Happenings In The Outhouse 17-Jan-2014 / The advantage of snow days

I've listed in Minnesota all my life and there is one thing that always changes: the weather.  From severe sub-zero temperatures to near record highs, all in the matter of days.

These past few days, those of us who live in northwestern Minnesota have had harsh blizzard conditions.  Conditions that cause the area school districts to cancel school altogether.  I'm taking advantage of these, as I do not have to get the kids up at the usual time.  This allows me more time to write.

Shadowkill is coming along nicely.  My goal is within the next month or so to be able to get it published onto the Amazon KDP site.

For those parents who also deal with snow days, take advantage of the extra time.  Instead of sleeping in--oh, I was so tempted to do this--I was able to write more.

2014 Lamborghini Veneno Roadster - one damn sexy dream car

With a price tag of around $4.5-million--and only nine in existence--I won't be getting one anytime soon.  But as I perused the latest ForbesLife magazine and saw this picture of the 2014 Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, I thought, "That's one damn sexy dream car."

Just thought I'd share.

Enjoy!

Opposites attract

We've all heard the saying: opposites attract.  This is usually talked about in the real world, but it's also the same in the fictional world.

Lately, I've been watching a few different sitcoms on Netflix--all with eight or more seasons--and I've noticed how opposite many of the characters are.  For example, on the sitcom Family Ties, the parents we former hippies from the 60's who were about as liberal as they came.  Their son Alex P. Keaton, on the other hand, was a lover of Nixon and Reagan and was very right-wing.  In Wings, the two brothers who end up running the small airline were opposites: one was methodical and orderly while the other was carefree.

In your writing, look for unique ways in order to make opposites attract.  What if a girl born into the upper crust of high society fell in love with a boy who lived in the backwoods?  What if a small town cop was working a murder case and had to investigate it beside a high-charging FBI agent?

Examine your characters on a deep level and draw out these opposites.  Not only will they make your charactesr more real, your readers will relate to them better.

Happenings In The Outhouse 10-Jan-2014 / Writing more (and blogging less)

This past weekend, I had to take an emergency trip to Rochester, MN.  Very unexpected, although with my wife's recovery and having graft vs. host attack her eyes--something she's been dealing with for almost two years now--it should really be expected.

Needless to say, I wasn't able to get my usual blogs up this week.  Then, I thought about it: why do I need to blog three days a week?  There are plenty of authors I know who don't.  Some blog more often and some who blog once a week at best--sometimes even less.

Honestly, I love blogging.  I feel I have the freedom to say whatever I want, write about what I want, and help a lot of people along the way achieve their dreams.

My big push for 2014 is to publish more.  And, with that, I may have to blog less.  I will still try get out my Friday "Happenings In The Outhouse", but if I miss one here or there, it's not going to kill me.

I've been diligently working on Shadowkill this week, editing, editing, editing.  My goal is to within the next 2 months to be able to publish it.

Tales of a diabetic father: be overly prepared when traveling

During the Christmas break, my family and in-laws took a vacation to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando.

And with two diabetic kids to pack for, this was quite a feat.

I will expand on this in the near-future, but there is one thing I must advise right now: over-prepare when packing supplies for diabetics.  I can't stress this enough.  Whatever you think you need, pack a little more.

Both of my diabetes kids have Medtronic insulin pumps, and the various pieces of equipment needed is mind-boggling.  I thought I had packed enough reservoirs for the trip--a little tube to hold insulin inside the pump.  But, on our first day out, my son's needed changing because he ran out.  Now, luckily, I packed two full bottles of insulin, but I stupidly only packed two reservoirs.  I thought I had packed more.

Needless to say, I was able to reuse the reservoirs by utilizing the detachable pieces that go onto them, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I should've been more prepared.  We have another big trip around mid-February and I will make a note to bring with several extra.

A rule of thumb I now use is this: whatever I think I need, either double the amount or at least increase by fifty-percent.  If you think one full bottle of insulin is enough, add another one just to be safe.

Happenings In The Outhouse 03-Jan-2014 / Getting back in the groove

After a long and much needed vacation, life has returned to normal--sort of, if life for our family has ever been normal over these past two and a half years.

I'll keep this short.

As of this date, I am just getting back into the groove of a near two-week writing hiatus.  It was the experience of a lifetime as our family visited Orlando and went to the Universal Studios themepark for two days and then spent another five at Walt Disney World.

We had so much fun . . . it's something I want our family--and others--to do again.  Hence, the reason I do this.

I'm concentrating on Shadowkill for the time being.  I'm currently about a dozen chapters in the editing process.

I'm also reading a book called Write. Publish. Repeat. by Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt--I will review this book once it's completed, but if you haven't picked this book up and are considering self-publishing, this is the book for you.

Make No New Year's Resolutions

If you're like most, each and every year you make New Year's resolutions.  Do they ever get accomplished?  Nope.  By the middle (or at the latest the end of) January, they're all but forgotten.

Instead of resolutions, create goals.

Goals are specific and has a time limit.

"I want to lose 10 pounds in the next sixty days."

"I want to write a seventy-five thousand word novel in four months."

"By Memorial Day, I want to save $5,000."

"I want to train and prepare for the July 4th marathon."

Get what I mean?  Don't just say, I want to lose weight.  Be specific.  Set a time limit on it.