Good Stuff to Read (Pass It Along!)

I subscribe to the Fantasy Literature blog and they recently posted about the Summer 2011 edition of Subterranean Online, which is available now with some truly outstanding short fantasy stories. They're worth your time!

Happy Reading,
Adrian

Still Working!

I'm still working, even though this is the time of year when I usually have so many other "distractions" that my writing time diminishes. I refuse to quit, to set the work aside. I'm much too close! Soon I'll have my first completed piece to share with the world. I'm very excited.

Summer is already here, seemingly ahead of schedule. The days are getting painfully hot and the humidity is ratcheting up. Like last year, we are expecting a hot summer. I'm not one for hot weather!

To keep cool, I made two liters of sun tea yesterday, using a large jug of bottled spring water I bought for only a dollar. I removed a little water from the jug then set the tea bags in it. When I screwed the lid back on it, it held them in place. I set it out in the sun all day and it brewed "naturally", making a smoother tea. I used decaffeinated green tea, and it tastes great. I keep it in the fridge, serve it cold and drink it plain, but it's nice with honey, too. Since it's decaffeinated, I can drink it at any hour and that's convenient. When the jug's empty I'll recycle it. This is the easiest way I've found to make sun tea and it works great--nothing to clean up afterward!

I've started work on a new, long-term project, a fantasy novel that combines historical and fantasy elements. I'm giving myself a year to research it before I start writing it--that's the most research I've ever taken on for a specific project. It's necessary in this case and the subject matter is utterly fascinating to me. The novel is based on a super-cool idea. It has a super-awesome title and great potential if I can deliver. I think I can and I'm willing to try.

In the meantime, I'm still editing my current stories and they'll be done sometime soon. I'll let you know once I can set a release date. Gee...my first release date!

Enjoy your summer, and keep on writing!

Adrian

Writing & Reading

Still working on the story, doing a lot of fine-tuning. I came up with a second story, finished a complete draft and am letting that one sit while I go back to the first one. Sometime soon these will both be finished and I'll finally have something to share -- for real!

And I'm reading. I discovered a ton of great classic sci-fi on Project Gutenberg (check out their Collections and you'll find various genre lists). I downloaded 166 items and used Calibre to transfer them to my Kindle®. Tons of great stuff!

It seems my focus has shifted to shorter fiction for the time being -- and I'm happy about that. I'll work on producing some short stories and novellas, along with a couple of shorter novels, in the coming months. Shorter is better when you want to get something finished. After getting some stuff DONE and OUT THE DOOR (so to speak) then I'll have a sense of accomplishment which will fuel me as I go back to my longer epic fiction.

Wishing everyone a gorgeous Spring, and I'll let you know as soon as I have a completed story!

Adrian

Busy!

Yup, I'm busy like a bee. That's pretty busy! Just ask a bee.

The new story (tentatively titled New Story) is almost complete. A bit more editing, the minor kind, primarily on the last chapter written, and then one more chapter to go.

Back at it,

Adrian

Back at Work

I'm back at work, writing and editing a new story. I needed something different to work on for a while.

It's about 2/3 done already. I'll keep at it until it's complete, then decide whether to edit or rewrite a previous story or start another new project.

I grow the most when I move on to new work, but at some point I have to complete the editing on something!

Enjoying the process,

Adrian

In Memoriam

My father passed away today.

Just five words, but what an immense statement.

Under the circumstances, it went as well as it could. At least I got to speak with him while he could still understand.

This is new to me. I know it will take time to work through it. I'm coping well so far.

Tearfully,
Adrian

Reading!

I'm not editing, but I am reading! I've finished a couple of novels in the past couple of weeks and am on to my next one. I'm really enjoying my Kindle! I got a reading light to go with it and what a difference that makes -- lights it up so I can read easily if the ambient light is dim. No need to turn on a bright light to see the screen! If you have an eReader, I definitely recommend getting a light for it if you don't have one already. Makes all the difference.

That's all -- no lengthy post this time!

Happy New Year,
Adrian