End of the Month

I’ve been much too neglectful of this blog lately, as I completed editing of book four and began to write book five in earnest.  This has been an odd time—weather-wise, personally, and otherwise.  Mother Nature has been having fun with us this October—first Indian Summer, now frigid temps and rain off the edge of a hurricane.  I’ve heard the expression “frost on the pumpkin” my entire life, but snow is not something I like to see on a gourd.  Anyway, those in the direct path of the hurricane have had it much worse.

Writing has more or less consumed me lately.  I am quite bored otherwise; the days seem interminable at best and painful at worst.  I can’t imagine what would become of me without an outlet, because I am truly too poor and dull for any exciting hobbies.  Reading has been helpful as well; I’ve read more books this year than the previous ten combined, for sure.  I think my problem before is that I was too picky.  Now I am on the lookout for good stories, regardless of genre.

I don’t know how many people actually read this blog, but I must thank everyone who has supported my writing career.  You are amazing and I am lucky to have you as fans.

Busy

I finally had the foresight to begin leaving my dictionary and thesaurus on the desk while I write.  And I have been writing many, many words lately.  Anyway, while the built in features of Microsoft Word usually work well, there are plenty of exhaustive synonyms and meanings provided on the pages of those reference works.  As a librarian, I likely should have realized that from the start.  It's always a delicate balance in writing, figuring out the words you should use versus those words you simply want to use.

More, More, More

Writing has really turned me into a liar.  I keep insisting upon the completion of each book that I will take a break, and I always wind up breaking that promise when I begin yet another new book.  I'm well into book five now and I've got a story all planned out for book six.  Oops.  I'm going to be very, very busy for the rest of the year.

Finding My Way Back

One of the most difficult internal struggles in life is the one to find out what you truly want.  I have thought at several points that I knew--only to find out that I don't and that my ideas have completely transformed.  It's either made easier or harder by the fact that I've never had a career.  And I've bounced around from thought to thought about that, too.  The goal is to create my own esteem for a change and stop relying on others' reflections of me.  Easier said than done.  Life is like a puzzle--the edges are a lot easier to assemble than the whole picture in the middle.

Author Central

It's still a work in progress, but I finally set up my author page on Amazon today.  Someday I'll figure out how to just share links on my blog without making them posts, but for now...


https://www.amazon.com/author/tommieconrad

Books for Sale

The good news is I finally completed my third book, Windswept Hearts.  The sequel to my first book, Windswept, is quite different from the others I’ve written—the story comes together in a roundabout rather than straightforward way.  Of course, I still believe in happy endings.  I had to read-through it at least three times so any remaining errors are there for the duration, I suppose.  As always, if anyone wants to provide feedback, I’m here to listen.  I’m nearly finished with my fourth novel, which likely will be the final one for this year.  I really am worn out from writing, but it’s been a great experience bringing my ideas to life.

http://www.amazon.com/Windswept-Hearts-ebook/dp/B009AV0MXU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1349187774&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Windswept-Hearts-Mr-Tommie-Conrad/dp/1479254479/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349187814&sr=1-1

Letting Go

Throughout much of my life, I was a hoarder—although I’d never heard that term until it entered the mainstream via television.  I was never very good at letting go of things—books, movies, music, even scraps of paper had to remain forever in my collection.  Over the past few years, however, transitioning back and forth between college, home, graduate school and back home again, and faced with an endless stretch of unemployment, I have become much better at filtering through and purging my collection.  Books, clothes, old movies—it has all found a new home in donation boxes.  I think have an inherent enjoyment of “things” but I find that when I detach memories from them—some things never had the chance to be attached and are therefore easier to toss—it’s easy to let go.  I’m not sure if it’s the best idea, but the vast majority of my college textbooks are going or already gone.  My attachment to most of them was less than nil.  I sometimes find things I saved throughout college and find they are always easily dispatched.  Thanks to digital photography, even pictures have become mere transitory snapshots of our life that sometimes only exist for seconds before being consigned to the dustbin of history.  Nearly every aspect of life has become disposable or full of built-in obsolescence.  Our memories are truly the only thing we can ever possess, and even they are subject to haziness and loss as the years drift past.