Hoping to catch my breath...

Hit hard by the crud. If I could manage a good night’s sleep it might help, but you can’t sleep if you can’t breathe. Up at midnight. Tossed and turned the rest of the night. Was up before six, and spent most of the morning catching up on billing, etc. Also got a good start on the radio spots for C.

Drifted off to the gym early afternoon, did a little grocery shopping afterward, then came home and wrote more.

Found out my story, “Kings in Exile” was named a finalist in the Sequestrum New Writer Awards. First bit of decent news all week.

A big wind blew in, cold weather with it. Temps will drop tonight, for sure. Still supposed to be a nice weekend, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Pretty decent day up until late afternoon.

Finished the William Trevor novel yesterday. Felicia’s Journey. Wow. What a writer the guy was.

Gotta push hard to finish the commercial stuff tomorrow and finish my notes to TTN. Best to cash it in for tonight and take a strong run at it tomorrow morning.

Wish I weren’t so damned tired. Add that to the endless list of other wishes, right?

Signing off.

Beat...

Fighting off the new cold.

Downed some Sudafed last night and crashed early only to wake at 1:00 and never get back to sleep. Oh, well. Put in some early time at the keyboard, then went off to a meeting. Back home, moseyed off to the gym and then to the barber. Not much of a day, but nothing to complain about either. Pushed a few things out the door, and prepped for a few more coming in.

Weather was nice today from what I saw of it. Warm, sunny, with blue skies.

Weekend’s supposed to be in the 60s.

Who knows, maybe fall will make a brief return.

Meanwhile, looking at an early bedtime.

Home...

Back in town, back in the saddle, back to work.

Pittsburgh seems like a million years ago already. Long day coming home, but maybe because of the cold and maybe because of three and half hours in the air and maybe because it just feels that way. Anyway, had a great trip. Seeing the boys again was terrific. Glad to be home, but sorry for how long it will be before we get together the next time.

Had a nice, spirited dinner at K’s last night.

Went to be early, but woke early too.

Meetings tomorrow. Scripts. Lots of good things going on. Just need to find a way to keep pace with all of it.

On the road...

Pittsburgh, day two.

Woke to the happy creaching of a three-year-old barreling into the bedroom at six a.m. Spent the day in the house with the boys—rain was falling in sheets—but had a pleasant, if cold night, Trick-or-Treating, talking, and goofing off. Great seeing them again. Tomorrow, off to the aquarium.

Got an unexpected acceptance today from a literary journal out of Stockholm, Two Thirds North, letting me know they’ve accepted my short story, “Frank the Redeemer.”

Lots going on.

Thrilled to be here, but tired of wet weather all around.

Seeing white...

…and the weather people were finally right. Woke to a ton of snow. Spent the morning shoveling instead of writing. But no complaints. The neighborhood looked particularly beautiful today.

Leaving for Pittsburgh tomorrow. Well, leaving for Denver, anyway. More snow’s predicted for tomorrow, so we’re getting a jump on the drive. Spending the night in a hotel. Flying out Wednesday morning.

Can’t wait to see the boys. Seems like they’ve been gone a year already. Got a home-made Halloween Card from Jack today, and couldn’t believe how far he’s come with his spelling and penmanship. Haven’t seen much of Mattie since they moved. Hope he remembers us.

New short is coming along well. Still have revisions before I can call it a reader draft, but I like the direction it’s heading.

Rejection from the BFR. Sixteen months after submission. 2019 will, in most respects, be a year I’ll happily bid farewell.

Gonna sit back and chill tonight. Hope tomorrow’s snow doesn’t arrive until I’m sitting in my room in Denver.

Over, under, sideways, down...

Played catch up most of the day.

Up late. Spent most of the morning researching markets and mailing off manuscripts. Took a pleasant timeout to sit in front of the fire on the patio and drink coffee.

Cleaned the house while waiting for the sprinkler maintenance man and the Xfinity tech rep to show. All good. Sprinkler blown out, software update on TV successful, house spic ‘n span.

Like to say I accomplished more, but it would be a lie.

Head all full of Pittsburgh at the moment. Can’t seem to get around it. Keep telling myself not to think beyond the moment, be the mountain. But it’s gonna be a long time before things come correct on that account. A very long time.

Now that I think about it, I’m tired of exactly as many people as I happen to miss.

But that’s a conversation for a different day.

Not much. You?

Good day.

Good revisions, good talk with an old buddy, good workout.

Snow came but didn’t stick. What’s better than that?

Yeah, looking at snow again...

Good day all around.

Close to having a reader draft on the new story. Quiet on all other literary fronts.

Put in the best workout I’ve had in weeks at the gym. Came home and made a pot of navy bean soup with ham shanks I roasted this morning.

Looking out the cottage window at snow. They’re saying six to ten inches. Figure I’ll have my work cut out for me either way come morning.

Read the second of the N stories I’ve been saving. Impressed with both, given the ages of the writers, but don’t plan to advance either.

Come snow or come shine...

Up later than I would’ve liked, but made the most of a slow start. Did more cleanup on the new story, wrote a letter to the boys, got in some research, and re-read an old Mavis Gallant piece before taking off for the South Platte, fly rod in hand.

Beautiful day on the water. It’s all catch-and-release on the stretch out of Deckers, but that’s the way I wanted it. Had a great time.

Looks like some more commercial work will be coming in. Happy for that. Just counting the days now before we take off for Pittsburgh. Nice to be busy in the meanwhile.

Supposed to snow tomorrow. We’ll see. Right now it doesn’t look like it, but a cold front could move in fast with wind like we had earlier in the week. Either way, have my shovel ready.

Off to a slow start...

Been trying to kick-start the day since I got out of bed. Think maybe this allergy stuff is getting to me.

Made some progress on the new story, but couldn’t find the mojo to put the last of the pieces in place. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe I should leave it a while and start on something new. Nice thing about having the long piece out of my hair, I’m getting in some good reading time. New issue of Ploughshares showed up in the mail today. Looking forward to cracking it.

Got over to the gym for the first time in—what?—four days? A little hard getting it going, but managed a decent workout before going home. Figured to ramp it up tomorrow, but the weather’s going to be so nice I might ditch the workout in favor of a day on the water. Maybe drive back up to the South Platte in Deckers.

Wind keeps blowing, leaves keep falling. Been a disappointing fall in terms of color. The big cold last week killed most everything. Good reminder to take it when it’s in front of you, and forget about the rest. Yeah. Some fishing tomorrow might be just the thing.

The given day...

Think maybe it’s the fire up in Salida that’s giving me so much grief. Eyes’ve been on fire for two weeks.

Big winds all day today, so decided to drive up into the mountains and escape the keyboard for a while. Spent the afternoon chasing the South Platte around Deckers. Skies were overcast and the mountain was brown after the freeze last week, but the scenery was still unbeatable.

Many many dead trees on the burn scar up there left over from the Hayman Fire. Saplings coming on in some of the areas, but they’re a long long way from being trees.

Close on the new story draft. Think it’s gonna be okay. Might start something new tomorrow, just so I have something else in the hopper.

Looking forward to getting back to the gym.

Moving forward...

Busy Saturday.

Woke early, put in some time at the keyboard, then killed an hour or so at breakfast with Mom. Had a nice visit all around, though a little less event-packed as the others have been. She says she wants to go canoeing the next time she’s up, so who knows? Maybe we’ll get a nice day and drive over to Quail Lake. Meantime, it’s back to work.

Caught up with Jackie on FaceTime and had an amusing, if brief, chat. Mattie squeezed in a few words, too. Looking forward to seeing those two characters at the end of the month. Feels like a year since we’ve been with them.

Did a little more yard work this afternoon, followed by a trip to Rocky Top, followed by some shopping. All in all, a successful day.

Feeling the crash coming on, so don’t expect to stay up late. Figure to get an early start in the morning and maybe finish a draft of the new short piece.

Weather beautiful today, but the smoke from the Salida fire is still heavy in the air.

Now comes the rest...

End of a quiet week.

Been lucky with the weather the past few days. Lots of sunshine.

Took mom for a late breakfast, then killed the better part of the afternoon hanging around the back patio. Made a late trip to Whole Foods to pick up some branzino for dinner.

Didn’t get to the gym, didn’t get much writing done, but had a nice time today.

Things go back to normal tomorrow.

Gonna have a lot of catching up to do, but looking forward to it.

No roadmap necessary...

Still playing on Mom time. Will be for the next couple of days.

Yesterday’s skype conference with my buddy M’s class was a blast. Hope we get to do it again sometime.

Up later than usual after staying up later than usual, but still managed some decent work on the new story.

Spent most of the day laying around, talking. But did get out for a two hour walk, mid afternoon. Gorgeous day. Clear, even with the fires. Sun, blue sky, a light breeze. Everything you’d want.

Came home and caught a small nap listening to the news. Cooking pork chops in a mushroom gravy for dinner. Everything’s quiet. Relaxed.

Looking forward to getting back to the gym and getting the rest of the marketing material collected for MG, but for now, things are what they are. Moving at their own speed.

Might watch a movie tonight.

Happy birthday to R.

Goodnight my princes of Pittsburgh.

All in good time...

Dragging most of the day. Can’t say why, but suspect it’s got something to do with the shots. Still, was able to put in some decent time at the keyboard on the new short piece.

Took a small nap before heading off to the gym. Read the NYer, and a short piece in the new Nimrod, but can’t say I accomplished much else.

New N story’s arrived.

There we go. Wondered when that would happen.

No loaves, no fishes...

Light day at the keyboard. Woke late after a long night’s sleep, and only managed a couple of hours work. Did some research, made some revisions on the new short, then headed down to the Arkansas to do a bit of late morning fishing.

Wasn’t the best of days on the water. Forgot about the huge forest fire in Salida, the smoke from which was blowing east through Bighorn Sheep canyon. Water was low and pretty and clear, but the fishing was slow, up and down the river. Caught one small brown and released it.

Mom comes in Monday afternoon. Not much in the way of shows or other entertainment, so it looks as if we’ll be spending a lot of quiet time around the house.

Still smarting from the shots. Arm’s red and feverish. Can live with that, but wish the cold symptoms hadn’t shown up at the same time. Gonna have to start taking the asthma stuff seriously this year.

Jackie called while I was down on the river. Sorry I missed him. Can’t wait to see him and his brother again. Nothing’s been right this year since they left. Not even the good stuff.

Hot and cold...

Rough night sleeping. Or maybe, “not” sleeping is a better way of putting it. Woke at 2:00 and that was it. Got out of bed a little while later and went to work.

Cold this morning. Had to turn on the heat and brew up coffee before getting out to work.

Eased back into a story draft I’d abandoned a week ago, and made some good headway with it. Returns on the stories still out continue to be miserably slow. Thought things might pick up with the coming of the new academic year, but not so.

The flu and pneumonia shots stirred up a new cold. Hope it’s only a reaction and will go away, but it feels like maybe it’s gonna stick around. Oh, well. Probably come down with something new on the trip to Pittsburgh. Guess I might as well get used to it.

Like to get out and do some fishing this weekend, before Mom comes. Supposed to be fairly nice, weather wise, and it might be a while before I get another chance.

Got to the gym early. Didn’t have much in the tank, owing to the vaccines, but put in a good workout all the same.

Saw a couple of articles about the fires in LA. Pics showed some serious devastation. Couldn’t help but worry about my buddy, G. Each new blaze seems to work its way closer. One of these years, the whole town could go up in smoke.

Enough. Good thoughts now.

There it is...

Won’t say winter’s here, but woke this morning to snow flurries and dropping temps. Supposed to be 18 tonight. Lower or higher, the new grass seen doesn’t stand much of a chance.

Up earlier than usual—before five—and couldn’t get back to sleep. Went out to the cottage and went to work, finishing revisions on the long piece.

Stayed at the keyboard until a little after noon, then went off in search of flu and pneumonia shots.

Sent off mss when we got home. Marketing materials.

Rest is up to…whatever.

Arm’s sore, eyes are burning and it’s time to quit.

More tomorrow.

At a loss...

Got a headache to beat hell. Not sure if it’s because of the neighbor’s dog incessant barking, or the fact its incessant barking has thrown a wrench in my revisions. Either way, I’m quitting.

Good day in all other respects.

Snow tomorrow, if the pundits have it right. We’ll see. Not sure I’m ready to drag out the shovel yet.

Things to come, things come and gone...

Got to FaceTime with the boys this afternoon. Fun catching up with them. Jack, talkative as usual, but this time even Matty chimed in. Can’t wait to see them. Just a couple more weeks.

Need to send the revised manuscript back out tomorrow. Done about as much to it as I can for a while. One review in, the rest outstanding. It’s all a waiting game now.

Beautiful day today. Everything’s taking its last breath. Color everywhere.

Got over to the gym for a nice workout. Came home and ran a couple of errands, but struck out on the flu shot. Figure to give it a try again tomorrow.

Comp copies of the 2 Bridges Review came in the mail today. Nice to see some of my work in print again.