Progress Report

So far, so good!
Been editing Skinners 4 and I'm liking what I see. Normally, the first draft is fine as the bare-bones thing it's supposed to be. It just usually doesn't feel like Skinners until over halfway through. Don't know why, really, but it just lacks that....Skinner-ness?? You know what I mean. That's probably because I'm too busy trying to figure out what the hell will be going on instead of thinking up cute dialogue. "Cute". Now THERE'S something that reeks of Skinner-ocity, right? Ugh.

Anyway, it's moving along nicely. I was worried about this one because I'm also working on other stuff at the same time such as trying not to freeze into an ice sculpture when I walk the dog and doing my best to understand the hypnotic mind control that compels me to watch American Idol auditions twice a week. But there's good news on the TV front. The new season of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares premiers tonight. Plenty of garbage can kicking and bleeped out British expletives to go 'round!

And so it begins

Editing. Ahhhh editing. Such a harsh way to spend my time. Seeing things that I thought were so cool at the moment, but now seem like complete bullshit. Looking over any first draft gives me the heebie jeebies, but being this far into a series only adds to the effect. I'll come across a sentence and wonder, "What the hell was I thinking? Didn't I read the other three books??" And then there are the other times where I ask myself what I was drinking and / or smoking while I was sitting at the keyboard on some other day.

Sometimes editing can be fun. It's nice to go back and find glaring mistakes so I can file them down, chip them off or paint over them. Let's see...any other construction metaphors I can use? Probably, but I'll spare you. At least when I see something that's really bad, that means I caught it. There are always those things that get by me no matter how many passes I take. As bad as that is, there are others that sail past me AND the editors at the publishing house. Ugh. Those sting.

So now this process starts for Skinners 4. So far, I'm still liking this book. Check back with me in a little while and we'll see how I'm holding up.

The Dirty Season

Not THAT kind of dirty! I'm talking about the time of year when all that pretty snow has been sitting around for too long, covered with too much dog spray, or turned over too many times by the plows for it to be pretty any longer. Sure, the trees are photogenic, but aren't all trees picture-worthy? They're like the Playboy bunnies of the nature world. We get it. You're attractive. Next. The ground is covered by several inches of stuff that's sort of white, filled with dirt, sprinkled with rock salt and aching to coat your car with a thick layer of filth. Ugh! Can you tell I didn't enjoy finger-painting as a kid?

Even though the ice is treacherous, it was still easy on the eyes. You know. Like a James Bond girl. Even when she makes you spin out and fall down whether you're in a car or on foot, you still gotta take a moment and admire the view. In The Dirty Season, it's more like those women in Bond films that are just sloppy, but not too dangerous. Hmmm. Are there women like that in Bond movies? Even that mannish lady in From Russia With Love was dangerous. I guess there aren't any benign, sloppy women in the Bond universe. Of course, there aren't any bald dudes who watch Price is Right every morning while flaking Toaster Pastries onto their shirts, either. I guess that's yet another universe where I'll be on the outside looking in.

I'm enjoying my new Droid phone. Getting used to the touchscreen and finally getting the knack of texting. I've still only scratched the surface of it, though. Used its Google Maps navigation features once, but that doesn't work out so well when driving. The alarm clock is nifty. Plus I tapped a few appointments into the calendar. Niiiiice! I'm also feeling the need to attach pictures to my contacts' Caller ID info. It's usually not their actual picture. Mostly photos of hand signals. It's a complex system.

Back to work on Skinners 4. Wound up taking yesterday off, but I should be done with draft 1 this week, then it's off to editing and in on time. Par-tay!

The End, Love Marcus

I'm getting near the end of Skinners 4, which is always tricky for any book. There are many questions to answer such as should there be a huge fight? Should there be more of a subtle foreboding sort of thing? Should there be loose ends? How many loose ends? Should I leave the reader with questions? Unfortunately, the answer to a lot of these is...sorta.

It's all part of the process and the good news is that the process is chugging along. I'm really enjoying this book, but won't know how it all gels until I start the first round of edits. Plus, there are all the other things to do with life in general. Some of that stuff gets pretty daunting. As always, I will forge ahead. Skinners 3 comes out in a few months. Things are all just fine.

Right?

Sure. Whatever gets me through the day.

I'd like to report that there's nothing to report

More snow here in Omaha. Considering it is January and everything, that's really not newsworthy. Since it's not newsworthy, I might as well let it drop.

Let's see...what else?

Skinners 4 is coming along. I'm almost done with the first draft and I like the way things are shaping up. I did have a plan going in to this, but it's nice to have that plan actually shape up instead of the characters doing their darnedest to make plans of their own. I'm excited for the series in general. Lots of good stuff coming, so stick with me!

Haven't been doing a ton of gaming. Just working on games I'd already started. Haven't even gotten through the main storyline of Modern Warfare 2. Between the Special Ops missions and multiplayer, there's a lot to keep me busy on that one. Darksiders came out yesterday. I've been trying to watch the spending, but I was tempted to pick that one up. Who wouldn't want to play a game as one of the Four Horsemen AFTER the apocalypse? I kept walking down that Best Buy aisle and was good, though.

Megan's cooking stew today. That's one of my "old man" pleasures. Hot beef stew on a cold day. I hate getting all Wilford Brimley-esque, but there it is.

Day before the end of time

Ok, so the Mayan calendar ends sometime in 2012 and that's supposed to mean the world finally comes to its grand finale. Every calendar in my house comes to an end TODAY!! So that means, in the immortal words of Apollo Creed, "There IS NO TOMORROW!!!!"

Heh. Couldn't resist that. Sorry. If the Mayans couldn't foresee the coming of the Spaniards, then I'll take their more far-reaching prophecies with a grain of salt. And for all of you Mayans out there reading this, no offense meant. I don't believe anyone else's prophecies either.

Like all the other holidays this year, New Year's sort of snuck up on me. I've never been a big party person, so this one never really registered for me anyway. At least I'm not alone. It seems there are two big groups where New Year's Rockin' Eve is concerned. There's the group that goes out to a bar, a fancy dinner or some other occasion that involves dressing up in something other than jeans and t-shirt so they can drink and have fun in a huge mass of like-minded revelers.

Then there's the other group (my group) who cranks it down several notches. In younger days when we had to explain it to people, we would say things like, "There are so many crazies out there. I'm just staying home and kickin' it low key." As you can tell, I haven't had to explain myself in such a manner since sometime in the late 80's or early nineties and even then it was with lame terminology. This group's "kickin'" Usually involves staying home, watching movies and eating snack foods all night long. There are copious amounts of pizza rolls, chips & dips, nachos and other appetizer-esque delights involved and usually a raised glass or two at midnight. For several years, I thought this was a brand of low-key lameness that my parents invented and I grew to appreciate. Then, as I ask around to friends and family, I've found lots of people share this same tradition. One big reason is, let's face it, that first group truly is a bunch of crazies. That's fine, though. Gives us some funny stuff to watch on live TV in between movies.

This year, Megan and I are watching Paranormal Activity. I said during my earlier review that this movie would be much scarier when seen at home. Tonight is Megan's first viewing, so it should be fun. For everyone in both groups, Happy New Year.

Jessica owes me $2500

So this is weird. I was watching The Price is Right today and the first woman to get up to the stage played a game called "Half Off". I've never seen it before, but it involved picking the correct prices for smaller items to win some money. Imagine that, huh? Anyway, without describing the whole game, she made EVERY choice that I did when I was shouting out my answers to the screen. Come on, you all do that when watching Price is Right, don't you?

So she had to pick three different prices. I steered her wrong once, but she narrowed it down to four big prize boxes. One of them had $10,000 in it. I shouted, "Number 6! Pick Box Number 6!!" She did and the money was in there.

So, Jessica, since my powers with the Force guided you, I'm entitled to half, right? That's five grand. And since the name of the game was Half Off, that brings it down to $2,500. I'll be awaiting my payment. I also accept Burger King, Best Buy or Target gift certificates.