They Are Coming

It's a new year, and in a few more months it'll be time for the second annual Columbus Zombie Walk, boys and girls! Sweet zombie Jesus, I can't wait. This first YouTube how-to will get you started, and I'll explain a bit more about this awesome weekend later. Toodles.

Neglecting my Blog

Sorry! We'll work on that.

I want to give a plug for any of you who still bother to check my blog - you should read a recently published novel called Head Games. It was written by my managing editor, Craig McDonald, and I've almost finished it - I can't put it down. It's a crime novel that takes place along the TexMex border in the 1950's, and without getting into the plot too much, I'll say that involves Hemingway, Orson Welles, the Skull and Bones Society, and best of all, the unclaimed skull of Pancho Villa. McDonald's story zips right along, his characters ring true, and it's taking me longer than it should to read a 200-300 page book, because I keep re-reading his prose. Y'all should read it.

Here's hope to all of us Midwestern writers - becoming published is not a myth! It can be done!

On another note, things have been mostly status quo with me. Aside from almost taking a slug in deer season this year (first time in 15 years of hunting that's ever happened), I've spent more time working on the fiction than the exposition here at MMNIE. My house is spotless, which is a big step; my bills are being paid on-time, by yours truly (a very important part of mental health), the knee's feeling better thanks to Mom's medicinal suggestions (Osteo Bi-Flex, baby!), work's going well, especially with the bevy of familiar faces put in a professional setting, and the first two-three chapters of my book have been securely mapped out in my brain. Life is good. The past few months have been filled with productivity, shooting pool with friends and discussing story structure, cooking dinner with my tiny Columbus family unit, snow ball fights, entertaining Columbus radio stations, playing with my four-wheel-drive, and strong handshakes in Westerville. Never underestimate the value of a solid handshake.

Yeah, things have been good. Life's getting on track. It seems we're all beginning to weather the ravages of 2007, and coming out on the other side. Well done, all.

There are still steps that need taking, but they can be taken with a full heart. Chin up, kids.

Family Ties, Michael J. Fox and You

So I just spent basically the entire weekend with my sister. I think that's the first time we've done that in years - after I picked up stakes and left home for college, and then her subsequent foray into higher education, we've just sort of lost touch over the past five or six years. But she was in town for a two-day conference, and instead of wasting money on a hotel, she just crashed at my apartment.

Sometimes I forget that we actually do have things in common. Although she just graduated from a Christian college, and her faith is a major part of her life (and I've sort of left mine to the way-side) we basically still have similar senses of humor, we both have the same love for good books and movies, and, of course, we have the same set of family members to bitch about. Good times.

So Court and I drove around downtown Columbus Friday night, just shootin' the breeze and looking at the skyscrapers. We haven't actually talked for several years, and it was nice to get back into it and catch up. Apparently the latest update on Operation Get Courtney Married includes she and Craig possibly moving to Denver! Well, at least I'll have a free place to stay the next time I venture west. But that's an entirely different topic, for a different posting.