November 2015. A month of transformation.

October 22, 2015

There will be a great deal of work done around here in November of 2015. Each day’s progress will be tracked in this document. All truths will be reported; no falsehoods are allowed.

November has 30 days. I plan to follow my low-carb regimen for the entire month (yes, including Thanksgiving). I plan to compete in NaNoWriMo, writing an average of 1600 words per day for 30 days so that I can have a novel nearly complete by the end of the month. I also plan to grow my beard and not shave while I work on the book, a la Neil Gaiman. 

Will I be a new man on December 1st? Of course not. But I will have achieved a number of things that have been on my mind for awhile now. 

There will be a minimum of blogging and social media interaction during November, as well. Instead of wasting time on Facebook, I plan to spend my free time -- time not at work and not writing -- with my kids and wife and working around our house.

Onward.

A short list of interests of mine...

Communication. Crime. Music of many kinds: jazz, ambient, classical, the blues, pop, rock. Cryptids. Books, reading, writers & writing. Art. Offbeat films. Crime writing. Violence. Fringe culture. Addiction. Body modification. The occult. The internet. Altered states of consciousness. Surrealism. Shamanism. Astronomy. Autism. Fantasy. Horror & weird fiction. String theory. Serial murder. Madness. History. Pornography. Tribalism. Mythology, Spirituality. Neo-paganism. Conspiracy theories. Mind control. Urban legends. Zines. Samizdat.

Dogs

We share our small Dayton house with a menagerie. At this moment, under our roof you'll find me and Beth, as well as our two children, three dogs, two cats, and a yellow-collared macaw named Gabby.

My wife the wildlife rehabber, the Racoon Mama, God bless her, has no wild animals she's caring for right now, so she's decided to foster dogs through a local rescue. Meaning we'll have dogs coming into the house from shelters, and we'll keep them until a suitable "forever home" can be found for them.

It boggles the mind.

This would be foster #1 -- Savannah, who is just as sweet as can be, even though she has few teeth and her tongue hangs out of her mouth occasionally. Very cool dog, and I'm sure there will be no problems finding a good home for her.

Actually, I love animals, just as my wife and kids do. I give her a hard time, but I wouldn't want her or our house to be any other way.

  

Early Morning Rainy Friday

I'm writing this a bit earlier than usual, as we have a busy day planned. Beth has been looking forward to us taking the kids camping tonight, and now it's raining, which won't dissuade her, but leaves me less than thrilled with the plan. So we'll see where this goes.

Much love and best wishes to anyone out there who reads this -- especially to my friend William J. Grabowski, currently residing in my native West Virginia; he's a writer, a novelist, a lover of fiery foods. His wife just returned home from the hospital after undergoing a very difficult procedure. You and your family are in my prayers, my friend.

Have a good day.

reading: latest issue of Thuglit
listening: relaxing ambient music
watching: Dr. Phil

Beauty and the Beast

What in the world could have possessed this beautiful woman, to make her want to spend the last 21 years of her life with me?

"The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed With the Sun"

(I'm rereading Thomas Harris's RED DRAGON, as if you couldn't guess.)

I got very little done yesterday other than talking on the phone with Sarah Sidlow and Wanda Esken, the Editor and Associate Publisher, respectively, at the Dayton City Paper. Both wanted to discuss the Debate Forum, which is a weekly section of the newspaper for which I am now partly responsible.

We ask a question each week to introduce the debate, which is then picked up by two writers: one taking a liberal slant, the other a more conservative one. My job is to take the week's topic (chosen by our staff at a weekly meeting) and write a 600-word unbiased introduction to the topic for our readers. According to our Publisher, the Debate Forum is one of the more popular sections of our paper.

My wife's mother lost her dog in an accident Tuesday night. Her chihuahua was hit by a car as she watched, right in front of her house. She's very upset, as are we. (8-year-old Hendrix, however, was less than upset -- the dog had, in the past, enjoyed nipping the ankles of our children.)

Watched the Republican debates last night, featuring the top 11 candidates for the GOP nomination. If you look closely, you can almost see Donald Trump's campaign beginning to fold.

reading; RED DRAGON, by Thomas Harris
watching: Stallone in "First Blood".
listening: Miles Davis, "In a Silent Way" on Spotify

How to Help Writers of Short Fiction

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/clarke_09_15/