Tropical Storm Cindy Archives

I’m just a little late getting this out today but it’s been a bit busy the last few days. Here’s a bit of a run-down on what’s been going on with me and writing the last week or so.

As I mentioned last week, we were affected by Tropical Storm Cindy which churned up a lot of rain all week before and after the storm made landfall. A few people may have noted that the greater Birmingham area did have a tornado strike in the small municipality of Fairfield. Thankfully, there were no fatalities though there were a few injuries and a number of businesses and homes affected in varying degrees. All tornadoes are dangerous but this one was rather small in comparison to others I’ve seen. But there’s never diminishing one of these storms.

Clip Art Image Copyright by Microsoft. Clip Art Used by Permission of Microsoft

For some reason, the day of the tornado, I went with my wife to the library so we could both work. She needed a bit faster internet connection than we seem to get at home. The storms just kept generating NWS tornado watches all afternoon which meant we made multiple trips to the library basement. We finally left and dodged our way home between the storms.

It rained so much last week, I think I could actually watch the grass grow. I’m very glad I was able to mow the yard before all the rain. Now I need to mow it again before another round arrives. There’s always something to do and for now it’s quite sunny.

I’m progressing with The White Arrow though not quite as consistently as I’d like. I’m building a bit more momentum this week so far, though. I’ll keep chipping away at it and get it to the editor as soon as possible in the next few weeks if all goes well.

I came up with an idea for the cover of The White Arrow and ran it by my artist. He liked the idea so I let him get started on it. We’re still working on the final version but it looks great so far. I hope to share the final later in the week which I find motivating.

Otherwise, I spent much of the end of last week addressing a number of little writing details that I’ve let go for too long. I won’t bother to list all of these little tasks here but it was good to wipe a bunch of them off my plate. I’ve still got a lot of these smaller tasks on which to work but it cleared the air enough to get me motivated and also allow me to address several small projects more easily.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Our kitten was sick last week after getting some shots. He was back on his feet and playing with everything and everyone in the house within a day or two.

So that’s all I have just now. Check back in a few days and I may have that cover ready. Was anyone else out there affected by the tropical storm or other weather? Please leave your thoughts in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

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Hello from rainy central Alabama. It’s been busy since I last wrote an update but that’s good!

The mower deck repairs were completed just in time to mow the yard before the current weather arrived. The grass was really high and thick but the mower performed very well. We’ve had rain most every day so getting the yard done was timely. In case you’ve missed the weather reports, Tropical Storm Cindy is landing in the gulf which brings rain to central Alabama both before and after landfall. Rain will continue throughout the rest of the week. Thankfully, we were able to purchase a new cover for the mower to protect the old mower deck. Otherwise, I’ve completed all the small maintenance tasks on the mower. This thing has really taken a lot of my time!

Our new edition to the family, the kitten named Minou, had a new round of standard shots last Friday. By Monday, he had developed a reaction to the shots with a fever. He slept all day but did eat and drink though which was good. He’s slowly bouncing back to his energetic ways after his fever broke Tuesday night.

One of the dogs likes to get on my daughter’s bed when it thunders which she did while Minou was feeling ill. The cat got up and laid down right next to the dog and she didn’t know what to do about that. The Dog let it ride and got comfortable until her dinner-time arrived. It was quite humorous to see the dog’s confused reaction to the cat sleeping so closely with her.

At any rate, I continue working on The White Arrow though I’m progressing a little slower than I’ve planned. However, I do intend to finish the rough draft very soon and begin all the marketing and editing phases during July and August.

I did come up with what I think is a good cover idea for The White Arrow. I emailed my artist and he likes it too. I’m working with him now to complete the cover so maybe it will be here next week at which time I’ll schedule a cover reveal. However, it may have a few versions with differing color-schemes so I may have time for a quick survey for response on which version is best.

I’m also working on scheduling an online event for An Arrow Against the Wind right at the end of the month. I haven’t decided where I’ll host it yet but I do plan on a few giveaways, fielding questions and even offering some digital autographs (using Authorgraph) for anyone attending the event. If it goes well, I’ll schedule a few more over the next several months.

I’m working on a few other online appearances as I have time so check my News page for more about those as well as the online events I’m scheduling. Additionally, a few opportunities may come my way that I’ll announce on that page too. I may land an interview with a local radio station which sounds like a lot of fun. I don’t know if it will work out just yet but the thought of it is exciting. Also, I might land an interview on a local, independent bookstore website. Again, nothing final on it but the opportunity would be nice.