. <br />
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What do you expect when a dark fiction writer and a doctorate of Pharmacy get together.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-790910694126745362010-07-15T08:48:00.000-05:002010-07-15T08:48:08.640-05:00good readSo, last night I finished reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series from Rick Riordan. Very fun. It has a Harry Potter feel to it. Kid abandoned by father, finds out he is a demi-god and he has powers that mere mortals only dream of. It was a fun ride that took me through 5 books and roughly 1500 pages. <br />
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Where HP is told from a 3rd person PoV, PJ is told from the first person. This worked well for this book. Percy could inject his observations and wit into the story and it made for a great read because of it. <br />
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Anyway, now I have to dig through my pile of books and figure out what to read next. It is a deep pile, one that apparently has no bottom (mostly because I have no willpower). <br />
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Happy Thursday!Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-13457853093645411452010-07-13T09:40:00.000-05:002010-07-13T09:40:52.360-05:00detail workI was working in my shop yesterday. It was the little stuff (sanding, fitting pieces)that you don't think should take very long and then, before you know it, the whole afternoon is shot and you are all sweaty and stinky. I think writing is like that. A first draft really does go quickly. It is the detail that can make or break a story that takes all the time. It is the stuff that most readers take for granted. <br />
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Have a happy Tuesday!Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-13194514463151589802010-07-10T09:19:00.000-05:002010-07-10T09:19:29.107-05:00Beg, Borrow and StealI borrow ideas all the time. Mostly recipes. If I don't know a recipe I try to figure it out. One of my favorite pastimes is to go to restaurants to get ideas. I wonder how much we do that when we read. I read in an interview with John Grisham that he isn't much of a reader (I don't know if I would brag about that as a bestselling writer), and that he doesn't read at all when he is working on a book. He doesn't want the other person's story to influence his own style (this I can vaguely understand). I wonder how much we are all inclined to borrow what we see or read.<br />
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So last night's borrowed recipe is chocolate Oreo Tallcake. I had to make my own, because Ruby Tuesdays no longer makes it. I have no clue why. We used to go in there specifically for dessert. Here it is. I made a chocolate fudge cake from mix and topped it off with chocolate fudge frosting. I put this in a bowl with some vanilla ice cream and then topped this off with (and in this order) caramel sauce, whipped cream, crushed Oreo cookies and chocolate sauce. <br />
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What idea are you going to <strike>steal</strike> borrow today?Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-66872827301312100042010-07-09T09:13:00.000-05:002010-07-09T09:13:25.661-05:00I had a really cool post thought up for today, but I forgot itI love how we can get so involved in our character's world that we can <i>almost</i> forget they aren't real. I am having that problem with two stories I am working on. One has some serious problems (and they became even more serious this morning. I had no clue they were this bad for him.) and the other has a quandary of the heart that makes me want to go up to him and say, 'no, pick her. the other chick ain't worth it.' <br />
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At least it keeps the writing interesting, but it makes it kind of awkward when you start talking about them like they really exist. <br />
'You know, Bob is becoming a real SOB.' <br />
'Who's Bob?' <br />
'He lives up Keiser Hill, is the youth minister for the church, dark hair, built like a Buddha.' <br />
'What the hell are you talking about?' <br />
'Uh, never mind.'Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-27508259855261128162010-07-07T08:34:00.000-05:002010-07-07T08:34:37.843-05:00VacationI really did get some writing done over the last six days. Really. Honest. It was on Friday, but it happened. I think I may have written on Thursday as well. In the meantime I had a good vacation (how can a guy with no job have a vacation?). I finished hanging 70 foot of gutter on my house and mowed the yard, that table top I was talking about months ago is closer to being done and is now perfectly round thanks to a jig I saw on The New Yankee Workshop. I also managed to grill out some delicious meat and ate some tasty sweets and went to the zoo with my family where I met with my sister, her husband and my niece who will turn 2 in a couple of months. It was fun.<br />
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Perhaps one of the most exciting things I did this weekend was reclaim my library. It has been used as a baby store room and impromptu toddler closet for the last 3 years. No more. My wife and I did a serious clean up and move around and it is now ours again (insert evil laugh here). I even spent a part of the 4th sitting in there reading in the leather club chairs, with the fireplace in front of me and dark wood surrounding me. A politically incorrect picture of Little Black Sambo on my right, framed and showing the little tyke outwitting the hungry tiger. It was great. I may have to escape to there again today.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-66529037717971870182010-07-01T08:25:00.001-05:002010-07-01T08:26:45.064-05:00June in a NutshellThis is going to be an easy one. I wrote zero new stories and aside from a hold on one story I didn't hear squat about any of my short stories. I am sensing a trend here. <br />
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Here is how my short story numbers look. I have 7 shorts out right now. They have been out for 465, 151, 147, 119, 92, 85, and 57 days. I haven't gotten an acceptance or a rejection since May 4. I would think with that many stories out I should have heard more than I have. I am about to give up on the 465 (and I would if it wasn't such a good market and I didn't already know they had ridiculously long wait times. What was I thinking?) Most of the rest of them I fully expect to hear back from before the end of July. <br />
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Of course, that is what I said about them in June. I think the Summer is just a slow time of the year and beer and barbecue grills beckon them more than a fistful of slush. Having read slush in my earlier days I don't blame them. It is hard work and they deserve a summer off as well. I know I have spent more time with my tomatoes and working on my house than I have with my writing this Summer. So be it. <br />
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I hope those of us in the States enjoy your Independence Day holiday and to the rest of you enjoy your weekend. I am outta here, unless I hear some spectacular news in the interim. ;)Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-20434327639366678412010-06-29T09:41:00.000-05:002010-06-29T09:41:52.030-05:00Need more coffeeThis morning marked the first words I have written since Friday. Since it is only Tuesday I don't think that is too bad. I really only missed one day because I don't usually write on weekends anyway. It was fun, then I hit a point where the story just got stuck for me. I know where it is going but I am still unclear the best route to get there so I started on a short story I have been thinking about for the last week. I have no clue how I am going to market this story. None. <br />
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I hate it when that happens. I also hate when I don't know how long it is going to be. I am thinking in the 3-4K range but I can see it turning into a 7-8K piece as well. I know it is going to take a lot of editing to get it into publishable shape and then it will take a pretty niche market, but I could be wrong. Let us just say for now that it deals with a portion of the seven deadly sins, a preacher, and the stock market. And no, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt will not be showing up in this story. <br />
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This is only the second short story I have worked on this year. How is this fine summer day treating you?Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-36328647356084468312010-06-25T12:13:00.000-05:002010-06-25T12:13:49.984-05:00mixed blessingsThe bad news, when your son wakes you at 4:30 in the am is that it is darn early. The good news, when you finally get him back to bed at 5:30 is that it is too late to go back to bed, especially if the dog is sleeping in your spot and he gets very growly if you move him. Since I don't like to be bitten first thing in the morning it was a great morning to write. I managed about a page and a half of new material before the dog came into the office, lay under the desk and started snoring loud enough to shake the windows. I had ten minutes left of good bed time before the alarm went off. I took it. I didn't sleep, but it wasn't for lack of trying. <br />
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I managed to get another seven pages written after that. It was great, although the quality of the pages is still suspect, and then the kids woke up and the daily routine started. It was the only real writing I have gotten done all week but it pushed me over the 20K mark. <br />
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How was your week? Is it just me or is it hard to believe that this is the last weekend in June?Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-23465469102253705702010-06-23T08:56:00.000-05:002010-06-23T08:56:24.969-05:00Doing no wrongI am beginning to wonder if Pixar can make a bad movie. We took the kids to see Toy Story 3 yesterday and it was great. Quite possibly the best in the series. I was thinking about writers who can do no wrong. The only commercial writer who hasn't disappointed me yet (with more than one book out) is J.K. Rowling. Tom Piccerilli is close, but I thought Shadow Season, while a very good book, read a little slow for the genre it was written in. <br />
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Of course, Stephen King, a master in his own right has put out some real stinkers over the years and don't get me started on Dean Koontz and John Saul. <br />
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What about you? Are there any writers out there who are bulletproof in your estimation?Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-4838147947239782542010-06-21T12:26:00.000-05:002010-06-21T12:26:14.136-05:00Well, they are getting closerWhile borders fired a warning shot in the e-reader market with their $149 KOBO reader, Barnes and Noble may have just sunk the ship with the non- 3G Nook for $149 (the 3G version now sells for 199). This gives readers the option of a fully featured reader at a price that will make Sony wince. I wonder who the next player to drop the price will be and by how much. with the still unfortunately named Ipad blowing the market wide open at $499 (but it is so much more than a reader, it is a status symbol) the readers that do less could hardly compete at the $259 level. After all, if you are spending that much, why not spend a little more and get it all. <br />
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Now I feel the market is starting to get serious about getting the general public into these devices and once they hit the $99 dollar mark I think they may have a must have device that every reader will have. I will have to admit that at $149 it is very tempting to put off the purchase of the deer gun I have my eyes on to buy one. If my TBR pile was shorter my order would have been in this morning. <br />
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So, Who's next?Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-55578490921728421612010-06-17T09:22:00.000-05:002010-06-17T09:22:34.804-05:00Last post of the weekI know. It is only Thursday but I have a busy three days coming up. Doctors appointment tomorrow to see if my cholesterol meds are working or if I should give up and start eating bacon and eggs again, and after that I get to go to an antique walk, which is just awesome. They actually fill in an entire town with antiques and you just walk through buying stuff. Good times. On Saturday, my lovely wife and I get to go out, without the kids, and we may even take in a movie. Which leaves Sunday which is Father's day and I will probably end up working around the house. <br />
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In the meantime, the children cooperated this morning and gave me enough time to put about 1300 words on paper and push my manuscript over 18K. This made me happy. :)I really have to get a working title on it other than Book, which is how it is listed in my files. Everything else I come up with sounds so generic and book is as good as any of them, so for now Book it is. I have never had so many subplots that are viable to a story to try to fit into a manuscript. It is rather exciting. <br />
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Well, so much for the alone time. One child is now up. Sorry to bore you with the minutia of my life. Have a great rest of the week. :)Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-92060808035742998472010-06-16T07:59:00.000-05:002010-06-16T07:59:49.620-05:00Not enough coffee in the worldI am sitting here at the computer, trying to pour enough caffeine down my gullet to get me awake and actually work on my wip today. I just can't seem to get motivated. I have read the news, the blogs, tripped the light fantastic on facebook and now am sitting here with a bunch of words that appear to be in some semblance of order and I can't add to them. I will- eventually, but it is going to take some time today. <br />
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Dang, is that coffee cup empty again? I had better do something about that. Have a great Wednesday.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-39000475292503993982010-06-14T15:24:00.000-05:002010-06-14T15:24:37.088-05:00monday post, againI am working on a story, book actually, just trying to get the words saved before they are lost in the Swiss cheese that has become my mind. I have been getting away from the norm for me (working in silence, which just doesn't happen in this house anymore) and have been working instead on the fringe (spare moments here and there). It has been an interesting experience. It has been an experience out of necessity than choice and I will take it. If I couldn't adapt then I wouldn't be writing at all. <br />
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My still unnamed book is at 16K so far with no work done on it in the last week. <br />
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In other news, the grass is growing in the newly renovated part of my yard and if the rain ever lets up I will be able to mow it and take some nice pictures of the work my wife and I have done to it. In the meantime, here a pic from my vacation of me and the kiddo's. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLyvW0BO86Ymj0YQglgDdBM6Rlwp8P3pnA6u6955tn9lY0sH4FlobWMsCJoINdUy8D_jnR3Wl8CmAijoSMa3rG_U8xfr9id5On0S70LDVEkQEspiNuryeteM5x9JRjKPDptpNx_hShU8l/s1600/DSCF3319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLyvW0BO86Ymj0YQglgDdBM6Rlwp8P3pnA6u6955tn9lY0sH4FlobWMsCJoINdUy8D_jnR3Wl8CmAijoSMa3rG_U8xfr9id5On0S70LDVEkQEspiNuryeteM5x9JRjKPDptpNx_hShU8l/s320/DSCF3319.JPG" /></a></div>Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-3812277776490391602010-06-13T08:57:00.000-05:002010-06-13T08:57:43.314-05:00I am backI know. It has been nine days since my last post. I had no internet for most of the week and so I am just now getting caught up on bloggy things. I haven't been ignoring you, I haven't been around. I have been perusing the museums in Chicago, Illinois while their hockey team won the Stanley cup. I have some pretty good pictures I will try to post later. I got no writing done. I did manage to get some reading done because while I have found out I can't type worth a darn on a netbook size computer I can read in a less than quiet hotel room. I will get back to the writing tomorrow, and wouldn't you know it, I have another story idea to jot down (and remain forever undecipherable) in my idea journal.<br />
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Here are some things I learned this week while on vacation with the family. We CAN get along in a single room without good television for five days. My kids are less afraid of standing on a glass deck 1350 feet above the city than most adults. T-Rex's had a very narrow jaw. That is all. I am sure I will come up with more later but that is all for now. Have a good rest of the weekend.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-10127168042070909902010-06-04T10:56:00.000-05:002010-06-04T10:56:52.875-05:00Captain Obvious here and it is FridaySome weeks seem to blow by and drag at the same time. This was one of those weeks. I have been happily plugging away at my still unnamed manuscript and am dangerously close to 15K. It is going well. That is the part of the week that is going at Indy car speed. <br />
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The rest of the week has kind of drug on. My daughter is now out of school and that is going fairly smoothly. We have gotten lots of projects done around the house even though I am still not done with that table top. It is in the shop in pieces next to the porch swing I did get put together. Now I just need to hang the swing.<br />
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I am hoping that the rest of June is as productive as this first week. Have a good weekend. :)Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-72068066417725217902010-06-02T18:11:00.000-05:002010-06-02T18:11:10.569-05:00Rotating charactersI think the reason I am liking this newest WiP I am working on is the number of characters in it. It isn't an overwhelming number but they each have their own storylines that link together, for better and worse. I have never tried anything quite like this and I am really enjoying the process. Usually I can have a story rotate around 2 or maybe three characters and call it good. This one is really focused on 4 characters and a cast of many more. I will be curious to see how it all ends up for them and if it will be readable when I am done. I don't even have a good working title for this story yet. <br />
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As it stands at the end of this writing day I am up to 12,845 words in this manuscript. Time to go make an Alfredo sauce with shrimp for dinner and separate the children before I give up and let them use knives to settle it for good. I got my bets on the girl. She has longer arms.Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1125812643147867559.post-27096365695782657502010-06-01T07:42:00.000-05:002010-06-01T07:42:10.333-05:00I feel like singing Alice Cooper for some reasonToday is the last day of school for my daughter. After this she will be in the second grade and I will be in charge of two kids for all summer. It should be interesting.At least we get to go on vacation next week, take in a few museums. Hopefully we don't end up killing each other being cooped up in a tiny room with each other for a week. <br />
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In other news. I still haven't heard from any editors so my standings for May stood at one lonely little rejection way back on the 4th. I really liked that short story. it was a rejection on a re-write request so I felt pretty good to get that far with it. That is pretty impressive considering I have seven stories out right now. and three books. I am sure it will catch up to me in June. Trust me, if anything changes on that front I will let you know. <br />
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I only managed a couple of hundred words this weekend and am planning on getting my 1K a day ramped up here in a minute (because this doesn't count). I have several new plot twists and the story stands at about 11K so far. I was slow last week and had a lot going on although I still managed to write every day during the school week. It felt good and I am really liking the characters so far. Some of them are real dirtbags, but they are my dirtbags. <br />
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I had better get on it. Enjoy your first day of June. I am going to. :)Jamie Eyberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05875759697016701358noreply@blogger.com13