aroslav: Blog

Every once in a while, I receive an email from a reader that goes something like, "I read all of Living Next Door to Heaven straight through in one sitting!"

My first thought is usually along the lines of, "Good grief, man! Get a life!"

At the same time, I remember when I first came across Jay Cantrell's Daze in the Valley and set about reading his entire body of work straight through. I didn't write for three weeks. I just read.

April is supposed to be a major writing month for me, being Camp NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month in November became so popular a few years ago that they began adding writing events at other times. There is now a Camp NaNoWriMo in April and in July. I currently have three stories I'm in the process of writing and I planned to finish one of them this month.

It's a sequel to Wayzgoose's For Money or Mayhem and I figured what better way to get into it than to reread that work. Wayzgoose plans to post that cyber mystery here on SOL when City Limits is finished. So I read it. But as I read it I got to thinking about what the difference was between my more mainstream writing and what I put on SOL. So, I thought I'd take a peek at Living Next Door to Heaven. I read it straight through. Sorry for all the typos!

I was so upset by the typos that I decided to check out Model Student. Yep. Right through all three books.

So far this month, I've written 22,000 words. I've read almost three million. I need a life.

After reading those two series, I am amazed that I have any emotions left. They drained me that thoroughly when I wrote them. And still, I read them (all three of these) with tears running down my cheeks half the time. Even through the mystery.

I've made it as far as Chappell, Nebraska as I'm trying to wend my way back to Idaho where they had snow last night again. I plan to stay here for a week while I wait for the winds to die down and temps to improve in Wyoming. But this afternoon, the wind has picked up again so much that I hooked the trailer back up to the truck for added stability. We got such a heavy and ominous cloud cover this afternoon as the wind picked up that it started getting dark at 4:30.

What I'm doing is sitting in my trailer rocking back and forth and trying to decide if I should read the Strange Art series or the Hero Lincoln Trilogy. Decisions, decisions.

Wayzgoose is a pen name/avatar I have used online for well over a decade. I used it for my 'serious writing' which I first published in 2007. I started using the moniker while I was still teaching publishing and design software and theory… a long time ago.

Which brings me to the meaning of the term. A wayzgoose was the party traditionally thrown by 15th century printers for their typesetters, usually in August or thereabouts. It marked the beginning of the time that typesetters would have to start working by candlelight. In other words, they were working such long hours that it got dark before quitting time! No daylight saving time for these dudes. It was part of the lore that I taught in my classes and I believe the first time I used it as one of my email addresses was sometime in the early 90s.

And why is this of interest to you?

Today, I created a new pen name on SOL: Wayzgoose. I created it for two reasons. First, I've been talking a lot about working on my new literary novel, City Limits. A few (very few) people have expressed an interest in reading it, even though it is a no-sex story. It will be published in June, but I've decided to give it away here as a sneak preview starting in April.

Second, I figured that my books have been in the market long enough that new sales are pretty rare, so I've decided to serialize my backlist here in case some new readers might get interested. So, after City Limits, I'll start putting up my cyber mystery, For Money or Mayhem. Eventually, I'll get all five books on my backlist up here for your reading enjoyment.

Third, (I know I said two, but I'm making up another) I'm not happy with my latest Devon Layne/aroslav endeavor. Even after rewriting, I think The Props Master 2: A Touch of Magic, needs another going over, which means it won't appear here for at least another couple of months. I just don't think it's up to the standard of my other stories and need to spend more time working on it.

The summary of this diatribe is that I'll start weekly posts as Wayzgoose of City Limits on Wednesday, April 4 before it goes live on Amazon and other sites in June. There won't be another aroslav story in the next month of two.

In other news, I lost another hour in my writing day today when I crossed from New Mexico into Texas. I'm now in the Central Time Zone. Camped tonight in windy Amarillo, TX, I'm headed down toward Lubbock to visit my sister for the weekend.

I somehow interpreted the lost hour as a lost week. I was certain that Sunday was April 1 and was panicked that I had not the slightest idea of what to write for Camp NaNoWriMo. As it turns out, I have another week to figure that out. Color me relieved!

I've decided to take another untried route when I turn and head north next week. I haven't been in a hurry to head north because of the weather. Snow in Seattle? No thanks! But looking at my maps, I discovered that I can stick to foothills for the next five hundred miles. In the past, I've intersected with and traveled small portions of US 385, but this looks like an opportunity to drive it from North Texas to the Wyoming/Colorado state line before I start west on I-80 to Cheyenne and Laramie. I owe a visit to the Coe Library on the UWyo campus now that the Redtail/Blackfeather/Yelloweye series is complete. They were really a great help in getting it researched.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there is a town of more than a thousand souls between Littlefield, TX and Julesburg, CO. I'm just hoping I'll have an internet connection occasionally.

Well, that about sums up the adventure of late. Remember, you can always check my travel blog at https://firstexit0.blogspot.com/.

Enjoy!

Someday I'm going to write a story with a character named Pedro just so that comment means something. But today, the important thing is to vote.

No, I'm not out campaigning for some major national or state election that's going to do away with Medicare, take away our guns, put more homeless veterans on the street, or create sanctuary cities in California for the Sa'arm. Whatever the issue of the day is.

Far more important, it's The Clitorides Awards for the Best in Written Erotica. Many people have seen that little yellow banner at the top of the page for so long, they don't realize that it recently changed. All the hoopla during December, January, and February was NOT the awards voting. It was the nominations. Consider it the primary election and now we're in the general election. Like in a national election, none of the votes you cast during the primaries count anymore. You can celebrate that your candidate got nominated, but if you don't vote now, he or she still may not be elected.

I voted for my favorite porn stars before the AVN awards and in some categories, votes cost a buck a piece and the performer who raised the most money won. Well, the Clitorides are free! You don't have to pay a thing to let people know what your favorite story or author is. Wow! Just go to the link above or paste https://clitoridesawards.org/ in your browser, sign in (or register with your SOL account name and email) and vote in all twenty-five categories for stories and authors. You get to choose a first, second, and third choice for each category. It's simple!

I'm pleased to have garnered nominations in eight categories this year. Wow! Thank you. Now, so you'll know exactly where to go to vote for Pedro, here's the list!

Medium Erotic Story of the Year: Art Something
Long Erotic Story of the Year: Art Critic
Best Romantic Story: Art Something
Best Erotic Science Fiction Story: Yelloweye
Best Incest Story: Art Something
Best Erotic Western Story: Yelloweye
Author of the Year: aroslav
Lifetime Achievement Award: aroslav

If you believe one of my stories is missing from the nominations, it could be because I withdrew it. I tried to take into consideration the stories most nominated during the primaries and withdrew stories from categories where more than one of my stories was nominated. Please vote for the remaining story and I'll consider it a vote of confidence for the other stories as well.

So, enough about me, let me tell you about me. I had a great weekend as the guest of Juggie in Southern Arizona and now I'm wending my way northward. I'm generally headed through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana on my way back to the summer campground in Idaho. No schedule and no idea what the route will be at any given time. I just 'decided' yesterday where I'd camp last night and thought of a place east of Albuquerque that I'd like to visit again, which will change my route somewhat. But, that's at least a week or two away, so I don't know yet whether my reason is compelling.

I camped about forty miles north of Phoenix last night, thinking that I'd be out this morning. I had a client project to complete and upload that I knew I could finish last night or this morning. But Client #2 sent me revisions last night after I was camped, so I'll spend another night here editing his "Gay Pirate Romance Adventure" before I pull up stakes and head out.

Writing the final draft of City Limits has kept me occupied several hours a day for the past few weeks. That has delayed any other new material I might have been producing, so you can expect that you won't be seeing anything new from me here until well into April. I completed Chapter 10 with a note to my line editor that said, "The most sinister evil segment I've ever written at the end of chapter 10." And it had no sex and no violence.

I've since finished Chapter 11 and have (I think) two more chapters to complete before I can worry about A Touch of Magic. And the number of story ideas that have been incoming as I drive this month is filling the pipeline after that story.

Other than that, I seem to be healthy and able, which puts me a long way ahead of many men my age. It's the naked living that does it. Or as Juggie quoted Mae West this weekend, "If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!"

Once, again, I appreciate your support and your votes!