Author: jongraylang

How is 2022 treating you all?

It’s been a whirlwind for me, so far. I’ve started in a new position at my ole nine to fiver and it is taxing the floppy pile of gray matter held in place by my skull.  It’s a bit more difficult than I had initially imagined, but also, it’s good to tax the brain.  Or so they tell me.

Fun stuff like my bank decided to change and the new bank doesn’t work for a small operation like myself.  So, I’ve been looking for a replacement and changing more settings than I thought possible. Never mind all the changes to advertising I’m having to learn on the fly.  With all that and my other responsibilities continue marching on.  The shoveling of snow has eaten away at the smaller and smaller windows of free time available to me.

That and my mom just got out of surgery for cancer and… yeah.  Plenty of thoughts occupies the doorway to my thoughts.

None of these things has helped me get any writing done lately.  I stare at that blinking cursor and all I want to do is not stare into a screen. The words don’t want to come out… well except when I’m trying to sleep, shower, or anything else that isn’t me on the computer at the time.

But there is a bit of respite coming my way, sort of.  I’ll be helping my mom out as she recovers, and I plan to sit down and write when I’m not doing that.  I’m glad my new job made it possible for me to take the time off suddenly.  That alone was a huge relief.

On the plus side, I have a few fun things planned for the future of the Matilda series that are away and running!  I can’t wait to show you!  So much fun! Fun! Fun!

Anyways, how’s 2022 treating you all? Drop a comment and say hi or what character is your favorite. Or what place in the Matilda Universe out there sticks out for you.

And I haven’t forgotten about the Nun with a Gun!  Once the Waltzing Matilda is out for editing, she’ll be back for a rousing adventure too!

Boom. First month of the year and first Con down. 

First off, hats off to the runners of COSine Con 2022 for getting it to happen.  With the location of the Con getting sold, the main headliners unable to attend due to Covid and a snowstorm blowing in, the Con still happened!

With all of that going on, it was a quiet affair. There were so many writers there, it was amazing.  I got to sit in on a few panels as well as attend some others and I got my learn on!  So many notes, I’m talking pages of them.

I was on panels and attended others with a lot of great people, Adam Gaffen, R. Gary Raham, David Boop, Jonathan Brazee, Kevin Ikenberry, Jim Henderson, Stephanie Gillis to name just a few! I mean, the list just goes on and on.

The audiobook panel was primo for me as that is the next big step. (well… after I finish the 1^st draft of Waltzing Matilda). It was incredibly informative and gave me a lot to chew on in preparation for the whole process.

Like what, you ask? Sound effects yay or nay? (big ole nay) What do the characters actually sound like? To me? Should I voice it myself or hire someone? Would a male voice sound weird for a female character and vice versa? What sort of business options are there for hiring a voice actor? There is more… I have copious notes.

So, woo to the next grand adventure!  You know, when I’ve got Waltzing Matilda in one piece.

I will be at COSine Con 2022!

What better way to start the new year than with a convention! I am pretty pumped to be part of COSine Con with one of my favorite authors as the Guest of Honor, C.J. Cherryh!

I hope I have some time to catch one of her panels in between the panels I’m on and my table time. I am busy prepping myself for the event and I’m a bit nervous.  I’ll be moderating a panel first thing on Saturday morning and that’s a new activity for me. 2022 is off to a bang and it’s only January!

The convention will be happening in Colorado Springs, CO from January 14^th to the 16^th.  I’ll be in the Dealer’s room the rest of the time, so swing on out and say hello!

What a strange and intriguing year it has been.  

It still blows my mind that there was a staged insurrection at the beginning of this year.  On top of that, the US military released footage of UFOs.  Never mind that New Zealand released its wizard from payroll and some scientists made a monkey/human hybrid embryo.  Self-replicating xenobots exist now too!  And to finish the year off is the introduction of a brand-new variant of Covid-19 that sounds like it was named after a Decepticon.

On the good side, Britney Spears was freed from her conservatorship.  And the latest androids are amazing!  I’m sure there were other things, but it gets terribly distracting reading all the news… it makes you want to answer the call when the other side of the mirror beckons.

But all in all, 2021 has been very good for me.  Not only was I able to go and check on my family, but I also got to see the ocean on both sides of this giant block of land.  And how I have missed the ocean(s) as I look out at the majestic mountains so nearby…

Anyway, this year stands out for me.  I got another book out and I’m so close to finishing the first draft of the last book in the series.  I won some awards for my writing (so awesome!) and I finally got to attend some conventions as an author.  On that note, I’ll be at Cosine Con in January 2022.

2022 is right around the bend and I have plans for you “next year”.  Oh yes, I have plans!

I hope everyone has a great Holiday season and a Happy New Year and I’ll see you next year!

As the clock runs down and the finish line appears in the distance, I wonder… “Will I make it?” 

The short answer is “No.”  Am I sad about it?  Another, “No.” 

“Well, why not?” you ask.  

 (Can you tell I’ve been writing dialogue today?)

This has been a busy month and even though I won’t be completing my word count, I accomplished a ton.  I started a new job, ran a 13.5-mile race, celebrated a holiday, a birthday, and made progress on my latest draft!

Of course, it’s not as much progress as I was hoping for, but progress is progress.  I am still plowing through the connective tissue for the remaining two big scenes… err three big scenes.  Those I will fly through.  Then it’s taking this hot mess of a storyline and lovingly craft it into something worth reading. So, the future is looking pretty good!

Now I have to get back to this bit in the story where Barney does the thing and Jacquie doesn’t like it and…

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

How are things going, you ask?  Well… they’re going, but not as fast as I would like.  It’s strange how the brain reconfigures depending on what it’s needed for, isn’t it?  I pushed to get into the ‘Con Consciousness’, then the ‘Music Mind’ (more on that later), and now I’m pushing to get into the ‘Writer’s Brain’.

Each one (for me anyway), is different enough that it’s jarring to the system.  It can take days for me to connect properly.  Which finally happened this weekend!  I made some decent headway into the story!

It felt like I was at the base of a mountain but knowing that I was close to halfway up.  Clouds obscured the path behind me, and fog dogged my every step up.  Hooray for valleys of clarity!  I could see the path for a while and progress was good.

Did I mention that I have kittens?  They just hit 7 weeks old and have decided that we are people and not just warm furniture.  The little buggers are so adorable and I can watch them do kitten things for hours.  I beheld the power of the ‘Kitten Wit’!

This turned out to be a bit rambly.  That’s enough of that.  For those struggling their way through Nano, I salute you and cheer you on from afar!

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay