Teasers

WARNING: This blog post contains some minor spoilers. If you haven't read Another Shot or In the Shadows, you might consider skipping this one. (The obvious solution is to read them now!)

I just watched a trailer for the new episode of "The X-Files," which will air next Sunday, Jan. 24. It's one of those shows that my significant other and I enjoyed for years. We loved the creativity of the storylines, we enjoyed most (but not all) of the conspiracy theories, we laughed at the corny jokes, but mostly I think we enjoyed the relationship between Mulder and Scully. The trailer makes me think the series will keep those strengths and add some new elements. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with it.

It occurs to me that some of you might be thinking of The Other Side in the same way. Will it have the same characters? Will it have the same chemistry? Will I crash another spaceship? Will I be able to do anything new? (I am very aware that crashing another spaceship would not be new, and I think I've managed to avoid it this time!)

Unfortunately, The Other Side won't come out right away, due to some extensive rewriting, but I haven't said much about it ... so maybe it's time to give a few teasers.

First of all, this novel will include the return of Sean Foster. He won't be a major factor in the story, but he will make an appearance. I hope that's good news for you.

We'll need to see how Reggie Hawkins is recovering from what happened near the end of In the Shadows. How inactive has he been? How long can he stay that way? What's his brother like?

If you recall, Lamont's crew had a mission for In the Shadows that they didn't get to fulfill: investigate the new wormhole. This time around, they're going to take a look ... and there will be some unexpected results. What is on the other side?

You'll see a little more of Gwen Radcliffe and pay a return visit to T.J.'s Bar. And you might want to review Another Shot before you read this one, although it isn't necessary.

I think that's all I'm willing to divulge for now. I hope it's enough to keep you interested while I try to finish the novel. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks, as always, for reading my blog. Feel free to leave a comment.

Closet Spaceship Part 16

The next time Nick saw me, he stopped walking along the main corridor, stepped back and said, “No.”

I stopped, too. “What?”

“No,” he repeated. “I’m not doing it.”

“Okay,” I said. “So don’t do it.”

Nick likes to make people think he knows what they’re talking about, so I thought I’d do the same to him.

He squinted at me. “Yeah?”

“Sure,” I said. “I forbid you to do it.”

That was enough over the top that he caught on and rolled his eyes.

“Nick, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

“No s**t,” he said.

Reggie came around the corner from the dock area and scoffed when he saw us.

“What?” we both said. Nick scowled at me for that.

“Could you two be any more different?” Reggie asked. “I don’t think so.”

I crossed my arms. “You better not be referring to age.”

“Or height,” Nick said.

Reggie looked uncomfortable.

“Or gender,” I said.

“Or …” Nick was stuck until he touched the bill of his cap. “Or hats.”

Reggie and I both laughed.

“Shut up,” Nick said, which made us laugh harder.

“Or hats,” I said before I completely lost it. I was unable to say anything else for a few minutes. Every time I tried, I started laughing again.

Reggie laughed so hard he had to lean against the wall.

Finally Mark had to come find out what was going on, since I’m sure we were audible throughout most of the ship. He stood there shaking his head at the two of us.

“This is all your fault,” Nick said to him.

“Right,” Mark said. “My fault.”

Reggie was the first to try to compose himself. He took a couple of deep breaths and stood up straight, biting his lower lip. By that time, I could hardly breathe, so I did the same. We looked at each other out the corners of our eyes and almost lost it again, but managed to keep control.

“Sorry,” I gasped. “Not your fault.”

Nick said, “She probably wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t said we’re supposed to tell all our secrets.”

“What?” Mark said. “I never said that!”

“Nick, you’re such a trog sometimes,” Reggie said. “All he said was, we can tell why we did stuff, if we want.”

“Yeah, like why did I ever join this crew?” Nick grumbled.

“So why did you?” Reggie asked.

“Like I’d tell you,” Nick said. He looked at me. “Or you.”

“Okay,” I said. “You won’t be telling me anything. Got it.”

I didn’t think he’d want me to explain to him that he didn’t have to tell me anything because eventually he’ll show me.

And that may not be easy for either of us.

      For now, I can be grateful that he made me laugh.

Onward

Happy 2016!

I've done some of my year-end tasks: changed the calendars, taken down the Christmas lights, put away the tree ... oh, and run some year-end sales reports.

Whew. That added a solemn note to my day. If you include all formats of my novels (paperback and Kindle), I sold 78 copies in 2013, my first year at this. That was with only one novel out.

In 2014, I had two novels out and I sold 36 copies in all.

In 2015, I had three novels out and I sold 16 copies in all.

Ouch. Sixteen copies all year! That's not the direction I saw things going. It was easy to feel gloomy about that, and I did for a while.

But then I took a step back. When I first released Outsider, I thought I'd probably sell about three copies (mostly to family). I've sold a few more than three, so I think I can be proud of that.

Besides, sales weren't really the point. I started writing Outsider because I thought it was fun. As I went along, I realized I cared about my characters and wanted to explore them some more, so I wrote a few more novels. At some point in the continuous rewriting of Outsider, I decided it was time to stop doing that, so I published it. I really wanted to share my characters with other people. And I've done that. It's pretty amazing to me that Lamont and Reg and Sean can live in other people's heads, not just in mine. They can do that if people share copies of the novel or check them out of a library, which won't show on a sales report.

So I'm going to do what I was doing before I ran the reports: go back to making The Other Side as good as I can make it. I'm going to fix the problem chapters, determine when I think it's ready and then publish it.

That's what I do. I write and rewrite. If I sell some along the way, that's great. I really appreciate all of you who have bought a copy or two! It would be nice if we could make 2016 better than 2015 ... but if not, that's okay. I'll be working on the fifth one!

Happy New Year

I'm taking the weekend off, due to the holidays, but I want to wish you all the best in 2016.

By the way, I was informed that it's hard to leave comments on my blog, so I've made it easier and I can explain the process. If you look at the bottom of each blog post, you'll see "No comments" in blue (or "1 comment," etc.). If you click on that blue phrase, you'll be taken to another screen. There you can type in your comment. Then you need to click on the drop-down box to identify what type of user you are. You can choose Anonymous or you can choose Name/URL (and leave the URL blank) if you want people to know your name. Then click on Publish. You'll have to tell it you're not a robot. Then you're done!

Now that's it's easier, I hope you'll consider leaving a comment sometime. I'd appreciate it!

Have a very happy New Year.

Me & You

Half of this blog will be about me and half about you. Are you ready?

First: me. I was getting rather close to feeling I'd finished The Other Side ... but then I met with two I.T. guys at work to discuss some of the scenes. We had a fun half-hour chat about sci-fi, wormholes, ship computers, physics and warp drives, which I thoroughly enjoyed. At the end, though, I realized they'd given me some things to think about. Sorry, but that means a slight delay on the novel. (I know! I've done this too many times! Sorry about that.) I'm hoping to release The Other Side in January or February, and I'm also hoping to have some time to really work on it over the holidays.

Now it's your turn. I have a few questions about you:
Who are you? (You don't have to give your name. Continue reading.)
What are your interests?
What brought you to my blog?
Have you read my blog more than once?
What do you like most about it? Least?

I've read other blogs and I'm always fascinated by the number of comments they get. People will disagree or agree with the article or add their own insights. Sometimes a lively discussion ensues. Sometimes the comments are more interesting than the original article!

I know some people look at my blog because my stats say so, but I don't know if anyone actually reads it or what their opinion of it might be (except my very kind parents). That's where you come in: I'd be very appreciative if you'd take a moment to leave me a comment on this post. You can tell me as much or as little as you want. You can tell me my blog is a waste of time or it's the greatest thing ever. You can say you wish I had written this one about "The Force Awakens." You can say whatever you want (although I'd prefer you keep it G-rated).

Thank you very much! And if you're a regular reader, thanks twice!

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Edited to add: I have now adjusted my settings so you don't have to be a Google user to leave a comment. I hope this will make it easier for you!

Promise

Wow, I almost forgot to write my blog this week! I'm sorry to those of you who have been checking this weekend and haven't found a new posting. It's ironic that the weekend we didn't have Internet, I wrote a blog, but then when we got our Internet back, I almost didn't write one!

There's a lot going on this month, for me and I'm sure for you also. I suppose I could have just said, "Oh, I don't have anything to say and nobody's going to care anyway." Both of those things might be true, but my stats here at Blogger tell me that at least some people look at this blog every week and I feel I've made a promise to you that I'll post every week, so I'm going to live up to that promise. (I sound like Lamont in Outsider. I'd love to be more like him, so I guess this is a start.)

As you know, my life has changed somewhat since I published Outsider. I've gone through a lot of new experiences, many of them unexpected. I've had to get outside my comfort zone, which isn't always an easy thing for a shy introvert like me. I still have trouble with it, especially when it comes to trying to sell books. (It's hard to be pushy. I don't do that very well.)

But I think there have been some improvements along the way. I'm no longer secretive about my writing and I like to talk/write about it. I know a lot more about copyright and formatting, as well as many other topics. I'm active on at least some social media (still not ready for Twitter).

And I'm less shy. I still have trouble with large groups, especially strangers, and I haven't yet perfected the art of small talk with people I don't know. But I managed to surprise myself last week by doing something I never would have thought possible about three years ago (or maybe even last year!).

My company had its Christmas party on Friday, and after we had food and entertainment, we had some games where various tables of employees (six at each table) competed against each other for cash and prizes. My table didn't manage to win the first one we tried, so we were all ready to take on the next challenge when we were called. We strode up to the front of the room with the other two teams and listened, first with amazement and then with groans, to the challenge: each team had to select one person who would "sing" Christmas carols using "doo doo doo" instead of the words, and the rest of the team had to guess the title of each song. Whichever team got the highest number right would win.

Immediately, everyone in our group said they refused to sing. It was instantaneous! So there we were. That's when I surprised myself: I volunteered.

Let's take a moment, here. This would involve singing (sort of) in front of a group of about 100 or so people. I don't like to sing in front of one or two people! I sing in my car, not when anyone else can hear. I didn't know if I could carry a tune or if I would know any of the songs on the list or if I would freeze.

But I volunteered. The others were relieved and quick to agree. Then we had to go into another room while the other two teams tried it, so we couldn't hear the songs. So I had another five minutes to contemplate my fate. Fortunately, my supervisor had her baby there and I could concentrate on him, not on what I was going to do. I think if the baby hadn't been there, I might have passed out!

Finally it was our turn ... and we did well! I focused on the list of songs instead of all those people listening and my team did a great job of identifying the songs. We ended up tying for first place and lost the "sing-off," but I still thought it was a victory.

There is no way in heaven or on Earth that I could have done such a thing a few years ago. But I guess all those book signings did me some good. I got a little more used to people looking at me and expecting me to say or do something. I don't know. Maybe I'm just getting sillier as I age!

Whatever it is, I have to admit that I'm glad. If I were still that shy, quiet girl that everyone sort of knew, where would I be? Not where I am now, wherever that might be. If I made some people laugh at the party, that's great. If some people thought it was dumb, that's fine.

It's a lot like putting my novels (or my blog) out there. Not everyone will like them ... but I'm sure glad that some people do like them. That makes it all worthwhile.

Remote

Today I am posting my blog from my husband's office because we haven't had Internet service at our house since Tuesday. There are problems with the cable and they don't see it getting fixed until at least Monday.

About 15-20 years ago, this wouldn't have bothered me. I had very little presence on the Internet, although I would have missed email (as I really do now!). I didn't have a blog, a Facebook page, or anything like that. I think I might have laughed if you'd told me I'd have all that now or that I'd find myself almost dependent on the Internet.

We don't have TV service either, so I don't really know what's going on in the world, except for what other people choose to tell me. Some people might like that, and I find I don't miss coverage of the presidential candidates, but I really miss knowing about events in this country and others. Most of it isn't good news, like the shooting in California, but it's news I think I need to know. I want to know about current events because I don't like being uninformed and because I'm a writer, which gives me a desire for knowledge and, sometimes, understanding. (Not that I understand the shooting.)

This should be a good thing for me. You're probably asking, "Doesn't that mean you can get more writing done?" And that's a legitimate question. I did get quite a bit done the other evening (when I wasn't on the phone with the cable company), but it was a short-term success. I don't write well when I'm concerned about something (like when we'll get service again) and I found that I need a little distraction when I hit a rough patch and can't seem to find the right words. It helps to browse Facebook or some other "mindless" site while the other side of my brain works on the problem. Without that distraction, I have a little more trouble getting unstuck.

Besides that, all of this makes me feel isolated. It's very strange, because I'm married, I have friends and co-workers that I see almost every day, and there were several people I saw when I was volunteering today ... yet despite all that, I feel there's something missing.

I know people have mixed opinions about "being connected" and I am one of those who is sad to see a roomful of people all intent on their devices instead of having a conversation. But now I understand a little better the need for that connection beyond one's own life and surroundings. I wouldn't say I'm incomplete without it, but I feel a little more like I'm part of the world, instead of just a part of my community, when I'm connected.

I think it's a good thing to be reminded that there is more out there than what's right in front of me. And I hope to get to interact with it again sometime soon!