Welcome to the heat of summer, MGRers. It sounds like an excellent time to stay inside and review where I stand in achieving my goals for the year as stated back in January. I already am cringing, because I am far, far from the planned route for the year. But you’ll come along for the ride and can laugh at my embarrassment.

Let’s start with the good news. Blackbirds Second Flight is published. That’s the Kindle link, but you can find it in paperback at major on-line retailers as well.

That was the good news. I was not learning cover creation techniques fast enough to suit me, but I discovered Amazon has a Cover Creator Wizard that will create a passable cover. By uploading a .doc file, Amazon will convert a manuscript to Kindle format. For simple short stories, this works well, so I found cover art and converted my short story and poems from Blackbirds First Flight and my two short stories from Blackbirds Second Flight and offered them for sale on line. Both are available for 99 cents. Quin and bonus poems can be found here. Glaring Upheaval and bonus story, Malone’s Way, can be found here.

Quin is science fiction and explores one creepy solution to finding workers to work on dangerous jobs. Glaring Upheaval and Malone’s Way are written from their feline main character’s points of view.

That was the unexpected news, and I think it falls to the good side of the tally sheet. On the more disappointing side, Polar Bear on the Loose will NOT be published by August 4. It will not be published this year. I’m just too slow at revising, and it needs far too much rewriting to make it suitable for your eyes. Additionally, I have not begun the revision of Twilight (new Working Title: Geeks), because I do not want to descend into whatever level of Hell revising two novels simultaneously would send me to.

I’ve been stalled since my knee replacement surgery in late April. I had carpal tunnel release surgery last Thursday. My energy levels are returning from the knee surgery, and after my hand heals enough to be productive again (I’m a lefty, and the surgery was on my left hand), I’m anxious to resume work. I’m just not certain what that work will consist of.