Boots (5/19/2007)
Tales of sexual repression. (Remember folks, this is fiction.)
This is getting monotonous. Two more flare-ups of the nose problem. Both times though my body was able to fight it off without the aid of antibiotics. Some sleepless nights though and I've gained five pounds. In between the two bouts I had one good day where I wrote several pages of an encouraging short story. I'm learning alot about revealing characters. I think I can apply what I've learned to the rewrite of the novel.
Cube Head (2/1/2007)
Not all jobs are created equal. (Remember folks, this is fiction.)
Another month, another bad cold, another bout of celulitis. The drugs finally started wearing off last night. This is my first clear-headed day in nearly three weeks.
Another rejection letter for just about my favorite story. This one was close. Only four of the seven editors rejected the story. Of the comments from the four that didn't like the story, two were common complaints about the ending, one was concerned that the "protag"...(I Smell Grad student.) ... was going to sue the company he just trashed because they didn't get him proper medical help, and the fourth was the hilarious concern that the main character was too sane to do the seemingly insane acts in the story. I've already submitted the story to another publication.
I want to thank all the people who followed my Dakar reports. This year's readership of the reports was up nearly ten times what it was last year. The interesting thing is that most of the growth in readers came from four countries; Australia, Slovack Republic, Czech Republic and Israel.
The last story in the world that I thought would be published, has been. The story can be found at Barfing Frog Press. For those of you who know me, remember when you read the story that it is FICTION.
December was the month of sickness. The first half of the month I had what my wife calls, "The CRUD." Then as I was recovering from that I caught what I thought was a sinus infection. It was a bit weird though as my nose swelled up and turned bright red. When the infection started bothering my eyes my wife talked me into going to see the doctor. That's right, the infection was attacking my eyes and I still needed my wife to talk me into going to the doctor. I'm such a guy. So the doctor didn't seem too concerned, but it turns out that was just how he operates. When I said to him, "It's more annoying than anything," he responded, "Yeah, it's espescially annoying at the end when you die." Turns out I had celulitis. We caught it before it spread so there was no real danger but I looked it up at the Mayo Clinic web site and the doctor wasn't exagerating. If left untreated it is life threatening. The infection spreads to your heart and lungs and even your brain.
When I got home from the doctor I hugged my wife and told her that if she ever needed to talk me into going to the doctor again she should just mention the possibility of having an abcess in my brain.
I'm doing much better now. The antibiotics are working well. The swelling and discoloration are gone. I'm off the heavy painkillers and antinflamatories. My head is finally clear enough to deal with updating the website, dealing with story submissions and rejection, and getting some work done on the novel. Surprisingly I'm liking it more and more. The ending has to go, but I think when I get to that point I'll be able to make it work.