Getting Back to Running

A student of mine . . . and avid blog reader . . . reached out to me recently with an interesting question.

She's an avid runner, and apparently she's been reading my blog for some time. She noticed that I used to write quite a bit about running, particularly the various races and fun runs I participated in, but that those posts have largely disappeared.

She wanted to know why. Fair question.

A Publication That Took a Way Too Long . . .

I've mentioned before that I do a fair amount of non-creative writing. Actually, that's probably an understatement. Between research reports, academic articles, industry publications, and everything else that comes across my desk, I spend a considerable amount of time writing.

And sometimes rewriting. Which brings me to my latest publication (HERE).

When I first took on the project, I thought it would be a relatively straightforward rewrite. We had an existing document. The general argument was already established. We needed to update the research, refresh the statistics, reconsider some of the recommendations, and bring the entire thing into alignment with today's workforce development environment.

The Things We Leave Undone

I'm sitting here preparing to board another airplane, something I do with considerable frequency, and I find myself thinking about the nine people who died in a Learjet crash in Florida this past Sunday. The aircraft was flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when something went terribly wrong. The pilots had been dealing with weather, turbulence, and icing. Then, in a matter of moments, a seemingly manageable situation became an emergency.

I've listened to the recordings of the pilots communicating with air traffic control. They're difficult to hear. Not because of the technical details or the urgency in their voices, but because of the unmistakable realization that something terrible is happening and that they may not be able to stop it.

Novels I'm NOT Writing Right Now - Part 1

Sunset Perfect is the novel that refuses to be written. I've decided to give up on a novel. That's not an easy thing for a writer to admit, particularly when you've spent years working on it. And when I say years, I mean years. Hundreds of drafts. Different plots. Different characters. Different perspectives. More beginnings than I care to remember.

And after all that, I've come to a rather unpleasant conclusion. I don't think I want to write this book right now.

The Next Video - Introducing "Stories I'm Not Writing Right Now"

My studio in the morning is dark! But hopefully the point gets across in this latest video vignette.

Been a Bit . . .

It's been a bit sense I posted any quotes from books I read that have focused on quotes about the morning. For a long while, I would post these often (see HERE).

Yesterday, while reading an old favorite, I ran into two . . . Boom! Boom!  . . . one after the other. Hard to ignore. I had to post them. 

A True Addict

I have/had a friend, who I think is a true addict. When I say this, I mean like a "sad," or "pathetic" addict. The type who can't help themselves. The types that are on a downward spiral and they can't pull up. Think of Nicolas Cage's character in the last half of Leaving Las Vegas. Or think of Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club. Maybe even Mark Renton in Trainspotting.

I will freely admit that I'm a coffee-holilc. I love coffee. My morning doesn't seem complete without a good cup of coffee in it. I like the taste, I love the ritual, I enjoy the habit. Have I quit before? I sure have. I missed the ritual, so I came back after a couple of months. 

Last of a Bunch

Back when I was going through my course work for my PhD, one of my favorite professors mentioned to the class that an easy way to "break into" academic publishing is through providing book reviews. Ergo, I started reading new books on adult learning and memory and providing reviews. 

Where did I get published? 

Well the savvy reader of this blog will remember all of my prior reviews (HERE, HERE, HERE) that I targetted AAACE's Adult Learning Journal. 

Sure Took a While

Who knew?! Last week I earned my Jungle tab. Well, I actually earned it on August 7th or so, but only found out about it last week. 

Why? Well, it's a retroactive award. The statement from the Army says that: the Jungle tab is awarded to soldiers who completed unit-level training at the Jungle Operations Training Center at Fort Sherman, Panama, from 1990 until its closure in 1999. Guess who was there in 1996!

Article Four

Last week's post made me realize that I have forgotten to log a few non-creative writing publications lately. The first that I can think of is this one (HERE) that is actually a follow-up from this one (HERE). Both of these are for the Professional Safety Journal (PSJ), and it will make more sense why this came to mind, and why I'm posting about them, in a month or so. 

This was an interesting one to say the least. It was probably also the first one I ever developed, . . . maybe not completely, but the idea came to mind before any other of my dissertation articles. 

About My Current Writing Status

I promised . . . mostly myself . . . but also my readers  . . . that I would produce at least some video content. Ergo, I offer the below. 

I have a lot of travel coming up, so expect more. 

Non-Creative Writing Publication

I have so many of these in the past few years . . . non-creative writing publication. Like 5 times as many truth be told. I should be excited about htat right? Publication is fun. But I'll tell you a secret, . . . I'd prefer to have a creative writing publication. 

BUT, that also requires writing creatively . . . which I'm doing, and I'll post on later. It's just taking more time than I thought.This could be because I'm paid to write non-creatively. 

This article comes by way of BIC again . . . . Business and Industry Connction. I remember reading BIC when I first started in this industry decades ago. Did I ever think I'd be writing for BIC as much as I do now? Nope. 

My Own Romantic Comedy

If I could write any type of story, it would be a romantic comedy about friends who don't realize that they are in love but slowly come to realize that they are. I can't get enough of those. 

There are tons of different typical storylines that romantic comedies follow, but the "Friends to Lovers" is my favorite. 

Is Three Responses Viral

Very few posts in my blog have gone "viral" but getting three responses to a post, then two others from a follow up post . . . well for me that is "viral." 

Because of this interest, I did a bit more digging. And I found another. Sadly, I don't think I'll find any of the others. Maybe that's a good thing. 

Last?

I heard from three readers! Three! That's a ton if you ask me. But they enjoyed the "updates from the field" series that I've been running to ground. 

However . . .

This could be it. This is all I could find from the series of humorous posts from the front-lines from our CEO that I produced for a leadership group I created at work years ago. 

Humor From a While Back

I've been inspired by McManus, and I'm trying to write some short stories that are more humorous than my normal writing. Doing this brings to mind some writing I did back in 2018 in our Leadership Group on Facebook. 

I posted one of them HERE, years ago. But there were several more in the series. I've found what I could and I'll post those as I can, but here's what I had. 

Write Up My Alley

I saw this image in some social media feed and it hit me. Some do, . . . some don't . . . this one did. Why? Not sure, but it made me realize I have a lot more writing to do. 

According to AI this meme is "mostly true" . . . for example AI told me that many of Pablo Picasso's pieces were just sketches. BUT, when you consider that it's 150,000 . . . even the fact that they're just sketches is impressive. 

Beloved Book Club

I'm a part of a book club, and recently Beloved came up for discussion. I read Beloved back in high school, and just going back and getting ready to read it again brought back so many bad memories that I decided this might be one book that the book club reads, reviews, and discusses that I won't be a part of. 

I had a hard time with this book. I even remember arguing with our teacher about it and trying to get extra points on quizzes and tests. What I found funny about this is that when I was in middle school and high school, I was constantly getting into trouble for reading. I would read what was assigned immediately, then go back to my own reading list. I remember cracking open Beloved, knocking it out, and coming away more confused than ever. I can't imagine what some of my classmates, especially the ones who didn't enjoy reading and weren't very good readers, got through that module of the class.

The Next Video . . . about the Next Series . . . which includes the Next Book

 Hello! Thought it was time to fulfill my stretch goal and record another video. Again, this is about my reading series, which I've discussed before HERE and HERE.

Publications . . . on a Random Week in July

My boss, every now and then, requires a more complete update from his leadership than he usually gets. So, at those times, we all go in and draft much more explicit and detailed reports that show everything that our departments are doing. 

Now there are times when I'm circumspect about what I post here. I don't need some hacker on the other side of the world knowing my address or phone number or where I'll be on September 2nd. Worse, I don't need to be posting our Research Department's strategy and tactics for all of the world, or our competitors to see. However, knowing which journals I've submitted articles to, doesn't seem to me to be too confidential. 

Best Writing Beards

In my last video, I spoke about my audience for this blog. One large cohort of this audience has pitched a very compelling and cogent question. Basically, many of my former students who like to peruse this blog have asked what happened to my beard.

I'm sure the men in the above picture, famous authors all, need no introduction. It only made sense last year that I too go down the route and become a great bearded writer as well. Well, when making videos for my classes, I couldn't very well shave or hide the beard. Ergo, there's an entire cohort of graduate students, many of whom follow this blog, who are wondering what happened to the beard. 

New Readers and New Audiences

 So, in my efforts to continue to move away from just providing written word updates, here's my next video. Enjoy.

Another Academic Publication

As this blog is about my writing and (hopeful) publication, I thought I'd mention some of the other publications that I have earned. In this most recent case, the June issue of Adult Learning, a peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education, was released yesterday, and there at the bottom is my name listed next to a book review.

I remember one of my professors saying that an easy way to get started in the academic publication world is to publish a book review. She was (and I believe still is) an editor of the journal, and I think she was trying to get more book reviews for it, since it's a constant part of each issue, and I'm sure they have to fill the funnel every now and then. Regardless, I took her at her word, and I have to say she was right. 

Brenda Video

 Second video-inspired post. Enjoy.

Reading Series

This may be challenging to see, but this is my reading series challenge. About a year and a half or two years ago I made myself a goal to read through several series of books all written by the same author. I've made some good progress, but boy do I still have a long way to go. 

These aren't the only books I've read. I just finished an "off series" book, and actually, I'd bet it's about 3 to 1. For every 4 books I read, 3 are from the series. Some of these are commitment books. I just finished Rainbow 6, and that sucker is long.