I knocked out another 5,000 words in my new Big Lake book yesterday, and I’m hoping today will be the day I finish it, given any unforeseen problems cropping up. Then I will give it a final check for any plot holes or errors before printing out the last chapters for Miss Terry to edit and proofread, and then send them on to my other two proofreaders. When I get all those back and corrected, Terry and one of the proofreaders will do a final read-through of the whole manuscript just to see if there’s anything we all missed.
While that is happening, I will be formatting the manuscript, pending final corrections that I can make in the formatted version, writing the blurb that will go on Amazon to describe the book, and also writing the first chapter of the next book in the Big Lake series, which will go in the back of this one as a teaser of things to come. It sounds like a lot to get done, and it is, but with 45 previous books under my belt, I’ve kind of got it down to a science.
Not a perfect science by any means, and I wouldn’t be surprised if after all of this editing and proofreading a sharp-eyed reader or two doesn’t find something that slipped past us. It happens. The great thing about digital self-publishing is that I can go back in and make immediate changes in both the e-book and the printed book if somebody does spot an error.
So what happens on our agenda after the book comes out? We had planned to take a short trip up to Ohio and Michigan to do some research on the next book in my Tinder Street series, but with COVID cases increasing around the country again, we’re rethinking that. Even though we are both fully vaccinated, nothing is 100%. While we might only get a mild breakthrough case, we don’t want to transfer it to somebody else who may not be vaccinated.
Our numbers here in Florida are climbing at an alarming rate and are at or near where they were during the worst of the pandemic last year. Several hospitals here have announced they are canceling elective surgeries because they want to keep as many resources as possible available for incoming COVID patients.
I had hoped we were turning the corner, but I fear that due to mass ignorance and stubbornness from those who refuse to get a vaccine or even wear a mask, we may never get past this. I’ve lost some friendships because I’ve also lost enough friends and family members to the pandemic that I have absolutely no patience for anybody who downplays things and won’t take the simple steps necessary to protect themselves and those around them. We truly are a nation of fools.
And finally, thank you to everybody who posted blog comments or sent me e-mails of condolence after reading yesterday’s blog about the loss of my friend, author George Wier. I appreciate all of you.
It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Pirate Trials: Dastardly Deeds & Last Words, the first book in my friend Ken Rossignol’s Pirate Trials series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing, please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.
Thought For The Day – They say every piece of chocolate you eat shortens your life by two minutes. I did the math, and I died in 1532.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
I understand your concerns about traveling with the uptick of cases. I have been waiting for over a month for a call scheduling a surgery. With the rise in cases due to the Delta variant, I am concerned that they won’t be able to do the surgery or that I will catch it in the hospital, if they go ahead. I have had both doses of the vaccine, but (probably) due to a chemo drug that I take, I don’t have any antibodies. The doctors have already determined that the surgery is too risky to do in our state’s capital, so have referred me to a university hospital, so I don’t need any more complications or delays.
I am having a hard time finding sympathy for those that are real sick and still opposed to the vaccine. I know I am wrong but they have just been nd still are so stupid Bout this. We have a unvaccinated 30 year old man on a ventilator here now. Maybe more.
100% concurrence Sir – My intolerance of wilful ignorance & moral cowardice has accelerated significantly after the loss of over 600,000 American lives this past 16 months. – My tolerance of fools, cowards, anti Vaxers / anti maskers and extremists post January 6th is gone, Sadly the science and facts prove beyond reasonable doubt the majority of these deaths were preventable.
You are correct, we are a nation of fools and those who believe anything that is what they want to hear.