Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 67
August 28, 2013
And Then I Woke Up
When I went to sleep, I was thinking about the story I’m working on. When I woke up, I was thinking about the story I’m working on. This is exactly what I hoped would happen, when I decided to put off working on my new novel and pick up a short story instead. The novel […]
August 27, 2013
Bread and Butter Pickles
When my Earthboxgarden produced more cucumbers than I could consume, I naturally looked into pickling. As a child, I never cared for sweet pickles, but then again, theonly sweet pickles I had came in the form of hot dog relish, so it wasn’t a good introduction. Then, earlier this year, I saw “bread and butter” […]
August 26, 2013
The Unexpected Question
On Saturday, my wife asked the question a million spouses want to hear. Honey, do you want a Harley? We went to visit our friend, JZ Murdock, horror author and all-around nice guy, to take him out for a birthday lunch at ChocMo. ChocMo, in Poulsboover on Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula,is a great place. Appointed throughout […]
August 23, 2013
Flaysome Dins
Accent. Dialect. Patois. How much is too much? My wife’s grandmother was from Kennett, Missouri. Though soft-spoken, her words were sharp, focused, and colored by a distinct accent. It was that peculiar mixture of Midwestern and Southern that her family called “Okie,” and though hers had faded with age, it was still audible when she […]
August 22, 2013
Earthbox Update – Wk12
It’s official. This is the spideriest year in all of Seattle history. On the way to the compost pile, I count anywhere from five to (last night’s high count) eight spider webs. The back stairs are a prime spot, always with a minimum of two webs between the banisters. Orb weavers dominate the gardens, stringing […]
August 21, 2013
‘Sup?
A quick note to greet the new readers who’ve signed up in recent weeks. Naturally, some new subscribers are from WordPress, but there are also a few each from Facebook, Twitter, and now from tumblr as well. Welcome. I don’t know if it’s related or coincidental, but with new subscribers I often seen a handful […]
Walking the Slack-Rope
I drive up the unfamiliar street, looking at the numbers on each house until I find the one we want. I park and we get out of the car. My internal temperature spikes–though it’s August, it isn’t hot, yet the sweat beads on my brow as I retrieve the dishes I made for the pot-luck. […]
August 20, 2013
Making Quiet Time
My life has two major occupations: developing computer software and writing books. Both of them require creativity, discipline, and concentrated effort and thought. They require freedom from interruption and a quiet atmosphere. Yeah…ain’t gonna happen. Corporate America and the Agile revolution that has swept up nearly every IT shop in the nation are both completely […]
August 19, 2013
Where’s the Fire?
The glorification of “speed writing” baffles me. I know several writers who can write very fast. An old colleague (a swooper by habit) could tap out 30,000 words in a weekend. One author of my acquaintance has ghost-written a book in ten days, and blogged about it while he was doing it. In the Clarion […]
August 16, 2013
Crab-Walking
I want to write. I want to start writing my new novel. But I can’t. Not right now. This is not procrastination. This is not the usual fear of failure that stymies me at the beginning of new projects. This is fallout. Life has gone all Tennessee Williams on our asses, and it steals a […]
