Vector First

Despite not really enjoying it as much as I hoped, I still finished it . . . it being Vector by Robin Cook. It took me back to summer days when I hung out with my grandfather on his Bed and Breakfast (see HERE) in Chappell Hill. 

We would go hit the resale book shop in Brenham and I'd buy novels. I'd buy Louis L'Amour books, Stephen King novels, whatever Sci-Fi and Fantasy books they might have. We, my grandfather and I, were voracious readers and would compete to see who could read the most and return the most books while we were there. I remember buying Robin Cook's there too. I guess as a young student, middle schooler and high schooler, he was fun to read. 

Westerns as Political Allegories

Anyone who reads this blog will know I have a little piece of my heart reserved for Louis L’Amour dime store westerns. I used to read them just for light fun. They’re great because there is no moral controversy. There’s a very clear line of wrong vs right. They’re a bit nonsensical and fantastic. They’re light and fun. 

The first one I ever read, I settled in for a good long novel, and instead I got a series of short stories. I didn’t know the Bowdrie novels were only short story pieces. I was hoping for a novel about the character. Still, they were great little ditties. 

Westerns as Political Allegories

Anyone who reads this blog will know I have a little piece of my heart reserved for Louis L’Amour dime store westerns. I used to read them just for light fun. They’re great because there is no moral controversy. There’s a very clear line of wrong vs right. They’re a bit nonsensical and fantastic. They’re light and fun. 

The first one I ever read, I settled in for a good long novel, and instead I got a series of short stories. I didn’t know the Bowdrie novels were only short story pieces. I was hoping for a novel about the character. Still, they were great little ditties. 

Self Care

I’m not a fan of self care. I think it’s a silly term and whenever I hear someone use the term I roll my eyes just a bit. Not enough so that anyone might notice, but it happens. Well, the other week I had a bit of an episode, an eye opener, that made me realize I need to invest in a bit of self care. 

When I was a kiddo I had back pain every so often. It was debilitating for short times. When it hit, I was down for the day. Never figured out what it was, but when I joined the Army it seemed to get a lot better. Was it all the front leaning rest building the core? All of those flutter kicks? All the workouts? The rucking? Could be, probably was. 

I'm a Streaker

I've determined, over the past 50 or so years, that I really enjoy streaks. What's that mean? It means I'm a person of habit. That I enjoy having a system, or a set habit every day. But, sad to say, a long running streak I was keeping up quite well, has fallen at 122 days. 

I was using Duolingo to not only get into interactive learning environments and microlearning but also to try and prep for my eventual . . . and hopeful (HERE) . . . live in Costa Rica . . . Four years away and counting . . . (down). 

Always Someone Worse Off

An auspicious title, no? What could that mean? What inspired so much negativity? 

I remember talking to someone a while back about how I see my life and attitude about life as sine wave. It goes up and it goes down. The amplitude isn’t too steep, nor too deep. It’s a smooth wave that slowly goes up and down never too far from the y axis. What’s the y axis in this case? That’s me. That’s my attitude. Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down, but I’m never too far from the “norm” or the standard. And the standard, that y axis is on the positive side of the graph. 

Feel Good Reviews!

I haven't checked in a while, so I ran into two reviews and I was pleasantly surprised, and happy to read them. As I've said before, this is the best part of the job.

This first one is short and sweet. I like that he was expecting one thing, and I gave him something unexpected and surprising. Plus, every writer wants to hear that they have written a realistic and relatable character. 

Reading Multiples

When I was younger I had several rules for reading. 1) I had to read every book I started. No matter what I had to slog through it. 2) I could only read one book at a time. 3) there are several other rules, but none so easy to express or remember as the first two. 

What happened to rule #1? Well, I realized that life was too short for bad books. It takes a lot for me to give up on a book, but I will. I will set a book aside if I start reading it and realize it's just not worth it. I have better things to do. 

Last Cook?

It's been a while since I read a Robin Cook novel. Medical thrillers are fun, and because I'm not in the medical field, they're new and novel. Robin Cook's books, as I remember, are fast-paced and interesting. So I was surprised it had been such a long while since I read one. 

I remember now . . . that besides being fun, fast-paced, and new, they're also fairly poorly written. 

Work Intrudes

 I’ve had to take a break from my creative writing. Which is too bad. I was hitting a good daily clip of writing at least 600 words a day. But, as always, work and life intrude on creative writing and I had to refocus my attention for a bit. 

BUT, that doesn’t mean I’ve not been writing. In fact, the work that intruded had everything to do with writing.