I never watched much of the Sopranos but I do remember one character who was always saying, "Just when I think I'm out, they drag me back in." School often seems like that for faculty members. Classes were over on April 25th. I turned in my grades on Saturday, April 30th. I had a nice leisurely day on Sunday, May 1st. And it seemed to me that I should be able to start my summer writing on May 2nd. That didn't happen.
I'm the outside member on the Business Division's job search this spring and we had a candidate in on Monday to interview. Then I had a lingering research proposal to deal with. Tuesday was a writing day and I got a lot of stuff done, including requested revisions to a story, which was accepted that evening.
Wednesday, though, was another job candidate interview, this time for a position in psychology. We also had registration for new freshmen for next year. And another last minute research proposal came in. I was up by 6:00 and by the time I got home and helped Lana get groceries, it was time to go to bed for work the next day.
Today is Thursday, and I was up at 5:30 to make the trek into work. We've got another job candidate interview today. That will be most of the day. In the evening, though, I have a writing group meeting, which should be fun. And Friday I'm off so more writing will be done.
Saturday is actual graduation and that will take most of the day. Sunday begins my summer writing in earnest! And if anyone tries to "drag me back in" after that they'll get what's coming to them.
Showing posts with label School work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School work. Show all posts
Thursday, May 05, 2016
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
What Fresh Grading Hell is This
I've been pretty much of a recluse since Friday, grading, grading, grading. Final papers in my writing class, exams in all my other classes. That's why I've been out of touch. I finally got the senior grades turned in today and promptly had a nap. Taking an hour or two off this evening, although work will begin again tomorrow. By this coming weekend, however, I should have the majority of the school work behind me and can begin to think about living again, and perhaps even some--dare I say it--writing!
Speaking of writing, Wayne Dundee over at Dundee's Desk has a great review of Mage, Maze, Demon up. There are some other good reviews on the site as well. Check it out. And thanks to Wayne!
I'm hoping to get back to visiting some blogs in the next couple of days, and dealing with a lot of other things that have piled up while I was in grading hell.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
When It Pours
I’ve said before that academic work is often feast or
famine. Sometimes it gets piled on. At other times you get to catch your breath,
and maybe even complete a thought. There is one way to predict when you’ll get
hit with a pile, though, and that is whenever it will be most unpleasant for
you. This is a corollary of Murphy’s Law, no doubt.
Xavier was originally scheduled to be off school on Monday,
and Tuesday, October 8-9. I knew CONtraflow was the weekend prior so I
scheduled two tests on Friday, the 5th, knowing I’d be able to
recover from the con and get my tests graded over those two free days. Then
Hurricane Isaac hit and we lost a week, and as a result we’ve taken those two
days back for classes. To accommodate CONtraflow, then, I moved one test to
Monday.
It would have been tight to get to the Con and get the first
test graded too, but I could handle it. Alas, I had forgotten to predict the
inevitable. When I came in on Friday I also found three big research proposals
waiting for me in my box for my evaluation.
I went to work on those and made some progress, though it meant that I
barely made it to the meet the guests party at CONtraflow. But by Monday
morning, two new research proposals had spawned in my box, and I gave another
test that day. I put in almost 15 straight hours of work and made it about
halfway through the pile that needed to be completed. I’ve been up working
since early this morning and it’s looking like a 12 hour day is on the way. I’m
taking a little break to write this.
I looked at Blogger for the first time in several days
yesterday and had 283 posts in my feed. I hadn’t the strength so had to mark
them all as read. If I should get through early enough today, I’ll try to make
some rounds this evening. I’ll have to see.
In the meantime, Issue 6 of White Cat Magazine is out, and
it looks to be a doozie. I’m going to do
a fuller review as soon as I can get out from under the work pile. Check it
out.
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Monday, November 07, 2011
CONtraflow Con
Had me a good time at CONtraflow Con. I got to meet David Brin, whose work I admire. I didn’t really get to talk to him very much because he always seemed to be on panels at the same time as mine. My most successful panel was one on Robert E. Howard. I had several enthusiastic attendees and we had a wide ranging discussion about Howard and his work.
I also sat on a panel called “Our Vampires are Different” with a number of other writers. We compared vampires from the Dracula era to the Twilight Era, and I tried to make the point that the Twilight vampires are “fantasy” vamps rather than “horror” vamps. I also argued that vampires have moved from villains in the early days, to anti-heroes after Anne Rice, to straightforward heroes in books such as Twilight.
I also gave a panel on writing and had about five folks, including a young man of High School age to whom I gave a copy of Write With Fire. I didn’t think it went all that well but I did get a lot of questions and that was good.
I sold a few books at the Howard panel but that was about it. I bought a lot of books, though. The CONtraflow charity was the New Orleans library and they had a book sale table there where I spent a considerable sum of money. I was glad the Dealer’s Room had a couple of book tables since fewer and fewer cons have much in the way of books in the dealer’s rooms these days.
I put in about fifteen straight hours today and got a lot done, but certainly not enough. A few more fifteen hour days should get me caught up at least, although not ahead. What I’d like to work on is a set of galleys for a new collection of my stories, which have been sitting on my computer for about two weeks without me even having time to look at them. This will be a collection of my hardcore horror work, which will be entitled In the Language of Scorpions. Maybe soon.
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I also sat on a panel called “Our Vampires are Different” with a number of other writers. We compared vampires from the Dracula era to the Twilight Era, and I tried to make the point that the Twilight vampires are “fantasy” vamps rather than “horror” vamps. I also argued that vampires have moved from villains in the early days, to anti-heroes after Anne Rice, to straightforward heroes in books such as Twilight.
I also gave a panel on writing and had about five folks, including a young man of High School age to whom I gave a copy of Write With Fire. I didn’t think it went all that well but I did get a lot of questions and that was good.
I sold a few books at the Howard panel but that was about it. I bought a lot of books, though. The CONtraflow charity was the New Orleans library and they had a book sale table there where I spent a considerable sum of money. I was glad the Dealer’s Room had a couple of book tables since fewer and fewer cons have much in the way of books in the dealer’s rooms these days.
I put in about fifteen straight hours today and got a lot done, but certainly not enough. A few more fifteen hour days should get me caught up at least, although not ahead. What I’d like to work on is a set of galleys for a new collection of my stories, which have been sitting on my computer for about two weeks without me even having time to look at them. This will be a collection of my hardcore horror work, which will be entitled In the Language of Scorpions. Maybe soon.
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Friday, April 22, 2011
Tougher Days are Here Again
Grading time is upon me. I’m grading a test now in my Capstone class, and on Monday I’ll have two tests to grade. Senior grades—and most of my students are seniors—are due Tuesday at noon so that means Monday will definitely be a nose to the grindstone kind of day. Probably most of the night too.
In the meantime, It’s been a while since I’ve talked up my own books so I thought I might leave you with some samples from a couple of my available works. Soon I hope to be able to turn my mind to writing some ‘new’ stuff.
Here’s the opening to “Showdown at Wild Briar,” from my Kindle collection Killing Trail. As you might guess, things aren’t going to be as easy as the end of this teaser suggests. In the west, going home ain’t for the faint of heart or the slow of hand.
“You Josh Allen Boone?”
Leaning back in his chair in the Bucket of Blood saloon, a man looked up from under the brim of a battered Stetson. His gray eyes studied the speaker, noted the briar-scarred chaps, the faded red bandana at the neck, beaten smooth and soft with many washings, and the sun-worn face under a sweat-stained hat. A Remington New Model Army .44 rested in a holster high on the man’s right hip. Except for the boots, which were hand-tooled and expensive, the outfit shouted cow puncher.
“Who’s asking?”
“Don’t matter,” the cowboy said. He tossed what looked like a newspaper clipping onto the table beside Josh’s beer. “Figured you’d like to know. A Texas ranger down Brazos way shot a horse thief. One, Terrance Morelli. Seems old Terrance wanted to clear his conscience afore he died. Told about a man name of Frank Caine he’d killed in Wyoming. I believe you knew Frank.”
A tiny smile quirked the corner of Josh Allen’s lips. “Knew him,” Josh agreed. “They say I murdered him.”
“Now they’ll say you didn’t. You can go home.”
*****
Here’s a piece from the collection Midnight in Rosary, also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This is from a story called “Love in the Time of Cybersex.”
The shapeshifter prowled toward him, as if her bones and muscles weren’t quite human. And they weren’t. Persona vats could grow anything. He’d seen a dragon here last night for sweet sake, though the cost of downloading one’s mind into something like that was astronomically high. But the shifter body was almost standard, and with practice the person inhabiting it could make it change shape. In the lighter gravity of the moon, the werewolf myth could come howling to life.
This shifter was named Smokeheart, a werepanther instead of a wolf, and she hadn’t been here quite long enough to learn how to fully control her body. She remained mostly human, except for pointed and tufted ears and a rampant grace, and a tail as strong and flexible as satin rope. Boone recalled that tail fondly.
*****
Killing Trail is a collection of western stories and some nonfiction stuff about the west. The stories were most strongly influenced by Louis L’Amour. Since this is a self-published book, it’s exactly as I want it to be. Now, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing the readers will have to say.
Midnight in Rosary is a collection of mostly vampire stories with some werewolf stuff thrown in. It’s also got a fair amount of erotica in the mix.
Thanks for listening!
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In the meantime, It’s been a while since I’ve talked up my own books so I thought I might leave you with some samples from a couple of my available works. Soon I hope to be able to turn my mind to writing some ‘new’ stuff.
Here’s the opening to “Showdown at Wild Briar,” from my Kindle collection Killing Trail. As you might guess, things aren’t going to be as easy as the end of this teaser suggests. In the west, going home ain’t for the faint of heart or the slow of hand.
“You Josh Allen Boone?”
Leaning back in his chair in the Bucket of Blood saloon, a man looked up from under the brim of a battered Stetson. His gray eyes studied the speaker, noted the briar-scarred chaps, the faded red bandana at the neck, beaten smooth and soft with many washings, and the sun-worn face under a sweat-stained hat. A Remington New Model Army .44 rested in a holster high on the man’s right hip. Except for the boots, which were hand-tooled and expensive, the outfit shouted cow puncher.
“Who’s asking?”
“Don’t matter,” the cowboy said. He tossed what looked like a newspaper clipping onto the table beside Josh’s beer. “Figured you’d like to know. A Texas ranger down Brazos way shot a horse thief. One, Terrance Morelli. Seems old Terrance wanted to clear his conscience afore he died. Told about a man name of Frank Caine he’d killed in Wyoming. I believe you knew Frank.”
A tiny smile quirked the corner of Josh Allen’s lips. “Knew him,” Josh agreed. “They say I murdered him.”
“Now they’ll say you didn’t. You can go home.”
*****
Here’s a piece from the collection Midnight in Rosary, also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This is from a story called “Love in the Time of Cybersex.”
The shapeshifter prowled toward him, as if her bones and muscles weren’t quite human. And they weren’t. Persona vats could grow anything. He’d seen a dragon here last night for sweet sake, though the cost of downloading one’s mind into something like that was astronomically high. But the shifter body was almost standard, and with practice the person inhabiting it could make it change shape. In the lighter gravity of the moon, the werewolf myth could come howling to life.
This shifter was named Smokeheart, a werepanther instead of a wolf, and she hadn’t been here quite long enough to learn how to fully control her body. She remained mostly human, except for pointed and tufted ears and a rampant grace, and a tail as strong and flexible as satin rope. Boone recalled that tail fondly.
*****
Killing Trail is a collection of western stories and some nonfiction stuff about the west. The stories were most strongly influenced by Louis L’Amour. Since this is a self-published book, it’s exactly as I want it to be. Now, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing the readers will have to say.
Midnight in Rosary is a collection of mostly vampire stories with some werewolf stuff thrown in. It’s also got a fair amount of erotica in the mix.
Thanks for listening!
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Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Update and a Sorcerer
School is in session again, which explains why I haven’t been posting much or even visiting a lot of blogs. I should be back to normal next week. In the meantime, I did have an interesting dream last night. I was a young man, apparently held in thrall by an evil sorcerer. I was joined in that slavery by a young woman (probably Lana although neither of us looked like we do these days). We were “helping” the evil one hunt down another sorcerer who he had injured in a battle. The young woman and I found the injured sorcerer, who was in dog form, and while my friend called out to the bad guy that she’d found blood, I pulled the wounded guy away and hid him, then marked out the tracks I’d left.
The evil sorcerer came up to us and he was in the form of a giant black wolf, but he bought our statement that we’d only found blood. He led us down a hill to the injured sorcerer’s abode, which was a glass cabin in the woods full of all kinds of plants and strange objects. While there, I spotted a set of keys, and when the evil one ordered us to go and hunt the wounded man again, I took the keys, and then locked the evil sorcerer in the cabin, knowing that the spells on the place would keep him imprisoned for a while. Then the young woman and I fled into the woods to escape.
We later wandered into a village that was abandoned, but it turns out the evil sorcerer was waiting for us. When he faced us, it was clear he meant to torture us slowly before killing us, and so in desperation I challenged him to a duel with swords. He laughed but agreed to my condition that if I merely cut him with the blade we would be free to go. At first as we fought it was clear he was toying with me, but then I began to become faster and faster with the blade. I noticed suddenly that on a hill to one side of the village stood the injured sorcerer we’d helped, and he had friends. I realized they were helping me. The fight became desperate, with the blades moving with incredible speeds until they seemed only flashes of light. And then I cut the wizard across the stomach and stepped back. The wound wasn’t serious but it counted toward our bet, and as the young woman and I strode away in freedom, we heard the good sorcerer comment to the evil one about how his time was up. The End.
I’ve also been remiss in reviewing my friends’ works of late. I finished Discount Noir and reviewed it on Goodreads. Here’s what I had to say:
A really fun collection of short flash fictions all involving "MegaMart," which you can probably guess is meant to represent another "Mart." There's a little bit of everything here, serial killers, vampires, losers, drug addicts, sad sacks and more. I couldn't quite decide on my favorite story in the collection and will call it a tie between "House Names" by James Reasoner, and "Thirty-one Hundred" by Loren Eaton. Loved 'em both. I enjoyed the whole work, though, and particularly the fine stories from Sandra Seamans, Kathleen Ryan, Evan Lewis, Ed Gorman, Bill Crider, Patti Abbott, and more.
Probably based on my “Discount Noir” experience, I also had a dream involving searching for something in a Megamart last night, and finding everything but what I wanted.
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The evil sorcerer came up to us and he was in the form of a giant black wolf, but he bought our statement that we’d only found blood. He led us down a hill to the injured sorcerer’s abode, which was a glass cabin in the woods full of all kinds of plants and strange objects. While there, I spotted a set of keys, and when the evil one ordered us to go and hunt the wounded man again, I took the keys, and then locked the evil sorcerer in the cabin, knowing that the spells on the place would keep him imprisoned for a while. Then the young woman and I fled into the woods to escape.
We later wandered into a village that was abandoned, but it turns out the evil sorcerer was waiting for us. When he faced us, it was clear he meant to torture us slowly before killing us, and so in desperation I challenged him to a duel with swords. He laughed but agreed to my condition that if I merely cut him with the blade we would be free to go. At first as we fought it was clear he was toying with me, but then I began to become faster and faster with the blade. I noticed suddenly that on a hill to one side of the village stood the injured sorcerer we’d helped, and he had friends. I realized they were helping me. The fight became desperate, with the blades moving with incredible speeds until they seemed only flashes of light. And then I cut the wizard across the stomach and stepped back. The wound wasn’t serious but it counted toward our bet, and as the young woman and I strode away in freedom, we heard the good sorcerer comment to the evil one about how his time was up. The End.
I’ve also been remiss in reviewing my friends’ works of late. I finished Discount Noir and reviewed it on Goodreads. Here’s what I had to say:
A really fun collection of short flash fictions all involving "MegaMart," which you can probably guess is meant to represent another "Mart." There's a little bit of everything here, serial killers, vampires, losers, drug addicts, sad sacks and more. I couldn't quite decide on my favorite story in the collection and will call it a tie between "House Names" by James Reasoner, and "Thirty-one Hundred" by Loren Eaton. Loved 'em both. I enjoyed the whole work, though, and particularly the fine stories from Sandra Seamans, Kathleen Ryan, Evan Lewis, Ed Gorman, Bill Crider, Patti Abbott, and more.
Probably based on my “Discount Noir” experience, I also had a dream involving searching for something in a Megamart last night, and finding everything but what I wanted.
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Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Long Hours Ahead
I feel lately like I'm mostly making excuses here for why I'm not blogging regularly and not visiting everyone regularly. It's not for lack of ideas. I've got plenty of those. What I haven't had is time. The next 10 to 12 days will be no exception. I get 27 term papers in my writing in psychology class today, and then another 20 plus essays on Thursday from a second class. I could probably manage that reasonably but the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) called to let me know they'll be coming Monday to inspect the files for the research committee that I chair. They do this every few years but it means many, MANY hours of me going through our files to extract the information they want. I'm looking at 12 to 15 hour days straight through at least next Tuesday. So, once again, blogging has to take a back seat.
In the meantime, David Cranmer did a very nice review of "Chimes" over at his blog, and I much appreciate it. Thanks, David.
I will be back, with writing related posts sometime next week at the latest.
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In the meantime, David Cranmer did a very nice review of "Chimes" over at his blog, and I much appreciate it. Thanks, David.
I will be back, with writing related posts sometime next week at the latest.
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
Back in the Saddle
We got home last Tuesday but I didn’t have the energy to post until now. Although mom is communicating better than she was, she has not regained any real strength and is still bed bound. She had a feeding tube put in her stomach because she still doesn’t swallow well. I talked to my brother today and she is going to be released to a nursing home tomorrow. I wish I could be there but unless I work we don’t eat.
Since returning I’ve been doing little other than grading. Twenty-seven term papers, and 35 tests. I finished the papers and about 2/3rds of the tests. I haven’t written a word in the last 9 days. Tomorrow isn’t likely to change that. And on Thursday I give another test. Well, enough complaining. I’ll try to post more regularly and respond to comments and blogs again. I hope that within a week or so I’ll be back to some form of regularity.
I’ve certainly had plenty of ideas for both blog posts and essays. Just no time to write them up for now. I will have a short story coming out for the Kindle in the next couple of weeks. I’ll post more about that in the next few days.
Later.
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Since returning I’ve been doing little other than grading. Twenty-seven term papers, and 35 tests. I finished the papers and about 2/3rds of the tests. I haven’t written a word in the last 9 days. Tomorrow isn’t likely to change that. And on Thursday I give another test. Well, enough complaining. I’ll try to post more regularly and respond to comments and blogs again. I hope that within a week or so I’ll be back to some form of regularity.
I’ve certainly had plenty of ideas for both blog posts and essays. Just no time to write them up for now. I will have a short story coming out for the Kindle in the next couple of weeks. I’ll post more about that in the next few days.
Later.
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Friday, August 21, 2009
Sage Advice, and Work
First, thanks to Sage for his insightful review of Write With Fire. Much appreciated. The book is getting a fair number of reviews, so far all good ones!
Work is kicking my ass and I’m way behind. So, it’s standard operating procedure for first thing in the new semester. I’m keeping my head above water so far, although with the pouring rain outside at the moment I don’t know how long that will last.
Lana seems to be almost completely recovered from her surgery. She’s already feeling much better than she was before so I’m happy about that.
While listening to the rain and helping students, in the background I’m running “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” by T. S. Eliot. If this isn’t a masterpiece then I don’t know what is. I wish I could write a poem this fine.
"The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep."
No time to write poetry now, though. The students are coming, hungry for overrides, in need of schedules, wanting me to fix all their problems with a few taps of my fingers on the keyboard.
And guess what: The electricity just went kaput! Better save this before the laptop battery loses its charge.
I’ll post this when our current returns!
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Work is kicking my ass and I’m way behind. So, it’s standard operating procedure for first thing in the new semester. I’m keeping my head above water so far, although with the pouring rain outside at the moment I don’t know how long that will last.
Lana seems to be almost completely recovered from her surgery. She’s already feeling much better than she was before so I’m happy about that.
While listening to the rain and helping students, in the background I’m running “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” by T. S. Eliot. If this isn’t a masterpiece then I don’t know what is. I wish I could write a poem this fine.
"The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep."
No time to write poetry now, though. The students are coming, hungry for overrides, in need of schedules, wanting me to fix all their problems with a few taps of my fingers on the keyboard.
And guess what: The electricity just went kaput! Better save this before the laptop battery loses its charge.
I’ll post this when our current returns!
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