David Drazul







News

10/14/23: Busy time. Two proofreading jobs done and working on another. Went on vacation with the family to New Hampshire. Spent a good deal of time finishing the wood pile and getting other labor intensive projects done as I had to go in for hernia surgery at the end of September and had to keep things low key for the next several weeks. Yes, I'm fine. Surgery was a success, recovery has gone well.

6/7/23: I had another proofreading job, but I did manage to find time to write. The second act of Gateway... is done. Unfortunately, between coming down with the latest Covid variant and being directed here and there, I haven't had a chance to work on the third act. I have ideas, but I'm not sure just yet how to get to the end. Must be all the smoke from the Quebec wildfires. :\

3/1/23: Proofreading jobs completed. Back to writing.

Our electric utility said that January's average temperature was 10° higher than last year. 10°! The usual variance is a couple degrees. As a result, my electricity consumption was down 25% from the year before. But it finally snowed. Yesterday. 5+ inches. First time since mid-December that we got more than a quarter inch.

1/31/23: The new year is off to an ok start. Got a little bit of writing done for Gateway..., and I think the outline for the last third of the story may be complete. Picked up two proofreading jobs from out of the blue, so they're cutting into writing time, but at least I get paid for them.

No snowfall outside of a couple dustings (less than 1/4 inch) for the whole month. Temperatures often 15-20°F above normal.

12/31/22: I've struggled to come up with something to say for the 4Q 2022 update that had some hint of being upbeat, but that's tough to do when there's no progress to report. I considered skipping it altogether, but felt that I should post something to document that I still exist. There's always non-literary stuff going on, but how many times do people want to read about my progress on the annual firewood harvest?

An internet friend of 20+ years (Is there still friendship hierarchy bias that internet friends are less important than friends you hang out with in person?) died from cancer this year after a year-long struggle. I'm still dealing with that, feeling remote and useless.

On to the new year. Hope springs eternal...

9/27/22: Gateway... is up to 50,000 words. I cranked out 840 words tonight. At that pace, I could be done within a month. But we all know that I have a myriad of distractions and tasks to do.

"Staking Sunflowers" was rejected by its eighth market.

Wood pile is almost done. It'll be three cords in size, which is my typical quota. Crazy hot summer slowed me down. Trying not to kill myself in the heat. The drought was brutal. Rain barrel ran dry trying to keep my tomato plants and flowers alive.

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