Steven E. Wedel's Blog, page 7

Adventures in Online Dating, Part 3

It’s time to talk about the biggest issue I’ve had in the world of online dating. This is the one that makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with me, or with everyone else. Invariably, women say they want a man who can and will communicate. If you’ve ever received an e-mail or text message from me, you know I’m a little on the wordy side. (Short story markets pay by the word, ya know.) Communicating in writing is my medium. I’m not an introvert there at all.

Without fail, every woman fro...

Plugging Into the Divine

I have always had a fascination with the sea and the stars. As a child, I remember studying the stars from our backyard on the east side of Enid, Oklahoma, watching them twinkle, trying to decide which were stars and which were planets, looking for the constellations … the things kids do. I didn’t know at the time I was only seeing a tiny fraction of what was there.

I wanted to see the ocean for years, but there are no oceans in Oklahoma. In 1990, my then-wife and I drove to the Oregon coast ...

Stopped Watches

With the start of school and the return of the necessity of wearing long pants, I wanted to strap on a wristwatch again. But alas, all three of my wristwatches have dead batteries, as do both of my pocket watches. This made me think back into the last century when I got my first adult watch*.

Back in those days, watches had to be wound every morning. I wanted a watch for a long time and finally got a silver one. I think it was a birthday gift. I know I was in elementary school and from the sn...

Adventures in Online Dating, Part 2

It’s been a little over a year that I’ve been on dating sites. If I had a nickel for every time a lady describes herself as “sassy” or “strong” or “independent” or “fluent in sarcasm” I would have enough money that supermodels would be throwing themselves at me.

Don’t get me wrong. From what I understand, guys partake in the clichés, too, usually posting old photos or photos in hats and sunglasses and featuring the corpse of some animal or fish. This is just what women have told me. They have...

Adventures in Online Dating, Part 1

I’m an introvert by nature. I don’t have many friends, and I don’t get out much. It isn’t that I don’t want friends or don’t want to get out and do things. I do. I get bored and lonely at home. My dogs are only so much company. I used to have friends, back in school. No, not college … kindergarten through 12th grade. Maybe being married was a barrier to making close friends. I don’t know. My point is, I don’t get out much.

I’ve been divorced for almost three years now, and was separated for a...

2020 Books in Review

So, I lowered my standards in 2020 and set my Goodreads reading goal at 45 instead of 50. I read 46 books, though one isn’t listed on Goodreads and therefore my list only shows 45. Eh. Whatevs. As usual, this list won’t include rereads, like The Grapes of Wrath or The Chronicles of Narnia (by the way, I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe three times). So, without further ado, here are the highlights and disappointments of my 2020 reading list.

Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon ...

Living Alone

Living alone is waking up in the morning in the middle of the bed because there is no one to bump into during the restless night. It’s breakfast for one. One plate, one cup, one fork, one knife in the sink. It’s nobody asking about your plans for the day or complaining about how long you’re in the bathroom. It’s leaving for work unkissed, knowing there will be no hug to welcome you home when the day is over.

Living alone is facing the work day knowing that there is no one who’ll care to hear abo...

Call to the Hunt

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I find it weird but nice that the audiobook of Call to the Hunt continues to be my bestselling title, even over the books that come from major publishers. Granted, Dear Bully and After Obsession have both been out for several years, but well overlook that. haha

A couple of months ago, for reasons unknown to me, sales of the audio of Call to the Hunt spiked and it has remained my bestselling title in any format since then. When the spike first happened it was much higher on that chart than...

Back in the Saddle … for real this time

My blog has been so neglected the past two or three years. I think Ive made one post each the last two years, both claiming that I was over a hump and ready to get back to writing. And then I didnt. Couldnt.

But this time I think Im really back. In the past month I have finished a manuscript I started well over three years ago. I republished a novel for which the rights were returned to me last year. I edited that manuscript I finished, and today I finished the covers and uploaded two books...

Who am I?

Almost everything I know has changed since separating and then being divorced. One of the biggest issues I’ve been dealing with is depression, and that — and some of its causes — has led me to the belief that I no longer know who I am.

The depression has roots and symptoms that I’m not ready to talk about publicly, and those don’t really apply to this discussion about my loss of identity. So, for now, these are the issues on the table …

In December of last year I walked away from teaching hig...