Almost There

I spent most of yesterday working on my new Big Lake book, stopping for dinner and some television in the evening and then going back to it, finally knocking off about half-past midnight. I’m almost there, and if the stars align today, I hope to finish it. It’s long overdue.

Part of the delay has been computer issues. Not just the slow narration, but my Dell desktop computer is running incredibly slow. I have found that it’s best to work on two or three chapters at a time because if I get too many words in a document, it slows way down. Last night I wrapped up four chapters, somewhere around 10,000 words, and every keystroke took forever as I was making corrections. When I tried to highlight something, the document would freeze and I would have to exit Microsoft Word completely and then go back into it to make it work again. So while the narration is part of the problem, there’s more to it than that. The computer has 32 GB of RAM and I’m using a solid-state hard drive, so I don’t know what the issue is yet, but something has to change.

Another reason this book is taking longer than my other Big Lake books is that it is longer. Most of them run anywhere from 75,000 to 85,000 words, but this one is going to be at or a little over 100,000 words by the time I’m done.

And I won’t lie to you, the other reason I am behind schedule is that I have spent some time goofing off shopping for a new truck and all that. But it won’t be much longer, folks!

Somebody asked what my next project will be, hoping that it will be the next book in the Tinder Street family saga. Yes, that’s the next one on the list, and the title will be The Hard Years, centering on the Great Depression. I grew up hearing stories about those days from my parents and aunts and uncles, and I’m looking forward to incorporating some of their experiences in this book.

My heart was warmed yesterday when I got a message from an old friend telling me that her husband has not enjoyed reading for a long time but is loving the Tinder Street series and thanking me for getting him hooked on books. Five-star reviews and royalty checks are always appreciated, but personal messages like that from a reader telling you that you had an impact on somebody’s life are just about the best rewards any author could ever get.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. This one is courtesy of Jim Harper.

Thought For The Day – Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.