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Monday Afternoon Ramblings

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New wall along far side.

My apologies for being away so long, but this summer proved to be a roller coaster to say the least.  I’ll spare the details, but just about everything that could go haywire did.

Today’s entry is a brief update on the farm.  Yes, I’m still working on it and moving forward, but there have been several setbacks along the way that have made it a much slower process than I had hoped.  Most importantly, it took a lot of work to fix the flooding issue along the back wall.  Even after I installed the drainage pipe, I had to by hand rework the ground slope along the length of building to make water flow to the drains.  That was one of the hardest, dirtiest, hottest jobs I’ve ever done and took many, many days to complete.  However, now, I’m fairly confident that the situation is under control.  There are only a couple of places inside the building that need to be sealed to prevent water from flowing through erosions in the mortar.

Another major issue that has taken much more time than originally anticipated has been repairing the outer wall.  After close inspection, I realized that virtually every board along the front and far side needed to be replaced, so I’ve had to strip the entire area and cut boards to replace what was water or pest damaged.  Fortunately, the treated wood of the foundation is in good shape, but it has still been an enormous job.

Also, after looking at the water issues along the far side wall, we decided to replace much of the old wooden wall with new cinder blocks.  I’m not a brick mason, and it has been 22 years since I last laid block, so that’s coming along slowly.  Tearing out the old wall took a little time, too, but I believe that once it’s complete, the new wall will be much better against the elements.

While I’m not where I wanted to be by this point, overall, I’m pleased with the progress.  The building isn’t too far away from being functional, and we should be able to begin production over the next few months.  Again, thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me along the way with this endeavor.  I appreciate you more than I can express.

General Posts

Wednesday Morning Ramblings

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Here are some thoughts on writing fiction.  These aren’t directed at any individual; they’re just my personal musings about the craft and profession.

First, I believe good writing is a craft that must be learned and cultivated over a lifetime.  Sure, there are distinctive personality traits that draw a person to the profession, but more important is the time and energy that person puts into honing their voice, playing with syntax, polishing dialogue, developing descriptions, bringing characters to life, and building tension.  These are the framework of a good story, and without them, a writer is much like a carpenter who can’t hammer straight or read a tape measure.

Also, there seem to be two major categories of writers: the artist and the mercenary.  I don’t mean the latter as a pejorative, simply an observation of fact.  Last weekend, I heard from several of my peers that they write whatever sells.  Please, don’t misunderstand.  I’m all for making money and don’t begrudge them pursuing it, but as an artist, I’m more interested in developing the story that’s authentic to me.  If the money never follows, so be it.  I write because I have to, not because of the potential for making money, and since I have to write, I choose to create what matters to me, not what happens to be hot at the moment.  If the day arrives when I write about sparkly, wimpy vampires other than as a satire, that’s the day I’ve crossed over from artist to mercenary.  Of course, by that point, the new hot thing will be transgender zombies with a penchant for needlepoint, or something equally absurd.

Finally for this entry, I think the artistic writer needs to be subversive to a degree.  The current trend in society is a degradation of manners, etiquette, and general decency.  As an artist, I reject that trend, and my act of subversion is to carry myself as a professional, treating others with respect and dignity, unless they happen to piss me off.  Then, it’s both barrels.  But in general, I make a conscious decision to be polite and not give in to the decline of civilized behavior.  I refuse to play the “I’m cool” game that pervades the music industry and Hollywood because that’s not my nature and not my character.  I also refuse to follow the crowd.  I’m an independent, free-thinking person who conducts himself, most of the time, as respectful and courteous, and I tip my hat to my fellow writers, both mercenary and artist, who do likewise.

Those are my thoughts for now.  I hope to write more about the craft of writing soon.

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General Posts

Monday Morning Ramblings

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Well, that didn’t go as planned.

Let me preface everything I’m about to say with the fact that the Literary track was very well organized and most of my panels were excellent.  Stephen Zimmer did a great job with the hand he was dealt, even with more duties dumped in his lap than he had agreed to.  He was only supposed to be in charge of the literary side of things and ended up running the Dealers’ Room, the Gaming Room, Security, and the Literary Track.  If he had had time to plan for all of those responsibilities, everything would’ve been fine, but he didn’t find out until Thursday night.

The first negative thing that happened was Friday night at 10:00.  I went to look at the Dealers’ Room and found Stephen and a friend feverishly setting up chairs.  I noticed how frazzled they looked and offered to pitch in.  We spent the next hour carrying chairs to each table and getting the room ready.  When we finished, Stephen asked me if I would represent the Literary Track on a TV interview.  The catch was that it was at 5:15 Friday morning.  I went across the street to talk to one of the main organizers of the show, and she told me that no one else wanted to do it that early and that it would be recorded and replayed throughout the day, so I agreed.

The next morning, after about three hours of sleep, I staggered downstairs to find two other people there for the interview.  I ended up getting 15 seconds to promote the Literary Track.  When I went back upstairs to watch the replay, I found out that it had been a live feed and wasn’t replayed at all.  That was pretty disappointing, to say the least.

Around 1:00, we went to our table to begin selling books.  Anyone there can attest, it was pushing 100 degrees in the Dealers’ Room.  Now, Louisville was experiencing a heat wave, and no one can control the weather, but the hotel seemed unconcerned with the miserable conditions in the space.  In fact, they provided the worst convention support I’ve ever experienced.  They didn’t provide us with water and didn’t help with the heat issues.  I’ll never return to Fern Valley Hotel for any reason.  Needless to say, I didn’t sell a single book on Friday during SweatFest.

On Saturday, the convention organizers had brought in extra fans, so it was a little cooler.  Sales were modest on our side, but my biggest complaint with the show was that both of the big name guests, Henry Winkler and John Carpenter, were across the street in the other building.  I believe one should have been at each location to equalize foot traffic.  Instead, while 5,000 people filed through the other building and dealers’ room, our side got maybe 1,500.  And if one of the stars had been on our side, something more might have been done to fix the cooling issues.

On a positive note, the Literary Panels were excellent, for the most part.  Much thought and consideration went into the lineups, and most of my panels were well-attended.  We had some good discussions about the craft of writing, and I learned a lot from my fellow writers.

Overall, that’s not what I had envisioned for Third Axe’s swan song, but that’s life.  It’s now time to turn my attention to the future with Seventh Star Press.  Cover art for book three is underway, and it should be available soon.  Then, books one and two will be re-released with new covers as well.  It’s an exciting time, and I can’t wait to get back to work on book four.