I’m not dead. And I haven’t killed anybody (whose body has been discovered, at least).

I am swamped with a couple of things.

First of all, work. This semester is keeping me busy. Both my classes started at capacity, including my 8:00 AM section.I just gave the first exam and have barely made a dent int he grading. My department head seems to have a new hobby. Thinking up more things for me to do.

I also have a new hobby. No, it’s not thinking up more things for me to do. Although it might resemble such to the untrained eye.

I’ve been taking some online writing workshops. So far they have been worth the time. I’ve learned a lot. There was a sale on them last week, and I signed up for two more. They are six week workshops, and they, along with a three week workshop that was a Kickstarter exclusive, start over the next two days.

So most of the writing I’m going to be doing will be either for these workshops or other fiction projects I’ve got in the works. More on those when they are ready to hatch.

Most of my reading has been short fiction, although there’s one novel I want to review. I will try to fit it in later this week. I read the hardcover and the paper edition comes out soon.

I will try to do a better job on birthday posts. (Ignores the dirty look from Theodore Sturgeon’s ghost.)

If you will excuse me, I’ve got fiction to get started on.

I’ve been swamped with work. Plus I’m trying to get  some actual fiction writing done. So I’ve not been reading much other than short fiction, much of that related to writing. I hope to post a Christmas ghost story or two this year and have been reading some to get in the right frame of mind.

Things should settle down a bit soon.

No, the title of this post isn’t original with me, but it’s too good not to steal. I’m not expecting things to magically improve just because the year on the calendar has changed. Call me pessimistic, but I expect this year to be a lot like the last one . I hope I’m wrong. We’ll see.

As I stated yesterday, my plans for the Asimov and Bradbury centennials and the 90th anniversary of Astounding didn’t work out the way I had intended. I’m not planning on trying to restart them this year, although I will try to put more Bradbury and Asimov in the rotation throughout the year. Continue reading →

Short version:  2020 sucked.

Long version:  2020 really, really sucked.

What’s that? Oh, you want details. Continue reading →

Just a quick update on things. I’ve been working on trying to run labs in a a hybrid format with alternating attendance model and a concurrent online lab. Plus having an all online version for those who can’t attend in person.

Tomorrow is the first face to face lab.  We never start labs until the week after Labor Day because the holiday throws off the schedule, and it was a week late this year. It’s been hectic, especially the last few days of the week, and I don’t anticipate this week being much calmer, at least not at first. I have discovered that it is possible to kill brain cells if the student email to which you are replying is of sufficient stupidity.

I’m going to try to carve out time for writing and editing. I’m in the process of putting a collection of some of my short stories together. I intend to send it out into the world with the hopes that it will find work and send money home and not just die of loneliness.

I am probably not going to do a lot of reviews in the near future. I finished, after a number of interruptions, Melmoth the Wanderer about a week ago.  I haven’t had a chance to write the review. That will probably be the next post.  As I said at the end of yesterday’s post about Charles L. Grant, birthday posts will most likely brief tributes without any stories reviewed. Given the time crunch I’ll have this semester, I’m going to focus more on writing fiction than I am reviewing it.

I was on vacation when we passed the halfway point of the year in terms of months.  So far 2019 hasn’t been all that great for reasons I’ve discussed elsewhere and the aftermaths of those things.  My wife appears to be cancer-free, though, which is a major good thing.  Time will tell.

Things should settle down into a routine next week when classes for the second summer term start.  I’ll be teaching an 8:00 AM class, so that will force me to be reasonably consistent in my schedule.

Blogging has been minimal, and writing as been pretty nonexistant.  That’s going to change.  That has to change.  Look for a book acquisition post over the weekend about what I found while on vacation.  I’ve got a novel I need to finish before the fall if I can pull it off.

Question:  Should I post an excerpt of any of the works in progress or items that haven’t found a home yet?

Most of my reading has been short fiction or nonfiction lately.  I did read one novel while traveling.  I’ve got at least a dozen novel sitting in my TBR pile that I’ve started and not finished.  The focus hasn’t been there the last six months.  I’m intending to finish them, getting as many as possible completed by the end of the summer.  I may or may not review them.  (Robert, I haven’t forgotten the collection you sent me.  I will finish and review it.)  As for taking requests for reviews, I’m probably going to put that on hold for a while unless you’re one of a handful of friends.  I’ve got too many things I want to read for fun as well as getting caught up on the unfinished books.

That’s the update for now.  I’ll post some more later.  I’m in the middle of moving, so I need to get back to work.  (Offices at work, not houses.  *shudders at the thought of moving all the books*)

Just a quick update.

Things are in bloom.  I don’t usually have trouble with the pollen in the spring here, but with all the rain, I’m having a few minor issues.

My wife was having issues with her hand going numb before the cancer diagnosis put that put on hold.  Now that she’s essentially done with all but a few followup visits, she’ll be having surgery later this month to move a nerve from one side of her elbow to the other.  They’ll also do a carpal tunnel procedure at the same time.  It will be an outpatient treatment.

Things are starting to wrap up as far as my semester is concerned.  I’m looking forward to a break.  It’s been a hectic semester.  I had an interview at a different university a few weeks ago.  I’m not looking for a different job, but a friend/former student pushed me to apply for this one.  I ultimately applied because it would put me just over an hour away from my parents.  They are still in good health, but they are getting on up there in years.  This would have involved a slight change of direction, including running a planetarium, something I’ve not done before.  After all the interviews were done, the administration there made a decision to split the position into two lower level positions to be fill a year from now and just have a visiting instructor for the coming year, which meant I was out.  I’m under no pressure to leave where I am, and the change in the job made it a bad move on my end.

I’m hoping to get some reading and writing done and up my blogging over the next few weeks.  That’s how things stand here.  How are ya’ll?

I went camping.  At an RV park on the north side of town.  My brother-in-law loaned us a camper, which was a good thing as there was a trench down the middle of the hall.   Continue reading →