PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 8, 2014

The results of overworking?

Hi everyone. Lots going on.

I've been so busy at the keyboard lately, I'm surprised my poor computer doesn't look like the one on the right.

Anyway, been working feverishly on the short story that now has a deadline, and hope to have it finished very soon.

Can't say much about it at the moment, except that it involves a tropical setting; a place I wish I was right now considering how cold the weather has been of late.

Yeah, I know, it's winter. After all, there's been a couple of times when the passing snow plow has woke me up in the middle of the night.

But I'm more of a Spring and Summer person. Thoughts of warmer days and the fact that all the baseball players will soon be reporting to Spring Training (GO RED SOX!) keep me going.

The future?

Meanwhile, I have also done some work on Alpha, Book 2: Wayward Son straightening my timeline issues; maintained The Free Choice E-zine in my capacity as its Editor-In-Chief, and have even contemplated some ideas for future projects that I have currently placed on the proverbial back burner to see what develops.

Monday I'll talk about ideas in greater detail, but for now, see you around the Internet!

Lee Houston, Junior
9 February, 2014

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Well folks, a new month is upon us, and I'm still working on my short story commitment at the moment. The one I talked about last week that now has a deadline.

The other short story currently on my 2014 agenda still doesn't have a deadline at present, but no sense in letting my work pile up on me.

I do promise to get back to work on Alpha, Book 2: Wayward Son as soon as humanly possible; although I will admit that this short break away from the novel has allowed me a chance to step back and discover an unfortunate timeline problem in what I have already written. Correcting it will be the first thing on my agenda when I get back to that novel.

Other than the above and that things are going well over at The Free Choice E-zine , the only other item to report at the moment is that soon I will be proofreading something very special that fans of a certain fantasy author have been eagerly anticipating!
More on that later.

Until next time, see your around the Internet!

Lee Houston, Junior
3 February, 2014

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 25, 2014

The two things that sum up this last week perfectly for me are the weather and short stories.

Photo by the author/blogger

On one hand, it has not gotten above freezing here in the New England area of the United States where I reside since January 19th! And the earliest predictions for it being above 32 degrees Fahrenheit again is "sometime in February"!

While they have since been manually taken down for safety reasons, the icicles last week reached over four feet in length at their peak, no pun intended.

Photo by the author/blogger

Elsewhere, another short story I wrote last year for a forthcoming anthology came back to me this past week for editorial review, and one of the two short stories I am committed to thus far this year has now been pushed to the forefront of my agenda. Originally it did not have a deadline, although I had been working on it off and on as time permitted; but now lacking my contribution to that anthology is the only thing keeping the publisher from going to press on the project.

I can't let my fellow contributors down, so I am concentrating my creative efforts on that and hope to have it finished before the end of the month so I can return to work on Alpha, Book 2: Wayward Son.

Between all that, my Editor-In-Chief responsibilities to The Free Choice E-zine, and trying to stay warm; I've had a busy week. Hope your week went well.

See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
26 January, 20104

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 18, 2014

I before E, except after sea?

Well, another week has come and gone, and I'm still wearing my editor's hat
at the moment.

Wish I could tell you more, but right now I'm trying to clear my agenda because my creative friend and writing buddy Nancy A. Hansen has informed me that at some point before my birthday (March 5th), I will be receiving the manuscript for the conclusion of her trilogy that began with Prophecy's Gambit and Fortune's Pawn to proofread for her!

Also, I hope everyone saw the big announcement Monday concerning the Singularity: Rise of the Post Humans project that I am contributing to.
If not, either click the link above for more details, or check out this line up of contributors below...

And, in case you missed it, I have created a new banner of recent work to accompany my G+ and Facebook pages...

Art by David L. Russell and Marc Guerrero

Hope to be getting back to work on Alpha, Book 2 soon; but in the meantime, take care and I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior
19 January, 2014

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: SINGULARITY!

AT LAST IT CAN BE TOLD!

A short story I wrote on spec(ulation) last year has been accepted for the anthology SINGULARITY: RISE OF THE POST-HUMANS!

And look at this line-up of stories/talent that is participating:

Jennie Wood (Flutter, FUBAR, etc.); Nancy Hansen (Fortune's Pawn, Prophecy's Gambit, etc.); John F. Allen (Ivory Blaque, Knight Ranger, etc.); Brant Fowler (Wannabez, Gonzogoose, etc.); Singularity concept creator Jaime Ramos (numerous short stories); and my humble self.

Yet my inner "fan boy" is as excited as can be about being in a publication with the one and only David Michelinie, a noted comic book writer who has done some serious work for The Big 2 (DC and Marvel)!

Singularity itself is a steam punk, science fiction, superhero anthology featuring a shared world of the possible future with discord regulators, an evil queen, the creeping green, and so much more!

There will definitely be more announcements about this project as it nears publication later this year!

For now, I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
13 January 2014

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 11, 2014

Well, for better or worse no actual writing this past week, because I've been wearing my Editor's Cap.

Will be able to make a big announcement about the status of a past project tomorrow!

Meanwhile, The Free Choice E-zine is doing well and has already hit 1000+ page views for the 29th consecutive month! Considering how early its achieved that milestone this time, I'm wondering if our readership will give us 3000+ page views again before the end of January? An accomplishment we made for the first time at the very end of December 2013.

Time will tell, but for now, see you Monday about that big announcement!

Lee Houston, Junior
12 January, 2014

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 4, 2014

A new year is upon us!

So far, I've kept up with The Free Choice E-zine in my capacity as its Editor-In-Chief.

Alpha

Almost finished Chapter 7 of Alpha, Book 2: Wayward Son. While I'm uncertain how many chapters will be in the final manuscript, I do hope to complete the novel by Spring, so I can start work on the third installment in my Hugh Monn, Private Detective series.

I did start work on one of my two open ended (no set deadlines, thankfully!) short story commitments for 2014. The idea just came to me out of the blue and I couldn't resist, so there's progress there too.

Hugh Monn

There is one other item I'm hoping to brag about soon, but unfortunately I have to wait and see how things go before I can officially say anything about it. Sorry to be a tease, but sometimes that's just the way it is.

So on behalf of my creations and their creator, I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are looking forward to a happy new year!

See you around the Internet!
lh,jr
05 January 2014