Running Dreams

I've been feeling excited lately. Why? Literature and Athleticism,

Of course, tomorrow is release day for The Book of Earth. Tomorrow morning, I'll be linking up the paperback and kindle pages for Book 2, along with a discount code for paperback (good at the Createspace e-store for 25% off). The live show is still on as scheduled, and I look forward to seeing you there!

On the athletic side (I have one of those, I am surprised as well!), I've come down with the running bug. One with a goal of going to Rio in 2016. A dream of this scale comes with steps of course, as I can't run a marathon with my training to date and my weight (need to lose 70-80 pounds). Within the next few weeks, I'll run my first 5K, after which training begins for a 10K. Ramble Ramble Ramble...

tl;dr: Steps, my friends... steps.

Happy Reading!

Online Tour Details

Hey everybody! The Book of Earth comes out on August 1st, only four days away! Here are some details on the online tour:

• Susan Kline hosted my creativity advice on her blog Motherhoot. Special thanks to her!
• The live show on BlogTV is still as scheduled, August 1st at 8PM.
• Kindle Editions of  Book 2 will be available on Kindle Select, and as a result, I'll be scheduling Free Book Fridays every other week starting August 3rd.

If you would like a guest writer for your blog, I am still available! The best way to get in touch will be through Twitter. Otherwise, stay tuned for the latest update on release news!

Happy Reading!

Eleven Days!

As the day gets closer, I am getting more excited! Just 11 days until The Book of Earth is released!

The focus for this week is maximizing exposure for my books. I finally have a book trailer up for the second volume. I still have a review planned for another book. In addition, a discount code will soon be added to the books page for those who want a paperback copy (code should also work for The Book of Fire, for those who want to start from the beginning).

As for release day, I am planning a release show on BlogTV. You can chat with me live on August 1st at 8PM Eastern. I should be available for at least two hours, but I'll stick around longer if the audience is there!

If you have a blog and would like a guest writer, I am available to write. I specialize in the topics of creative writing and speed writing.

See you at the show, and happy reading!

Change of Pace?

We've had a stretch of hot and humid weather here in New England. I have to make adjustments to my routine to account for the heat. For example, if I wake up late and it's too warm for my daily run, I opt to stay in the AC and play a console fitness game. Even my family's small dog can't take too much of the heat, so I bring her out in the backyard so she can do her cough "business" instead of taking her for a long walk.

Other things have changed as well. I am no longer working at the chain store (for reasons I won't go into here). In the short term, I am focusing on my novels, the second of which is slated for release on August 1st. In the longer term, I am focusing on finding a job that goes with my degree.

I need a change of pace so I can blog effectively ahead of release day. First, I will be posting blogs on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I won't necessarily be writing them on those days, but they will be stacked for posting. Two, I already have a live show planned for August 1st, and hopefully I will have a book trailer up before then. Finally, I have a vacation weekend coming up, so I need to make sure that blog is stacked before I head out.

Lots of important details to get through over the next two weeks!

Question to Readers: What important things do you have coming up? How is your schedule changing because of them? Leave your responses in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

American Chain Store Christmas

The past seven days have been a strain on my body, but for good reason.

I got a temporary job with a chain store opening a store locally.The shifts are long (10 hours, not counting breaks), and there's a lot of heavy lifting involved, not to mention a demanding schedule in which the store needs to be built, stocked, and cleaned in a matter of 10 days.

The past three days have been somewhat of a chain store Christmas. It's been consecutive days of waking up, having barely enough time to have breakfast and assemble lunch and break snacks, and unloading a tractor trailer. A "mom" (manager) has all the"kids" (employees) get to the "car" (tractor trailer) to unload "gifts" (probably not the most accurate term for items).

Once the tractor trailer leaves, the kids open the gifts. In a bout of reversal, the opened gifts are placed under the metal trees, waiting for their true giftee to arrive. Mind you, with four days until the grand opening, there are already people showing up to the store, eagerly awaiting their time to enter.

But until then, there will be more products to put on shelves, more carts to push, and more double-digit-hour days. When my time there is up and I get paid, I hope I'll have my own American chain store Christmas.