Yikes! I haven't been blogging enough!

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. From here on I promise to post more frequently. There's been a significant amount of chaos going on in my life though. I survived the latest "Storm of the Century" that hit last week. I'm guessing I must be about three thousand years old now as this is easily the thirtieth "Storm of the Century" I've survived. Either I'm a lot older than I think I am, or these "Storms of the Century" roll around a lot more frequently than once a century.

As some of you know, my mother died on January fifth of this year. I've been working to get the estate settled and I've discovered that nothing is ever as easy as you'd like it to be. It sounds easy until you get involved in it then you discover that it's a maze of odd twists and turns all designed to bankrupt you, or drive you crazy. (In my case possibly both. Actually, forget the possibly, it'll definitely bankrupt me and drive me crazy! I'm not a big fan of lawyers and bureaucrats right now.)

The sales of my first book, "The Campaign" have been about as expected. Sales within the circles of people who know me have been good, but the book hasn't broken out of those circles just yet. The reviews, both those posted on Amazon and those posted on other sites, have been very positive. Starting Monday (February 1, 2016) the Kindle version will be available for free for five days in advance of the Super Bowl. Since the book is a comedic novel on the making of a Super Bowl commercial, I'm hoping that will get it moving a bit. We'll see what happens.

The sales of my second book, "To Rise or Fall" are about as anticipated also. "To Rise or Fall" looks at what might happen if a drug came along that allowed one to visit their afterlife while under the effects of the drug. I have a delightfully sleazy televangelist in the novel whose plans to exploit the drug backfires rather dramatically when he's given a dose of the real drug and discovers he falls. So, if there was a safe drug that would let you explore your afterlife, would you take it? I think I would. It would be great to be reunited with those who've passed. Granted, at this stage of my life nearly everyone I truly know and love are already on the other side, so it would be more like a family reunion than a trip into the unknown.

My third novel "Sara X" is nearly ready for publishing. "Sara X" tells the story of a woman who earlier in life had been an assassin, killing people in such a manner so that their deaths appeared natural. Her services are used by those with the wealth to afford her and who don't want the expense or uncertainty of a divorce, or more conventional solution. One of her earlier clients is now in line to become President and fear that word of his hiring Sara X to eliminate his first wife might leak out, he recruits his current father-in-law, Roger Bentley, the founder of Bentley Security, to help him solve the problem.  Their initial attempt to silence her fails to kill Sara, but kills her husband and young son instead and now Sara X is out for vengeance. A game of cat and mouse then takes place between Sara X and the forces of Bentley Security. A beta reader commented that: "Making the reader root for a contract killer is a great accomplishment." Mind you, when the other guys are politicians, it's easy to root for a contract killer.

On to some gardening news! My seeds for the spring have now arrived and the first ones will be getting started this weekend . There's no guarantee I'll still have the house by the time the seeds are ready to go (stupid bureaucrats!) but I'm hoping for the best and blindly going forward. The first seeds to get started this week will be my Calibrachoa seeds, my Purple Wave Petunia seeds, and some some odds and ends. I've never grown Calibrachoa from seed before, so this will be a new experience.

I'm afraid work on my self-cleaning filter has gone no where since the last post. I've been dealing with all kinds of chaos though and when/if things calm down a bit I should be able to get back to work on that.

In Big Brother news we now know that the new season will kick off on June 22, 2016. We're getting close to time for CBS to announce the dates/places for the casting calls. They usually start in February/March. Once those start the season seems to roll around pretty quickly.

That's about it for today. Expect more frequent posts coming soon. I'm going to try and post a new blog every couple of days as events warrant. Thanks for reading this!

What do you know? I'm writing a blog!

Welcome to my first ever blog! Yea! So far, so good. In future editions of this blog I will talk about anything and everything that's important to me. Those who know me from my posts on the QVC community already know that includes writing, NFL football, gardening (my nic over there is "gardenman") and the reality show Big Brother. In addition to that I'll occasionally blog abut my cats, tropical fish, politics, and much, much more. (I know, I know, don't talk politics. You'll alienate people who disagree with you. I like to think we're all more mature than that though, and I'll foolishly prove myself wrong.) Expect to see my daily Big Brother updates posted here first then copied over to the Q forums once the new season starts in June.

As a hint to what you can expect from my Big Brother posts, here's part of a post from last season (Big Brother 17) when our odd couple Clay and Shelly were both on the block.

Sometime today Clay will sit down with Shelli and they'll discuss the immediate future. I have a vision of the discussion going something like this:

"So, um, Shelli, dearest. Mumble, mumble, mumble, back, mumble mumble, mumble, sassafras, mumble, asparagus."

"Clay, Clay, clay, you don't have to be nervous talking to me. You know I love you and will do anything for you. What is it you want?"

"Well, you know, it's just that one of us is leaving soon and you've got something of mine that might come in handy for me."

"This shirt I've been sleeping in?" asked Shelli. 

"No, no," mumbled Clay. "You can keep the shirt. No, it's something else. Something I may need."

"What is it?" asked Shelli.

"Well, I don't want to make you mad."

"You won't make me mad. What exactly is it you want back?"

"I might, just might need my testicles back."

"Whatever for?" asked Shelli.

"Well, you never know," mumbled Clay. "They could come in handy." 

"For what? They just dangle there and get you in all kinds of trouble. It's much easier for you to let me keep them safe."

"Still, I'd like them back. I don't have much game going for me and you could lose them or something."

"Sweetie, don't you worry about that. I've got  the testicles of every man I've ever been with and I've never lost a pair yet. Trust me, they're very safe with me."

"But if I stay in the game they could come in handy. I may be forced to flirt with Meg or Becky to stay alive and I can't do that as well without my testicles."

"Well, if it puts your mind to ease, you don't have to worry about that. You see, I'm staying and you're going back out onto the streets of LA."

"What?" 

"Vanessa's been working the house for me and I'm staying, so you don't have to worry about me losing them. They'll be safe here in the house with me until finale night."

"But if I'm out of the house in LA going to clubs and whatnot, I'll really need my testicles."

"All the more reason for me to keep them here until we're together again. There are some very beautiful, but evil young women in those clubs in LA. Your testicles could get you into all kinds of trouble. No. It's settled. Your testicles stay with me where they're safe until we're together again. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, no. mumble mumble. I guess not."

"That's a dear boy. Now lie down next to Mama and let's cuddle for the time we have left together."

  

Sad to say, that's the type of deep, insightful commentary you'll get from me when the new season of Big Brother kicks off.

What else will I blog about? Writing. I've just self-published my first book "The Campaign" and it's done okay in terms of sales. It's sold about fifty copies in the first week with me doing very little to promote it. I'm not going too promotion happy until I get some of my other books out on the market. It has drawn two five star unsolicited reviews which is very nice. "The Campaign" tells the story of how making a Super Bowl ad nearly destroyed a small ad firm. It's a quirky little book in that it's a fictional nonfiction book. Give it a look on Amazon if you're intrigued. I had a lot of fun writing it and hopefully others will have fun reading it. 

Book two, "To Rise or Fall" is nearly ready to go live. (If it isn't already live by the time you stumble across this blog.) I'm just giving it one final, final proof before unleashing it on the world. "To Rise or Fall" tells what happens when an experimental general anesthesia is found to allow one to visit the afterlife they've earned up to that time. I'm rather fond of a scene where a crooked televangelist who was faking using it to battle for the souls of his followers is given a dose of the real drug. Suffice to say, falling makes a bit of an impact on the guy.

I've got about six books completed other than some editing, cover design, and final proofing, so the hope is I'll be getting one out each month for a while.

NFL football is a passion of mine and with the playoffs now underway, expect to see a few posts here and there about the playoff games and the Super Bowl. I'm a die-hard Eagles fan, but I'm not thrilled with the firing of Chip Kelly. I keep having this vision of Chip Kelly's Niners facing Andy Reid's Chiefs in the Super bowl in a few years time while Jeff Lurie and company start yet another search for a new head coach. Oh well, such is the life of a sports fan in Philadelphia.

My fish right now are in kind of a holding pattern. I'm playing with a new filter system where fish waste, uneaten food, plant debris, etc. will be removed from the aquarium water automatically on a daily basis using a specially designed pre-filter that will be self-cleaning. If I can make that work, you'll hear much more about it in the not too distant future.

And that's about it for this first blog post. I'll be posting whenever I feel like it, and daily once the new season of Big Brother starts back up. (Please dear God let it be a good cast!) Thanks for giving this a read and if you like it, come on back. I'll be posting pretty regularly.