P X Duke - Part 6

September 28, 2011May 22, 2012

A slacker’s lament

I had a misspent couple of years (off and on) reconnecting with some bad boys I used to know way back in another life down Mexico way. This allowed me to refresh my memories of time spent on the shadier side of all the borders that I know and used to enjoy crossing when I was young, dumb and full of–something or other. I’ve been home for a while now, relishing in the memories.

I’ve had over 48,000 downloads for my very short stories since I started publishing them online in December of 2010. Of that total, to date B&N, Kobo and Sony has sent my way over 5,000 readers. Others have paid to read some of the cheap trash that I write. Don’t misunderstand me. I am very grateful for all of the downloads.

Yes, I know. I don’t quite understand it either. Go figure.

Consequently, with an eager fan base like that, I’ve begun drafting a much longer work loosely based on some of my adventures long ago on the Baja and mainland Mexico. So far, I have a very rough first draft of 16 chapters–with much emphasis on the “rough draft”.

Recently I’ve become tired of getting up at oh dark thirty to start my writing day. I’m now on a break for a week or two, taking time to enjoy the warm fall days that we’re having up here in the mountain hinterland.

When will the current project be ready for prime e-reader time? I have no idea. Perhaps in the new year. Given the amount of work it’s taken to date, it could be late in the new year.

And, I’m a slacker, so it could take even longer than that.

August 31, 2011December 8, 2024

Dead Reckoning – A new story line

I’ve been plugging away on Dead Reckoning, an adventure thriller about a couple of hapless drifters who take the bait and subsequently wind up being chased up the Baja by banditos in search of their missing goods. Not content to keep to themselves, they wind up spending time on a beach with two gringas who aren’t as innocent as they might appear.

When trouble lands in the form of a panga loaded with bad guys intent on recovering the goods, the chase is on to get north to the border before any more dangerous encounters puts lives at risk.

So far, fourteen very rough chapters are in the pipe, but a lot of editing and re-writing will be required before anything gets published.

Both the blurb and prologue are here if you’d like to read more.

March 7, 2011February 29, 2012

Welcome to writing on the road

I pulled off onto the side of the road for a few and created this place. Okay, truth be told, I fell asleep and crossed the center line twice, so I needed to stop and take a break or die trying. I’m still here to talk about it, so it all worked out for the better. It wasn’t easy.

I started writing bits and pieces when I was holed up in the high desert. It was back in ’92 and I was trying to temporarily escape the drudgery of a full-time job and co-workers. At the time, they were all sucking the life out of me. In fact, for another eight years they continued to do so–with my cooperation and full participation, of course.

It wasn’t until 2000 that I actually got it. I finally caught on.

I was sitting in a meeting, listening to the boss tell us all how good he was for us and the company. Others were nodding their heads vigorously and vocalizing their consensus. That’s when I tuned out entirely. When I came to, I thought I had had a stroke. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

Nor did I care.

In that instant I left it all behind.

That was on a Friday. The following Monday I gave my notice. In six weeks I was gone, never to return. I sold my house, donated a lot of the contents to charity, put the remainder in storage, and hit the road on my motorcycle. By June I was in southern California. Why there? It was warm in the winter; it was close to the Baja; I had been frequenting the place on my motorcycle since ’92. I was familiar with it. And, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

I did it without regret.