Writer Mick: Blog

Hi All

Long time!

I hate unfinished stories on SOL. Drives me crazier than I already am!

Having said that, I just counted and I have almost a dozen unfinished stories in my files. The obvious ones are "The Strawberry Patch" and "The O'Dells" but there are so many more that I consider good stories.

The problem is that I get to a certain point and the characters don't know how to end the story. I have a couple of doozies!

How about one where a loving couple, once a year go on separate sex vacations? Or one where a former Marine sniper has a stripper for a wife, who works for a Mafia bar owner that wants her to hook for him? Or maybe a coach who goes to a strip club with other coaches and finds that one of his former athletes is the star of the Shower and Hour show? Or a coming of age story about some cousins told from holiday to holiday starting at the kids table at Thanksgiving? Or how about the first nudist colony on the Moon?

I need to buckle down and finish The Strawberry Patch and then The O'Dells. With Covid going away by me my schedule finally is getting stable.

Bear with me.

Mick

Hi All

Well the competitive season is over. I now can have a few mornings where I sleep until I wake up instead of when the alarm goes off.

With no practices to write, or run, and not much office work for several weeks, I can get back into the habit of writing. I feel so far behind.

It's also the first year that I haven't had an athlete that works with me or who had worked with me in the Olympics. The Games don't hold much magic for me, having been behind the curtain.

If you ever want to read something that will set you off about "amateur"sports, read "The Lords of the Rings" and "The New Lords of the Rings" by Andrew Jennings.

Nuff said

Mick

Hi All

I got up early this Independence Day. Here in Oklahoma, we finally have a short break from the heavy thunderstorms and rain. Now we can get back to blistering heat and high humidity and very little breeze.

I was writing a chapter of the next O'Dell book when a thought occurred to me. It was about the story I wrote, "Affair of Choice" and some changes I wanted to make. So I opened it, made those changes, read through the entire story again, made a few more changes, caught one spelling error and sent it in to be posted again.

I'm not really expecting anyone to rush over to read it, but it's there for your reading pleasure.

I was also doing my usual Independence Day ritual of reading Rush Limbaugh's father's piece called "Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor" and the wonderful story by Edward Everett Hale, "The Man Without A Country".

That story should be a must read today. Yesterday after my swim practice, I asked the kids if they knew who we declared independence from in 1776. Of the many 10-14 year olds in attendance only one knew the answer, including several home schooled kids. If we lose our identity as a country it will be because the children aren't being taught about it.

God Bless America.

Mick

Hi All

I'm at a competition this weekend and for the first time in 20 weeks I don't have a chapter to post.

It feels really strange. We are going into the heavy portion of the summer season. My time for writing has dwindled to almost nothing.

This morning my muse hit me in the head and yelled at me to write. Of course it was while I was getting ready to go to the competition. So I wrote this.

Have a wonderful day and, next weekend in the US, a wonderful and safe Independence Day. Don't blow up any important digits!

Mick

Hi All

The last chapter in The Passion of the O'Dells will be posted this morning. I feel pretty good about how this portion of the story has wound up.

I am working full time right now and am trying to fit my writing in where I can. I usually try to write a bit every day, But with summer here my schedule has changed. There are three days out oft he week where I work from 7AM to 7:45PM with only an hour for lunch.

I work Saturday AM so I end up with only a day and a half off each week, unless my team has a competition on the weekend and right now we have competitions every weekend from June 18 to Aug 8. Then I have three weeks off.

My goal is to write for several hours each day at that point and finish The Strawberry patch and the vast majority of The Strength of the O'Dells.

But back to the present, Chapter 20 is here for your enjoyment. Thank you again for your readership.

Mick