Stephen Burckhardt's Blog: My Blog Ramblings, page 79

I've Said It Before, I Hate Murphy!

It's sad how correct Murphy's Law is. I had such great plans for today. So far, all of them have fallen apart. I only have two classes scheduled to teach this week so I naively thought I would have loads of time to devote to my writing, starting today. Wrong!I had planned ahead for this week of work, which should have told me from the start I would be doomed. I ran loads of errand and did all the grocery shopping this last weekend so I could stay sequestered in the house all week long and do nothing but work on my books and teach a few classes. The beginning of the end started innocently enough with a simple request from P.R. Could I please go the post office today and send a registered letter for P.R.? Of course I said, yes. I decided, since I had to go out anyway, I would stop by my doctors office to deliver a few forms I needed her to fill out for me and run a few more errands. I had it all planned to be finished by noon today. Yeah, right!I had walked halfway to the doctors office when I realized I didn't have my paperwork with me I needed her to fill out. I decided to go ahead and go there and discuss it with her and would email her copies of it later. However, when I got to her office it was packed. She doesn't take appointments, it's all on a first come first served basis so I decided to come back for her afternoon hours. I told them I would be back and left to run the errands. I had also left my phone at home so I had no idea what time it was. I ran the errands and  heard the church bells ringing as I made my way home. It was already noon. I get in and try to cool down and there is a knock at the door, it is the landlord. He informed me that the painters will finally be showing up to paint the window frames in our apartment. Great! They will be here all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm hoping they can finish up quick and get out! Now, I'm going to head back out to the doctors office and try this again. I have to return something I bought this morning because it is just too big for what I wanted to use it for,  As God is my witness, I will be able to write something today!  I have been waiting too long for this day to lose it completely. Wish me luck!

Fourth of July, Mac & Cheese, and Final Exams

 Yesterday was a busy day for me. I got up and spent my morning going through practice tests, over and over again. I found an app for the class I was taking (there seems to an app for just about everything anymore) and had been furiously reviewing all 310 questions that could possibly be on my test. For this class, there is a bank of 310 questions out of which they randomly pull 33 questions. You only need to answer 17 questions right to pass. I'm sure you all are thinking, wow, that is an easy pass, and you'd be right. However, I'm one of those OCD, I want everything in my world to be perfect, kind of people. So, I studied my ass off in hopes of achieving a perfect score. The morning of my test, I obsessively took the practice tests again and again. I was getting a perfect score most of the time but occasionally I would miss one or two answers, which is still well above the requirements to pass my class but that just wasn't good enough. There were several options in this app. You could quiz yourself on regular random tests, retake just the questions you have missed at least once, or more than once. You could quiz by question category, questions you got right, and even just quiz on all 310 questions. I did them all. By the time I left for class, I got my overall average score up to 99%. Who wouldn't be thrilled with that score? Apparently, me.  I felt disappointed, I had hoped for better. I got to class early and decided to run though the practice tests a few more times before the teacher came in to give us the test. While everyone else sat and chatted, I practiced again and again and finally got my overall score to an average of 100%. I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself. That didn't last long. The teacher came in and ran through the usual testing information and checked everyone's IDs. After we all filled out the forms it was time to open our test booklets and begin. I felt so ready for this!I opened my test booklet and read the first question and . . . I had no idea what the answer was. I didn't even remember having ever read this question. I felt like someone punched me in the gut. My chance at a perfect score seemed impossible from question one.   Reading that first question and realizing I had no idea what the right answer was just took the wind right out of my sails but I pushed on. I skipped question one and went to two. This one I knew, no problem. Three, I knew this one too. I began to pick up speed as I ticked off answer after answer with a renewed confidence. I got to the end and went back to question one. I read the question again, slowly. I focused on the key words and something flickered. I thought I remembered something the teacher had said and I scanned the answers again for anything that came close to what I was remembering. One word seemed to catch in my memories and I marked my last answer. I felt tension release that I didn't realize I was holding. Now, there had been one other question in the middle of the test where I had gone back on forth between two answers, but I m pretty sure I came to the correct conclusion on that one. So, as it stands, I feel confident I passed my test and am finally finished with my classes. I can relax and get back to what I miss most right now, writing!It will be a few weeks before I get my results back and know my final fate. What will it be? It will fall between having achieved 100%, missing one question for 97%, or at the worst, missing two for 94%, I won't lie, if it's anything other than 100% I will be disappointed but life will go on.Shaggy will be thrilled I will be home with him more. We can go on walks and work on more training for him. We were working on "play dead" but he needs a little bit more practice on that one. He hasn't figured out that being dead means not waging your tail. He will get it eventually, I have faith in him.Being finished with school right now is the most glorious feeling. I face a future filled with days where I am writing again, spending more time with P.R. and Shaggy, and giving homework instead of doing it! What could be better?

Things are Looking Promising!

Yesterday, I took a practice test in class and got 87% this time. I'm not celebrating yet but it's looking like I should be able to pass this test okay. You cannot imagine how much stress this has released and how excited I'm finally letting myself get about the idea of getting back to writing my serial again.Don't get me wrong, I love learning. I never want to stop learning. If I could go to college for the rest of my life and write full-time, and have quality time with P.R., I'd jump all over that! But, alas, I am not one of those master multitaskers anymore. I used to be but that was many years ago. This class I am currently taking, is incredibly fascinating. I took American history in junior high, high school, and college and I've learned things in this class I had never heard before. This current instructor is someone I could listen to for hours, which is a good thing since each class is four hours long and, I'll admit, I'm constantly amused by the fact that he looks like a clone of Vin Diesel.I'm one of those people who has a very difficult time with focusing when the lecture goes past and hour but this guy can really hold my attention, which is fascinating in itself. Usually, I start zoning out about 45 minutes in and after a hour, I'm totally gone into my own world in my head. However, with this class I'm present from start to finish and only have a few minutes of losing focus. That says a lot about the class topic and the instructor who is delivering it.So, now I'm going to go study a bit more before my class. We'll see how I do on today's practice test. I'm not too worried if I do not score as high on this one today. The material I covered last night was a lot more in depth than what I covered yesterday. However I just keep telling myself that I only need to score 52% to pass this test and so far every test I have take has been 70% or higher. I plan to study everyday from now until the test so things can only get better. I want to try to make myself take a week off from everything after this test and decompress a little before I just back into writing full speed. However, I also know myself and the chances of me making myself do that are about 50-50. I have several books I have bought that I have been dying to read. I may see how many I can get through in a week. I also need to reread my first two books to get the whole story line back in my head. But I know at the very least I'll probably write up the free short stories I had been promising for the members only section in the Saloon on my webpage. If you want to read those, it's free to join. Just sign up for the mailing list and you are in. You get first notice about all the freebies and publication dates. Don't worry about getting loads of mail from me. Right now I think It's been about one email about every three months and my goal is just to be consistent with one email a month.  So sign up, get free stuff, and I promise not to overload you with emails! 

Only One More Week to Go!

The end is so near I can almost taste it! Just one more week of classes and on the fourth of July I will take my final test. If I pass it, I am done with all of my course work and I can get back to writing by the second week of July. I am so happy and nervous at the same time. First off, I have no idea how long it will take to get the results of my test. The last one took a month. If I pass this test, everything goes back to normal. I will no longer be a student. I will get to just focus on teaching my ESL classes and writing!  I cannot imagine anything better. Well, if I made enough money writing and could just do that, that would be better, but that is the only thing that comes to mind. That is my goal I'm working towards. One day!But for now I need to get back to studying for my test. I have taken a few practice tests and I keep making about 75% on the test, which is passing by a safe margin. I only need to make 52% to pass so I should be good to go but I would much rather spend the next seven days studying and being overly prepared than to get cocky and end up tanking the test and pushing all of my plans for writing back even more than I have had to the last two years. So, please, stick with me a little while longer. If you've gone along with me to this point you might as well see how it all turns out, right? I have some plans to do many things to thank my loyal followers for sticking with me through this whole mishegoss. Details will be coming soon but I'm thinking contests for autographed books, more free short stories, and few more possiblities.I will have to wait a little while longer for the audio versions of the books. Right now our audio studio is a bit too noisy to record. Our neighbors are doing renovations on the building that is on the other side of the wall of our sound studio. There is no way we can get a clean recording right now. I have no idea how much longer the construction is going to go on but if it's still going full force when I am through with my class, I will go next door and ask them if they can give me a timeline because Dianne and I need to get back to work on the recordings. If you happen to think of it on the fourth of July, think a good thought for me that I pass this test and can get back to doing what I love most, writing these stories for you!  Thank you for sticking with me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!

I Can See the Light!

Hello, y'all. You have no idea how much I miss you and am just chompin' at the bit to get back to writing my Into the West Serial Saga.  The good news is my class I have been taking is almost over!!!  I feel like I can finally see the light at the end of a very long dark tunnel. I just have four more weeks and one final test and I am through, forever, never to return again. Thank you, God! Once I finish this class, I will be finished with my coursework and can just focus all my energy into writing full-time and teaching part-time. I have had book three and four floating around in my head for so long now I'm surprised I haven't literally gone insane. So many twists and surprises are still yet to come. I already have big plans for my return to writing. I still owe you all a second short story about what happened to Margret after she left the children at the church. It is important for what I want to happen in book five. You won't need to know it to follow the main story but it gives you more insight into the characters backstory and motivation for later actions. I've even been toying with an idea for another short about Sonya about from when her parents died to how she ended up at the foundlings home.  We will see.When I get back to work in July, I will let you know more about what is coming out. There will be freebies, announcements, and maybe even a contest or two. So please, stick with me for a little while longer. I truly plan to try to make it all worth your wait. For those of you who are still following along, I will never be able to thank you enough.  

The end is near . . . I hope!

This next week is my last week of classes I will have one final class the following Tuesday but then the major portion of my class work is finished. There is a second part to this class but it will only be two days a week for 10 more weeks. That is the plan if I pass my tests I have coming up.This Thursday I have the course certification test. I need to get 60% on this for certification. Then Saturday, April 22 I have my government recognized certification class. I need 60% on that test as well for certification.I'll be honest. I think I have a chance to pass this test but it's not a done deal. I was sick with pneumonia twice and missed a total of 6 weeks of classes. That is a lot of in formation to miss. I am hopeful and I will be working my butt off to prepare for these tests. Even so, I see a lot of praying in my future.No matter what happens with the tests I will have at least one free week before I need to either start the second phase of the course or retake a month of the last class and take the tests again. During that week, I will need a distraction to get my head out of this class. Since I was sick on my last class break (when I had planned on writing another short story for you all) and just stayed in bed and slept instead of writing, I plan to make up for that on this next break, barring another bout with pneumonia, of course. (knock on wood)So if you have a preference as to which character you would like to read more about, Margret MacBride or Sonya Busby just let me know. So far I have more requests for Margret. I have her story in my head already and I have to say it's good.  It will be a great way to set up something I plan to have happen in book 5. But since these little short stories are my way of making it up to those of you who are waiting for the next story to come along, I think it only far to let majority rule on the topic.So think good thoughts for me on on my test days and let me know if you want another short story on Sonya or one on Margret. They will both be coming eventually because now that I have them in my head they will need to come out at some point, I just want you to let me know which one you want during my next break. The other one will still follow at a later time. Thank you all for sticking with me!

One Day at a Time . . .

It's been too long since I was on my computer writing anything I have a passion about. Most of you might know I am taking a class I have to finish. I was talking to a few of the ladies in my class today and it hit me home much I miss writing. I was only weeks away from the end of the first section of my class when I got sick and missed the first two weeks of this last month of my class. I missed four chapters in those two weeks.I have my big final exam coming up in two weeks. If I pass, I do not have to deal with this part of the course ever again, if I don’t pass, I have choices to make. Do I retake the last month of classes or just study on my own and retake the test? My hope is, I can study like crazy between now and the last day of class and pass the test. Hold good thoughts for me, please. I will need them.Once I pass this part of the course, I still have ten more weeks of the next section of the class but it will go from five hours a day, Monday through Friday, to four hours a day on just Tuesday and Thursday. Right now, I would have to give up sleeping to be able to keep up with this class and write. My hope is, once I get to the next section, where I only have classes two days a week, I can get back to writing!It is crazy how much I miss my characters. They are in my head, milling around, begging to get out and onto the page so I can share them with all of you. It's like having people read them gives them life. As long as they stay locked up in my head, they are in limbo waiting for their turn to be born.I am so stressed out because I am not writing. I cannot wait for the day I get to write down the next two installments for theInto the West Saga Serial.They have been in my head playing over and over since I finishedInto the West: A New Home. I still haven't worked out the last book in this series but I am sure that will come once I get closer to part five.I just want to thank everyone for being patient and waiting for the next few books.THEY ARE COMING!My hope is to have part three at least mostly written,if not finished and ready to publish, before my birthday in September. I've kind of made it a habit to use my books as a way to honor the birthdays of my loved ones so maybe this next one will be a gift to me for my 50th birthday in September. I can't think of a better gift to myself!

Sonya's Home is Available for Download

Hello all!  I made it.Sonya's Homeis now available to download from the Members Only page at StephenBurckhardt.com.If you are already a member, just go to the website, click on the Saloon in the menu bar. Select "Members Only" in the drop-down menu and sign in. Click on the red PDF symbol underSonya's Home.If you are not a member, don't worry. It's absolutely free to join. Just follow the same directions as above only instead of signing in you will create your sign in. Once that is done, just sign in and download your free PDF of Sonya's Home.Thank you, my readers, for sticking with me during this hiatus as I finish up my class. I am in the last two months and will be able to get back to writing full-time when this is finished.Next month, there will be one more week vacation between sections. I'll be writing you one more companion short story to give you something to enjoy until I can get back to the main story.The next short will be about what happened to Margret McBride as she faced her new life without her children.So, thanks again, take care and I hope you enjoy the short story.I'm off to study for my class again.Stephen Burckhardt

This Might Sound Crazy, I'm Okay With That

I have been working on a short story for you guys who follow me and my work. My thank you for sticking with me while I finish up a class I need to take.This first short was supposed to be just a look at what happened to Sonya after the train pulled away but as I started writing I realized I wanted to give more of a look into why she acts the way she does.As this story has been unfolding I have to say Sonya is creeping me out a bit. Sometimes I wonder where my ideas come from. At times it seems as if I am just writing the facts of someone I know. Like it's not something I'm making up off the top of my head but more like taking dictation from someone else.I know most authors write outlines and rough drafts and go through several versions before they land on their final draft. For me, I just sit down and start writing with a basic idea in mind of the direction I want to go and the characters I want to use and just let the story write itself.  I'll do another walk through to correct mistakes and clean it up a bit after the fact but the bones of the story always stay just as I wrote it the first time through.Since I have not been writing because of the class I'm finishing up, the characters fromInto the Westhave been sort of just hanging out in the back of my mind, waiting somewhat patiently for me to finish up my schoolwork and get back to writing full-time. When I sat down to write this it was like I heard a collective sigh of relief that I hadn't forgotten them and remembered to come back for them.This short has gone in a direction I had never previously considered. I always had an idea in my head about what happened to Sonya after the train pulled away and how she would pop back up later in the story but the characters apparently didn't like my idea and brought a whole new scenario to the page. I like this one much better. It has more compassion to it.So if you would like to read this short when I am finished all you have to do is sign up for my Members Only page onStephenBurckhardt.com. Click on the Saloon tab in the menu bar to get the drop down menu then click on the Members Only link. All it takes is to create a sign on and you are in. There are no fees for this section. By signing up you will get occasional members only updates, insider info, and of course special freebies like Sonya's short story.When my class goes on a week break next month I will write another free short for you guys. This time it will be about Elizabeth and Conner's mother, Margret, after she wakes up the next day after leaving her children at the church. I know where I want that story to go too but who knows where Margret will take me after I start writing that one. She is even more stubborn that Sonya but at least she is more sane.Time to get back to writing. Sonya wants her special story finished NOW!

Quick Update: Classes Almost Complete

Hello, all. I just wanted to jump online and give you a quick update of where I am right now. I just had a big test with my class and I will know the results Monday, February 13th. If I passed the test, I will only have two more months of classes. Once this class is finished, I can get back to writing full-time.In the meantime, I want to do something to help tide those of you over who are so patiently waiting for the the next book,Into the West: Sharon Springs, to come out. This week, school is on a break. I have no assignments to do and no test to study for. I won't even have the next book until the 13th. So, since I have a week free from classwork, I want to do something special for you, my readers.I know a few people have asked me about Sonya. The last thing anyone knows about her was Mrs. Kelly watching Sonya through the train window as the train was pulling away from the station. Sonya was kicking and screaming on the train platform as Dr. Nickel, Ms. Walters, and Mrs. Blake tried to restrain and sedate her.  So much happened with Sonya after the train pulled away (well. in my own mind at least) and I have decided to share some of that with you. This week I am going to write a short story about what happened with Sonya after Mrs. Kelly couldn't see her anymore.This short is going to be given to you, my readers, for free. The only catch is, to get this you have to sign up for the members only part of my website.  There is no charge to sign up for this. This access will get you more free things in the future. After a month our class will take another week off before finishing up the last stretch of our class. I was planning to write another short after that. I was thinking to write the second one on Elizabeth and Conner's mother and what happened with her after she gave up the children. These stories will not be in any of the books, at least not in any books I have planned at this time. They are just going to be free extras for those of you who are being so patient as I finish up my class.To join the members only page just click on the saloon on my webpage. A drop-down menu will appear. Click on "Members Only." When you do this, a page comes up that lets you create a password to get into this section. Just fill out the form and you are in. The short story should be available for download by the end of the week.So, that is news for now. Please, think good thoughts for my test scores. I don't have to have the highest score in the class, I just have to pass so I can finish this and get back to writing!