Been a bit since I posted. Sorry to disappear like that.

a) UCM lost in the NCAA Div II Final Four to the eventual national champions Findley (OH) University 67-65. Congrats to Findley for going 36-0 on the season. Well done.

b) Survived the daughter-unit's 16th birthday party over the weekend. Good part - everyone enjoyed themselves. Best part - over until next year.

c) Found out I did not get accepted into University of Baltimore's MFA program by logging into my student page and finding the message waiting there. Official word is supposed to come sometime this week. Will try and schedule a meeting with the Dept. Chair to see what I can do to improve my chances for next year. If I don't get in then, I'll just pass on the MFA. I'd be 55 if I get in next year. Any older than that and it shifts from being useful to vanity.

Yeah, that one stings a bit. Esp. since I have more pro credits than most of the instructors at the school, but I can't teach at the local JuCo without the Masters. Maybe I'll look into getting a straight MA in English instead.

d) I lost Monday because my old computer was just not enjoying life, so I have a new baby in the house. It's a cute little HP Pavillion dv7-1245dx Entertainment Computer. Let me tell you, that extra 2G of RAM is making this baby scream loading programs compared to the old Toshiba. The Toshiba would have probably been fine with XP on the machine, but Vista and it were NOT friends. Took a little bit to figure out how to move all the stuff from one machine to the other (esp. setting up Thunderbird as my mail client and getting it to talk to a recalcitrant mail server).

e) And speaking of pro cred, as you might note from the title of this blog entry, I have officially hit the end of Shadows this evening. Yes, I know I need to add another chapter and yes, I know it needs editing/rewriting and yes, I know the 13th is still right around the corner.

But, the first draft is done.

I finished Chapter 22 and then wrote a bridge chapter (currently Chapter 13b) which explains some of what happens in Chapter 21. Now to add in the new chapter and modify the chapters I've already identified to accommodate all the rest of the stuff I added in 20, 21 and 22. I'm quite convinced, the new stuff I have to add will push me well over what I needed for this book.

But still, it's nice to say, I'm in editing mode, not writing mode.

Note to self, never get this far behind on a project again or else push for a more reasonable delivery date.

And now, it's off to bed.
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Words for the day

3810 / 1000 words. 381%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

78399 / 80000 words. 98% done!

Words for 2009

69835 / 365000 words. 19%

The University of Central Missouri continues to make me proud. They came back from down 12 at halftime with a blistering 69% from the floor (including 7 of 10 from three-point land) to defeat Gannon University (Pa) 86-77.

Not sure who they'll face in the next round, but whoever it is will be 33-0 when the Mules face them (both teams in the late game are undefeated). Not that UCM is any slouch at 30-4, but it's pretty impressive to get this far in a season without being defeated. Augusta State (GA) will be playing Cal-Poly Pomona in the other Final Four game.

Keeping the ol' fingers crossed.

Go Mules!

Congratulations to the Central Missouri Mules for winning the South Central regional and advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division II tournament.

UCM beat conference rival Southwest Baptist 98-63 at Warrensburg and now moves on to Springfield MA for the Quarterfinals to face Gannon University of Erie, PA.

This is twice in the past three years UCM has gone this far in the tournament and I am a proud alumnus tonight.

Whoo hoo!

As some of you know, I am a proud alum from the University of Central Missouri.

Tonight, the Mules of UCM captured the MIAA conference tournament title with their third consecutive overtime game, defeating Missouri Western 86-84. This was the first time any team had played three overtime games in the tournament much less winning all three.

This means the Mules finished the season at 26-4, which secured them the top seed in the South Central region for the NCAA Division II basketball tournament. They also will be hosting the regional as the top seed.

Congratulations to the Mules basketball team. Here's to a long and enjoyable dance starting on the 16th!

There is something to be said for just sitting down and writing until you're done writing.

I was working on Shadows today. Sat down, picked up where I left off on Chapter 11 and just buzzed through to the end of the chapter. Really pumped, good characterization (or at least I thought so *grin*), and the hardest part was actually getting the chapter to a stopping point.

So, I finished the chapter and decided to snag some dinner. I grabbed the leftover Chicken Rigatoni from lunch today, tossed it in the microwave, fixed a big glass of iced tea, enjoyed my meal, sat down at the computer

And I had nothing.

Everything seemed to be more interesting than writing. What I did write sounded flat and I fought with Chapter 12 for a good three hours.

AAAUUGGHH!

Now, I did manage a small recovery right about 2200, and all told, I hit 2206 words for the day, but I had hoped to get almost double that. Rassenfrassen sassenfrassen. But that was above the goal I need to hit and with a little extra tomorrow, I'll be right on track. Still, the monthly totals look pretty good. I'd love to keep this momentum up when Shadows is done and I get back to my "own" WiPs. We'll see.

And in other news: Central Missouri won their season finale in basketball, raising their record to 23-4 (16-4 in conference). They will be the #2 seed in the Conference tournament and barring something very strange, they should be in the NCAA tournament for Div II. Final Four two years ago, can they do it again?

Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel.
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Words for Today

2206 / 1000 words. 221%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

36787 / 100000 words. 37%

Words for 2009

29233 / 365000 words. 8%

I was going to take the daughter-unit to vision therapy this morning and then tag in with wishweaver who'd take her to her other appointments while I stayed home to watch the Central Missouri Mules actually on National TV (CBS College Sports Network).

That was until I walked down the stairs at 8am.

Well, let me change that. I almost walked down the stairs. I did walk down most of them, then my foot slipped on the next to last one.

BAM!

I found myself laying on my face on the entryway wondering why I hated my body. After a bit, I manged to get the daughter-unit's attention and she helped me up to my feet. After an initial inventory proved everything was still attached and in mostly working order, I determined I managed to bollox up my lower back, neck and right knee.

At this rate, between driving excitement and the inability to walk in my own house without hurting myself, that 50th birthday this summer is looking more and more questionable. *eek!*

So, anyway, Wish had to leave work early and take daughter to appointments. I putz around trying to get comfortable on couch and dial up TV to watch the ballgame. Which is unavailable because we don't have that channel on our current cable package. I did find out later, UCM won, pushing their record to 21-4 on the season with three games to go before the conference tournament. Keeping fingers crossed.

So, I went back upstairs and took a nap.

Still, Wish took me out for sushi tonight and I managed to get some writing done today. Still need to go back and edit Chapter 8 some more, but I'm pushing on with Chapter 9 while I do so. Shadows added 1724 words and with a little luck, I'll get some more done tomorrow, provided my back doesn't tighten up completely tonight.

I've got to have a talk with that voodoo lady and see who put the current curse on me . . .
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Words for Today

1724 / 1000 words. 172%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

25799 / 100000 words. 26%

Words for 2009

18245 / 365000 words. 5%

(insert image of writer letting out a large sigh.)

Man, the words did not want to come tonight.

I started out well, but it seemed like everything that could possibly distract me from writing tonight reared it's head. So, I wrote a bit, talked to the daughter-unit who was not having a "good day", wrote a bit, got an e-mail I needed to read, wrote a bit, decided to see how my alma mater did in Basketball last night (Central Missouri won btw, 82-58 over Emporia State), and so on.

I kept at it though and still managed to add 1046 words tonight. Not quite the 1500, but at least I hit my intermediate goal of 1000 words. Given the evening I've had, I'll take it.

Maybe, with a little luck, I can sneak in some writing tomorrow at lunch to try and catch up. The big challenge for me will be Saturday. I definitely want to get away for a bit and hit Mad City Coffee or Panera's and write. Hopefully, I can knock out about 3,000 words or more on Saturday, which will go a long way to make up for days like today.

Still, every day I'm writing puts me closer to my goals.

And now, it's time to kick the cats out of my bed and call it a night.
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Words for Today

1046 / 1000 words. 105%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

12998 / 100000 words. 13%

Words for 2009

5444 / 365000 words. 1%

and it's brought to you by the wonderful people from Oracle/Peoplesoft.

I was working on finishing up my grad school paperwork tonight. Got everything ready, filled out all the forms, prepped all the letters, etc. All I really needed to do was go on-line and fill out the admissions form.

Sounds simple, doesn't it.

Well, half-way through the document, I find out that two of the documents that I spend about an hour filling out are part of the on-line application form. Note, the college's web site specifically states these forms must be filled out and sent to the admissions office. If so, WHY IS IT PART OF THE APPLICATION FORM?

< insert much ranting and unprintable comments >

OK. Feeling a little better now.

I'll have to finish it up tomorrow, because I need to rip open the sealed/stamped envelope and extract the papers I filled out tonight to type them into the on-line form. But not now. I don't think they want me to express why I want to go to their college in my current snarky mood.

However, it did come in handy trying to capture Jack O'Neil's natural snarkiness, so it wasn't completely wasted. I added 1319 words to Shadows of the Heart tonight. Almost done with Chapter Three's rewrite and then on to new territory. I'm looking forward to doing mean things to the SG-1 team . . . is that a bad thing? (bwah-ha-ha!)
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Words for Today

1319 / 1000 words. 132% done!

Progress on Stargate SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

6428 / 100000 words. 6% done!

Words for 2008

163223 / 366000 words. 45% done!

Just got home from helping Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss do the "How to Find a REAL Agent" panel at Capclave and decided it was time for me to get off the sidelines and back into this stuff. Been battling a mild case of writer block (aka too damn lazy to write) and a bit of depression/"my writing sucks, why am I doing this?" Not looking for sympathy because I'm not being sympathetic to myself. It's my lost time and it's damn time I got back to doing something productive.

Not going to go into great details about the last four and a half months, so I'll pass on the highlights in semi-chronological order:

1) Started playing Guild Wars as a way to recharge the old batteries (Old D&D geeks need to get their fixes somehow *grin*)
2) My truck started to die, so I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Mazda MX-5 (Miata). Pictures to follow.
3) The Daughter-Unit had to go to summer school, so I had to take off an hour a day during the summer to pick her up and get her home
4) Had a good time at Shore Leave (personally, not so much professionally)
4a) Getting the feeling my days of writing Star Trek are pretty much over barring something I don't expect
5) Looks like I'll be moving to a new contract at work . . . current assignment coming to an end right after Thanksgiving
6) Wrote to an editor regarding doing a Guild Wars novel . . . no response yea or nay yet.
7) Heard back from the secret project which isn't a secret any more. Unless something weird happens, I should be getting a contract from Fandemonium in the next week or so for a Stargate SG-1 novel. First draft due March 9.
8) Finishing my application paperwork for the MFA program at the University of Baltimore. If I'm accepted, I start Fall 2009

I think that summarizes what's been going on so far.

For those of you who've stuck with me (out of friendship or inertia) I thank you. I'll try not to take such an extended vacation again.

Now . . . go do something productive.

Fixed the damn problem with the HTML I was fighting yesterday. Well, I didn't exactly fix it. I just decided to delete it and use a different solution to the problem. Sure, I could have spent a couple of hours and eventually figured it out, but right now, I just want to get the furshenlinger thing done.

Finally got some feedback on the updated site also and spent the rest of the day making the corrections or adding in the new data that I wish I had gotten last week. Still, the site looks good and tomorrow, it goes live at work and I can move on to other projects I need to get done.

I have to say, I hope the weather gets and stays steady here soon. I've been sicker this past January through April than I have in three years. I have burned through leave and I really need to start building it back up. *sigh*

But, when the day was done at work, I caught the light rail and headed into Charm City to attend the University of Baltimore's Open House for graduate students wanting to pursue a degree in Liberal Arts. Talked to the admissions people and they seem to think that the 4.0 and the Phi Theta Kappa membership I earned at Howard Community College back in 2007 should easily outweigh the *mumbles incoherently* grade point I earned at Central Missouri State (now University of Central Missouri) back in 1982, so it's highly unlikely I'll have to enter school as a conditional student. Huz-frickin-zah!

OH, and the good thing about attending the Open House? They're going to be e-mailing us a code to enter in the on-line admissions application which will waive the application fee. *grin*

After the Dean and the Admissions/Financial Aid people talked to the group, they had break-out sessions with various faculty members. I recognized the person who was there to speak to the Creative Writing group since he and I had talked extensively at the poetry reading a couple of weeks ago. So, for the most part, I sat back and listened to the others asking him questions.

Talked to some of my potential classmates for a bit and then hiked back to the light rail station to find I had missed the train by 3 minutes. So, I had to wait for 45 until the next train that was going to my station arrived, which got me back to my truck at 9:40 and then it was another 20 minute drive home from the station. I can tell, if I have late classes and use the train, I'll be getting home around midnight, but somehow that beats driving IN Baltimore.

What can I say? I learned to drive in a town of 490 people. One stop light, people, . . . one.

I know it's early, but based on my experiences at the school these two visits, I think I could fit in pretty easily. Yeah, we're talking about 4 years of my life, (48 hours of grad school, 6 hours a semester with summers to recover), but it'll be worth it.

Remember my big plans for the weekend?

Fugitaboutit.

Didn't happen. Various reasons, all it boils down to is I didn't write this weekend.

So what do I do today? 1588 words on my college writing project, finishing up the first chapter (which is what one of the universities wants for my admissions package). The others want between 30-50 pages, so I'll continue pecking away at this one over the summer, but at least I have the first chapter done so I can start polishing it.

(Word of warning, LJ-ers, I may hit a couple of you up for suggestions/critiques on this first chapter later this summer. I want in this program, so I'm going to make sure the sample is as polished as I can possibly make it.

Oh, and after I finished the college project, I knocked out 1069 words on Childhood's Tears.

So, basically I went from producing no words to nearly catching up on what I owed over the weekend plus. Who knows? Maybe the couple of days of not writing recharged me or maybe I was sick and tired of being lazy. Don't know, don't care as long as words are getting done now.

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On a different subject, dzeytoun and I went to see Forbidden Kingdom yesterday. I rate it 3.5 bags of popcorn on the matinee scale. Look, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it's not. However, it's a fun tale with some Chinese mythology thrown in. Plus, you have Jackie Chan doing the Drunken Master and Jet Li as the "Silent Monk". What's not to like, and even in his 50s, Jackie Chan still fights with the best of them. No, it's not going to win any Oscars and the storyline is a bit simplistic but who cares, it's a go into the theater, turn off your inner critic and just enjoy a fun story.

This one will be on my DVD list this fall.

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Words for Today

2657 / 1000 words. 266% done!

Progress on Black Satin Nights

16 / 50 pages. 32%

Progress on Childhood's Tears

34422 / 90000 words. 38%

Words for 2008

123397 / 366000 words. 34%

Just wow.

I attended a poetry reading at the University of Baltimore tonight. I wasn't certain if I was going to enjoy it or not, because I've been to some good poetry readings and I've been to some really NOT good poetry readings. Still, it was going to be an opportunity to meet with some of the faculty for the Creative Writing program so I could handle anything.

But, I was not expecting what I heard this evening.

The department had invited Patricia Smith, who is a performance poet. Which in a nutshell means she writes poetry to be read not just to be collected in a book. She's a dynamic performer who had the audience enraptured by her opening poem about a sixth-grade class where everyone in the class has lost someone (father, mother, brother, sister) to AIDS, murder or drug abuse and the hope that they gave to her after she met them. She now does a workshop with that school every year and has gotten to know the kids as they grew up and moved on, but that first class has always stuck with her.

She had some outrageously funny poems about the arrogance of airline pilots, an old barber as he gossiped about everyone as he worked on a Saturday morning and how a band she used to perform with used to sit around and discuss what kind of fame they really wanted. However, she also could do powerful stuff, to include the poem, "34", about the 34 people who died in the nursing home in New Orleans when the staff abandoned them to the flood waters. It was a long piece, with 34 stanzas, but she wanted to give each person a moment to be a "human" rather than just a statistic on a sheet somewhere.

I had the opportunity to visit with her toward the end and I definitely think I'll be looking up her books here in the very near future. Her newest book, "Blood Dazzler", is a collection of poems related to Hurricane Katrina and if the rest of the book is as powerful as the two she read us tonight, it'll in turns infuriate, delight and humble the reader.

After it was all over, I did get a chance to speak to a couple of the instructors, to include the head of the MFA program. The general consensus is, given my age, life experience, professional credits and the 4.0 GPA I had at Howard Community College, they're pretty certain the University will overlook my "lack of discipline" back in 1977-82 when I got my Bachelors. What they're more concerned with is a 20 page writing sample and my letters of recommendation from former professors.

OH, and there's no requirement to take the GRE for this MFA program.

Let's just say, given the meeting tonight, the cost factor, and the fact they're the only one of the three that wouldn't make me take the GRE (again) moves them to the top of my list. Sure, they don't have quite the name recognition that a John Hopkins has, but that's one of the least of my concerns.

I mean, Central Missouri doesn't have the same panache that a Princeton has, but strangely enough, I work with a guy who went there and we make roughly the same amount of money and neither of us is working in our major field anyway. From what I can see, the only real difference is it cost me about 1/10th of what it did him to get that degree. *grin*

Oh, and I did get some writing done after I got home. Added 1099 words to Childhood's Tears.
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Words for Today

1099 / 1000 words. 110%

Progress on Childhood's Tears

33353 / 90000 words. 37%

Words for 2008

117832 / 366000 words. 32%

Got off work late last night, so by the time we finished dinner, the evening was pretty well shot.

Sat down, grabbed a book and thought I'd get some reading in before writing time. Finished the first book by 2210 (10:10pm for you non-military types *grin*) and grabbed its companion Finished that one at 0030. (O.K., they were short books (about 220 pages each).)

Enjoyed myself.

Will try and write tonight after I get home from meeting the head of the Creative Writing Masters Program at University of Baltimore. They're hosting a poetry reading tonight and she invited me to attend and visit afterward.

Keeping my finger's crossed. I reviewed the listing for Maryland colleges and universities last night just to be sure I didn't miss anything. Out of the approximately thirty four-year schools here, only nine offer a Masters in English (mostly for Educators) and only three (John Hopkins, University of Maryland College Park, and University of Baltimore) offer a Creative Writing Program.

Well, that'll save me money for application fees anyway. *grin*

Now, off to work.

After talking to the professor yesterday, I decided I'd take a quick stab at writing something non-genre. Something a bit more historical, featuring man's struggle with himself, others and being put into a position where decisions were limited and life-threatening.

And damned if it isn't starting to sound like a Bogey movie or three. I've set the story in Monaco in 1941, when it was under the control of Vichy France. wishweaver read through the first eight pages this evening and before she reached page three, she was already humming "As Time Goes By". Still, there are worse things to compare a novel against than Casablanca or a good Hemingway short story or even a good Hitchcock movie (although it did take place a few years after the war).

I did get on a bit of roll though, knocking out 3,162 words or the first ten pages. This one is going to be accounted for a tad differently, since I have to submit 50 pages, not X amount of words. I don't have a hard or fast schedule for this one outside of the fact I have to have it done by January, 2009. I expect it'll be a few thousand here, a few thousand there, although I do need to allow for editing time to polish it up.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the classics.
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Words for Today

3162 / 1000 words. 316%

Progress on Black Satin Nights

10 / 50 pages. 20%

Words for 2008

111874 / 366000 words. 31%

As I have mentioned once or twice, once wishweaver finished her degree next spring (Inshallah), I hope to get started on my MFA in Creative Writing. Well, there are several programs in the area I can apply for, but the two I'm most looking into is the one at John Hopkins or else the one at the University of Baltimore.

I went on-line today and found out they were having a Graduate School open house on the 30th. That sounded like a great time to meet the admissions people so I can get everything organized and any and all waivers I may need to track down before I start applying in Jan 09. (Let's just say my first time through college back in 77-82 was less than stellar. *sigh*) But, it didn't seem quite what I was looking for, so I found the Creative Writing Program's advisor and gave her a call.

As I had thought, she wasn't going to be there, but she invited me to attend a reading at the college a week from today. They're having a "nationally known poet" and it'll "give me a taste of what the program is like". She also invited me to be sure to introduce myself to her afterward so she could give me a briefing on the program and what they'd be looking for.

Then I got to the sixty-four thousand dollar question and I was right . . . they aren't interested in genre writing. (OH, that's a big surprise, White. An MFA program uninterested in SF/F/H? Oh, hush.) Still, I have an idea for the fifty page sample of my writing (aka: "first three chapters") that might be a fun little thing to do that's more of a historical fiction piece. She was interested in the fact that I had professional credits, even if they were genre-related.

As I said back when I was working on my AA in English, it's not a bad thing to stretch your writing muscles and try new things. And hey, if I can convince work into paying for most of it, why not. After all, they're the ones beating me up about not having a Masters.

Didn't hear from my collaborator tonight to discuss what I'd done with the latest chapter of Shattered Mirror. I have a feeling she got stuck at the office again. There are good things about being a manager and there are less than good things about it. I think the "overtime" you're expected to put in at a moment's notice is definitely one of the "Not Good Things".

Switching gears back to genre, I continued working on Childhood's Tears tonight. I was a little distracted tonight for some reason, but I still hammered out 1,125 words and finished Chapter Eight. One of the supporting characters caught my two protagonists (and the writer) off-guard tonight. He was a tad more feisty than I envisioned him to be, which pleased me to no end. If I was to sell this and get a chance to do a sequel, I suspect he might just have to make an appearance in the next book.

Still, butt in chair, words on paper. It's all good.
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Words for Today

1125 / 1000 words. 113%

Progress on Childhood's Tears

32254 / 90000 words. 36%

Words for 2008

108712 / 366000 words. 30%

I spent most of the evening editing a school paper for wishweaver, which is only fair considering she edited almost all of the papers I wrote when I was getting my English AA.

However . . .

I found the four-legged destructo-machines some people call cats had decided to pee in our downstairs powder room rather than their litter boxes. *sigh* Well, I started cleaning up the mess, but ran out of paper towels. I asked the daughter-unit to go downstairs and fetch a fresh roll, while I continued working on the mess.

"Dad!"

"What?"

"There's a big puddle of water in the basement!"

"AAAUUUGGGHHH!"

I rushed downstairs to see water leaking from the ceiling. Luckily, our contractor had left a tool box open and the water was dripping down into it. Of course, it had overflown into the basement floor, but I must have dumped a good four gallons of water into the trash barrel I took downstairs to replace it. So, while wishweaver helped me find stuff to clean up downstairs, I managed to get the water turned off. We traced the leak to the copper tube that takes water to the refrigerator. I'm not sure if something came loose or if a seal broke, but we'll either let the contractor or the plumber take a look at it later.

I got out our small wet vac and got up the worst of the water on the floor, but it wasn't meant for that kind of work. Rather than burn it out, I'm running a fan on the spot right now and hopefully between it and the dehumidifier, we'll get the worst of it up.

I'm a little worried about some of the framing for the drywall, because some of the 2x4s look pretty soaked through. Thank goodness they hadn't hung the drywall yet or they'd be yanking it out. Guess it's a good thing they're a little behind schedule.

Still, it could have been a lot worse.

Needless to say, between editing the paper and my adventures in plumbing, I got no writing done this evening.

*double sigh*

Well, it's been a great weekend here at Casa Blanca.

UCM won their homecoming game with Missouri Western, the University of Missouri (not my alma mater, but I did grow up about 12 miles from there) crushed the high-powered offense of Texas Tech 41-10 and by hook and by crook, the Chiefs slipped past the Oakland Raiders 12-10.

Also, we went back to the Maryland Renaissance Festival today. Got to see the two groups I really wanted to hear perform - Mediaeval Babes and Wolgemut. Also, watched a great Punch and Judy show, saw Shakespeare Scum deconstruct Henry the "V" and enjoyed watching the Fight School demonstrate broad sword, bastard sword, quarterstaff, transitional rapier, rapier and main-gauche, short sword and cased rapier (florentine style).

wishweaver picked up some nice faire garb for next year and I picked up a very nice wooden mug for use both there and when I'm working on my stories, as well as the two Mediaeval Babes CDs I hadn't bought yet. I'll be adding them into my iTunes Library tomorrow night.

Although, I will admit, going to the RenFest meant I blew off my writing for today (bad author, bad author), but I got quite a bit done yesterday and I'm three chapters from finishing the breakdowns. I'll try to make it up tomorrow night while the daughter-unit has her vision therapy. Then it's time to write the first chapter and start editing both.

So, have a good night, Live Journal.

Picked up the mail tonight after getting back from dinner with the family. There was a packing tube in the mailbox which caught my attention. After dropping off the rest of the junk mail and the bills, I pried the end off of the tube and there was something I've been waiting for since last May.,

My diploma.

Yeppers, I am officially a graduate of Howard Community College with an Associate of Arts in English. Of note on the diploma are the words "High Honors 4.0" and the Phi Theta Kappa seal is attached on the lower right hand corner.

(Trust me, if you could see my official transcript from Central Missouri State, you'd understand why I was tickled pink to do as well as I did at Howard. Let's just say, I wasn't a real studious student then.)

I'm going to wait until wishweaver finishes her Master's Program before starting to pursue mine. It's not really in the family budget, (money or time) for both of us to be in school at the same time. But it just gives me time to decide which of three schools I want to apply for (University of Baltimore, University of Maryland - College Park, or John Hopkins) and to put a writing portfolio together for them.

Course, a few more published works wouldn't hurt my chances either. *grin*

I forgot to mention this last Wednesday, but I went to the college after the Verizon guy finished installing our FIOS (which rocks, by the way!). Along with picking up the Word Perfect X3 from the college bookstore, I swung by the advisers to petition for graduation. Signed in, the adviser called up my records, signed a paper and after another quick swing by Finance, I am now an official graduate of Howard Community College with an Associate of Arts in English.

I've been invited to walk across the stage next May if I choose to, but I think I'll pass on that. I'm not certain when I'll get my diploma, but I suspect it'll arrive here sometime in August.

Still, considering my less than stellar performance the first time that I went through college at the University of Central Missouri, I'm pretty damn proud of graduating from HCC with a 4.0 grade point and membership in Phi Theta Kappa.

Now, it's time to start thinking about grad school.

*eek!*

Turned in my last assignment tonight for Astronomy Lab and spent some time talking with Professor Haxton while he was monitoring the others who were making up missed labs. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the college to post the grades for the semester (sometime next week, I hope) and I'll have almost officially ended my time at Howard Community College.

I say "almost" because I'm not graduating this May. Nope. Somehow, either I forgot to turn in a piece of paper or they can't find it, but I have to re-petition for graduation again. So, I'll officially be graduating from HCC in August, although I'm not taking any more classes. (Unless they mysteriously decide I need another class to graduate, at which point, I could be certifiably homicidal. *grrrrrr!*

Still, it's nice to put this behind me. I'm going to lay out a bit to let wishweaver go after her Masters in Computer Science and then I'll get started on my Masters in Creative Writing. Yes, I've pretty much decided to go ahead and see if I *can* write "literary fiction". Just like my class last year in Creative Writing, it's not exactly what I would write given my druthers, but it's good to stretch one's limits.

So, I'll be retiring the college avatar for a while, but hopefully not forever.

Well, the University of Central Missouri lost in the Div II Final Four to Winona State University(last year's national champs) 90-85 in OT, finishing the season at 31-4. They weren't able to hold the 06 Champs off as Winona rallied in the 2nd Half to overcome an 11 point deficit and tie the Mules to force the extra period.

Still, a Final Four is nothing to sneeze at and the Mules were fun to listen to on Internet Radio all season. Congratulation to the team and to my old Alma Mater! Well done and here's looking forward to next year's team.

Congratulations to the University of Central Missouri Mules for winning the South-Central Region in the NCAA Div-II Basketball Tournament and advancing to the Elite Eight in Springfield Mass. this weekend.

Also, congratulations to the Mules for reaching 30-3, the most number of wins ever for a Mules Baskeball team (surpassing the 29 games they won en route to the National Championship in 1984).

<--- pleased alumnus

UCM 66 - Truman State (MO) 47

That's it.

19-0

The 2006-2007 Mules Basketball team is in the record books for the best start in the history of the college/university. EVER. (Not to mention, we're ranked second in the nation in NCAA Division II.)

A definite tip of the hat to the boys of crimson and black.

(There'll be another post here in a while explaining where I've been and what I've been doing (or not doing) in a bit.)

Central Missouri 81 - Pittsburg State (KS) 59

The Mules move to 18-0 on the season, tying the best record in school history. They play Tuesday night against Truman State (the team they played last Wednesday) to try and go to 19-0 and set a new record. I'm trying to track down how long the Mules have been playing basketball, but still, even tying a record like that is quite an accomplishment.

It's a good day to be an alumnus.

Yes, the University of Central Missouri Mules won their 17th game in a row this evening over Truman State 77-63, tying their second-best start since 1990. The Mules are now 17-0, (8-0 in conference) this year with 10 games to go in the regular season. The other good news tonight was Emporia State lost their game to Northwest Missouri, dropping them to second place in conference at 16-1, 7-1 in conference.

Yes, I'm rather proud of my alma mater. The Mules are one of four teams still undefeated in NCAA Div II and one of only eight undefeated teams among all the four year colleges (NCAA Div I, II, III, NAIA I, NAIA II).

Well, my old alma mater, University of Central Missouri, won their game tonight against Ft. Hayes State moving their record to 15-0 (6-0 in conference). Three more wins and they tie the best start any basketball team has had since the Mules began playing. The team sounds really good this year. Kim Anderson is doing a great job as the coach.

No words tonight. Got off work, ate, spent time with family, piddled on the computer a bit and am now going to bed before midnight for once.

Definite words tomorrow night.

can life get any better than this?

OK, time to get the sports geek stuff over with first. My old alma mater, University of Central Missouri, ran their basketball record to 14-0 (5-0 in conference)tonight against Missouri Western State University. This sets up a clash of titans on Saturday when the Mules will face off against conference co-leader Emporia State U. (KS), which is also 14-0. Luckily for me, the Mules games are carried on internet radio so I can listen in. If you think it's tough to keep up with a sports team on the internet or in the newspaper, try being a fan of an NCAA Division II team. If you're not within 50 miles, you might as well forget reading about them in the paper or hearing a score on TV.

I received the editorial changes to Shadows today. Marco sent this version on to the licensing people, so hopefully we'll hear something official back on the project soon.

I went back and made a couple of corrections on the stuff I wrote last night based on some feedback from wishweaver and mollymorrison as well as the editorial copy. Then got back on track and added another 1251 words tonight. Finished the second scene and am on the third now.

I keep saying scenes because when I wrote this, I was seeing it like an episode from Next Generation. Even though the story is being told from one character's POV, there are still definite beats in the story as the scenes shift from one part of the ship to another. It feels sorta like screen writing without all the annoying formatting problems. *grin*

I have to admit, I got a late start on writing tonight because I was reading about the latest sting pulled against Publish America (or as we like to call it, Publish Anything). Crack of Death by Sharla Tann has now joined Atlanta Nights by Travis Tea as another intentionally badly written book to be offered a contract by PA. Originally conceived to be the Publish Britannica version of Atlanta Nights, it lingered in limbo after PB closed its doors until now.

There's a very entertaining thread on this topic at Making Light.

Of special interest at the Crack of Death web site are two articles posted by former PA employees who describe just what it was like to work for this self-proclaimed "traditional publisher". If these articles don't make people think twice about going to Publish America, I'm at a loss to think what might get through to them.

Someday, that "traditional publisher" is going to fold its tent and I intend to drive up to Fredrick, MD and dance on their grave when the locks go on the doors.

Words for Today

1,251 / 1,000 (125.1%)

Progress on "Shadows"

2,444 / 10,000 (24.4%)

Words for the Year

14,605 / 365,000 (4.0%)

Well, as New Year's Day comes to a close, I guess I should post my goals for the upcoming year:

1) Write 1000 words a day. Yep, I've set a personal goal to write 365,000 words this year. Now, I realize with college and travel and stuff, it may not happen every night, but the plan is to make up for any nights missed. The 1000 words can be proposals, outlines, short stories, novellas or novels but it must be directed toward writing. School work does not count in this, so whether I'm staying up late or getting up early or writing at lunch or something, 1000 words a day must appear.

2) Finish one novel this year.

3) Finish and submit 4 short stories this year.

4) Finish this last semester and graduate from Howard Community College with my Associates in English with a 4.0.

5) Find representation for myself this year with an agent.

6) Submit two media tie-in proposals (novel, novella, short story . . . doesn't matter. What matters is that it gets in front of an editor.)

7) Keep Blog updated. I was very spotty this year keeping the blog up to date and my goal is to post something at least every other day.

8) Keep web site updated. I've been REALLY bad at this and I need to do better, especially since I'm paying for the site and the URL.

And in keeping with my first goal:

Proposal for Star Trek anthology: Shadows
Words: 1690

1,690 / 1,000 (169.0%)

Words for the year:

1,690 / 365,000 (0.5%)

Grades were just posted on the college site. I must admit I'm pleased, but I'm annoyed I simply ran out of time and energy to get the honors portions of the classes done. Sigh

ENGL-207-150	Ethics in Literature	A	3.00
ENGL-205-150	The Short Story	A	3.00

Still, all in all, a successful semester. Still maintaining my 4.0 average for my second time through college.

It's amazing . . . I'm still convinced if I had gone to DLI in Monterey first and then gone to college, my GPA at CMSU would have been almost a point higher. There's nothing like knowing guys with helmets and billy clubs will show up at your door if you decide to skip a military school to install discipline and attendance ethics. Also, after studying Arabic or Czech for 6 hours a day, plus PT, plus military training and doing 2-4 hours of language homework a night, carrying 12 hours at a regular college would have been a piece of cake.

Now, on to spring and graduation!

I did my final project for Ethics in Literature tonight as well as turning in the 10-page critique of Capote's In Cold Blood. Three bloody pages of bibliography! Oh well, what's the point in doing something if you can't overdo it? We finished The Short Story, last Thursday in lieu of doing finals.

Whoo hooo! My life is mine again (at least until 29 January). I'm taking my wife out to dinner tomorrow night for all the editing of papers she's done for me this semester as well as her staring at the back of my head while I tried to juggle writing, college classes, family events and not killing my supervisor at work. (Not going to go there. Let's just say, at 47, I don't need a mother to watch after me at work.) wishweaver is without a doubt the reason my grades are as good as they are in English. She's a great editor and not the least bit shy about whacking me with a clue stick when she finds a logic gap or an unclear subject. Seriously, I know a lot of people say never ask a family member or friend to review something for you. Luckily, Wish is very conscientious and catches a ton of stuff I might miss. She may not be as vicious as some editors, but she's not averse to using the word "No!", when it comes to a story idea or a less-than-thought-out plot point.

There was a minor setback in my pitch for the Dr. Who story, but I think we've worked through it and the revised pitch goes back to the licensor to approve or kick back. No word on the Star Trek front, but that's not surprising. I'm noticing that media tie-in work has two speeds, glacial and light speed, and of course, the writer is expected to move at light speed. *grin* (or in kradical's case, ludicrous speed for some projects.)

I do have two classes in the spring. They both should be fun, although one is a little worrisome.

I'm taking The Science of Science Fiction, where we'll not only be reading SF books, but they'll be bringing in people from John Hopkins's Applied Physics Lab, NASA-Greenbelt, and other places to discuss how SF has influence actual science and vice versa. That class should be a blast!

The other class I'm taking is the one I have to take to graduate. I needed a Science Lab credit, so I'm taking Introduction to Astronomy. It should be a lot of fun also, but this is coming from the guy who hasn't had a math class since 1977. I'm afraid my trigonometry is a little rusty. Also, one of the projects is to record sunsets for a two week period . . . could be tricky this time of year when I work in a building with no windows. I go into work when it's dark and I come out when it's dark. Bleah. I'm going to have to talk to the lab instructor and see about swapping out something I (as a non-traditional student) can do instead.

But, starting tonight, the vacation begins. Which means, the writing better darn well start again. Writing without guilt, what a concept!