Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Not In Kansas Anymore

By the time this post goes live, I hope I'm almost done driving through Kansas. After flying to Colorado on Tuesday, I helped my son pack up his apartment and stuff it all into his little car. His golf job is still seasonal this year so he's moving home to PA for a few months until the snow melts. Hopefully, he'll get a promotion and be year round next year.

Many people complain about the sameness of driving through Kansas, but I love the wide open road. I hope it's not raining like it was when we drove west last spring. My point in sharing this is that I'll be late visiting blogs. Hopefully, our hotel on the east side of St. Louis will have good Wifi.

My current WIP is the second book in my Warriors of Gaviron series. I've had to spend some time away from it because of other commitments but I'm really excited about my characters as I enter the midway point in the novel. The first book in the series, The Warrior and the Biologist, has been sitting in the top 100 in a couple of science fiction categories on Amazon for a few weeks now. Wish I could write a little faster.

One of the commitments I've been distracted by is IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond. I can only say, Wow! The book is going to be super. By being an 'assistant' editor ( I made that position up) I cheated and jotted down all kinds of interesting ideas during the most recent read-through. Of course, if you visited around to the different blogs on the first Wednesday of October you already garnered all that information. And visit the IWSG blog today for a special guest.

I hope to read some of the books I have on my Kindle on my road trip. More than three hours of flight and a two hour layover should give me some time to read and even do some reviews.

I'm getting very excited about the movie, Interstellar. Once I move James back home, I'll have someone to go see it with. My husband doesn't care for science fiction movies and my lovely sons like going to the movies with me. (Probably because I always pay though I'd like to think it's more than that.)

A forwarded letter to my daughter from Boston arrived on Monday, addressed to her last semester's residence. It was a demand that she appear for jury duty in December. Apparently, Massachusetts is so desperate for jurors that they make college students miss class to serve even though the kids are from out of state. Now you know my daughter is currently in Morocco and won't be back in the states until after the date she's supposed to serve. It was a crazy 'out of the blue' kind of thing and accompanied by two pages of threats if she didn't comply to their demands to serve. How can a city the size of Boston not be able to fill a jury pool and need to take advantage of the kids attending college there?

Did you find some writing goodies during the last IWSG Wednesday? Looking forward to Interstellar? Do you take your eReader when you travel or physical books? Ever been called to serve jury duty out of state?


16 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Jury duty is a bummer. Hopefully it works out for your daughter because how on earth is she supposed to appear when she's in Morocco?
I guess my position concerning the book would be retriever. No, not Golden Retriever, although they are nice dogs.
May you have safe travels and good WiFi!

Maria Zannini said...

I'm sure the jury summons is all computer automated. There's no actual thought behind it.

Re: Kansas
Kansas (and Illinois) are rather dull for me to drive through, but I loved the wide open spaces of New Mexico and the Dakotas. Guess I prefer rocks to corn fields as a backdrop. :)

Liz Blocker said...

I'm sorry, I have to laugh, because I live in Boston and they DO seem ridiculously desperate for jurors!!! An once you get on their roll, you never get off. Where ARE all of the citizens, anyway??? I hope your daughter gets released!!

Melissa said...

E-reader. Hands down. :)
Enjoy your trip!

Pat Hatt said...

Enjoy your trip back and safe travels. lmao hmmm they must be desperate for jurors.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've driven across Oklahoma many times and it is really boring.

I've read some great things in the IWSG book, too. (As I continue going through and making corrections.)

David P. King said...

Interstellar looks incredible. I for one am hoping that it will revive society's interest in space exploration and technology.

Love road trips. :)

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Oh my, did our Ninja Captain pose for the cover??? Isn't he a cutie. Great cover. I'm looking forward to reading all the ebooks on my list this winter. Here's hoping it happens.

Luanne G. Smith said...

Well I know you had good weather in Colorado. We've been having a beautiful fall. And I'm with you on wanting to write faster. That's my entire goal for November. Enjoy the rest of the trip. :)

Susan Kane said...

Looking forward to Interstellar. I have driven across Northern Missouri and Iowa. Yes, sameness.

Heather R. Holden said...

I always bring my Kindle on road trips, too. Don't know what I'd do without it!

And man, that jury duty summons sounds so ridiculous. Sorry they're zeroing in on your daughter like this!

Scribbles From Jenn said...

I've done jury duty, but never out of state. I agree with you about long open drives, on a dry day, they are wonderful!

May the road rise up to meet you and bring with it good WiFi!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Ack, was there a number for you to call to let them know she's out of country? I haven't seen a preview of that film yet, but I like Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConnaghy (I have no idea how to spell his name, or whether I"m thinking of the correct movie). Good luck on your trip! I'm one of those people who doesn't enjoy much of the Kansas drive, but I like it at night when the old farms look super freaky.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Driving through Kansas is like going home for me, since my grandparents' farm is right across the border in Nebraska. I love that country.

Robin said...

So much to comment on here:

1) Be careful road tripping. There are some Insane drivers out there.

2) Maybe some time away from your WiP will give you a fresh eye and better perspective. Yeah, I am looking for that silver lining.

3) Boston pulling college kids out of school for jury duty is nuts. I have never heard of such a thing. College is tough enough without dealing with sort of thing. If I were you, I would strongly consider writing a letter to the governor, senators, congressman, etc. Maybe even the mayor of Boston. It's only when people complain do things change.

Ava Quinn said...

I served on a jury several years ago in a pretty big local trial. It was interesting and a little scary. No one's come after me. Yet.

Have a great trip. Hope you find some wifi soon!