"Ah, Saturday. And not a single chore in sight!"

Well, maybe that's not exactly the truth, but I actually love that saying anyway. Every time i think of it, I flash to the great Jerry Van Amerongen cartoon plaque hanging on my garage wall:

Most weekends that's kind of our life mantra, but I'm not complaining. It's the same today, with some packing up that needs to be done so we can donate some old furniture, a yard to be mowed, etc. Still we're going to find time to ride the motorcycles to Tombstone and have lunch, enjoy the fantastic Arizona fall weekend. I'm hammering away on a vampire story called "Epiphany" that is currently over 12,000 words long and still has a couple of good scenes to go before I wrap it up. The Husband (Weston Ochse) is working hard on Seal Team 666. BirdZilla is hanging out on the patio, enjoying the sun, and Goblin, Ghost and Ghoulie are doing the after-breakfast snooze. Life is pretty good, and then a Google Alert made it even better, reminding me that there are still folks out there enjoying Highborn. Check it out: Writing With Tequila gave me Four Tequila Shots and called it a "great book." All in all, a pretty darned good Saturday, even if there really are chores in sight!

Wait... What Year Is It, Anyway??!

Hey... wouldja look at that date down there! August 4th... wow! I admit I got pretty disgusted with Blogger for awhile when it wouldn't let me post anything (hence the extra long titles in a couple of posts). In the interest of honesty, however, I also have to admit I have been severely lax about posting anything at all here. Out of sight, out of mind sort of thing.

I have not, however, been sitting here eating King Leo's Lemon Sticks while playing on Facebook. (Not that I wouldn't do just that, if some kind soul out there cares to send me a case. Just saying.) I've manged to crank out a couple of blogs here and there and even finished a couple of short stories. Okay, one short story (called "Faceless") and one novelette (titled "Advanced Directive"). "Advanced Directive" is a departure for me, one of only six novelettes I've written in my entire career. Haven't formally heard back on either yet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to make a good announcement pretty soon. Right now I'm poking at another novelette. This one is called "Epiphany" and is the bad boy that's taking up all my time right now because it's way overdue, thanks to some miscommunication and funky email issues. I also have a Halloween blog due in four days, so I have to get cracking on that.

Summer seems to be gone here in southeastern Arizona. Lots of folks are breathing a sigh of relief. Me? I want my 100 degree days back. The nights are dropping well into the fifties and the house is cold when we wake up. I feel like a little desert lizard desperate to find a patch of sunlight in which to warm my old bones. But hey-- life is good.

I've never had to shovel a pile of desert to get out of my driveway in the morning.