Musings & Thoughts for Monday, November 6, 2023, or: Weekend Update, Part the Second

 Late Morning, Monday, November 6, 2023, Lithia, Florida

Hi, there, folks. It’s a mild (73°F/23°C) and sunny late autumn morning here in the Tampa Bay area. And, since I’ll be leaving for Madison, New Hampshire on December 12, I’ve been looking at the weather conditions there (39°F/4°C under partly cloudy conditions) to get an idea of what to expect when I get there. (Obviously, I am moving to the ice planet Hoth!) It’s warmer here, even on a relatively cool day in the subtropical zone.

I slept a bit better last night, but I still woke up whilst the skies were still dark, and I’m feeling a bit sleepy some four hours later. I hope that once I take a shower, change into “street clothes,” and have lunch I will feel more awake and energetic. I still have to work on Reunion: Coda – it is a new workweek, after all – and move the story forward as far as I can before M-Day, so I must be reenergized and mentally sharp to write well.

Weekend Update, Part the Second

Well, my Sunday was relatively quiet and uneventful, all things being equal. I emptied a couple of shelves on my IKEA Billy bookshelves and moved more books to the Florida room for packing into moving boxes. Not too many of them because we’re on a temporary “packing hold,” but enough to make some progress with the necessary but unpleasant and sad process of prepping for an interstate move.

I also spent some time watching Score: A Film Music Documentary. Released in 2016, Score was written and directed by Matt Schrader. It explores the art and history of film music from the Silent era to the late 2010s, and it features interviews with various composers, filmmakers, and film historians, including Marco Beltrani, Jon Burlingame, Leonard Maltin, Howard Shore, John Dabney, Garry Marshall, Bill Field, and – of course – the incomparable John Williams.

Score is not a long film; it only has a runtime of 93 minutes, but I guess the stresses of trying to write a novel, promoting my novella, and getting ready to move to New Hampshire are taking a toll on my patience and ability to enjoy stuff that usually makes me happy. So I stopped watching it ¾ of the way through and went back to my room and hung out online for a while.

I also ordered some food from Pizza Hut – boneless chicken wings, “loaded” bread sticks, and a free large Meat Lover’s pizza (I redeemed 300 Hut Reward points for it) – and ate some of the pizza as I watched Score. So, dinner was good, although when I move to New Hampshire I’ll cut down on the Pizza Hut orders and prep my meals.

All in all, even though I saw things from a “Gosh, I’m leaving Florida and probably won’t come back” perspective, my Sunday was…okay. I did fall asleep while attempting to watch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on my smaller bedroom TV set, but that’s because I was tired. I honestly enjoy the movie!

On Writing & Storytelling: A Modest Uptick in Sales…and Action This Day

As far as my writing-related activities go…

Well, this weekend was a no-working-on-the-novel one, even though last workweek’s output was modest compared to what I had hoped to write. I did think about adding a few more simulated emails between Maddie (who is on a work-related trip to London) and Jim in New York, but my brain simply balked every time I opened the Word .docx file with the manuscript. As I mentioned earlier, I’m still coming to grips with the Big Move North, and although I am excited and trying to think about it positively, I am leaving home, after all. I want to. I need to, of course, but it’s still a bit sad, and those emotions are affecting my ability to be imaginative and creative.

On the Good News front, though, I did notice that my efforts to promote Reunion: A Story have had some success; as of today, Kindle Direct Publishing reports that 6 orders (five for the paperback, one for the Kindle edition) have been processed over the past few days. Per KDP, I can expect at least $16.74 in royalties in November unless, of course, more readers order copies in either format. So, even though I’m not earning enough from writing to live off just that, at least I’m earning something.

As for Reunion: Coda, I will work on it as soon as I return to my desk after my mandatory rest break. Now that it’s just past noon (fast typist, I am not), I don’t think I’ll be back until after 2:30 PM. I will work today, though. I still hope to have Reunion: Coda “out there” before M-Day, although I’m beginning to think that a more realistic release timeline will be January-March 2024. Regardless of when I will publish Reunion: Coda, I still need to work on it. So…that’s what I will do.

And on this note, I’ll take my leave of you, my friends. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.