I want to thank everybody who bought my new book, Crazy Days in Big Lake, and told their friends about it. When I got up yesterday morning, the book had already risen to #71 in Amazon’s E-book/Mystery/Police Procedural category, and by the end of the evening it was at #42. As if that weren’t enough, it was ranked at #2,178 for all paid Amazon e-books. With over 1 million e-books available on Amazon, that’s pretty amazing in less than 48 hours! I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful readers as all of you.
I have been hitting it pretty hard for the last week or so, putting in a lot of hours to get the new issue of the Gypsy Journal ready to go, and to get the new book published. So I played yesterday. Charles Yust and I went to Midwest Gun and Range, an indoor shooting range, to spend some time punching holes in paper.
Over the last few months I spoiled myself by buying a pair of Kimber .45 semi-automatics, which are among the finest handguns in the world. I’ve had a lot of guns in my life, and a lot of them have been .45 semi-automatics. But none of them compare to the Kimbers. They are fabulous handguns. Unfortunately, after an hour on the range my arthritic hands were letting me know that it was time to stop. Back at home I told Terry that I’m at the point in my life where I can finally afford something like the Kimber, but I’m not sure how much longer my hands will let me shoot.
I rode with Charles to the gun range and while we were gone, Miss Terry was out running some errands. We got back to Elkhart Campground before she did and I discovered I had run off without my keys and was locked out of our motorhome. I never do that! But I did. 🙁
So I hung out with Charles and Chris in their motorhome until Terry came to fetch me. Did I mention that Charles and Chris have three yappy little dogs? And two of them are poodles? And do you know how much I love yappy little dogs, especially poodles? But Chris gave me something cold to drink and I was on my best behavior so I was able to get through the ordeal. 🙂
We have one week left here in Elkhart before we leave for Celina, Ohio to get ready for our Ohio Gypsy Journal Rally. We still have a lot to accomplish before we leave town. Today we’re driving up to Allegan, Michigan to pick up the new issue of the Gypsy Journal from our printer, then Terry wants to go to the Michigan Fiber Festival at the fairgrounds in Allegan.
Sunday afternoon we are having a cookout with Charles and Chris Yust and Ron and Brenda Speidel to celebrate our friend Al Hesselbart’s 70th birthday. Al’s birthday is actually on Monday, but when a guy gets that old, it’s best to do things as soon as you can instead putting them off.
And then we will be stuffing envelopes and running back and forth to the post office and our commercial mail service in South Bend, getting the new issue off to all of our subscribers.
Of course, will have to get back to King Wha for at least one more Chinese dinner before we pull out. There are certain formalities in life that must be addressed.
Thought For The Day – It is not easy to find happiness within ourselves and it is impossible to find it elsewhere.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
I don’t quite understand why you would buy a PAIR of Kimbers..but never the less you can’t have to many handguns..
I had the same problem with arthiritus as you are having…It got so bad I could hardly shoot and when I did, my hand ached for hours and hours… I went to a arthuritus Dr. in Phoenix and she gave me a couple shots of something in my right hand…. I was amazed,,,,, in a couple days I had no more pain in my hand…Now I can shoot like I did when I was a kid…Well, not quite as accurate, but can hold my own without that severe pain your having….
Mike, One is the Pro Carry CDP II you looked at in Bushnell, and the other is the more compact Ultra Carry II.
Was it just one shot and no follow-up. How long ago was that?
Nick
I well start your new book today had to finish another book first. Can’t wait to see what you wrote as at one point Elaine almost fall off of the couch laughing so hard from reading your book. Today I well find out why she was laughing so hard and saying she is going to kill Nick 🙂
Nick, I did not say I was going to kill you, it was just that I was enjoying the book so much and my sides hurt from laughing at some parts, what at great book so far
Are you sure it is arthritis and not carpal tunnel? I had one hand operated on in 88 for CT and a few years later it was back in both hands and was facing surgery again. Was told about using Lecithin for relief. Been using it ever since then and my hands don’t bother me……also found out later that it is supposed to keep your arteries clear. Did stop using it once or twice for a week or two and could feel the CT coming back again.
I started having trouble with one hand a few years ago–couldn’t knit or crochet. I finally got relief after going to a doctor who specialized in hands and shoulders. I should have gone there first. They knew immediately what was wrong–a big help in itself–and fortunately, were able to fix it. I was getting misdiagnosed by my family physician, who, after all, cannot know as much about hands as a specialist.
It’s important to keep doing the things you enjoy if you possibly can. I didn’t realize how important working with my hands was until I couldn’t do it.