I am grinding away on writing projects.

I reviewed a few movies. For example, the new Batman movie. I was not particularly enamored with it. In fact, I found it baffling. It seemed exceedingly misguided to have mass shooters in the climax of a Batman film, and compare Batman’s quest to that of a mass shooter, in a world where a mass shooter opened fire in a theater during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises.

People go to a Batman movie for escapism, not to have their noses rubbed in such things. The folks who say Hollywood has lost it are looking more and more right each day.

On the fiction front, I have a number of irons in the fire. I wanted to do more short stories this year. So far, I finished two and am in the process of trying to wrap up a third before the end of the month. April 30 is the deadline to get it submitted to an anthology requesting weird tales that take place within an Old West setting.

In between that, I am drafting a Jacob Cable novel. I have no real finish date in mind. I’m going to see how far I get with it this year. After the first draft is done, I have to set it aside for awhile and work on polishing up a different project.

Sometimes I drop all of the balls I’m juggling, but I’m getting better at finding the balance to keep everything moving forward. A little bit of grinding each day adds up over the long run.

This weekend I’m going to a Megadeth concert. If I had to choose one celebrity to meet, it would be Dave Mustaine. No great reason exists. Art is subjective, and for whatever reason, Dave Mustaine’s work is something that clicks for me. I grew up on country and classical music. The radio stations around me did not play anything outside top 40. Bon Jovi was my first real experience with rock music, and I knew that was the stuff for me as soon as I heard it. I branched out from there. Today I still enjoy going down music rabbit holes with all of the streaming options available and discovering songs and bands I have not heard before. But, at the end of the day, Dave Mustaine is my favorite musician.

Reading-wise, I’ve been revisiting Jim Thompson again lately. I’ve also been reading some Stephen King and graphic novels. Reading a variety of things, along with watching a variety of movies, helps me with my writing. It’s not so much that it gives me ideas. It helps me realize there are always ways to figure a story out if one keeps picking away at it.

Until next time, happy writing.