Let’s make goals instead. I suck at resolutions, but somehow manage to be pretty goal-oriented. So here are my goals for 2012. At some point I’ll take a look back at last year’s goals and see where I succeeded (number of novels written) and where I failed horribly (weight loss), but this is not that post.
1) Words per day – I’m quitting my day job, so there’s no reason not to ratchet up my productivity. My current goal is 2,000 words per day, or 10,000 words per week. That equates to half a million words in a year, which should give me plenty of fodder to do the 2 Black Knight books I’m contracted to turn in this year, finish the Return to Eden trilogy this year, and work on something else (maybe a fairy tale, maybe a straight thriller). That also leaves a lot of words on the table for short stories, because my books are short, usually under 75,000 words. So I should be able to crank out a lot of product this year, which is pretty key to putting food on the table.
2) Solicit more paid work – not just fiction, but I’m a pretty good non-fiction writer, too. I’ve still got a few contacts in the poker world I can ring up, plus there are several entertainment industry publications that are interested in having me write for them. I’d like to get a couple of articles each month out in the world to help out in the slow months when the fiction dollars aren’t cranking.
3) Return to writing poetry – I haven’t done much poetry in a year or so, but re-launching Red Dirt Reviewhas me itching to write more literary fiction and poetry, so I need to re-train my mind for those particular backflips. And if you haven’t check out the Review yet, give it a shot. There’s some work over there by some amazing poets and short story writers. And submissions are always open.
4) Work on my photography – I got a new camera, now I need to learn how to use it. I want to learn about filmmaking with a DSLR, and I want to learn more about photography, too. My years in lighting design and stage direction have given me a pretty good sense of composition, I just need to get a better handle on the technology.
5) Work out and lose weight – I’m not real healthy right now, and I’ve got to make time to get some of the weight off. It needs to be higher on this list, but whatever switch in my head that makes me want to get up and work out every day hasn’t flipped yet. I did get a couple of workouts in during my week off, but not as many as I would have liked.
That’s what we’re going to start with – what are your goals for the new year?
Short answer, everything’s okay. Long answer is that next year, all I want for Christmas is nothing that makes me say “Oh shit” and hop in the truck hauling ass to South Carolina at any point. I don’t mind going to see my relatives, but I’d like for their to be no catastrophe involved. No near-death experiences, no medical mishaps, nothing that could remotely smell of tragedy. Just wanted to log that request early. It will be made often this year.
So if you’ve been reading here for a while, you may remember that last year on Christmas Eve my brother’s house burned to the ground. Everything he owned was destroyed, and his two adorable little dogs were killed. We as a family had a pretty craptacular Christmas, and spent a large portion of the first quarter recovering from that financially and emotionally. I want to take another quick second to thank all of you who gave me cash to give to him, it meant the world to me, and to my family, that you guys stepped up and lent a hand. If you ever need me, I’m there.
There will be no asking for donations at any point in this story, that’s another bit of good news.
So let’s hop in the Wayback Machine and go back to the beginning of the month. While I was getting a nice buzz in Las Vegas, my oldest brother was getting a nice buzz off a morphine drip from his second knee replacement of the year. Apparently they both wear out at roughly the same rate, and it made the most sense to get one done in June and then get the other one done in December, so he’d only have to hit one deductible this year. Makes sense to me, right? And the first one went off without a hitch, so I wasn’t worried. I think it was several days later before I even checked in on him. All was well, came the report, and I returned to the bar.
And all remained well as far as we knew until he went back to the doctor a week or so later. There was a little inflammation, and some swelling. The doc gave him a shot of some hefty antibiotics, and started talking about re-admitting him. Well, my brother Bob is a silver-tongued devil when he needs to be, and he really didn’t want to be in the hospital, so he persuaded the doc to let him go home. The doc reluctantly agreed, and checked in on him the following day. The knee looked a lot better, but the doc wanted to check a lab result or two.
Then they told him to get ready for a long stay and at least one more surgery on his knee, because he’d contracted MRSA and they were going to have to go back in and clean the incision. And remove a plastic part of the prosthetic knee. And probably go in again to clean it in a few days. And he was likely going to be in the hospital for at least a week. Maybe up to four weeks. And the antibiotics would be about a twelve-week course of treatment.
Merry Christmas, Bob! They did go back in and clean the wound, and replace the part that potentially had the bacteria living in it now, and they sewed him back up. I rode down to the hospital and took him a bag full of books (if there’s one thing my brother and I share aside from snark, it’s a love of reading). I hung out for a couple of hours and was there when the infectious disease specialist came in to talk to him. He had good news – the second drug they tried on him was “exquisitely effective” against this type of bacteria, so there was almost no chance that it wouldn’t eventually kill off the whole thing. The likelihood that they would have to remove his prosthetic knee entirely was down to around 5-10%, and he would be well enough to go home in a few days. If the insurance company agreed to allow him to administer the drugs at home.
Apparently the antibiotics he was on are incredibly expensive, and the insurance company typically thinks that if you’re so sick as to require that level of medication, that you should be in the hospital. There’s a logic there, but there’s a flaw or two in it as well. But this isn’t a state of healthcare post, so we’ll just get to the rest of the story.
Long story made slightly less long – he went home a few days after I went to see him, which I take full credit for. He still can’t really travel, and because he has a serious (read – can f’n kill you) infection that he’s fighting, he shouldn’t really be around too many people. So he and his family didn’t make it home for Christmas for the first time in my thirty-eight years.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! IT SLICES, IT DICES, IT DELIVERS BABIES!!
There’s more coming, but this is running long. I’ll leave you with a spoiler pic –
And God no, it’s not mine. What are you people, crazy?
So Yeah, I’m having fun with the new camera. My old camera, a Canon Rebel Xti, was also really nice, and I had a very good 70-300mm lens with image stabilization built in. I was able to take this shot with it standing at least a 1/4 mile away from the stream in the picture.
But that camera was stolen when my car was broken into in Atlanta. The first time.
Yes, it happened twice. Not to the same car. And not in the same part of Atlanta. But twice in 2010 my car was broken into in Atlanta. The first time they got me good. My two-week-old MacBook Pro, backpack, Canon DSLR Camera, both lenses, some lighting equipment and a bag full of tools. Probably about ten grand worth of stuff, none of it ever recovered.
The second time they got a briefcase with about a dozen copies of my books, plus some loose change. I got all that back except for a couple of books. But I also got a different book, so I can’t really complain.
I’ve hung out a while with a little point n’ shoot camera that does a pretty good job, but finally I broke down and bought another good camera. As Red Dirt Review is starting to take off, I’m going to need to shoot some cover images from time to time, and the new Rebel shoots 1080P video, which is not only inherently cool, but something I’m interested in exploring. It also has an articulated LCD screen, which is really nice when shooting at odd angles, or video, both of which I end up doing in theatre.
Anyway, have a Happy whatever you celebrate, and I’ll be back next week with a new weekly feature – Album of the Week! Each week I’ll give you a sample of what I’ve been writing to, and links to buy the album. Full disclosure – I’m an iTunes affiliate, so I get a few pennies if you buy the album there. To kick off the series, here’s the song that’s been kicking off my alien invasion short story writing session – Roger Creager’s I’ve Got the Guns. This one goes out to my pal, Scott Chaffin. Keep fightin’, brother.
I know, sounds like something a car lot does, right? Well, that’s kinda where we are at the Casa de Hartness nowadays. I’ve got a bunch of copies of The Chosen and Back in Black with the original covers hanging around my house. Since I have no copies of Hard Day’s Knight left with original covers, and Knight Moves debuted with the cover from Extended Imagery, I’d rather only have the books with the series covers at my signings and cons in the future.
So you get a deal!
From now until they’re gone, you can buy copies of Back in Black and The Chosen for only $5!
Plus $5 for USPS shipping per order (up to 3 books) anywhere in the US. $7 to Canada (sorry, it’s a long way from here).
Just click the PayPay button in the sidebar and you’ll be hooked up. I’ll even sign ’em for you if you’d like.
I’m not sure why the phrase “winner, winner, chicken dinner” annoys me, but it does. Perhaps because it makes no sense other than to force a mediocre rhyme. Maybe I’m just an ass.
Whatever. But today we do have some winners to announce – the winners of the Kindle Fire giveaway! That’s right, two lucky people won a Kindle Fire last night, and they already know who they are. So now I can tell you fine folks.
Our first winner is Valerie Huffman. She tweeted about the contest, bought books to get extra entries, took a picture of herself reading a book in public, liked all my pages, and basically did everything you can do to earn extra entries into the contest. And it paid off with her brand new Kindle!
Our second winner is Erin Wood. She liked my Facebook page. That’s it. She got one entry. And it’s all she needed! She also has bought a bunch of my books, but she had them before the contest, so didn’t get any extra entries for it.
So a tale of two winners, I’m glad that both of them are actual fans, instead of drive-by entrants. I also hope that some of the drive-by entrants turn into real fans in time. I also hope that everyone had fun, and has a happy holiday season, even without me giving you an electronic toy.
Merry Christmas (and Hannukah, and Solstice, and Kwanzaa, and Festivus, etc. etc.)!
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