Red, White, and Rue

Posted on by Nathan Lowell 18 Comments

Happy summer, everybody in the northern hemisphere. It never ceases to amaze me that I need to qualify that kind of greeting because some of you are in the throes of winter. For you winter isn’t coming, it’s here. Bundle up! 🙂

I’m currently hiding in the cool cellar of my home, closeted with the word processor and trying to get this contract job off my desk.

So far, I’m now on the fourth start–appropriate for the Fourth of July–but hardly conducive to actually finishing it. I was actually hoping to get Double Share and Captain’s Share released by now, but I don’t feel right about publishing my own work when I have a contract job overdue. Sorry about that.

Here’s the news in brief:

Medical:
The good news: I’m getting new glasses next week. The eye surgeries went very well. It’s odd to look into the mirror now and actually see my own eyes clearly. Before, I had to wear glasses to see them–which obscured them. Now, well, I was able to get the “corrective lenses” restriction removed from my driver’s license. Now I just need some spectacles that match the implanted lenses.

The bad news: My arthritis is kicking up. I’m not sure if it’s just a resurgence of my diagnosed strain or if I’m now developing a different flavor of pain. Medications help with the inflammation but don’t do much for my ability to focus.

Psych: The stress related depression is abating slowly. Last weekend was the graveside service for my sister who passed in mid-winter. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn about it until the last minute and was unable to get a flight east. I had my own small memorial here and now it’s time to move on. Thanks for all the good wishes.

Publishing: If you’re of the Nook or Kobo persuasion, keep an eye on those stores. I’ve established my direct publication account there and started easing the backlist up there as time allows. Sooner or later I’ll be up to date and will be publishing to those venues at the same time as Kindle. No, I will not be publishing through Smashwords. I might be publishing to Apple through Direct2Digital–the jury’s still out.

New Narrations: I’ve posted two new (to me) links for recent narration work–one from last November and one from this week. I did the “Observation Post” story by Alan M. Steele so long ago I’ve almost forgotten it. It was a good story and I was honored to read it. You can find that over on Star Ship Sofa. Crime City Central posted my reading of “Blue Murder” – another story I recorded back in the dark ages of last year. There are some others in the hopper and I’ll post them as I see them.

In the next week or two, a radio play I contributed my voice to should be released. The final mixdowns and renderings are coming along. As a full cast audio production, it had to have been a lot of work. I’ll let you know when I see it come up.

That’s about it from here. Remember that I post a daily (almost) podcast for those who want to know more about what I’m thinking and doing from day to day. I’m trying to be more consistent with that after a bit of a choppy winter and spring. Find out more at Talking On My Morning Walk.

That’s all for now. Safe voyage.

June Bug

Posted on by Nathan Lowell 11 Comments

So, yeah.

May was a month of changes and I’m looking forward to having that all behind me.

The eye surgeries were largely without incident. My vision is spectacularly delightful as the greens and blues of summer spread across the Front Range here. I can see … and more importantly … I’m feeling invigorated.

The contract story took a setback. The 20,000 words I’d turned over for comment proved to be missing some key elements. Unfortunately that means, “Back to square one.” Still, if I can get my butt in the chair and fingers on the keys with the word processor going, it shouldn’t take too long to hammer out a revision. I’ll be able to use most of it — it’ll just need some re-arranging and a new plot arc. I *think* I know where to go next…

And unfortunately, until I get this story done, I can’t work on my own books. I’m already in default on this contract and it would be adding insult to injury to NOT spend every productive moment I can on it. There are few enough productive moments.

Here’s to a more productive June.

Memorial Day

Posted on by Nathan Lowell 3 Comments

The big weekend is fast approaching and for the first time in five years I’ll not be heading for Hunt Valley and BaltiCon. I can’t tell you how much that pains me.

On the other side, my eye surgeries are completed. So far, everything is coming up roses there. My vision is remarkably clear, even to the point of not really needing glasses to see this screen any more. I am still supposed to wear them to protect my eye from mis-adventure.

My kids have their last day of school today and the elder of my progeny will – apparently – be graduated from high school on Saturday morning. Between now and then is a hellish schedule of chores, rehearsals, meetings, and more chores to prepare for the VIPs from Out Of State.

Bottom line, I’m not expecting too much out of the rest of the month. I’ve done well to get the Gredok story to the half-way mark and deal with two episodes of eye surgery. Somehow I thought I’d have finished it by now but that wasn’t in the cards.

June’s just around the corner, and with it comes a brand new month without the normal kinds of distractions. Here’s to a ramped up summer and a blazing pace for new production.

Fingers crossed.