SOAPBOX TIME (SEPTEMBER 30, 2018)

Normally at this point on my writing blog, I post some commentary about how my writing progress is going on whatever project(s) I'm involved with at the moment.
To honor that tradition, things are going well with HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE.

HOWEVER...
I need to dedicate the majority of this post today to talk about something more personal, so just let me dig out my old soapbox to stand on and...

It will be one year ago tomorrow that the Houstons lost my mother/dad's wife.

There have been many comments and observations throughout time about a parent outliving a child which, with all the violence and other ills of the world, is becoming more common place than it should be!

Yet, depending upon the specific circumstances in each individual case, there isn't much said about the child outliving the parent, since that is supposed to be the natural order of life.

Barbara Houston passed away the afternoon of October 1, 2017; less than a day shy of her 79th birthday and a little over a month short of her 60th wedding anniversary!

To say that my father was devastated would be a serious understatement.
I certainly wasn't expecting the phone call that he made to give me the news. Besides, any time someone starts a phone call with "Are you sitting down?" is definitely an ill omen.

Long time readers of both this blog and/or The Free Choice E-zine know that I suspended all work on both sites until after I returned from the funeral.
Even then, it took me a while to get back into what passes for a "regular" routine.

Time might heal all wounds, but no one has ever stated just how much time must elapse to overcome a specific injury.
There is much I could add to the above, but doing so would betray a lot of private confidences between myself and Barbara Houston's surviving kin.
Suffice to say, my dad is getting better, yet there isn't a day that goes by that some thought of his late wife doesn't cross his mind.

We, as human beings, deal with grief in a multitude of ways.
I AM A WRITER, and I will continue to write.

But probably not tomorrow.

Lee Houston, Junior
30 September, 2018

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 22, 2018

Well, between the remnants of Hurricane Florence coming to my neck of the woods (which thankfully brought only a whole bunch of rain⛆)along with a couple of doctor appointments (and I still haven't found the one with the TARDIS yet!😉) I decided not to split my writing time between projects and concentrated solely upon HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE this past week.

23 chapters; 58,000+ words and rushing towards the climax.
But to quote Jimmy Buffett: ♫Where it all ends I can't fathom my friends♫

I know what I want to accomplish, but how exactly to achieve this is my unanswered question at the moment.

For those just joining this blog, although mysteries require more detail work in advance, I don't like to set every plot point in stone before I start writing.
After all, what if a great idea comes along while you're working and you can't use it because you're too rigid in your plot?

So, do I go with a gun fight? Cut to the "car" chase?
Hugh is definitely a man of action and not the kind of private detective who would call all the suspects together and reveal the guilty party amongst them.

Plus, his cases do happen in "the far flung future", so they have to be exciting as well.
Don't worry, I'll figure it out, but to do so I better get back to writing now.
See you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior
23 September, 2018

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

I DID work on HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE last week, and things are going great with that novel.

BUT—I just could not ignore one of the other ideas that have been floating in my head any more and have ALSO started work on what will eventually be my next SHERLOCK HOLMES, CONSULTING DETECTIVE story for Airship 27 too!

When I get stuck on one, I just switch over to the other for awhile.

But HUGH always starts each writing day.

I've tried balancing two different projects at once before and sometimes (depending upon what the projects are) it works in my favor and other times, after awhile, I have to focus entirely on just 1 or lose my concentration entirely.

I guess that's just part of being human.

In any event, I better get back to writing now or nothing's going to be accomplished.

See you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

16 September, 2018

FOR FANTASY FANS: THE DARK GLASS BY NANCY HANSEN

My friendly neighborhood beta-proofreader has reason to celebrate!

Nancy A. Hansen's latest fantasy/adventure novel has just been released by Pro Se Productions.

After the battle for the portal (in MASTER'S ENDGAME), Greenwood begins to prosper again. Between the Light World races of Elf, Dwarf, and Fairy there are tentative peace treaties and trade agreements. Yet Humans remain stubbornly determined in their isolationist mindset of antagonism and contempt for what they perceive as inferior beings.

In the midst of this new era, two infants of disparate backgrounds are growing up. Red haired Callie's half-Elven daughter Roshanna lives in the Woodsgate Inn with her barmaid mother, neither of them comprehending the little girl's vital importance to the frontier world around them. Yet downriver, another child has been born; a boy with a demonic sire and a prescient knowledge of his future potential for conquest and subjugation.

Callie herself is caught up in a web of intrigue when a young man comes back into her life at a time when she is already unhappy with her circumstances. That he wants to take her away from her humdrum existence is tempting, but something about his sudden reappearance hints at a more sinister agenda. He's offering her a very expensive gift—one that no one should ever possess—an enchanted looking glass worth a king's ransom. What part does this Dark Glass play in Callie's own future, let alone that of little Roshanna?

THE DARK GLASS by Nancy A. Hansen. From Pro Se Productions

With a cover  by Cathy Crow, THE DARK GLASS is available now at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1726465411/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536015590&sr=8-2&keywords=the+dark+glass+hansen and Pro Se’s own store at www.prose-press.com for 14.99.

This epic fantasy novel is also available as a Kindle E-book for only $2.99 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H2P198Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536015590&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dark+glass+hansen. This book is also available on Kindle Unlimited, which means Kindle Unlimited Members can read for free.

THE DARK GLASS is also available in hardback at http://www.lulu.com/content/hardcover-book/the-dark-glass/23201278 for only 25.99.

HAPPY READING!

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

Okay, let's see how I did this past week...

Worked on HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE. ✔

Have other ideas waiting in the wings to start work on once HUGH is finished, because my friendly neighborhood beta-proofreader wants to wait until the entire manuscript is finished before she goes over it to give Nancy more time to work on her own writing. ✔✔

Going to keep working on HUGH until it's done so I can get on to those other ideas, like PROJECT ALPHA, BOOK 3. ✔✔✔

Then I better get back to writing now!
Have a great week everybody, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
9 September, 2018

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Well folks, if I could find that Murphy guy, I'd make him repeal his law.
Anything that could go wrong, did this past week.
My doctor's appointment on Monday got rescheduled for later in the week.
Don't worry, everything's fine health wise.
But having to make two separate trips to the same place to accomplish the same objective did cut into my writing time, so I lost more than I originally thought I would.
Add in chores, errands, and other things that I wasn't expecting and won't bore you with, and the whole thing comes up to a big chunk of the week, so I barely accomplished anything on the writing front. 😒

But, a new week is in front of me, so here's hoping.
See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
2 September, 2018