Usually Don’t Need Time Off… Mostly because what I do is not really work in any form. Sure, it’s tiring at times, but I get to write as much as I want, work with other writers in workshops to help them advance, and play with collectables. Nope, not work. This last three or four weeks have been pretty nonstop, so I just decided today to stop for a bit, do something slightly different just to break the routine. I headed into the valley to do some picking by myself. Took my time getting back. Nap, cooked dinner, watched The Voice, another nap, did a few assignments I hadn’t gotten done…

And Once Again I Had a Blast… Spent from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the store, mostly talking with people. The rock shop owner across the parking lot outed me as a writer to a few really nice young people who were science fiction fans. It was a joy to talk with them, actually, because they were fans of reading. Kris showed up on her walk after a time and they got to talk with her as well. Really nice people. They had no idea who we were actually, but they were sf fans and loved Star Trek and Star Wars. I headed back to my office at WMG…

Had a Blast… Spent from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the store, mostly talking with people and buying comics from people bringing them through the door. Great fun. Then off to dinner for a birthday of a friend, then back to the office to work on workshops. Then home to keep working on stuff here, including putting the final table of contents together for Issue #1 of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. Paper copies of Issue #0 should be shipping as soon as they get here. I am very proud of how the magazine is shaping up. Great fun for me, and I hope the reading is fun as well. ————–…

Tough Getting Up at Noon When I Saw Seven A.M…. And the store was deadly slow. So got lots of talking in with the owner of the small mall and with Dan who runs our bookstore which is across the parking lot from the store I was watching. It feels good to actually be out there seeing how things are running instead of just checking in a few times a week. I don’t need to do this, but I thought it would be fun, except for the lack-of-sleep part. Then I headed back to my office at the WMG offices and except going home to cook dinner, was in the…

Not a Great Day for Picking, but Not Bad Either… I actually spent half the time in the place today in Salem on my phone on eBay looking up German and French and British vintage china to see what prices I could get for it on eBay. (For some reason there was a lot of it.) Found some really nice stuff, not sets, just parts, but the entire cost of the dishes I did find was $2.42 cents (not a typo) and I bet we will list and sell most of that china for well over two hundred bucks. Now that’s a mark-up. (grin) So a fun afternoon to break…

Strengths Workshops Closing Again Tomorrow… If you are signed up or have credits through the Kickstarter offer, you can still get in and take them. But for new sign-ups, the window is closing. Just too much work for me and Kris to keep them open. The Strength Workshops are six workshops. You can one, two, or all six. Check the link on the right side for deals. You want to see how you are doing in different areas, there are two craft, two business, two  sales. All about the same size as a normal six-week regular workshop, only these Strength workshops you do on your own pace. You might be…

Thought I Might Get Started On a Novel Tonight… But nope. Spent the late afternoon out at the two south stores and then the auction until after 8 p.m. Then I headed up to the office and ate dinner while I worked on workshop stuff, not getting home until after midnight. This switching workshops to teachable takes some time. Then I watched some television and got a bunch of stuff caught up and did some reading on the challenges from October. Remember, new challenge if you are interested in jumping in starting on the 1st of January. I am only taking five for the novel challenge and five for the…