Did Some Picking, Saw a Movie… Sorry Josh and Dan and Billy, I went picking again. Nothing that I know of that is great, but a trunk-load of good stuff. Saw a really funny action/adventure movie called “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” which actually was better than we had hoped it would be. It had some pretty great heart, actually. So a fun day away from computer screens until I came here to do this blog and answer a few emails. Back full time at all this tomorrow. Night. —————- SEPTEMBER ONLINE WORKSHOPS… All have openings at the moment. Information at www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com Any questions at all, feel free to write me. And…

A Very Long Challenge… Just over four years ago I challenged myself, for some reason (now long forgotten) to blog every day. Often they were longer blogs, sometimes I have written books here, other times, such as tonight, they are short fillers. I have not missed a day for four years plus. Over 1,460 straight days. Now that’s a streak. I do plan on writing more nonfiction books here over this next fall and winter. And I also want to thank those of you who support this ongoing blog at Patreon. It means a lot to me. So onward into year #5. See how long I can keep this streak…

Eclipse Was In The Middle of My Night… Normally I go to bed around 6 a.m. and get up between 1 and 2 p.m. The eclipse started here on the Oregon Coast a little after nine in the morning. So I headed out to the two south stories (included our new bookstore) to watch the eclipse out of the fog. Then I got the bookstore opened and worked it all day, moving stuff, packing, moving cabinets, and so on. And talking with a couple of nice writers who came in as well as a bunch of nice customers. Great fun. But after just a little over three hours sleep, I…

No Eclipse Crowds at All… In fact, this weekend has less traffic and people than a normal August weekend. The hype and all the warnings clearly scared people away. Hotels have empty rooms, the roads are like a winter week-day. Every business, hotel, restaurant, and store was staffed up with people scheduled to work overtime. Lots of hours and work had gone into this for every business and government agency here on the coast. I have a hunch the grocery stores are going to take it the hardest with all the extra stuff they ordered, now rotting in the vegetable aisles and meat counters. All for naught. Nada. Nothing. Zero.…

They Are In Production… Not much to talk about here today. I did reading for the challenge stories and novels and got a bunch of Smith’s Monthly PDF covers done for paper editions. That was fun. So three issues now in production and I will turn in a fourth this coming week. And I had a great time this afternoon out at the bookstore. It is really shaping around wonderfully thanks to incredible work by Dan, the new store manager. Shelly was there today as well, and Josh (from our North store) and Billy (manager of South store plus head of sales for WMG). Five book people, all working to…

A Glimpse of a Day Around Here… Kris has a new blog post this week about negotiating and other topics. It has some stunning advice that if you follow will help you a great deal. She learned that from hard knocks, folks. Also, as you read her post, keep firmly in mind the Magic Bakery concept. But her blog also gives you a few hints of what a day around here is like. Kris and I talk about this kind of stuff she gets or I get. She makes the final decision on her stuff and I make the final decision on stuff like that coming to me. But we…

Doing a Lot of Reading… At the moment I am finishing up novel after novel for the novel challenge that a number of writers signed up for. Everyone is doing great, getting more than they would have, they tell me. The challenge goes to the end of this month. I have not sent back many replies yet because I didn’t want my words in any writer’s head. But now, with two weeks to go, I will start sending out the ones I have finished over the next few days. I figure if the writer’s are going to make it, they are already mostly there. I still have a number of…

North by Northwest Books and Antiques Back In Business… As I said yesterday, WMG Publishing just bought North by Northwest Books and Antiques. And today was our first day. Moving stuff was the order of the day. Since our stores need a large eBay and ABE sales area behind the counter, Dan worked on setting that up all day while I helped some. Going to be adding a lot of light and creating an entire room for just the nifty pharmacy stuff. Thankfully, Shelly will be back two or three times a week to help with all that. Plus the books. I think he has forgotten more about books and…

So Headed to Bed Early… I got another volume of Smith’s Monthly turned in to WMG tonight. And corporation taxes (all three corporations) off to the accountant. And a bunch of reading done on the challenge stories. Plus a writer’s meeting up at WMG earlier. So now since I have to be up early for something I can tell you about tomorrow night, I am off to bed. —————- THE UNIVERSE BETWEEN BUNDLE  The Universe Between Bundle I curated this bundle and I had great fun with it. I loved living in that middle ground. All my writing falls in the middle ground between two places. Every story. Some more…