--Insert Witty Title Here--

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. I kind of feel at loose ends with my various projects; like I'm being pulled in several different directions. It may sound like I'm overwhelmed, but the truth is, I'm not. I'm more lost than anything, just drifting. Hence the title of this post. It seems to sum up my feelings pretty well.

With my writing, I am floundering. I have so many ideas and they all appeal to me. At least until I begin working on them, then the plot seems to hit a brick wall or simply fizzles out. I feel like I'm searching for the Higgs Boson and while I'm examining a theory, something shows me I'm headed in the wrong direction, so I stop or change course with uncertainty. This is the longest I've gone between stories without a definite course. There's only one thing to do, however. I need to pick a story and power through it. But, that's easier said than done. Currently, I have my sights set on a YA Halloween tale in the vein of Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree or Clive Barker's The Thief of Always, both great books.

In addition to my writing, I also have some other projects I'm working on. It's that time of year when my mind becomes distracted by the approach of fall, and with it, my favorite holiday, Halloween. This means I'm trying to create some cool silicone masks. I managed to sculpt a cool design a couple of weeks ago and then made the mold for it. When I finished the mold I went ahead and made two different casts. For those of you that don't know, a cast is when you pour in the silicone, let it dry, and then pull out the finished product. The first cast was too thin and ripped in several places. This is not uncommon. So, I poured another cast, making sure to double the amount. When I pulled it out, I had less rips, but still, that cast was unsuccessful. I haven't gone back to try again...yet.

My last distraction is my photography, which has come more to the forefront lately since I started trying to sell some of my work. I'm also pleased to announce that I am working on several new techniques. Last night, I experimented with something called light painting. When you light paint, you set up your camera in the dark, focused on a specific scene, and use a light source to highlight an area of the scene. I was pleased with my initial results and want to do more of these types of photos for my gallery. Also, there are some more techniques I want to try, but I'm waiting for the right time to try them.

Now for a confession: I made a major purchase this past week. I made the leap from my current camera (a Canon Rebel T2i) to a more professional-grade camera (a Canon 5D mark II). With the significant price difference, I did not arrive at this decision lightly, but I feel it will allow my pictures to really pop. Time will tell. In the meantime, I need to focus on something and see it through to completion. If you want to help me out, please buy one of my books or one of the photos from my gallery. It would certainly go a long way to lifting my spirits. As always, thanks for stopping by!

Once in a blue moon...

There's a blue moon tonight. There won't be another until 2015--in June, I think. Since blue moons are so infrequent, I thought it would kind of be symbolic for me to post my last post of August on the blue moon (since I can't seem to be regular with my posts).

There's not a lot exciting going on, not for the couple of blog readers I have anyway. Not only is today a blue moon and the end of August, it's also my oldest son, Robbie's, birthday. He turned 22 today. Happy Birthday, Robbie! (Of course, I highly doubt he reads my blog. He's probably never glimpsed it.)

We're on the cusp of a three-day weekend since Monday is Labor Day. In other news, I received a new lens filter today in the mail, so I'll be using it to take some more pictures that I hope will be worthy of posting in my gallery. Speaking of that, if you haven't yet checked out my online photography, I hope you will. Also, please tell your friends about it, especially if they're looking for pictures to hang on a drab wall. (BTW, my prices are highly--if not absurdly--competitive with the other photographers out there!)

At the moment, my wife and I are relaxing while we watch Ghost Adventures. The locations they visit are interesting, but really, does anyone actually believe this host? He reminds me of someone I work with (whom I find tiresome--enough said about that). Also, for anyone who doesn't yet know (where've you been?), I'm a huge skeptic of anything supernatural/paranormal. But, like I said, the locations are cool. I so want to go visit these places. :)

In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Thanks for stopping by!

And Now for Something Completely Different

As the title suggests, this post is a divergence from my usual posts where I pimp my writing. For those of you who don't already know, I dabble in amateur photography in addition to writing novels and short stories (as well as creating silicone masks and creating photo-realistic drawings, but I digress). My photography started out just being for me, for fun. I bought a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and began experimenting. As I became more familiar with the camera, I purchased more expensive gear to take more interesting photos (star trails, etc.). However, my hoarding the photos I had taken didn't sit well with the rest of the family, who complained about me not uploading them to Facebook or giving them over so they could do it. After all, I had taken many pictures featuring them.

Recently, after visiting an art gallery in La Veta, Colorado, my wife suggested I sell my pictures. She said, "Yours are every bit as good as any of these." Many of those photos hanging on the walls were very good and I highly doubted mine measured up. (Did you know I am extremely self-critical?) I expressed my doubts and she responded by saying she would try to sell them herself if I would give her some of the photos. So, I did. We went through some of the thousands of pictures I have stored on my computer and selected a fraction of them to sell. I uploaded them to a personal portfolio online with a website called Smug Mug.

After researching some other, more established photographers' prices, I set my prices to be very competitive. After all, I'm not looking to get rich (or even quit my day job) by selling my photos. Although, it would be nice and a guy is entitled to his daydreams, isn't he? I simply hope to offer my photos to anyone who thinks there is a place on their wall for something I captured. That would be enough. For instance, a large (24x36 metallic) print was around $300.00. I thought that was ridiculous (although, a metallic picture looks awesome!) and wondered who would part with that much money for a picture. So, I cut it down to just over a hundred dollars! I know, right? That's incredibly cheap compared to any of the other artists.

With all of that said, I hope you'll go check out my portfolio. If you see something you like, something that would look good hanging on your wall, go ahead, get it. Even if you're not in the market to buy art, please, leave a comment on my gallery. You can even leave comments here, good or bad, but hopefully constructive. Lastly, if you're not looking to buy anything, but know someone who is, I would greatly appreciate you passing on word of my pictures. Thanks for stopping by!

Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia

After nearly forty years of living in Georgia, I finally visited Savannah. While there, my wife and I also ventured out to Tybee Island. If I'd known how awesome Savannah is, I would have made it a point to visit much sooner. The city is rife with peaceful squares, monuments, pubs, restaurants, and plenty of photogenic wonders (some of which I wanted to share in this post).

Whether you believe in the supernatural and want to embark on a ghost tour or you simply want to get away from the hustle and bustle of your mundane life, Savannah and Tybee Island are locations you must put on your to-do list. We spent two days in Savannah and an additional day on Tybee. I took my camera with me the majority of the time so I have hundreds of pictures. Here are a few:

SAVANNAH

TYBEE ISLAND

Georgia's deep freeze

Woke up this morning to snow. I was happy to learn that my company closed due to inclement weather. That gave me an opportunity to edit my novel. I was able to finish the first pass of the hit man novel I'm working on. Now I'm ready to begin the second edit.

I took time out to go outside with my new Canon Rebel T2i camera and take some pictures of the snow. It was nice to come back inside with my family where it's warm and watch news coverage of people trying to navigate the treacherous roads. If you've been following me, you know I was involved in an accident in December when I rolled my Jeep after encountering an icy bridge on my way home from work. Well, needless to say, I learned a valuable lesson from that and won't dare drive when there's a chance of having icy roads.

The photos above show the beautiful snow we received. Let's just hope that when everything freezes tonight we don't lose power, which is typical in Georgia during winter weather like this.