I Wish Life Were More Exciting

It's been about a month since I last launched into whatever I thought was interesting and newsworthy at the moment. When I decided I should probably add something to this blog I found that I lead a pretty boring life 99% of the time. However, maybe that's true and I'm happy with that. I have a steady, decent paying job, a few people I call good friends, a nice older home (almost as old as I am), and a wonderful partner I am proud to also call my best friend. So there you have my life in a nutshell and it just progresses on one day at a time in a predictable way with very few surprises. I really can't ask for more than that. Of course there are times when we all wish we could do something different and unique to set our lives away from the masses who are just like us, but those are mostly pipe dreams.

I can look forward to retirement in four or five years and look toward that with a great deal of ambivalence. I'm not sure what I would do with myself if I never had to get up every morning and only had a day filled with cooking and cleaning awaiting me. I hate housework and am tired of cooking. There is always my writing, but I can't do that twelve hours a day without developing carpal tunnel syndrome or something else related to the continuous use of the computer. Financially speaking, the loss of two-thirds of my monthly income is a little scary since, like many baby boomers, I've never heard of somethings called a savings plan. Last week I discovered that I am more dead than alive if I never quit working and drop dead at my desk. If I croak quietly at home, however, I am worth only the cost of my own burial. That seems like pitifully little after a lifetime of working. So I am making the prediction that I will simply be found sprawled across my desk on the job one day, leaving my partner and our children rolling in the dough. I wish them well and a long and prosperous life, but I also feel confidant they will fail to save as well.

Well, that seems a tad morbid, but it is ridiculous to ignore the eventual outcome of all our lives. In the meantime I will just continue to write and basically entertain myself until the bitter end.

And speaking of writing, I have been working rather off and on on the edits for my next manuscript. I almost never argue with my editors and figure I am just a storyteller and they make what I have to say read a little better. Sometimes the edits are embarrassing and at other times they are funny. I should have seen the errors I made, but was just too wrapped up in finishing the damn thing.

When I first began being published I had already written three complete manuscripts and simply had to submit them one at a time. Then bing, bang, boom they were all out and I had to come up with new stuff. I never have a shortage of ideas for stories, but sometimes it's a little hard to get them to a satisfying ending. Fortunately I managed to do that this year and have two new stories coming out in 2009. I have nearly twenty other manuscripts started and am only having a problem with one of them. It's a sequel to a previously written novel, but for some reason I simply cannot pull it together. Maybe I'm afraid it won't be a good as the first one. I'm not sure. I know the characters extremely well. After all, I lived with them rummaging around in m brain for a couple of years. So why can't I move them forward into another story? I'm sure I will eventually figure it all out and need to get started soon before the readers forget who the heck they are.

I think Random Ramblings is an excellent title for this blog because my thoughts are all over the place tonight. My partner is working this weekend and I should have two days of peace and quiet to finish my editing chores so I can move on. Sounds like a viable plan to me and I only hope I can pull it off. I have to rewrite another chapter and then I should be about done. I hope readers will enjoy this story. It's a romance, something I don't personally care for very much, but I had a hell of a good time writing this one and it's my first "official" romance. It's all part of my overall plan to eventually write something decent in every genre. So far I have managed two mysteries, a general drama, and a romance. At least I have a long-term goal and might actually live long enough to complete it. The only loftier aspiration I could have would be to win an award in each genre, but that seems to fall into the "yeah right" category of wishful thinking.

Since we older folks need our rest, I think I'll bring this to an end for now, I always promise to write more often, but seriously doubt anyone is reading this other than myself. It's actually a pretty okay way to empty ones mind of random thoughts. So I'm going to toddle off to sleep for a while and hope everyone out there is enjoying as wonderful a life as I am.

Valley of the Sun

I just returned late Monday from the 2008 GCLS convention in Phoenix, Arizona. It was God-awful hot, but one of the best conventions I've attended in a while. Our keynote speaker was Katherine V. Forrest, someone every lesbian reader or writer hopes to meet before they die. She was very interesting and gave much insight to the workings of lesbian publishers and what their editors are looking for. I had a chance to speak to her briefly and found her to be very kind and warm. I met many old friends from past conventions and writers I've known for quite a while. It was a gigantic family reunion in many ways.

It was a huge weekend for my publisher, Regal Crest Enterprises. Not really considered one of the "big boys," they proved that even the smallest publishing houses are now putting out quality literature for the lesbian audience. RCE had eleven nominees as finalists for the annual Goldie Awards. K.E. Lane won an award in the Romance Category, Debut Author Category, and the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award (which is voted on by the readers only) for her wonderful book And Playing the Role of Herself. I don't read many romance novels, so if I think it's good, it's probably great. Paula Offutt won in the Debut Author category for Butch Girls Can Fix Anything. Jane Vollbrecht won in the Dramatic General Fiction Category for In Broad Daylight. Nann Dunne won the GCLS Director's Award for her contributions tlesbian literature. I was fortunate enough to be chosen for an award in the Mystery Category for Redress of Grievances. It wouldn't be too strong a statement to say we celebrate late into the night. I highly recommend these books for your reading pleasure as well as the other RCE nominees: In the Blood by Rick R. Reed, Lavender Secrets by Sandra Barret, Shimmer and Other Stories by Lori L. Lake, Come This Way by Victor J. Banis, and Face of the Enemy by Sandra Barret. It would ahve been great if we could ahve won in every category, but maybe next year.

I came home with a renewed sense of why I write other than to entertain myself. I love writing, but knowing there are others who appreciate the work that goes into producing a worthwhile story makes it even sweeter.

I'll post again soon, just as soon as I manage to come back down from the mountaintop.

Counting the Days

There's just five days left before I fly off to Phoenix for the GCLS convention. My publisher called and said she decided to attend at the last minute and since we'll both be batchin' it, it looks like the casino will be our main hang-out. I've read two of the three manuscripts I'm mentoring this year. Overall, there is a story, but they need a little help. Then again, don't we all. Considering it took me twelve years to get my first book written and submitted, I really can't talk. Guess I should have been more aggressive, but never figured anyone would actually publish the damn thing.

I'm pretty excited about hearing Katherine Forrest speak since she's the guru of lesbian literature. Of all the "oldie" writers, I must say I enjoyed her books the most, especially her detective series. They actually have a story without a truckload of gratuitous sex. It always ticks me off that so many lesbian writers think readers won't read their work unless there are twenty solid pages of sex thrown in there. Call me old-fashioned, but the journey to the bedroom is usually more erotic than the activites in the bedroom. Leave a little something to the readers' imagination! Oh, I forget. Not everyone grew up in the pre-television days like I did where you actually had to have an imagination. :) There were some great radio shows back in the day, as if you needed any more proof of my age! I recently read somewhere that 60 is the new 40. That was certainly encouraging. After all, age is nothing more than a state of mind and if you think you're old, you probably are. To me 16 seems as if it were only yesterday.

I'm supposed to be painting a recent renovation to our house, but can't get up the enthusiasm for it right now. I'm waiting for someone to come by and replace a cracked window and don't want to have to stop working once I get a full head of steam going. I have a meeting for work right after lunch and am not too excited about that, other than getting lunch somewhere. I have almost a month of vacation time remaining and hate giving up even an hour of it while I'm off. I enjoy working with the kids, but the adults drive me freakin' crazy!

So, wish me well on my journey next Wednesday. My time between flights is pretty short and one airline is all the way across the DFW terminal from the other one. Hopefully the tram will be functioning and move quickly. Wish I'd paid more attention to the layover time when I booked the flights. Oh well, it keeps life exciting. I'll have a full report once I return. Until then, take care and keep writing.

Catching Up

Now you know how terrible I am at keeping up with this sort of thing. I promised I would attempt to make regular posts here in case anyone wanted to read them, but it's been a few months since I've been here. Sorry about that in case anyone has read it. I've been working on upgrading my MySpace page, with the help of one of our children, and think it looks a little better. I've added a number of pictures and the book trailers I made for two of my books. My friend, Gary has also put up a nice website for me and I have linked this blog site and the MySpace page to it so I can sort of gather everything up and manage it a little better. My website is http://brenda-adcock.com and the MySpace page is www.myspace.com/bkadcock.

And speaking of books, I have finished the latest revision of my next book, The Sea Hawk, and sent it off to my editor. Hopefully, there won't be a truckload of changes that need to be made. My partner and I spent a week in New Orleans near the end of June so I could soak up the atmosphere. About half the story takes place in old New Orleans when it was only the French Quarter. We never left the Quarter during our visit and I learned a lot of interesting historical facts about the city when it was still relatively in its infancy. I hope the description I included in the book will make it enjoyable for the reader. It will be released in January 2009 unless something unforeseen happens.

My fifth manuscript has been accepted by my publisher and is currently scheduled for a July 2009 release. It's entitled Tunnel Vision and is very loosely based on a murder that occurred on the university campus where I did my undergraduate work. As far as I know that guy is still locked away in a mental institution somewhere. I think it's an interesting story, but then I think they are all interesting.

At the end of July I am attending the Golden Crown Literary Society convention in Phoenix, Arizona. It really a terrible time to be in Phoenix no matter how dry they say the heat there is. I don't anticipate spending much time outdoors. In fact, I will probably never step outside the resort where the convention is being held unless I suddenly develop a desire to feel my face crack from all that "dry heat". My last book is a finalist for a Goldie Award in the Mystery category, but I seriously doubt it will make it any further than that. Still, it is an honor to be recognized even a little for your work. I have been asked to be a presenter in one of the categories so it looks like I'll have a reason to wear my tuxedo again. The poor thing only gets dragged out once a year. But I enjoy the opportunity to wear it. Makes me feel kind of cool.

I'm a terrible time manager and haven't gotten much written over my summer break. I'm sure once I return to work in mid-August I will be more productive since my time will be more limited. Thus far this summer we have done a ton of renovation on our home and thankfully we are almost finished. I'm getting too old now for all that manual labor.

Well, it's getting late and I have to be up bright and early tomorrow because I was tapped for jury duty in our local municipal court. They turn no one down for city court and I get to spend the day listening to people explain why the broke a traffic law and shouldn't be punished for it. I've served in city court before and they are mildly entertaining and about half the time the jury doesn't believe the police officer. An interesting commentary on the local law enforcement system.

I'll try to post more regularly, but it's likely I won't post again until after my trip to Phoenix. In the meantime, take care.

Time Flies When You're Havin' Fun!

Well, I guess it's been a few days since I last posted anything here, but time just flies by when you're doing all those exciting things like working and paying the bills. Actually, it's been a relatively easy week for me. I only had to work four and half days this week and was out one of those days fighting a lingering bronchial infection that's become very attached to me. The only exciting thing I've really done all week was create a video trailer for another book. If you get a chance wander over to YouTube and search for Ruth Sims. The book is entitled The Phoenix and it's a great story. I had a lot of fun putting the video together and hope it gets the response the author is looking for. You know, that's the bad thing about being published by a small press. Those houses put out some damn good books, but because of budgetary problems, they often don't have the funds for heavy duty promotion. So if the videos help these authors out, then I'm one happy little camper. If you're really interested do a search for badcock24 and check out all the videos I've made. I think there are about fifteen right now and I've had a whale of a good time with each one.

My partner and I had a good weekend getting a few things done around the house. We managed to purchase a new coffee table and two new recliners for our living room. We've been working on a lot of renovations to our old house and hopefully by the time I retire in a few years it will just be our little palace on the prairie. We bought a new grill for the patio and tonight I didn't have to cook, which only goes to show there is method to my madness. We staked out Tiki torches to ward off mosquitoes and fired up the chiminia to ward off the evening chill. All-in-all it was a very peaceful weekend and we needed that to re-energize before returning to work tomorrow.

I haven't had the energy to write much the last couple of weeks, but am planning to write tomorrow evening. I have a sequel about half finished and really do need to work on that. For now it's shower time and then reading time before I go to sleep. Take care and as Arnold said, "I'll be back!"

A Truly Dangerous Thing

I'm a writer by avocation. It's not how I earn a living, but serves as a way to maintain my sanity most of the time. I enjoy writing and always have. Ask anyone who knows me or corresponds with me and they will likely tell you that I write sometimes extremely rambling emails and almost always have something to say. I have strong opinions and usually manage tick people off with them, but at this point in my life I'm too old to care what other people think. I'm way past to point of attempting to impress anyone. With age I have found a kind of liberation I wish I had known as a young woman and intend to enjoy it as much as possible. I prefer to think I am not in my waning years, but in the prime of my life when it belongs pretty much to me alone. This should give you an indication of the type of rambling I often do.

It can be a dangerous thing to allow someone a venue such as this to expound their thoughts. I'll try not to get carried away and cannot promise that this will be a daily trek, but I will attempt to post something on a regular basis. Not that I think a herd of folks will read anything I am writing here, but just as a way to dump the crap from my mind.

I am the author of three novels, Pipeline, Reiko's Garden, and Redress of Grievances. I'm proud to say I will have two new novels released in 2009; The Sea Hawk in January and Tunnel Vision in July. My partner and I are the more or less proud parents of four grown children, all married now and someone else's problem. Our only responsibilities now are the two dogs and three cats that generally believe we could not sleep a single night without the company of all of them in our bed. We live in Texas, although neither of us is from ehre originally, where it is just God-awful hot in the summer and we endure two weeks of winter every year whether we want to or not.

I have a number of writer friends and because they never cease to amaze me with the stories and characters they create, I will undoubtedly be mentioning them from time to time. After all, I've been told it never hurts to advertise. Of course, that probably depends on whether what you are advertising is legal or not.

This has been rather fun for a first try, but it's been a long day and I do have to get up for work in the morning.