Bob Jonas's Blog, page 7
December 7, 2016
Pearl Harbor Tribute
In thinking about Pearl Harbor today, I once again held the flag I was given in my Dad’s honor. Not until he died, when the mortuary noticed that he had been a vet, was I given a folded flag to honor his service. I placed it in a cupboard at home and when we moved, …
December 3, 2016
Good Bye Stuff
It begins, finally. After so many years of collecting, the time has come to simplify. We spent just an hour in our downstairs bedroom, AKA the dump for everything that does not have a place, and started sorting. Chrismas stuff was sorted from many boxes to three, stuff was set aside for grandchildren, for the high school drama department. …
November 20, 2016
Death Brew Lives
IT IS DONE!!!!!! First draft of Death Brew, sequel to Imposter, is a wrap. Started on January 3, 2015, first draft completed June 6, 2016, at 85,313 words, it needs to slim down by at least 15,000 words. How I love the next part, the revision, more fun than the writing. Working cover is the …
September 8, 2016
The Day the Darlings Died
Once again, I sit looking out over Colvos Passage, tears dripping onto my keyboard, blood dripping off the knife. Once again, I killed them, the darlings in my new book. Just like in all previous books, they had to go. I think William Falkner is given credit for the term, "kill your darlings," advising writers to "get …
July 11, 2016
It’s a Miracle
I had such fears, none of them justified. Susan said my snoring blew the tiles off the ceiling. I said, meh. She said I stopped breathing off and on all night long. I said. I’m still here. She dealt with my lackadaisical attitude by buying a noise machine that masked my snoring and other wretched …
June 10, 2016
Kissing My Mac Good Bye
Shouldn't this guy look happier? Please, having a moment. Saying good-bye to my trusty ten year old Macbook. Another moment, please. Okay, better. When I ordered it over the phone from my local Mac store in Seattle, the woman dutifully asked many qualifying questions. “No, just the MacBook Pro, the 1099.00 one, please." "Sir, you …
June 8, 2016
Mr. Suckee
Yesterday was my last day of one-day-a-week subbing on the island this school year. Grade six, six periods, hot outside, no air conditioning, blue sky, only two weeks left. Thought I had skills, but with not much control of expectations or consequences, sometimes skills don’t count for jack. Sixth and final period, fingernails digging deeper …
May 6, 2016
Persistence
Like all authors I have received more than my fair share of rejection letters. I’m not sure if others who have been rejected multiple times–being illustrators, musicians, or anyone who creates and starts out tender but develops a tough skin–have kept their rejection notices as faithfully as I have. Only now has my librarian/pack rat …
April 29, 2016
Talking It to the Next Level
Author Visit #1 on the Been There Done That Tour A dream I have nurtured for a very long time started coming true this week–my first author presentation at a local middle school. I've always thought that visits like these would be the best way to keep me out of trouble in retirement and a …
January 10, 2016
Now Available
In a more tolerant world, Zane Walker’s charade would have been ignored. In Saudi Arabia, a sixteen-year-old boy masquerading as an online cleric, cannot be ignored. Ina media studies class he is taking at an international school he is to create media personae, an online presence using social media. One student creates a new product. …
