A Moment of Relaxation

I have to laugh at myself.  For most of my adult life I have had different business ideas, which usually corresponded to my hobby at the time.  The problem is, I am lazy and starting a business is work.  You have to maintain your "day job", while you attempt to make your new job successful.  Even after you get that business going well enough to quit your job, the work with keeping it lucrative is still more than if you just worked your day job.  So for years, those grand schemes fell to the wayside and I remained fat dumb and happy.

Then I decided to pursue my writing passion.  Don't let anybody fool you, writing is a business.  As much as I love to write, it still boils down to the fact that I am doing what I avoided for years; I am starting a business.  I work all day, then come home and write (work) all night.  Don't take this wrong.  I am not complaining, just stating a fact that some people with dreams of writing are ignorant of.

So, it was time for a moment of relaxation.

For the past 23 years we have taken a family vacation.  I am not sure I can ever express the importance of these trips.  They were essential for us as a family, and for each of us individually.  I strongly believe those vacations have lengthened, and enriched, our lives.

This was the first year my kids weren't able to go on vacation with us.  I hated the thought, and I missed them, but my wife and I had a blast.

We grabbed a tent, straddled the motorcycle and had ourselves a 2800 mile adventure.  We froze our tails off at a few campsites, rode a ferry across Mobile Bay, explored an old military fort, dipped our toes in the beautiful waters of the Emerald Coast, absorbed natural beauty that you could never experience from a car, and visited Mickey Mouse.

My wife and I have never lost that connection that some empty-nester's discover they lost, but this adventure strengthened it without a doubt.  And we both relaxed.  We needed it.  For the last two years we have worked ourselves into a stupor.  Now we are recharged, and maybe not quite ready to return to the real world, but more prepared to do battle with it.

Don't rob yourself of these moments of relaxation.  Step away, enjoy your life, and you may be surprised how clear things become when that cloud of exhaustion drifts away.

Life is Good

In a matter of hours, my wife and I will be breaking away on a motorcycle adventure.

The house will be left in the care of our adult children, work will be left behind, cell phones will be playing our favorite music, and we won't have a care.

This is our first vacation without children.  As much as I would like to have them all along (work got in their way), I am looking forward to spending a couple of weeks with the woman I am still in love with.

We have seven days to make a 22 hour drive to Walt Disney World.  If something catches our eyes on the way down, we have plenty of time to stop and gawk.  We'll be exploring a couple of National Forest's, combing a few beaches, and finding every opportunity to enjoy the moment.

At Disney, we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary.  Twenty-Five years and that woman still gives me that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.  There is no other person in this world that I would rather spend my life with and this adventure, in many ways, reflects our life-long relationship.

Life is Good.

I'll be back later this month.

BTW.  I am just a few chapters shy of completing the rough draft for book two.  After that, the extensive editing process begins.  I really feel that my writing has improved since Blood of Two.  So much so, that I feel the need to go back and edit that book again.  If time allows, I may just do it.  One of the beauties of the e-book.

Life is good.

The Most Intelligent Orc in the World

This title has been available for a week or so, but I was waiting until it hit most of the markets before I announced it.  As opposed to giving daily updates on its availability.

It's a freebie, and another installment in my Tales From Nilrus project.  Princess Elanya is in this story again, as well as Malik, Prince Eldric, Qa'Veck, and General Grunsch.  I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Here are a few links:

Smashwords

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Diesel eBookstore

KOBO

Sony eBookstore - this link is to my author page as they do not have this story yet.

Progress on book two for the Drums of Rallinwar series is going well.  I hope to complete the brain purge (rough draft) within the next couple of weeks.  Full bore editing will begin in June, with a target publishing date somewhere in September.