Issue #85

Blog #25-2018

Section: From the Author’s Desk

Blogger: Joseph Clay

Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is only 15 days away. Seven days later we will will be saying good by to 2018 and ringing in 2019.

That means it is time for me to look back at the year and see what has transpired with my life, health, and writing.

Life is good. I wake up every morning or afternoon if I had a late night writing, with a roof over my head, clothes to put on, if I choose to, and food to eat.  Nothing was repossessed last year, I didn’t go jail, and no one died. Although it was touch and go their for a while with my sibling.

Yes, God continues to bless me. What more could a person ask for.

My health was better in 2018 than 2017. I did have an episode that prevented me from attending a book signing  in Oklahoma in late October.  Nothing major but the doctors suggested I not travel that far at that time. I had another hiccup last week that involved low (K) Potassium. That issue I thought was going to land me in the hospital but was resolved by oral medication and not intravenously.

My two business adventures are coming along OK, The booth at the indoor flea market is doing well. The publishing company could be doing better, but it’s holding it’s own.

Now to the writing. I had a good year, but my 2018 writing goals do not reflect that. I spent a lot of time behind the keyboard but have only one piece of completed work to show for it. That was a 250 word Flash Fiction piece that I  submitted in a contest.

This disturbs me in more ways than one. We will start with the novels.

Novel Goals for 2018:

• Release one new Novel – Thunder Bear.
• Release the the re-write of – Demons of the Jungle.
  

Neither of the above came to pass. The manuscript for Thunder Bear needs massive revisions. I have placed this novel on the back burner for now. The re-write for Demons of the Jungle is in progress.

Submissions:

Every year I try to enter at least one writing contest. This year I submitted a tale to the Mysterious Photograph contest in the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. I penned a tale titled, An Apple a Day. According to guidelines this was to be  Flash Fiction piece coming in at 250 words or less.

 No word at the time of this publication if I won or got an honorable mention. If Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine does not publish it you will be able to find An Apple a Day here on the blog under Flash Fiction.

I will also add a few more words to the story, bringing up to a short story count and place it in the the short story copulation The Tales of Joe.

Work in Progress

Although I fell short on the goals of a new release, the year was not a total loss. The WIP file is extensive with several projects almost complete.

My guess is WIP is where a majority of my writing time was spent.

Demons of the Jungle re-write is 75% complete. I pulled the back story and created a book one to Demons of the Jungle, the title has yet to be created so we will call it for now, Demons of the Jungle, the Beginning, it is 50% complete.

A couple of short stories that I had written, Across the Hall -One Door Down  and Working the Graveyard Shift, titles subject to change, I pulled from the collection. These two tales have a deep plot so I decided to make both into novels. Across the Hall is 75% complete and Working the Graveyard Shift is 50% complete.

I penned several stories for the two short story collections, Tales of Joe and  Erotic Tales of Joe, titles subject to change. Those two books are 65% complete.

Blog goals for 2018

• Keep the readers updated with a blog that is published at least once a month.

I contribute to two others blogs besides this one. They are ThunderHorse Publishing the Blog and Joe Coming Unglued, my personal blog. 12 (1 post a month) x 3 (Blogs) = 36 post. I feel flat on my face here. Last year I only contributed 23 blogs scattered across the three. I feel 13 blogs short of the 2018 Blog Goal. The break down is as follows.

• Joseph Clay – Author Official Blog : 9 Blogs (3 short)
  
• ThunderHorse Publishing – The Blog: 2 Blogs (10 Short)
  
• Joe Coming Unglued: 12 Blogs

Well my friends that wraps up the 2018 Year End Report. Not a good report at all and I would have to give my self a big fat red ‘F’.

I hope everyone’s holiday season is filled with Peace, Joy and Blessings.

Till next year.

-Joe-