The Great Time Crunch continues to constrain me, cutting off much of what would otherwise be writing time. A number of projects are on hold. Nevertheless, writing continues. Here’s what’s still active.
Daddy-Daughter Day: My poetry book, finished (sort of) since 2006, is about to be published! Yes, I finally found an artist for the cover. She completed her work in late February, subject to a few tweaks. I formatted the book for print about a week ago. Right now I’m waiting on another man to create the font for the cover. He showed me a draft of that this morning, so I might have it tonight or tomorrow. I’m planning on taking the artwork, add the font to it, and creating both the e-book and print book covers using G.I.M.P. When formatted the book runs 75 pages, or 77 pages with a couple of blank sheets in the back. I knuckled down last week and completed one additional poem for it, one that had eluded me for several years. I don’t know how good it is, but it fits in. If I had to guess, right now, I’d say the book will be available for sale around March 20, just in time for Spring. And, those who have followed this blog or looked forward to this book, will recognize that I’ve changed the title, based on comments I solicited (and some I didn’t).
Seth Boynton Cheney: Mystery Man of the West: This is a labor-of-love kind of book. Seth Cheney was my wife’s paternal great-grandfather. Family lore says he went west as a teenager in the California Gold Rush, dropped out of sight for 30 years, and shows up in the Texas Panhandle and southwest Kansas, where he married and settled down and raised his family. Research has filled in a lot of those 30 years, and more discoveries are being made. In 2006 I put together this book and “published” it on the company printing equipment. Now, in preparation for a family reunion this summer, I’m hoping to expand the book and properly publish it. I have started on the task. Recent discoveries have resulted in the need for a new chapter, which I have begun writing in manuscript. I have also begun the difficult task of combining separate files into one, which will also involve extensive formatting. I hope to have this available at Amazon by July 1, but no promises.
The Gutter Chronicles, Volume 2: I have a fan at work who wants me to work on this. I’m about half-way through the fourth chapter of this, or almost 25% done with it. I haven’t worked on it since last July. I have most of the book planned out. Just last week this fan got after me for not working on it. I suppose I’ll begin using noon hours to get it done.
“Sierra Kilo Bravo”: This is the third short story in my series on Sharon Williams Fonseca, unconventional CIA agent. I began this in manuscript, probably 1,000 words so far, but nothing typed yet. I estimate it will be a 6,000 to 8,000 word story. My best guess is that I’ll get to this sometime during the summer.
That’s about it, except for some stories about my family, which I began working on in January and now stands at 1,537 words. I have no idea how long this will be or when, if ever, it will be finished. Two Thomas Carlyle projects remain on the shelf, as does the last short story in my Danny Tompkins series. All projects for another day.