Steven E. Wedel's Blog, page 7

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...

Books of 2018

I once again failed to meet my goal of reading 50 books last year. I managed 44 books with a total of 11,604 pages, which is actually more pages than 2017 when I read 47 books. But it’s still a failure. Oh well. It’s a new year.

Here are the highs and lows of 2018’s reading list, starting with the bad. I didn’t bother to finish anything so bad I only gave it one star, but I had a few 2-star reviews. A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee leads that list because I just didn’t care about any of the...

Getting back on track

Here it is December and I’ve only made one blog post all year. It’s been an eventful year in my personal life. I’m not going to go into details here because, honestly, most of it is personal and nobody else’s business. But for the couple of you who may care …

After 32 years of marriage, my wife and I separated last year. The divorce became final this past October. I moved into an apartment following the separation and lived there for a year. About a month ago I started the process of buying a...

Walking Out: A Teacher’s Perspective

Tomorrow morning I’ll join many of my colleagues in voting yes to walk off my job as a teacher on April 2nd. It’s a vote that comes with a lot of anger, a lot of concern for my students, and a lot of fear for my own future.

Today our district superintendent laid out what will happen in terms of our salaries if this walkout drags on for an extended period. It isn’t pretty, folks. In terms of salary, there’s a cutoff date and if the walkout goes beyond that, teachers won’t get 1/6 of their annu...