December's Chill; Christmas Nears

As the end of the month approaches I am feeling extremely pressed for time. I had hoped to finish edits to my novel by the end of December, but that will be difficult. If necessary I will push my self-imposed deadline to mid-January; my focus, after all, is not how fast this is completed, but on the quality of the produced novel.

Christmas is nearly here. Just a few days away. Here in CT the weather is back to classic New England, just as I remember in my childhood days. We have several inches of heavy snow and ice to boot. These past couple days have made driving conditions slippery at best, and for that reason I have called out of work for tonight and tomorrow.

I'll say this for white weather: it puts me in the creative groove. Just looking at the Christmas tree lights makes me cozy and the cold outdoors only serve to draw me into the warm house.

If you will offer a prayer for me, I will appreciate it. I am trying to cram a lot down my calendar, so much that I feel sometimes I might choke. On the bright side: I know God has all things in His hands and my future really is not my own, but His. May it be His path I follow, rather than my own.

Bookmarks Now Available!

Swords of the Six bookmarks have arrived! They are 2 x 6-inches And the local library has sold several already. I'm asking $1.00 each and the profit from these goes against book production expenses. I'm going to set up online purchasing via my www.theswordofthedragon.com website and all three bookmarks will be available. I have a select number of larger bookmarks, as well. The image of Specter in Al'un Dai covers the face of the larger bookmark quite handsomly and a teaser portion of text from the novel is readable on the reverse side. . . . Posters will be next.

Website Published

My website is ready for use. It is published at: http://www.theswordofthedragon.com Over time I will dandy it up/ or hire someone to do so. But for the time-being it is both functional and feels solid to me. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

The Writer and the Journey of Self-Exploration

If you have ever sat down and written an imaginative piece of writing, I'm sure you'll understand the title of this post; writing is a journey of self-exploration. I was talking to a guy at work last night and he likes to write poetry and also about poetry. He doesn't do it because he gets paid (he doesn't) and he doesn't do it for the prestige (he doesn't often receive recognition) he writes for the love of it.

While he talked I was reminded of how my writings, as I look over my work from the past several years, have often mirrored the points I was at in my life at those times. Composition is best fed by the heart and best inspired by a willingness to reach into our deepest fears, desires, and hopes.