Rest & Relaxation...Not.

 

I've taken a few days off from the day job to just take a break and relax for a bit. It has been a hectic few weeks. It has been very busy at the day job (yes, friends. Don't let anyone kid you - writing does not necessarily pay the bills.) Then there is the writing. I had to complete the second round of text and map edits for the new edition of Hiking Alabama (which is due out April 2022) and at the same time, run through the second and final round of edits before the galley proofs arrive for the book Space Oddities: Forgotten Stories of Mankind's Exploration of Space. And there are constant articles I have to write for various online sites.

Don't get me wrong. I love it. But sometimes you need a break and that's what I've been up to. Trouble is, within a few days of saying that, I get the itch. In fact, as I take a couple days off from that day job to do absolutely nothing, three new book ideas popped into my head and all thought of relaxing have been put on the back burner as I sit here and begin writing the proposals.

As I was writing the proposals, I got the bug to do a little audio and video production again so now I am working on the book trailer and an interview for the Space Oddities book.

I guess I should face the fact that letting my imagination run wild on the printed page IS my relaxation. So, I'm back from my little vacation and at it again. Much more to come.

First Review

 

Don't get me wrong. I love all of the 12 outdoor recreation books and two non-fiction history books that I have written over the past 20 years and think they all turned out great, but my latest title, "Space Oddities: Forgotten Stories of Mankind's Exploration of Space" is my absolute favorite. I jokingly call it my "real book" only because of the amount and depth of research I had to do to and how the words flowed as I wrote it. It was liberating not having a strict format to follow and being given complete artistic license to actually write.

I put the manuscript to bed several weeks ago and shipped it off (ok, emailed it) to the editor and last night received an incredible reply, the most glowing review I have ever received. It is the proudest I have ever been about any of my works which made it difficult to sleep last night. The review said:

"What a joy to read! Loved every minute of it. Interesting, well-researched, compellingly written, full of “what! Really?!” moments – exactly what we had in mind for this book. Excellent work, and a squeaky clean manuscript to boot – I wish every author that I worked with submitted a manuscript as clean as this."

WOW! Nice! I can't wait for it to hit bookshelves but unfortunately, we'll all have to wait until July 2022.

Photo courtesy NASA