Wowsers!

What a week!

I got quite a bit done on my office projects even with some distractions (a photo shoot for Essentials, photo shoots of construction on our new office building addition, and some travel). I finished Chapter 2 of Industrial Fire Brigades 2nd and got it posted for my validation committee to review and comment upon. AND, I am working on Chapters 3 and 4 concurrently and should have them ready for the committee soon!

I've tried so hard to take this week off from doing any writing or editing on my personal projects. I do this after finishing a first draft of a project to let the creative batteries recharge before beginning the edits and publishing preparation on the project.

I have been successful in staying away from Arizona State Guard: Freedom's Forge...BUT...have found myself adding to the story "bible" for Quest for the Obsidian Blade AND a story "bible" for yet another project. When I described what I was doing to Kyle, he said I should pace myself. I think this is a common problem with many authors...they are constantly coming up with new ideas to write about. Some reach the end of their lives leaving behind finished but unpublished works or unfinished works in varying levels of completion.

I'd rather have too many ideas to work on than too few. Sooner or later, I'll hit a dry patch. In the meantime, I have plenty of ideas to work on AND, eventually, something may become a big seller for me!

**********

In the meantime, please continue to tell everyone you know about my current e-books. You have been critical to the success of my e-books and I greatly appreciate your assistance in getting the word out!

My current e-books are available through www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99

Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

**********

We're supposed to be having some strong Spring storms across parts of the country this week, so please be safe out there!

Jeffrey 

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Qapla' (Klingonese for "Success!")

What a truly successful last few days!

Julie and I went to Arkadelphia, AR, on Friday to help Gary pack up his dorm room contents. He's done! He graduated on Saturday morning with a Bachelors of Science degree...summa cum laude! He'll spend the Summer here then he and Stoni will be heading to Columbus, OH, for the next chapter of their lives.

Driving is always a great time for me because while Julie sleeps, I can drive AND think about the story (or stories, in this case) I'm working on. Had a lot of thoughts this trip on how to wrap up Arizona State Guard: Freedom's Forge AND to add to my mental "bible" for the next book, Quest for the Obsidian Blade! We made it back Saturday evening and went right to sleep, so no writing then.

Sunday, I got off to a slow start but by afternoon I was ready to do my advertising (minus this blog) AND do so writing. By the end of the evening, I'd finished 5 pages of Chapter 19, the final chapter of the new book. 

Well, tonight I wrote one final page and so the first draft of ASG: Freedom's Forge is officially done!!! Now to take a week (evenings) off to let my mind wander and relax, then next Monday night I will begin the edits and e-publishing preparation work to get it ready for Amazon's Kindle Direct Program. I anticipated at least two weeks of edits, perhaps more.

**********

In the meantime, don't forget my earlier books. They are still available through my Amazon Authors Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99
Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
Crisis on Terra-Bravo $2.99
The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97
‪#‎TerraBravoSaga

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99
‪#‎ArizonaStateGuard

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99
‪#‎DeathHauntsTheStars

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

As Stillwater's little conical, rotating visitor proved to us last week, Spring weather can be dangerous and unpredictable. Stay safe, everybody!

Jeffrey 

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Wow!

What a great weekend! Got a lot done around the house and on the new novel. 

Julie and I planted a new tree and some holly plants. I was able to cut down some low hanging branches in one corner of the backyard that kept scratching our heads and necks when we'd mow around 'em. Had to build a new sawhorse for cutting tree branches but I love building with wood, so it was fun! I was able to mow and edge the front and back yards in between sprinklers today. I even had time to play fetch with Remi and Ryli for a bit!

The first draft of the new novel, the Arizona State Guard: Freedom's Forge, is coming along nicely. Over 10 new pages in the last few days. I'm working on a major battle scene which is always very exciting and fun to do! The next few pages will reflect what happens outside of Arizona in the story, then will return to the Grand Canyon State for the finale! 

Sean dropped by today and we talked about the cover. I gave him my thoughts and we'll see what kind of design he comes up with. I'm sure I'll be pleased with the result.

And this evening, I do believe I've completed my advertising in record time! So don't forget to tell everyone who know about my e-books available at my author page at Amazon.com (www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney). These e-books include:

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99

Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

Have a great week, folks! Catch you later!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

The Thrill of Success and the Agony of De-shoulders

What a busy and frustrating couple of weeks Julie and I have had! 

Took Friday afternoon off (two weeks back) to begin work on the final part of the repairs to our backyard fence that was damaged a couple of months back. During the week, we'd dug post holes, cut tubes for cementing the posts in, and got the posts installed. Friday, we installed cross bracing between several posts and re-installed several fence panels. Julie also dug a hole for a Japanese Maple that we were going to transplant once the "old" fence was removed.

The following Saturday morning we were up early and out in the yard to complete the project. We disassembled the remaining "old" fence and salvaged the gate hardware. We built and installed a new gate, then pulled the two remaining "old" posts and their cement anchors. At that point, we stopped working on the fence, and shifted over to digging out the Japanese Maple (as carefully as we could!!!) and transplanting it to its new home.

With that accomplished, we modified the last two post holes, installed tubes, put the posts in, and cemented them in place. We did some cross bracing, then re-installed the fence panels! Huzzah! Mission complete AND successful. Oh, the thrill of success!!!

But success often comes at a price. That Saturday was a beautiful, temperate, sun-shiny day! Couldn't have asked for better to get this work done. I mentioned the sun, right? Well, we both got pretty badly sunburned...particularly on our shoulders. Hence, the agony of De-shoulders!

When I finally started writing this post a day or so later, I was finally feeling a little better...blistered but not too bad. Ain't the first time this has happened; probably won't be the last.

Well, on that Sunday, I was cleaning up the yard and tripped over an old willow stump; scraping the hell out of my left ankle! Which proceeded to get infected (somewhat)! Oh, and the mild blistering of the sunburn turned worse. *sigh* I'm peeling like one of the alien Visitors from the old television series, "V".

So, I didn't gotten much of anything written that week BUT...I did work on the new novel in my head so when I DO sit down to write, there's gonna be a lot of new material written.

So this past week has been spent recuperating from the sunburn and ankle infection. The good news is...Julie and I are feeling MUCH better today!

So much better that I MUST do some writing tonight! I can feel it in my bones that I MUST write! I'll let you know via my Facebook page how that goes.

***********

My co-worker and fellow author, Brad McLelland, pointed out the benefits of using hashtags on Twitter to help spread the word about my books. So you'll start seeing more and more of these in my tweets! Thanks, Brad!

***********

Reads and sales of my existing books has been down of late, so I ask once more if you'd all be so kind as to put the word out about my e-books. You've all been fantastic in doing so and I greatly appreciate your help in telling folks about my e-books!

My e-books are available at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney:

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99

Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

Crisis on Terra-Bravo $2.99

The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

***********

Let's ALL be careful out there, folks! (To include yours truly!)

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Streaming Consciousness

Well folks, this one is going to be some kind of stream of consciousness thing! I'm over due to write a blog post and *gasp* find myself searching for something to say...

1. The first draft of the new novel, the Arizona State Guard: Freedom's Forge, IS coming together nicely. Not very fast...but nicely.

2) No, I haven't done much writing the last few days (hence the "Not very fast" part of the previous comment!). We're still working on some fence repair work (digging post holes, cutting panels, etc...); sadly, the spirit is willing but the body wears out quickly.

3) All of this was SO much easier when I was so much younger!

4) So I've got a bunch of stuff planned for this week and the upcoming weekend: biking when I get home; cutting and installing cross-braces for the fence; writing, writing, and more writing; and then on the weekend, tearing down the old fence, digging two more postholes and installing new posts and installing the fence panels!!! 

5) Oh, yeah! And transplanting a Japanese maple tree, too!

6) Oh, yeah (part deux): don't forget to tell family and friends about my e-books available at my author page at Amazon.com (www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney). These e-books include:

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99

Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

So...take it easy, have a great week, and catch you later!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Short and To the Point!

Things are moving along slowly but surely with Arizona State Guard: Freedom's Forge! The action continues to build and it's time to introduce some new characters and to remove a couple of others from this particular storyline. I'm about to create some major shakeups in this book! Fun, fun, fun!

**********

My current e-books are available through Amazon.com and my Amazon Author's Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. Be sure to tell your family and friends about these e-books:

The Terra-Bravo Saga series:

The Arizona State Guard series:

Death Haunts the Stars:

Honing Your Instructional Skills:

You've done a great job of telling folks about my e-books and I AM deeply grateful to each and every one of you! Keep up the terrific job!

Oh, and a reminder for those who may have a Kindle Unlimited subscription: you can read my e-books for free as part of your subscription!

**********

Have a great evening!

Jeffrey 

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Shallow Thoughts but LOTs of Thanks!

It's been a hectic week between work and home so no deep thoughts for this week's blog post. 

I DO want to take this opportunity to thank my family and friends who follow me here, on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, G+, etc... You have been my agents and marketing specialists; keeping me motivated to keep on writing AND spreading the word about my e-books! Thank you all, so very much!!!

**********

Fiction:

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99

Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99

Crisis on Terra-Bravo $2.99

The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

How To:

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

You can find my e-books on Amazon.com and through my author page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. 

Remember, if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can download and read my e-books whenever you want as part of your subscription!

**********

Safety tip of the week:

If you haven't been very active over the Winter months, take it slow getting back into your exercise or yard work regimens! Or, be sure to have plenty of Ibuprofen or Naproxen on hand!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016