How not to dig

It seemed like a rather simple project; put in three posts to hold up a lattice fence to act a barrier in front of our front deck. We needed to go about three feet deep in clay soil so I rented a power auger and received help from my neighbours in drilling the holes. I marked out where the holes were to be dug out and had the power and utilities lines marked as well, giving over two feet clearance.
All seemed fine after we done until I went into the house and found that half the power was gone; we had cut one half of the 240 volt line coming in! The power company told us we had to hand dig out a volume around the cut line of at least four by four by four feet deep. Good thing my neighbours had strong backs- I found the digging a bit hard. After the power line was repaired my wife and I had to shovel the dirt back in. Too much fun.

Writing took a back seat to the yard work and the wine business lately but after this weekend I hope to get a book edited to send in to a publisher. I have learned the process for a book to accepted by a publisher is a long one. After one sends a manuscript in it can take a couple of months to get a response. Right now I am waiting for the editors to get back to me on a book and a short story (they were accepted for publication) and we'll see what changes they want.

testing the waters

It's with some hesitation that I've started this blog. I'm not sure who will read this but I decided I should do something to promote myself as a writer. Alright, an unpublished writer. But that will change soon; more on that later.

The second reason for this blog is to give those who would like to be a writer a few hints on how to get there. I stumbled around looking for a way to get my material published and I would like to help a few would be writers to navigate to their goal by telling them what worked for me.

So far I am not published but a publisher has sent me a contract and I will have a book out next year (these things take time). The book is a science fiction /fantasy and it took a lot of work to be able to send it to a publisher. I'm sure there will be more work to do when the editor puts her eye to it. I'll let you know about that process later.

It's time for me to burn something for dinner; my lovely wife is out of town. So if you see black smoke rising don't panic, it's only me in front of the stove.