Stardust

June 2018 Blog

The following poem in free verse form was started sometime after January 24, 2012. I have no recollection of starting it. It is now finished and will be part of an upcoming poetry chapbook entitled “Metamorph”.

Singularity (Free Verse)

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

I will write as I will write

And dream against a dream

Until such time as I shall sleep –

Silent,

Ashes drifting on the solar wind.

From birth to death –

My life between but spotted –

Ink and tears mingled, inseparable;

My oh so faint scribbling yet

Unerasable,

indelible.

Whether I am noted or a footnote

Or but a shadow in someone’s fading memory,

My thoughts will join the stars

To burst among the fiery suns

Or find space bent

And fall

Into the blackness of the void.

     Regardless of what I do or do not accomplish in this lifetime, I will rejoin  the Universe as stardust. To me, that is a comforting thought. Whether or not I rejoin the human race is of no consequence.  I will have returned to whence I came.

     There is little to report this month on any front. I have begun formatting my next Haiku chapbook, “The Write Life”. This one is for writers or readers who want to understand writers. I plan it to be inspirational, motivational and commiseratory in tone. I go through what every writer goes through, I’m sure. Perhaps I can encourage or even just amuse (or bemuse) others.

 It will be followed hard upon by the one I’m planning on climate change entitled “Global Warning”. That should be out midsummer, when it will be hotter than the depths of Hades and stormier than a Martian…

Climate change deniers are moving us closer to Doomsday than all the saber rattling in the world. I would hope to change some minds with this one.

My novels are stalled. There’s another death in the “Sam Rock” sequel. Everyone is rushing to see the body, but I don’t know who’s dead or who the killer is. I’m my own cliffhanger. Think I’ll jump in feet-first after I get this posted.

The “Black Oak” sequel is still screaming “final edit” before formatting. It contains even more amazing deaths perpetrated by my eclectic band of shapeshifters.  Best get at that, too, before they invade my dreams.

On the home front, my “retina specialist” says if I take my A REDS 2 supplement, wear sunglasses outside, use extra light and magnification, and see him every six months, I should die before my eyes give out. Okay, he said I should be able to see for the next ten years. (if with some difficulty).  I personally don’t plan on living that long, but it would be nice.

In the meantime, the computer screen is getting harder and harder to read, especially when the type and the boxes are blue or green. Those are rapidly fading against the white background. Even black print looks gray unless I make it larger and bold. But at least I can still see.

I’ve also noticed that magazines are getting harder to read. I swear the type is getting smaller. (I may not be wrong about that) . And have you noticed the “fine print” lately? For me, it’s even finer. It also seems package designers think it’s really clever to put yellow type on white backgrounds – that’s hard on two good eyes, let alone those with compromised vision.

I may start advocating on social media for the vision impaired. I don’t think they are giving much consideration by the powers that be – all over the internet and across all media platforms.

Twitter is the worst. They have so many color schemes that just disappear into oblivion. So clever – NOT. And finding the “color adjust” settings on most browsers is nearly impossible. It seems when you do find them and try to employ them, they change other screen settings, making it difficult to adjust to a screen you can live with across the board.

So, this month, I’ve pretty much played it by ear and done what I could, making small adjustments here and there. Not sure what the future may bring, but I’ll soldier on and do what I can to clear out my “Works In Progress” projects before whichever expiration date comes first.

 I’d like to leave you with this thought; None of my problems is any excuse for not making far more progress than I have. I’d like to think that my writer readers will see this and determine to do far better than I have. At least I will have inspired someone.

In next month’s blog, I will continue to journal my progress, both on the writing front and the vision front. Until that time, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

I’m also including a link to my Amazon’s Author’s page. Feel free to visit me there also:

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003SH6HIQ

All of my books are available on Amazon.

June’s featured novel is my paranormal Western “Black Oak: Town of Joy” http://tinyurl.com/hohuhce 

June’s featured poetry chapbook is “The Castleweaver's Tales: A Dozen Glimpses of Medieval Madness: 25th Anniversary Edition”  https://tinyurl.com/ybllonvw

DO-OVER

March 2018 Blog

Do-Over

I’d like this to be my last time on Earth, for I am stardust and must rejoin the Universe.

Do Over: A Haiku

I’d not wait ‘til my

Next incarnation; I’d like

To get life right now.

Can I just start the year over again? I can’t believe that two months have slipped by already.

It’s not that I haven’t done anything in two months. It’s that what I’ve done has amounted to little actual accomplishment.

Maybe this month will be different. I’m calling for a do-over.  Oh, I know I can’t get January and February back. I’m just calling for an early reset so that the rest of the year doesn’t slip away.

I think I’ll start the month with promotion. I just got this neat book by Rachel Thompson (Bad Redhead Media) called “30-Day Book Marketing Challenge.” I’m about to plunge into it.

Okay, so I got the book a couple of three weeks ago and started it once, but as usual, I got sidetracked with life and only made it through Week One – the week on Twitter promotions.

So, for my do-over, I’m starting again. I’m taking the 30-day challenge from the beginning for the month of March.

Hope I can learn to boost my sales for the rest of the year. Social Security just doesn’t stretch too far these days. My writing needs to step up and fill the gap.

I’m checking my backlist of books available on Amazon. I’m only counting seven published. (Somehow I thought it should be nine. Don’t know how that happened.) Besides promoting what I have published, I need to double my output. Actually, I could triple it with all the Haiku chapbooks I have started.

I also need to get my books on audio. I can’t believe I haven’t done that yet. So many people “listen” to books these days. It’s ridiculous I haven’t even tapped this outlet.

I may even need to set up a studio to read the poetry books myself. Although I’m sure there are some excellent poetry readers out there, no one can know all the nuances that a poet thinks into the writing of a poem.

Besides, I love reading my poems and have always enjoyed recitations of my work. Guess I’m just a ham at heart.

Lots of other things I’d like to restart this year, but life is a linear progression. Although the older you get, it seems to tend to the exponential. It will suffice if I get my “authoring” life in order. Other things may naturally fall in line.

Back to the neat book I’ve acquired from my favorite source – Amazon, of course. I bought a hard copy of the “30-Day Book Marketing Challenge” because I love to make notes and mark up the pages.

I’m glad I also acquired the Kindle version, because there are so many links to so much great information. And the links are live in the Kindle version. I’ll take a live link any day to having to type a long string of words and symbols and then getting them wrong.

My current manuscript now has the dubious honor of having taken the longest to write of any of my novels ever. I’ve done pretty well on it so far this year. I’m planning to finish it by Easter. Actually, it’s my 40-days of Lent project, but I’ve missed a few days. So, I’ll be practicing catch-up again. (When am I not?)

I’m about to get distracted again. I’m outside, sitting in the sun and the wind, watching a squirrel skitter along the fence behind the only one of my dogs who has braved the wind with me.

The squirrels love to play games, it seems. They manage to stay one step ahead of the dogs, although sometimes, just barely.

I’m also listening to the birds chirping for their afternoon offering of seeds. They (and the squirrels) have become my morning and afternoon companions. There is nothing more freeing (to me, at least) than to sit in my backyard with pen and paper and write amidst birdsong and squirrel antics.

Thank goodness winter has been cooperative. We’ve had the mildest winter in years (which probably doesn’t bode well in the wake of climate change and global warming.)

That reminds me, one of my Haiku chapbooks will be titled “Global Warning”. I’m gathering a lot of my Earth and weather-related Haiku for that one. It will come out after my next one – on writing.

I hate to think what will happen to our children’s children’s future. I’ve noticed the changes even in my lifetime. If we do nothing about it, the future will be far different from the past – and not to the good of mankind.

As I look forward to the long month of March and the beginning of spring, I would advise the writers among my readers to double down on their efforts. Write whenever and however you can. Edit what you’ve written to the eye of the reader. Publish your best efforts – cast you work upon the waters. You never know who’s going to swim by and lap it up (my unabashed cliché for the month).  And then promote, promote, promote.

Until next month, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

All of my books are available on Amazon.

This month’s featured novel is my 1940’s noir fiction “The Seasons of Sam Rock” https://tinyurl.com/ydftx4xq

This month’s featured poetry chapbook is “Life's Lemons and Lemonade: A Collection of Haiku: Volume One: One for the Book” http://tinyurl.com/zuayqu8

Resolutions

January 2018 Blog

Resolutions 2018

Revived from their dis-use last year: Must Write! Must Edit! Must Publish! Must Promote!

Resolved: A Haiku

There must come a peace –

Within if not without; I

Pray this be the year.

So much for the best laid plans of mice and men. This blog almost didn’t happen – or might have been very, very late. I’ve been down with a crummy cold for the past few days.  Not much thought for the pen and paper. I’m full of Alka-Seltzer fizzy stuff, so I’m up for writing this. Should get it posted before my midnight, once again.

I’m actually looking forward to this coming year. I plan on accomplishing a lot . (See, I said plan, not hope.)  Hoping doesn’t feed the bulldog – or so I’ve been told. (Just usurped part of an old saying I never really understood, except that it fits right here.)

As part of my Writer’s Resolutions for 2018:

I will chart each part of my writing goals this year. (See, I said will, not should or might.)

My “Must Write!” section will include the rough draft, the plotting and maintaining a bible of who’s  who and what they’re doing, as well as what they look like. That way, I catch if my heroine’s eyes change from blue to brown, or my hero’s hair from blond to sandy and back again. I might even keep a log of how many hours I spend on each. (Okay, I said might, and it might be might.)

The “Must Edit!” section on editing will include the first pass of checking the rough draft against the first printout for errors, omissions, or to make preliminary changes. The second pass is where weak dialog is punched up and story is expanded where needed (or changed if I made a really, really bad start). Then comes the final pass where all the little formatting problems are fixed and the bible is fleshed out with story and plot lines and how each character ends up, so that the dead stay dead, if I’m doing a series.

The “Must Publish!” section is relatively simple for an independent author. It is also the really hard part. I usually use a CreateSpace ( https://www.createspace.com ) template, so I can cut and paste the body of the book and the front material. But it is tedious and not everything goes smoothly. You need to pay close attention to detail including scene breaks, chapter headings, contents and index. (I try to index or at least list poetry titles in my chapbooks.)

Special Note:  It’s always best to order a proof copy of your novel before it goes live. It’s amazing the little things that pop out at you when you actually have the book in your hand. After you’ve corrected and/or okayed the print copy on line, you get to push the button to publish the book and make it available on Amazon and as many of its subsidiaries and outlets as possible.

Then you get to “Must Promote!” That’s where I still fall a little short. I’m great (or at least okay) with the technical stuff, but I’m a rank amateur at asking people to buy my book. Perhaps I should rethink that and say that I have difficulty letting potential readers know that I have something they might enjoy reading.

I believe I will find that promotion is the hardest thing of all, yet it is perhaps the most important. I don’t believe there’s any writer out there who doesn’t want what Stephen King has – fame and fortune. Seeing your book on the big screen can’t hurt either. I always picture my novels as movies. Too bad they will not get there in my lifetime.

Again, the happiest of New Years to you and yours. If you are a writer, the best luck to you. If you are a reader, please enjoy what I (and other independent authors) have to offer – our hearts and our souls on every page.

Until next month, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

All of my books are available on Amazon.

This month’s featured novel is my paranormal Western “Black Oak: Town of Joy” http://tinyurl.com/hohuhce 

This month’s featured poetry chapbook is “Life's Lemons and Lemonade: A Collection of Haiku: Volume One: One for the Book” http://tinyurl.com/zuayqu8

All Is Not Lost

December 2017 Blog

All Is Not Lost

Although the future is never guaranteed, at least the illusion of it appears with the possibilities of redemption.

Saving Grace: A Haiku

E’en as this year is

Weighed, found wanting, the next looms

On the horizon.

Besides surviving the year (so far), on my very short list of accomplishments in 2017 have been the posting of my daily Haiku daily and the posting of my monthly blog monthly.

     As 2018 looms, I feel the need to plan for a much brighter year with a far longer list of finished projects.

    Perhaps the new year will be my “year of the charts”. Maybe such visual reminders will help me focus. I might even get some of those tiny star stickers they used in schools to reward students for their good behavior. (We were such suckers for those little gold stars.)

    In addition to making charts and schedules this month for use next year, I need to finish the manuscript for this year’s NaNoWriMo ( https://nanowrimo.org ). I managed 54,000 plus words and another WriMo win. Now, during NaNoFiMo ( http://nanofimo.net ) I’ll write another 30,000 words for a good-sized novel I can edit in January and February for publication in the spring.

    Hopefully, 2018 will usher in a kinder, more gentle world, but I hold little hope for that. 2017 has seen an incredible amount of inhumanity among humans – both toward themselves and the other inhabitants of this Earth. Actually, we haven’t been very kind to the Earth itself, and Mother Nature has taken us to task for it.

    Climate change deniers aside, even believers are not doing enough to right the wrongs we are daily heaping upon an Earth that is nearing the tipping point. Once past that, it is my understanding that nothing we do will reverse the damage we have done.

    In my lifetime, the world has gone from the brightest of all possible futures to the bleakest of all scenarios – from unlimited riches available for all industrious peoples to a dystopia where there is no hope for the future of the world or its angry, angry populations.

    We have managed (in the span of seventy or so years) to send an Earth that has survived for millions of years into a tailspin that will leave it desolate and uninhabitable for any form of life. Thankfully, I will not live to witness its demise, but future generations (and not too distant future) will experience the ravages of the sun and the storms that we have only begun to feel.

    This is starting to sound like a dystopian novel. I’m starting to get an idea. I need another sequel to “The Chronicles of Acqueria”. I’m sure I can work in a lot of mayhem and destruction. After all, the not-so-dead volcano its inhabitants are sitting on has hinted at its own resurrection. I could have a few villains help it along.

    Oops, there’s that shiny object distracting me again. Gotta love all those shiny objects, but they do take a toll on my plans and objectives.

    I need to find a way to incorporate all my new shiny ideas into my charts, plans and schedules so I don’t have so many loose ends out there. I keep tripping over them. Then I fall down and have to start all over again.

    Distraction, thou art mine enemy. But really, where would a writer be without new ideas? I simply have to develop some discipline to keep progressing and actually finish some of these myriad projects I have started.

    So far, for next year, I can anticipate to continue my daily Haiku and look forward to publishing at least three collections of same.

    I also look forward to continuing my blogging on a regular basis. See, I have developed some sense of discipline. I must also release my darlings into the world and let them live lives of their own in the hearts and minds of my readers. My favorite people in the whole world. The people I love to share my ideas and my stories and characters with.

    I must remember that I write not only for myself, but for my readers, too.

    Oh wait, the characters in my head have just reminded me that I write for them – to give them life and being outside of myself. They are becoming very vocal. So before I’m accused of being schizophrenic, I better give them their own lives. There, that should keep me on track.

   But then, there’s…

  Until next month, I welcome your reactions and responses to my current blog. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Write Away

November 2017 Blog

Write Away

Today is the first day of the rest of my writing life.

Write Away: A Haiku

NaNoWriMo reigns

Supreme, demands I fulfill

Declared prophesy.

Today is November 1, 2017 – the first day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – https://nanowrimo.org) for this year. I will be participating for my seventh year in a row – at least. Could be longer, but that’s as far back as their records go.  Every November since 2011, I have penned at least 50,000 words, literally, since I still write with pen on paper.

I’ve written an odd assortment of novels, some finished and published – some not. Actually 50,000 words is not enough for a full-length novel. So I try to finish in December for NoNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month – http://nanofimo.net).

There has even been a NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) in March. Not certain that one still exists as my attempts to access it give me an unsecure site warning and tells me I do not exist.

Writing 50,000 words in 30 days requires at least 1,667 words a day to finish on the 30^th.  I try to finish by  November 28^th , which is my birthday. Kind of like a present to myself.

I find it requires a good two-and-a-half hours of dedicated writing to accomplish. I seldom split the time up, because I don’t want to lose my train of thought and have to go over what I’ve written. I reserve that for the first few minutes of my writing session.

I pretty much isolate myself as I don’t like distractions. For background noise, I listen to classical music. I can’t have regular TV on or any music with lyrics I can understand – my mind will start to wander.

I love the idea of getting lost in my story. I find it’s the best way to write. Also, it gives my characters the chance to jump in and maybe tell me something about themselves I didn’t know.

     I usually start with an abbreviated outline of where the story should go, But I have no problems taking it elsewhere, if my characters tell me it needs to go there.

The year I wrote “The Chronicles of Acqueria: Blood Moon Treachery”, my main character, Sentia told me she had a younger sister, Petra. The sister became an integral part of the story and is featured in the sequel on which I am still working.

My favorite novel so far has been “The Seasons of Sam Rock”, a 1940’s  Hollywood detective novel that does not follow the detective genre rules, but becomes a horror showcase. In this noir novel set in sunny Southern California, I commit two of the novelist’s cardinal sin by killing a little old lady and a cute little dog. The culprits? A murder of ravens, controlled (or not) by a red-headed French woman named Marie Delacroix whom Sam Rock does not find hard to look at.

My favorite heinous killing come from my Western novella, “Black Oak: Town of Joy”. It’s a woman on woman axe murder, and I smile every time I read it.

Okay, so by now, you know I’m an introverted psychopath who loves to write horror, although I also write in the science fiction and fantasy segments of genre fiction.

This year’s NaNoWriMo will be a sequel to the Black Oak novel. If I stay on schedule, I should be able to publish in late spring. Although, the best laid plans of mice, men and writers oft gang awry. We’ll see if I can stick to that schedule.

Actually, I might be able to better it, since a novella can be around 43,000 to 50,000 words, so I might be able to publish early spring.

I find myself looking forward more to NaNoWriMo than to the holidays. I ‘ve never been much of a holiday person (any holiday) but writing in November is something special I do for myself, and of course, I love sharing my work with my loyal readers.

I will do my best post excerpts from the day’s writing on Twitter, so my readers can see what I’m up to. Maybe a sentence or two. Maybe every couple of days. Wouldn’t want to give too much away.

In the meantime, I will keep writing and posting my daily Haiku on Twitter and on Facebook, and I will endeavor to publish my next collection of Haiku before the end of the year.

Hopefully, with my computer problem behind me, I will get back into some sort of routine and start the New Year on a more productive note. Yep, I’ve pretty much chalked this year up on the non-productive side. I don’t know where it went; it just went, and I know there’s no do-overs for time gone by. It’s just gone.

So, here’s to NaNoWriMo and here’s to my mascot for the month.

And here’s a big salute to the coming year – a year of frenzied productivity.

Now y’all, don’t laugh too hard. It is possible, you know.

Until next month, I welcome your reactions and responses to my current blog. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Best Laid Plans

September 2017 Blog

Best Laid Plans: A Tale of Gross Procrastination

Okay, the year is two-thirds over. My only accomplishments so far are my daily Haiku writing and posting my monthly blog. (And that only barely).

Best Laid Plans: A Haiku

Having spent so long

On the dreaming, I must be

About the doing.

Time groweth short, and I’ve not nearly done enough for a person whose life is waning at an ever-more alarming rate with each passing day. Maybe it’s my way of defying the inevitable. If it is, I really don’t think it’s going to work.

Okay, so I haven’t died yet. Truth be told, I’m not even prepared to die. There’s so much more I need to do. My ducks are in total disarray – and that’s all of them – my writing ducks and my life ducks. They are scattered willy-nilly across the surface of an ever-shrinking pond. They aren’t even paddling anymore, they are just floating on the surface.

I have lost sight of the admonition to “Do what you need to do when you need to do it, whether you feel like it or not!” I don’t even remember where I heard that, but it stuck with me. Too bad I haven’t embraced it. I could be a prolific (if not best-selling) author and the person who (if she dies tomorrow) exits this earth leaving a plan behind.

Were I to write an autobiography or a memoir at this stage of life, it would be well-titled: “How Not To Live Your Life.” Maybe it could be a self-help book. I really, really know how not to do it. Not sure at this point I’m ever going to get it right.

I get the feeling that I can’t go on as I have been, knowing that if I do, I will rejoin the stars of the galaxies with my song unsong on this Earth – not even a footnote in the annals of time.

What do I do to recover (if I can)? I need to make lists – a plan for even such a limited future – without making the plan my goal and my only accomplishment. I must plan and I must execute it.

However, I have gone down this road before and gotten lost on it. I could go without the lists, but the older I get, the less that works. I even need lists to do the little things I need to do in a day. I forget a lot, or I get distracted by shiny objects.

The only thing it seems I don’t need a list for is to take a nap. I can do that at the drop of a hat or the sight of a soft place to snuggle up on. I think it’s the fault of my dogs. Seems I’m emulating them. They love to have me take naps with them. Not sure anymore who the bed belongs to. I think it’s theirs – at least I think they think so.

But even here I digress. Back to my lists. I need one to get all my daily, weekly, etc. mundane stuff done and I need one to get my writing, editing, publishing and promoting under control. Maybe a chart that I can check off with dates (if not deadlines) on it. Oh, and I need a decent filing system. Okay, I have one, but it doesn’t help if I say “I’ll file it later” and then never do.

Have I used the “P” word before? Procrastination? I am the High Queen of Procrastination. If there is a deader-than-deadline, I will push it. I’ve always been that way. Not sure I’m going to overcome that in this stage of my life, but I’ve got to find some kind of answer, some kind of work around.

I’m even discouraging myself writing this. I hope I’m not discouraging my readers. Not sure what I’m trying to accomplish here – maybe just think out the situation and see if I can come to some kind of answer. You know, it was a whole lot easier to effect change when I was younger and closer to the sharpest tack in the box.

My points and my will seem to have dulled a little over the years – either from disuse or (probably not) from overuse. So, it seems, I need to find a way to sharpen my wits and plunge ahead.

There’s still one-third of the year to go. Surely I can accomplish something more. Of course, there’s always next year… Wait! That’s not true! There are no more guarantees. Guess I better get that file out and start – like now!

Until then, I welcome your reactions and responses to my current rantings. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Heatwave Still Goin' Strong

August 2017 Blog

Heatwave Still Goin' Strong

I'm still melting and about to go down the rabbit hole. Before I do, I need to accomplish something, so I've set a concrete goal:

Writer's Prayer: A Haiku

As words may fail me

At the hour of my death, let

Them speak for me now.

I will publish my second collection of Haiku (Life's Lemons and Lemonade: Volume Two: The Write Life) on September 1^st.

That will be followed hard upon by the third volume – Global Warning (not a typo).

I will be spending a lot of time in front of the fan working on the formatting for the print version. Also this time, the Kindle edition will be properly formatted to retain line breaks and actually look like poetry. (I believe form is as important in poetry as content.)

At the same time, I'm still finishing the Sam Rock sequel manuscript, and I'll be editing the 2^nd Black Oak novella.

Hopefully, the weather and my heatlh will cooperate.

It somehow always amazes me at the end of the month, that I have not reached my goals. It's time for that to stop.

Actually, I'm posting this late on the 1^st of August because I almost forgot to write it.

So I guess I'm going to have to make lists and then actually look at them. There's just so much I want to accomplish before I can't accomplish anything anymore.

I frequently lose sight of the fact that I'm on the waning end of my life. The majority of my days are behind me and what days I have left are rushing past me at an alarming rate.

Another problem I face is that I'm not the sharpest tack in the box anymore. Technological advances are impossible for me to keep up with. So I guess I better get things done before I lose any more brain cells or social media passes me by completely.

I love my Facebook friends but I hardly know how to connect with them anymore. I spend way too much time on Twitter, but it is a little easier to work with (although they make changes and upgrades frequently).

I've got Instagram, Pinterest and other social media accounts also, but I have no idea what to do with them.

 In addition, I spend any more time on the computer, I won't have enough time to write. And my computer is already on life support. I have an external fan blowing on it this summer (don't tell me it isn't getting hotter out there).

As I write this, I'm listening to Al Gore on CNN talk about The Climate Crisis. He's much more intelligent and knowledgeable about this stuff than I ever realized.

I write many of my Haiku about climate change. I'm a firm believer, and I'd like to get my third Haiku collection about Global Warming out before the end of the year. I'd love to be able to change some reluctant minds with it. I'll be satisfied to persuade a few more people to entertain the idea that we need to do something about climate change now, before we reach the point of no return.

Haven't written much about the nuts and bolts of writing this month and for that I apologize.  My mind has been wandering in the heat. Hopefully the temperatures will subside so I can feel more like doing things and spend more time outside writing which is my very favorite thing to do in the whole world – that and watch the squirrels and the birds cavort in the trees. Amazing what you can learn about their habits. Squirrels do actually play. Some of them are braver than others. They build nest in trees, too. Almost grown boat-tailed grackles chirp their little heads off and wait to be fed by their daddies, even when they are grown enough to fend for themselves.

What a shame it would be to lose all this nature to climate change disaster.

Better type this up now and get it posted before my midnight. Next month, I plan to post my September blog and announce in it that my new Haiku book has been published.

Until then, I welcome your reactions and responses to my current rantings. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky