My First MLB Game - Twins Vs. White Sox / Happenings In The Outhouse 28-July-2023

Last week, I attended my first Major League Baseball game.  The Minnesota Twins vs. the Chicago White Sox.  We went as it was Donate Life Day with the Minnesota Twins, as a way of celebrating kidney organ donors and their families and to raise awareness for kidney disease.

I have to say, it was the most fun I have had in a long, long time.  Even not being much of a sports fan at all, it was a lot of fun to be there.  We were seated right off of the third base line, and there were so many home runs, it was hard to keep track of them all.

The Twins defeated the White Sox 9 to 4.  There were 4 home runs for the Twins, and 2 for the Sox.  One standout was Byron Buxton, who hit two of the four homers.

Another standout was one of the stadium ushers.  You see, my mother needed a wheelchair, and this gentleman not only escorted her to the right section (on the other side of the stadium), he picked her up after the fireworks (which were amazing!) and escorted her back to the main entrance.  He got to know all of us, where we were from.  I only wish I caught his name.  You could tell that he absolutely loved his job.

In my recent book Pop Flies And Grounders, the main characters go to a Twins game.  Granted, it was in the mid-80's when Kirby Puckett was the most known player, but it was interesting how close I got some of the details.  Keep note, I did say some.  I did take into account a wide array of creative license with the book.

The cost of the tickets, food, and merchandise was fairly reasonable too.  So if you are in the Twin Cities, check out a Twin game.  It is something we'll do again.

Pop Flies And Grounders Is Published / Happenings In The Outhouse 21-July-2023

Pop Flies And Grounders has now been published!

Here is a synopsis of this middle grade novel:

"Twelve-year-old Cassidy Reed recently lost her father. But when her mother Eve moves away from the hustle and bustle of the Twin Cities to quiet small-town Minnesota, Cassidy feels like her whole world is crumbling. Her greatest pastime is softball. It is then that she discovers that her new neighbor is an ex-MLB player, Max Coleridge, and the two quickly become fast friends as he teaches her new skills.

But there are rumors about Max. Rumors about why he was kicked out of the Major Leagues. So Cassidy sets out to find the truth, and along the way discovers even more secrets about this small town."

Here is the link for the Amazon store. And the Kobo Books store.

Once other stores at up and running, I'll share those as well.

Google Play Store.

Lessons Learned From Bryan Adams and Joan Jett / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-July-2023

On July 3rd, my girlfriend Melissa and I saw Bryan Adams in concert in the Twin Cities.  Joan Jett opened for him.

It was an amazing concert, and Brian Seltzer even made a surprise appearance for a handful of songs.

One thing we noticed with both artists were the fact that they acknowledged their band.  A lot.  They honored them and made note of the bands they played with throughout the show.

Authors do this all the time in books.  They dedicate the work to someone.  Typically a spouse or significant other.  Even though being a creative artist, one still does not do it alone.  That person may not read or listen to your music or see what you've done, but they still support you.  Or, in the case of Bryan Adams and Joan Jett, they are nothing without the band.

Home Stretch on WIP / Happenings In The Outhouse 07-July-2023

Today, I am halfway through the final read-through of my work-in-progress, my Middle Grade novel titled Pop Flies And Grounders.

Here is the cover of it:

Pretty cool, isn't it?

A Brief Pause While I Knock Out A Short Story / Happenings In The Outhouse 30-June-2023

I was deep in the middle of doing a final pass-through of my current work-in-progress, a Middle Grade novel titled Pop Flies And Grounders, when I got an email from Writers of the Future.  It was an end of the quarter reminder to get my short story submission in if I wanted to enter this quarter's contest.

Writers of the Future is a quarterly science fiction/fantasy contest, and it is one I have entered many times before.  At first, I almost deleted the email, but then realized that I could just pause my editing and knock out a new short story.

So knock one out I did.

For more information on the Writers of the Future contest, click on this link: Writer Contest | Writers & Illustrators of the Future (writersofthefuture.com)

Pop Flies And Grounders Is Completed / Happenings In The Outhouse 23-June-2023

As of June 17th, I wrote the last words to my Middle Grade novel Pop Flies And Grounders.

The idea for this book started out when my daughter and I tossing a softball in the backyard years ago, and she didn't want me to throw the easy ones.  She wanted me to throw pop flies and grounders.  The name stuck . . . and so did the ensuing story idea.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be doing a final read-through, and then hitting the publish button.  I'll share more next week.

Stay tuned . . .

Stealing Ideas / Happenings In The Outhouse 16-June-2023

If there ever an original idea that can be stolen?

And how original can your idea be?

Recently, an acquaintance suggested to their employer to have a bake sale to help raise funds for some new equipment.  Nothing more was said by the employer, and then when the employer actually did have a bake sale, this acquaintance had the nerve to say, "They stole my idea!"

As if NOBODY else has ever heard of having a bake sale.  It was an idea.  A suggestion.  Seriously, get over it.

That being said, the employer could've said, "Hey, thanks for the idea!" to at least give the employee some recognition.  They didn't.

Ideas are a dime a dozen.  They're everywhere.

I recently attended two online writing workshops.  One was on cold cases and the other was on modern murder cases.  At the end of the three-week workshops, I had to write a short story with a specific given scenario.  I completed them on time (I got great feedback on them too, by the way).  Now, I have no way of knowing this, but there were probably dozens of people taking both courses and I'll bet that each story, despite having a specific scenario, were all completely different.

Come up with ideas.  Share them.  Give them away.  Then come up with more ideas.

In fact, one assignment on the cold case workshop was to come up with ten different ideas for cold cases.  That was quite a feat, and I had a blast doing it.  The first ideas were easy, but as I got down the list they were more difficult to come up with.  But I still did it.

So go have a bake sale!  Don't worry, it wasn't my idea!

On a side note, I'm nearing the end of my current work-in-progress.  I surpassed the 90,000 word mark.  Hoping to finish it up in the next few weeks.