Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. It’s Memorial Day weekend. A weekend where we honor those who have passed. Our soldiers who didn’t make it back from war and our relatives who are no longer with us.
I’m thinking of my dad this weekend. I miss him. He passed away before he met my kids and that makes me sad. I think he’d be proud of them.
I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day and take a few minutes to remember those who are no longer with us.
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve finally put the finishing touches on my story after making many, many changes. I’ve sent it off to my beta reader and hopefully she’s happy with it. Cross your fingers for me. 😊
But enough about that. I’ve been working out in the yard quite a bit, planting some flowers and shrubs and it’s such a refreshing feeling, especially after being cooped up in the house all winter. I need to get outside more because I’m working from home and during the winter it was hard to get out because it got dark so fast. So, it’s a real blessing to be able to get out and work in the yard.
I’m also running outside again. The dreaded treadmill season is over. The only time I’ll run on it during the summer is if it’s raining too hard to run outside. I’ve also added some weight bearing exercises to my routine to build up my muscles. I’m hoping to get back into the shape I was in before I had kids. I have a long way to go, though. LOL!
I have also gotten vaccinated. I did a lot of thinking about it and decided it was the right thing to do. I ran into a friend who had spoken to the scientists at a drug company and they explained everything to her, and it was her words that convinced me to get the vaccine. I’m glad I did it. I didn’t have a reaction other than a tender arm for both shots.
So, now that we’re all caught up on my news, I thought I’d talk about being a destination junkie. This is a person who thinks that they’ll be happy once they get that perfect job, or finish that book, or reach their goal weight. While these things will certainly make you happy, it’s important to enjoy the process of working toward that goal, because what happens if you never make it?
I know we don’t like to think about that, but sometimes we don’t achieve the goal we’ve been working toward, what happens then? Is all that time we spent working toward that goal a waste?
My answer is no. If you’re getting something out of the journey while you’re working toward your goal, it’s worth the time. For example, my writing. I would love to be a New York Times Best-selling author, but I might not ever get there. But that’s okay if I’m getting something out of the writing process while I’m creating my stories, then it’s worth it. To me, writing is a stress reliever, an escape when my life gets bogged down in the routine of work, kids, and household duties.
Let’s say it’s taking me longer to reach my goals at work, that can be frustrating and can cause a lot of angst. When I start feeling that angst, I focus instead on my writing and it makes me feel better. So, you see my writing relieves my stress and my angst. It has a dual purpose until I can reach my goals.
So, don’t be a destination junkie. Enjoy the process and you’ll get more out of life. Are you a destination junkie? What are some of the things you do to alleviate that situation? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. Today I have a special treat for you! I’ve interviewed my great friend Robert Hookey. He’s the author of “Into the Dark.” A Sci-Fi story that’s on my TBR pile! So read on and learn about the author and check out his book!
My lovely bride could see I was bored and frustrated (brustrated) almost immediately after being laid off from my job as a Niagara Falls bellman (thanks for that, Covid-19) and she asked, “Why don’t you get off Twitter and go back and write another book before you drive me totally insane?
And so I finally indulged my lifelong dream of creating my own superhero universe while simultaneously working through some personal trauma that has been haunting me for years. Writing is wonderfully affordable therapy.
I try to get up at 7:30 each morning and write as much as I can get out of my addled head as I can before I get too distracted and start surfing the web. Lately I’ve been trying to stop writing around noon so I can spend time with my family before I get back to work full-time. Incidentally, as much as I love my family, I’m hoping the world gets back on track soon so I can go to sleep at night knowing I have a full-time job to pay the bills that writing can’t – which is pretty much all of them.
Into The Grey and Into The Light will bring my characters and their world to a satisfying conclusion – I hope. Though I’m not against continuing to explore the world of the Infinite Crossover Crisis in the future.
I walk away and watch a television show or read a book or comic for inspiration. Sometimes a walk or spending time with my daughter or wife or even playing with the dog can free my mind up and get me back on track.
It’s important to remember that a self-published author doesn’t have to worry about deadlines, so writer’s block has no real sway over us. We can take a month off and it may actually help make the eventual finished product even better.
My daughter is incredibly “woke” as the kids say, and she constantly inspires me to consider inclusion when crafting my tales of superheroes in the real world. I’ve tried to include characters from all over the world who live their truths and love who they want to love regardless of what society thinks.
In fact, my daughter is the reason my heroes are facing more than just supernatural beings and supervillains. I want to build a world where heroes face down killer cops, corrupt politician and despicable media moguls – and I want to show my daughter a world where there is a reason people are so tempted to indulge their darkest impulses beyond just human weakness.
Don’t do it! It’s a lot of hard work that rarely yields immediate results and leaves you doubting your own artistic abilities.
That said, if you do decide to go the indie author route, remember to hold nothing back. Indulge your every impulse and infuse as much of yourself – good and bad – as you can. Brilliant writing comes from the author’s heart and soul.
So as loathe as I am to refer to a sports metaphor… leaving it all on the field is the only way you’ll ever be happy as a self-published author.
And don’t ever underestimate the power of social media in a writer’s success. After all, it brought us into each other’s orbit, right, Lisa?
That”s right, Robert! Where would we be without social media? Thanks for allowing me to interview you and here’s wishing you many sales on your book!
![Into The Dark: Book One of the Infinite Crossover Crisis by [Robert Hookey]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51N6cmiOF7L.jpg)
Watchmen meets The Good Place in this (relatively) original, (kind of) groundbreaking, and reasonably-priced novel of good, evil, and everything in-between, overloaded with enough pop culture references to make your grandmother’s head explode.
In an all-too-familiar world controlled by ancient beings known as The Dark, heroes of every origin must assemble (yeah, I said it, sue me) to pull humanity back from the edge of annihilation – if they don’t kill each other first.They may not be the Avengers, the Suicide Squad, hell, they may not even be the Great Lakes Avengers… but they’ve been brought together by a hero in a Green Hornet mask and leather jacket to match named Nemesis to face every form of evil imaginable. From seemingly-invincible masked killers who stalk teen camp counselors to clones of Nazi super soldiers to monsters of the human variety, Nemesis and his team of unlikely heroes will traverse the globe to dismantle The Dark’s vast power structure once and for all.If you took The Umbrella Academy, The Boys and The Cabin In The Woods and gave them a hearty stir you’d get Into The Dark: Book One of the Infinite Crossover Crisis, a clever, electrifying, genre-busting adventure that pits the most unconventional superheroes in the Multiverse against the embodiment of mankind’s capacity for evil itself.Into The Dark is the inaugural novel by indie author The Hook. He hopes you like it. (But if you don’t, feel free to keep it to yourself.)
You can find Robert’s Book on Amazon. The link is below
Thanks for stopping by and reading Robert’s Interview. Leave a comment for him, he’d love to hear from you!
I saw this meme on Facebook and it resonated with me, so I thought I’d share it with all of you!
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy with work and writing this week. I’ve got one more scene to add to my story then I’ll have to do some more editing to take out some words…then it will be done, and I’ll be moving on to the next project.
But enough about that, today is supposed to be warm and sunny. My tulips are blooming. Finally! We are about two weeks behind everyone else. But that’s okay, they are beautiful. I want to spend as much time outside as I can today and soak up some of that sun.
But before I do that, I’m writing today’s post. Today, I’d like to talk about the importance of vacations. I’m sure it’s because it’s so nice outside that I’m thinking about our vacation this year.
We’re planning a trip this year. We haven’t taken the boys out of state yet, and they’re itching to go. So, we must decide where we want to go. We’re trying to accommodate everyone. My oldest wants to go to the beach and maybe see the ocean. My youngest isn’t sure. I know hubby would like to go fishing, and me, I want to see the giant redwoods at least one time in my life.
A friend suggested Crater Lake or Diamond Lake in Oregon. I’ve done some preliminary research and it is a possibility. However, we may just bite the bullet and go all the way to California, too.
Vacations are important for families. It’s a great way to create lasting memories and bonds. It opens the world to your kids. It opens their lens wider when they view the world. Vacations are a great way to reconnect and solidify those bonds.
It’s also a great way to relieve stress, and this year has been especially stressful with the pandemic, working from home, and virtual learning. We just need to go someplace and have some fun. So, if you can afford it, take some time off and recharge those batteries. You’ve earned it and You deserve it.
A vacation also improves your mental health. Getting away and getting out of that rut of constantly doing the same thing is a great way to boost your moral. A vacation gives you something to look forward to. So, when you’re having a bad day, you can look ahead and know that this moment is temporary. When your vacation is over, you have something to remind you that life isn’t always drudgery. There are fun moments to look forward to and reflect on.
So, there you have it. Why vacations are important for your health. Are you going on any vacations this year? Do you have any recommendations for me on where we should go? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
