Camp NaNo July 2021

One more summer of Camp NaNoWriMo to see if I can keep to my personal goal of finishing an honest-to-God novel.

No more self-doubt. No more delays, no more distractions. Who cares if I succumbed to nostalgia and got an Atari VCS this month? I will not play with it until I get the damn novel done.

I have the basics of it, I've got the beginning and the middle and the end. I need to fill the gaps, give my main characters better motivation, describe some of the fight scenes a little better and GET ER DONE.

I will update here when I can on my status.

Good luck, writers!

How I Write: Interview by Writers 4 All Seasons

In honor of getting "War of the Murder Hornets" published in volume 8 of Strangely Funny, my local critique group Writers 4 All Seasons offered to interview me about my process. Here's the clip:

 

Excerpt:

4. Who are some of your favorite short story writers, living or deceased?

I loved reading Ray Bradbury when I was in my pre-teens. I've found compared to some of the other short story writers that I enjoy Bradbury's character developments. He had an economy of style, as though he used exactly the right words to describe scenery and people. He had a rather vivid and also macabre imagination: Bradbury may have been classed as a fantasy/science fiction author but a lot of his short stories were darker and more horrific than anything Stephen King produced...

I also wanted to meet Bradbury to tell him about how when I was younger I was in a middle school story contest where the Second Place winner had plagiarized one of his stories, so I wanted to let him know he only got Second Place among eighth graders, alas... ;-)

Keep writing, people, and PLEASE buy Strangely Funny VIII now available in Print and Kindle eBook!

Just Released: Strangely Funny VIII Available in Print and Kindle!

Ahhh yeah, volume VIII is officially released!

You can purchase a print copy or you can purchase the eBook Kindle version!

MANY THANKS to the editors Sarah and Gwen for choosing a line from my "War of the Murder Hornets" story as the quote blurb to help sell the anthology! 

"Just want to let you know, so far we’ve got two of the drafted volunteers reporting sick to the base doctor with severe cases of Aw Hell Naw."

-- Paul Wartenberg, "War of the Murder Hornets"

Squeeeee!!!

PLEASE do get a copy, the stories from this series are worth the read, and PLEASE leave a good review for us, I do hope you enjoy our twisted tales.

If I'm Going To Podcast, I'm Going To Need to Learn

A project in the planning at my workplace, still hush-hush, requires knowing how things like podcasts get made.

So if I gotta learn about podcasts, then I gotta listen to podcasts.

So I'm out here looking at a few worth following, and one of the earliest ones I've spotted is this Drunk Librarians, who seem to do book discussions while... um... encouraged by the finest libations a librarian can liberate from a winery.

(I have known many a librarian appreciate a fine wine or twelve. Just not me, I never developed a smell for wine, apologies)

Anyway, I'll be checking that one out, and I'll mention other podcasts of interest when I find them.

When I start up a podcast to see how I'm faring, I'll share the link here.

 

Mama Cat Ocean in 2021

To anyone who adopted kittens by the names of Inara, Jayne, Zoey, River, and Simon in Polk County back in 2014, please let them know that mama Ocean the Wiggle Cat is still wiggling and meowing and griping and asking for head rubs.

Happy Mother's Day, Ocean!

May The 4th Be With You this 2021

Due to Disney Plus, streaming services in dire need of fresh content, a growing comic book and print book industry of YA and adult materials, and an eager audience of Star Wars fandom spreading across three generations now, May the 4th is just about as official a national holiday as anything else.

It has helped somewhat during this pandemic to have our stories and our shows comfort us, to bring us light forth from the darkness.

They made a big deal today about releasing a new animated series The Bad Batch about the aftermath of Order 66. We've got a book series about the sunny days of the grand Republic, before its fall into war and chaos.

But let us not talk of heartbreak and the loss of hope during the Dark Times of the Empire.

Let us talk about BABY YODA!!!

ALL IS GOOD WITH THE FORCE AS AHSOKA IS BACK!

AND IF WE'RE REAL NICE THEY MIGHT LET THE FANS GOFUNDME A REMAKE OF EPISODE 9 TO FIX GLARING CONTINUITY ERRORS AND A BETTER ENDING.

...Yeah, that still hurts, I do need to issue a review of that when I can calm down.

Anyway, MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!!!

National Library Week 2021

April 5 through April 10 is National Library Week!

Take the time to visit a library - PLEASE WEAR A MASK INSIDE A LIBRARY AT ALL TIMES - and check out what you like - BOOKS ARE GOOD, WE GOT A BUNCH ON HAND - and support literacy and community resources to the full - WE MIGHT BE NEAR DOG PARKS, YOU NEVER KNOW.

In the meantime, see if you can spot a fool in this crowd:

I know I overdo the arched eyebrow thingee

NOW GO READ! We'll see you in the summer when our family events take place.