aroslav: Blog

I've heard from all three major eBook sites this morning and Photo Finish Book Two, Shutter Speed is now available for pre-order. On Bookapy, this includes the ePUB, MOBI, and PDF versions. The book will release on Thursday February 2, 2023.

Of course, I realize that means Full Frame will complete its posting on SOL tomorrow (Sunday) and I'm kind of sad to see that chapter in my life close. I'm glad, though, that We'll pick up without a break on Thursday with the first two chapters of Shutter Speed.

I have seen fit to post a trigger warning on Shutter Speed, something I rarely do. No one of my generation was unaffected by the war in Vietnam and this story may hold triggers for veterans of that era with PTSD. The action is reported after the fact and not shown live, but the aftereffects are definitely a part of the story. Here's the blurb.

1966-67 was a pivotal year for Nate Hart. His family was uprooted from an unspectacular life in Chicago so his mother could begin her new career as a Methodist Minister in Tenbrook, a small northwestern Illinois town at the edge of the world. But Nate found his place in this new town, upsetting a few community standards where racism and veteran care were at issue. Now, ready to start his second year in the town and senior year in high school, Nate has a girlfriend or two, a studio for his photography, and a blossoming business. And the responsibilities that come with turning eighteen in 1967, as the Vietnam War ramps up under Secretary McNamara.

ALERT: This story contains content of an adult nature, including explicit sexual content and characters with opinions that may be contrary to your religious, political, or world view. If you aren't adult enough to handle that, don't read it!

"A bad-tempered person, especially an old one." I get cranky about dumb stuff.

I live in an RV and have to use special RV and Marine toilet paper. I prefer Scott brand because I don't poke my finger through it, which isn't carried by the local grocery stores or Camping World. So, I ordered it on Amazon. When I got the delivery, it had been shipped from Walmart! If I wanted to do business with Walmart, I could have driven a mile up the road and bought my toilet paper at Walmart. I complained. Poor individual trying to make a living from home by reselling things she has shipped from local vendors. What could I say.

That was months ago. I recently needed to restock toilet paper. I ordered from Amazon again.

Apparently, the order went to the same vendor as my previous order and they were concerned about my complaint. I stepped out my door a few days ago to find an eight-pack of toilet paper on my steps. No box. No shipping label. No Amazon truck had arrived. No notification via email that my package had even shipped. Just an eight-pack of Scott toilet paper on my front step.

I grouched. Didn't do anything, but grouched. The vendor probably ran down to Walmart, bought the toilet paper and dropped it on my steps to keep me from complaining about it coming from Walmart.

My bank changed their 'dashboard' page. They made it easier to read, they said. Yes, but the bigger type and blocks for each account meant I had to scroll to see what I used to see in one screen. And the accounts weren't in the same order they used to be, so my spreadsheet where I keep track of daily balances is now in the wrong order.

I grouched.

It doesn't seem to make a difference what the change is. I'm at an age where I hate change. The kind of coffee I like and buy at Costco is no longer available at the Costco in Las Vegas. Nor will Costco ship it here. I ordered online (Amazon) and paid a 50% premium to have a vendor put shrinkwrap around two bags of coffee with a label that says 'Not for Resale.' I still grouch about it, but I order it.

Microsoft decided it was a good idea to put a little space between items in a Windows Explorer list, so now I have to scroll to get to the item I use on a regular basis.

I wish people would just stop fixing things that aren't broke!

Even when there's a small change to author settings on SOL, I grouch. I'll figure out a way to make it behave the way I want it to, or I'll adapt to it, but I'll still grouch about it.

Because I'm a curmudgeon, damn it!

So there.

My sincere wishes that you all have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2023, and that you are blessed with peace of mind.

I feel a little obligated to review the past year, which was definitely not as stressful as the one previous. I hope you found it an improvement.

According to the stats page, I concluded six new stories on SOL in the past year. They were all pretty hefty in size. (And are all eligible for nomination for Clitorides Awards!) I also started posting Full Frame and that will conclude in four weeks. Not to worry; Shutter Speed is edited and ready to begin posting on or about Groundhogs' Day.

I love stats, and I update mine daily. According to the big spreadsheet on my computer, I wrote 1,390,020 words in 2022. I think some of them were pretty good. Well over half a million of those have yet to be posted on SOL or released as eBooks! There are definitely some good things in the air for 2023.

Here are some of the highlights of what to look for in 2023 from the pens of aroslav and Wayzgoose.
1. Shutter Speed (Book two in the Photo Finish trilogy) February 2, 2023
2. Exposure (Book three in the Photo Finish trilogy) April 16, 2023
3. F/Stop (Book four in the Photo Finish trilogy) July 30, 2023
4. Over Exposure (Book five in the Photo Finish trilogy) October 15, 2023
5. Steven George and the Terror (sequel to Steven George and The Dragon) by Wayzgoose, mid-February, 2023
6. In a Few Words, a compilation of Devon Layne short stories to be released as a single volume. mid-April, 2023
7. A new work in progress by Wayzgoose based on the short story, "The Burgundy Chamber." Late 2023 or early 2024
8. Follow Focus (Book six in the Photo Finish trilogy) January 2024
9. The continued release of short stories and essays in To Make a Long Story Short compilation by Wayzgoose.

I am keeping my fingers busy, which I'm told keeps them out of the devil's playground. Must make more time for play in 2023!

I have discovered that there are readers out there (surely not you!) whose political, religious, or sexual preferences are so fragile that they cannot bear to read about a fictional character who disagrees with them. Therefore, I have devised this warning for all my stories:

Stories and novels by aroslav (Devon Layne) or Wayzgoose (Nathan Everett) may contain explicit sexual content, and may be contrary to your religious, political, or world view. That's life.

I encourage you to seek out those stories among the thousands on SOL that do not offend you.

Well, if I don't quit writing on this blog, I'll never get the next chapter I'm working on written. Have a Happy Nude Year!
aroslav

I hope that as the sun begins its journey toward summer in the northern hemisphere that it brings with it abundance and good tidings for all. And as it journeys away from my friends in the south, may the seeds you have planted ripen and may you harvest an abundant crop.

Here, the champagne has been opened, the house is clean, the potatoes are in the oven, and the guests are soon to arrive. Our solstice celebration is about to begin.

Here's to the lengthening of days!
aroslav

Well, a topic like that could include dozens of things, but a couple come to mind right away. When I was writing Living Next Door to Heaven 1, I had to come up with a sequence of television shows in which Brian has a different recipe for demonstration with one of his girlfriends for each show. That continued into LNDtH2, but was further complicated by needing comedy monologues that would be given by a 22-23-year-old woman (Elaine) and actually sound funny. What an oddball task.

Of course in Full Frame, I've had to sink into more than I ever thought I wanted to know about photography, but that's the main theme of the story, really. In book three of the "Photo Finish Trilogy," Exposure, I had to return to developing a standup comedy routine for one of the female characters. If it's any indication of whether or not I succeeded, my ex-wife read them and asked why I wasn't writing for comedians because they were great. Whoopee!

Writing book four of the trilogy--which might actually turn out to be books four and five at the rate I'm churning out words--I've had a whole new challenge. I've had to storyboard an entire Hollywood movie plot! And, I think it hasn't turned out too badly for a 1971 murder mystery movie. I can well imagine that we'd be watching it as a classic today if it had been made then. It hurts my head to think of that as fifty years ago!

The movie is germane to the plot of the story and had to have certain elements that would be brought up as evidence of Nate's culpability in a political campaign started by his nemesis, who keeps rearing his ugly head throughout the series. Maybe I didn't actually need the entire storyboard, but it drove me crazy that I needed these particular plot elements but didn't actually know how the story all held together. Now I know it. In fact, I might develop the movie script into another complete story once I have the "Photo Finish Trilogy" complete.

By the way, three books of the trilogy are complete and through the last round of edits, but waiting for me to finish a final review before I'm ready to release book two, Shutter Speed, the first of February. I've written nearly two-thirds of book four, F/Stop, which might be divided into two books because I just can't seem to stop writing. And I know there is another book that follows this one, so perhaps I'll have...

Do we call a series of six a "sexology?"

That seems appropriate.