PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 7, 2023

Afraid there isn't really much to report at the moment.

On one hand I am still in editing mode on SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA before I can pick up where I left off to resume writing.

Yet I'm also still several chapters away from where I stopped before the Christmas holidays.

Why do I put myself through what seems to be extra work to the untrained eye?

The image above answers that question.

I always want to create and release the best I am humanly capable of producing.

Hopefully all this extra work shows in every finished story, but that's up to you the reader(s) to decide.

In any event, I better get back to it.

Take care.

STAY SAFE! 😷

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

8 January, 2023

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2022

 ♫Another year over and a new one just begun.♫—John Lennon.

Hello and welcome to my Writing Blog.

I'm your host Lee Houston, Junior.

More details about myself and my work can be found in the Sidebar Summary.

You will find a PROGRESS REPORT about my current writing just about every Sunday covering the previous week, although there obviously wasn't one last weekend because that was Christmas🎄 and I took the holiday off to be with family.

In any event, my current project is SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA, which is a sequel to the first SOLITAIRE novel, publication of which will be by Airship 27 pending finding an art team.

SOLITIARE is a dramatic action adventure thriller series with the title character a Mysterious Samaritan secretly helping those in need.

At the moment I am going back over the first 15 chapters and 25,000+ words of the S2 manuscript before I pick up where I left off on Chapter 16.

WHY?

To make sure I am creating the best novel(s) humanly possible for reading enjoyment.

So with that in mind I better get back to writing now.

Take care.
STAY SAFE! 😷

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

1 January, 2023

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDNG DECEMBER 17, 2022

 ♫IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...♫🎄

Especially considering that Christmas/December 25 is NEXT SUNDAY! 😲

"No L, Noel." 😉

At the moment I'm two presents and a whole lot of gift wrapping short of completing my list.

The point, and I did have one, is that the closer we edge towards the holiday, the less time I seem to have for writing.

Still on Chapter 16 of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA and trying to choregraph a fight scene.

Considering the only fights I've ever been in were on the losing side as the school bullies of the day kicked my @$$... 😢

I obviously will continue to write as time and opportunity permit, but will definitely be off next weekend, so we'll see how much I actually get accomplished between now and then.

Whether it's Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas or something else, I hope everyone has the best holiday they can.

Take care.

STAY SAFE! 😷

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

18 December, 2022

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 10, 2022

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE: A SUGGESTION.

 I have FINALLY broken my "International Flight Curse" and am now 24,000+ words and on Chapter 16 of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA.

The manuscript is FAR from finished though because there is still a lot of adventure, intrigue, thrills and much more to go.

Sometimes the lack of experience can be a benefit and sometimes a problem.

Case in point: dealing with foreign locales when writing.

On one hand, if you're making everything up like on an alien world, you have to still acknowledge some scientific necessities like food, water, oxygen, gravity, etc. Otherwise the sky is literally the limit in regards to letting your imagination run free and it doesn't matter if you've never set foot off Planet Earth in your lifetime.

On the other, if you have never been there and are dealing with a specific place like say—Cancun, even in a work of fiction you still have to be as accurate as humanly possible when depicting local places or else you run the risk of ejecting your readers right out of the story if you write something that is obviously wrong, like being in error concerning which side of the road they drive on.

Granted, even the best of tourist websites don't cover everything and you will still need to create some fictional places for scenes to occur because you don't want to have something happen somewhere that it can't.

The most famous example of this would be Sherlock Holmes' 221B Baker Street.

In Victorian London, it's the humble abode of the famous Consulting Detective and while there really was a Baker Street in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's time, the addresses didn't even reach the 200s.

In Modern England, that address does exist but is a McDonalds Restaurant last I heard😲, which is why the TV series Elementary and Sherlock staged the locale in a more residential looking neighborhood.

In any event, I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE! 😷

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

11 December, 2022

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 3, 2022

 ♫Second verse. Same as the first!♫—Henry the Eighth by Herman's Hermits.

Afraid there isn't much progress to report since last time.

Still on Chapter 15 of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA but at least I've got all the bugs worked out and am making progress on trying to finish that chapter and get on with the rest of the manuscript.

Like I said before, having only been a domestic traveler who has never left the Continental United States, trying to figure all the Ins and Outs of International flights, let alone getting through Customs upon returning to America has been my big bugaboo of late.

Hopefully by next weekend I'll at least be done with 15 and on to 16.

NOW BEFORE I GO...

A SHOUT OUT FOR/TO PETER DAVID!

We have never formally met, but I am a big fan of his work and even got to contribute an episode to his Potato Moon Round Robin Saga. (Part 78 for those interested.)

Peter is currently suffering some serious health issues, although there are far more details available on Facebook than his regular blog.

Of course there is also a Go Fund Me page up and running to help defray the costs of his medical expenses since many writers are in situations where, despite whatever success there might be, have NO medical insurance!

If you can contribute, please do so and GET WELL SOON PETER! 😀

In any event take care.
STAY SAFE! 😷

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

4 December, 2022

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 26, 2022

 Last week went pretty much how I predicted it might.

Lot of prep work and other things to do so I could spend the holiday with family and friends.

While I did get a little (operative word here) writing done, I'm still trying to resolve my Chapter 15 issues in regards to the SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA manuscript.

Other than maybe some Cyber Monday shopping tomorrow, this coming week looks pretty wide open so hopefully I'll at least be out of Chapter 15 by the next Progress Report.

Until then take care.

STAY SAFE!😷

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

27 November, 2022

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 19, 2022

I hit a brick wall, so to speak. 

Or in other famous words, "I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque!" 😉

Seriously though, I reached a point in Chapter 15 of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA where I just had to stop and admit "This isn't working out."

Hey, it happens.

So I went back and reread everything, then took the bits that did work and put them at the end of Chapter 14 so I could start 15 fresh.

Not sure how much writing I'm going to get done as we draw closer to the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, but I'll take what I can get when I can get some done.

That last sentence sounded a lot better in my head than it does in print. 😕

In any event, I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!😷

I'll see you around the Internet and for those celebrating

Lee Houston, Junior

20 November, 2022