Sunday, March 27, 2016

Gray Men Books 2 & 3 Cover Reveals

I finally came up with titles for the second and third Gray Men Books. I also designed the covers. Here's a look:






Saturday, March 19, 2016

What Are You Waiting For? - Thoughts on the Creative Life

I got thinking about the nature of doing creative work (music, art, writing, etc.) and wonder why people just don't get to doing what they love.

Sure, there are excuses. Lack of time. Lack of energy. People will think it's stupid or that you suck.

People ask me how I find time to write novels. You just have to make time. Even if it's fifteen minutes a day (this applies to drawing or playing guitar, or whatever it is you like to do).

Another common complaint: There's no money in it. So what? Creating art is important. Along with my family, creating shit keeps me sane. And eventually you might make some money at it, so why not do it?

Just start.

Get up earlier and paint.

Stay up a half hour later and write a few pages.

Bargain with your partner/spouse for some time. They go to the gym for an hour. You get an hour to work on your music.

Write on your lunch hour.

Get to it. If not now, when?

Not when you retire. Not when you have more free time (you won't, trust me). Now.

What are you waiting for?

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Work on The Gray Men, Sabres Visit

I'm continuing the edits on book three of the Gray Men Trilogy, Star Wars mug filled with coffee. Somehow writing seems easier and better with a Star Wars mug at hand. Maybe it's a security blanket thing.

I recently started using the Track Changes feature in MS Word. Don't know why I never thought of this before. It's nice for adding notes to the manuscript. I guess I've been old school, using a notebook to remind myself of things I need to edit, double-check, etc.

We spent a wonderful day at the Sabres-Hurricanes game yesterday. My son is participating in a Make-a-Wish promo with Sabres' goalie Chad Johnson. Chad was gracious enough to join my wife and son for lunch the other day after the promo shoot. He also gave us tickets to yesterday's game. After the game, we went down in the locker room to see Chad. My son also got to meet Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, who were funny, friendly, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying visiting with fans.  Nice to see athletes taking the time to interact with their fans.

I guess if there's a lesson in here for writers, it's always treat your fans with respect. I've had a small amount of notoriety in the Buffalo area due to my books. I'm always grateful when a reader says they loved one of my books. And honestly, it keeps me going. If no one ever bought another copy of my books, I'd still keep writing for fun, but it's nice to hear sometimes that you aren't playing to an empty room.

Saw A Quiet Place II This Weekend

Jenn and I went for lunch yesterday, then saw A Quiet Place II at the Aurora Theater. The Aurora is a great little theater. One screen, and...