Does Anyone Know How To....

...upload videos to my blog? I have a video of my little dog, Scrappy, playing football that y'all have gotta see. :)

I Just HAD To Share This Joke...

From my inbox this morning...

Three quarterbacks, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Tom Brady, go to Heaven to visit God and watch the Celtics play a game. God decides who will sit next to him by asking the boys a question...

God asks Peyton Manning first: "What do you believe?" Peyton thinks long and hard, looks God in the eye, and says, "I believe in hard work, and in staying true to family and friends. I believe in giving. I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my fans." God can't help but see the essential goodness of Manning, and offers him a seat to his left.

Then God turns to Tony Romo and says, "What do you believe?" Tony says, "I believe passion, discipline, courage and honor are the fundamentals of life. I, too, have been lucky, but win or lose, I've always tried to be a true sportsman, both on and off the playing fields." God is greatly moved by Tony's sincere eloquence, and he offers him a seat to his right.

Finally, God turns to Tom Brady: "And you, Tom, what do you believe?" Tom replies, "I believe you're in my seat."

OK, based on several rejections and the advice of the lovely and talented Aprilynne Pike (Wuv Ya!), I started making some revisions to my 2nd novel. I added a subplot which allowed for one of the characters to be more sympathetic (and, coincidentally, took the word count from 60K to 65K), took out some entries that were either too cliché or confusing, and expanded just a tad on the ending and the MC’s situation when the story ends.

I think it’s quite a bit better now.

I really do.

But because there was a great deal of new material put in (10K) and old material taken out (5K), several parts of the story are in First Draft form. Obviously those will have to be polished up just a tad. Still, I’m very happy with the results so far. See my happy face? See? Right here….

Oh, wait…internet. Right. You can’t see my happy face. Well, imagine my face, but very happy. Got it? Good. Ok, let’s move on…

Where was I? Oh, yeah! Revisions! Well, now that those revisions are done I will be able to concentrate on my WIP. This side trip turned out to be a good thing. I was stuck on one part of my WIP, trying to figure out one character’s angle, and it just wasn’t coming to me. But when I started my revisions to the other book, I had an idea for the one I was stuck on.

Ain’t that always the way? I jotted down the idea while it was fresh, and now that I’ve pulled my mind out of the first century AD and shoved it back to the present I am free to explore it. I’m excited about that.

Woohoo!

See Y’all!

First Brad, Now Heath...

All I could think to say was "Are you kidding me?"

This came as quite a suprise. This is truly, truly sad.

I liked Heath.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Ledger. :(

Blah Blah Blah Jessica, Blah Blah Blah Cabo, Blah Blah Blah Botched Snap, Blah Blah Blaaaaaaah....

Ok, ok…I know a lot of the space on I Have A Blog? lately has been devoted to football (y’all can blame angelle for that…or…you know…I could own up to the responsibility of running my own blog…but I’d rather pass the buck, hehe). So this will be my last football post for a little while. I wouldn’t post anything at all but there is something bothering me that I just have to rant about (oh, BTW…did I mention this would be a rant?).

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking Geez, David. The Cowboys lost. Get over it. You’re wrong. That’s not what this post is about. Ok, ok, so you’re right about the ‘get over it’ part. I’m still a little upset. But I’m mostly past it and now I’m looking forward to the Pro Bowl and the draft. I’m hoping the ‘Boys are able to secure Marion Barber, but still…Uuuh….obsessed? Why, no, I’m not obsessed. Why do you ask?

Anyway, I’m doing one of those tangent things again, gotta stay focused because this is important. It’s an urgent public service message to any and all Cowboys fans (and others) who might need a good shot of reality. Ready? Ok, here goes.

STOP BLAMING ROMO!

I’m so sick of hearing how Romo can’t win a big game, Romo botched a snap, Romo was distracted because of a trip to Cabo, etc etc etc. Folks, for anyone out there who is not paying attention, Romo is one of the best QBs to ever wear a Cowboys helmet. He’s the first Cowboy QB to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season (over 4,200, in fact). He tied the Cowboys all-time best season ever with a 13-3 regular season (know who else did that? Aikman. 1992). He set a new Cowboys record for most TD passes in a single season (36…previous record was Danny White in the 80’s. Even Aikman didn’t beat that one, and HE won 3 Super Bowls). Romo’s average pass length in the 2007 season was second only to Tom Brady. That’s right. The Tom Brady.

I could go on, but the point is simply this: Tony Romo IS the man in Dallas. His numbers in only his second season (and only his first full season) playing for Dallas have already exceeded the best seasons by the very best QBs in Dallas history. What does that tell you? The man is good. Damn good. Is he Tom Brady? Well, no. But then, there is only one Tom Brady.

I’d rather have Romo, to be honest. He’s younger, much more likeable and, given time and experience, I think he will be even better than Brady. *GASP* Did you say ‘better than Brady?’ Are you on crack, David? No, I ain’t. Not today, anyway. Maybe tomorrow.

The thing is, the Cowboys lost, and they should not have. But in T.O.’s own words, they lost as a team. One man did not lose the game. One man does not win a game. In football, every last play is a team effort.

Know who else they said couldn’t win a big game? Let’s look at a list:

Peyton Manning – Hmmm…he can’t win a big game? How’d that work out, I wonder? Oh, yeah, he won the Super Bowl last year.

Brett Favre – I don’t think I need to expand on this one.

Eli Manning – Wait…isn’t he the QB who won the big game against Dallas this year and is now going on to the Super Bowl?

Do I need to go on? Look at the above list of the NFL’s elite QBs. How long did it take them? Not ONE of them won a playoff game in their first 2 years as a starting QB. In fact, it took Peyton 6 years.

Ok, so sure…Tom Brady won the Super Bowl his first year as a starter. That’s Tom Brady. He’s the Phenom. He’s the NFL equivalent of J.K. Rowling. That is to say, far too talented and successful for mere mortals like ourselves.

Down here on planet Earth, Romo will do. Romo will do just fine.

So please, let the man play. Let him date Jessica, or Carrie, or Sigourney Weaver if that’s what he wants. Let him go to Cabo with buddies. Let him have fun on his days off. Fer cryin’ out loud, let him be human.

Sheesh.

Ok, I’m done. Tune in next time for a much more cheerful and happy post. Just as soon as I find my crack.

See Y’all!

YAAAAAY! Good News!!!

Angelle, I know you'll be celebrating with me. :)

Jason Garret To Remain In Dallas!


WOOHOOOOOOO!

Scott Sigler's Next Book Will Be Released By Crown!!!

Well, looky here. I was just tapping along at Amazon and I thought to myself I wonder when the next Scott Sigler book will be out? This thought was, coincidentally, preceded by my viewing of author Jeremy Robinson’s MySpace page, which lists Scott Sigler as a friend.

So, since I was on Amazon anyway (in a separate window...multitasking is our friend, folks), I decided to see. To my surprise, I saw a new book by Sigler coming in April. But wait…this is a hardcover. Huh? Dragon Moon Press is doing hardcovers now?

They might be...truth is I didn't get far enough to check it out. That's because this book ain’t coming from Dragon Moon Press. It seems the talented Mr. Sigler has made it a little higher on the totem pole. His book, Infected will be released by Crown in April 2008.

2008. Hey, that rhymes with I can't wait. Coincidence? I think not.

Now, I ain’t knocking Dragon Moon, they put together a great product and I thought the cover and layout for Sigler’s Ancestor were both very well done. But Crown is definitely a step up in commercial publishing, with better distribution and a larger publicity budget. I mean, it’s frickin’ Random House, fer cryin’ out loud! What a nice success story, and a perfect example of why I made the resolution to never give up.

All I can say is: GO SCOTT!

This is definitely an author who deserves to be published by the bigger, badder presses. I enjoyed his first book, Earthcore, and I loved his second, Ancestor. Both were great reads, but you could see a vast amount of growth from one to the next, and I can only imagine the trend will continue with Infected. I’ll be seriously looking forward to getting a copy of this one.

So congratulations, Mr. Sigler, on this very nice accomplishment. I am quite pleased that you made it to the big presses, and you betcher boots I’ll be picking up a copy of Infected as soon as it hits the shelves.

Oh, and for those who’ve yet to read Sigler’s work, do grab a copy of Earthcore and/or Ancestor and give it a read.

Note: Read Ancestor with the lights on, though. ;)

See Y’all!

(edit) After a little bit O' googling I found several announcements regarding this sale. It was a 3 book deal. I just didn't know about it until today. WOO! Again I say: GO SCOTT!!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo...........!!!!

That's it for the Cowboys in 2007. A 21-17 loss to the Giants, a team they beat twice in the regular season, both times by 10 or more points.

David is sad today.

I've waited a long time for the Cowboys to start being good again and have the kind of year I remember from my childhood years. It's been 11 years since they've won a playoff game. That's a long time in football terms, especially for Dallas, which has won more games than any other team since its inception in 1960.

T.O. was so diapointed he was actually crying. He defended Romo, who will undoubtedly face a lot of criticism for the loss. It's never that simple, though. Sure, Romo made a blunder or two, but the Giants pass rush got through the Dallas offensive line time and time again, forcing Romo to throw the ball or take a sack. faced with that situation, most of the time you throw the darn ball.

In that, the Dallas offensive line should shoulder some of the blame, as they did not have a great game, either. The whole game was marred by mistakes and penalties, but I still say the biggest factor was the ease with which the Giants' defense penetrated Romo's protection.

But smoke in the wind, and all that. second-guessing and finger-pointing won't put the Cowboys back in the playoffs this year; their season is done. If you want to watch Romo play again, you'll have to wait until August (or watch the Pro Bowl in feb.)

That just leaves the Patriots, the Chargers, the Packers, and the Giants left to play. Of the teams left, I'm rooting for the Packers, even though I think the patriots are going to take it.

But I've been wrong before...

See Y'all!

Well Whaddya Know....I DO Still Enjoy Writing!

I had a pretty productive day yesterday.

I wrote 3,000 words of new material. What’s more, I actually liked what I wrote. To me, that’s a good day.

There is one downside, however. This work was not on my new WIP. Rather, Aprilynne reminded me that I need to get on with some revisions of my “completed” novel. So that’s what I did last night.

The funny thing is, I had NO trouble writing last night, which surprised me a little because working on the current WIP has been a constant struggle. Enough so that I have been wondering if I wanted to continue with it. What does that say about the WIP? It’s moving at a snail’s pace while revisions to my finished novel are streaking along.

I guess it means I like my finished novel more than my WIP, which really is no secret. I had very high hopes for it, and I still do. When I wrote it, I zoomed through the first draft in 5 weeks. I just couldn’t stop. Instead of two hours of BIC, I commonly found myself tapping away for four hours, sometimes more. My wife didn’t see much of me during that time, but I was energized and having fun, and I think that really came through in the writing. I can’t help it, I LOVE that book.

Maybe it’s just the uniqueness of the idea (which IS unique, BTW – I know as the author I’m supposed to say that, but it truly is), or the fact that this novel is the one that landed my agent, but I will have fond memories of it even if it doesn’t sell (which, sadly, is a looming possibility). I have not experienced that level of enthusiasm with the WIP for some time. The WIP is a decent idea, and it’s the one my agent picked from my list of projects, so it’s not hopeless.

It’s just not as fun, for some reason.

Alas….what’s a writer to do?

So for now I am going to alternate my writing schedule. I will spend one day working on revisions and the next day working on the WIP. I’m hoping that feeling energized about one can help me get reenergized about the other, although it could have the opposite effect of leeching enthusiasm from both.

I dunno. But I’m gonna find out.

The great thing about being unpublished (if it can be said there IS a great thing about being unpublished) is I can experiment with what works and what doesn’t without having a deadline hanging over my head. I’m going to enjoy that while it lasts, because when I am published, I won’t have that luxury. :)

New Year's Resolutions for Writing

My friend Aprilynne Pike recently posted her list of author resolutions on her blog, citing several new-author mistakes she wanted to avoid during the publication process (for those who don't know, she sold a four book deal to HarperCollins not long ago. I'm very happy for her, but I am still waiting for my $20.00,...hehe).

In keeping with this theme, I have a list of my own. My list is different from hers, however, in that hers are mostly geared toward her goals as a soon-to-be-published author, while mine are goals for an unpublished author. Still, I thought I would share them with y'all just in case you're curious, and in so doing actually set them down in writing and in front of witnesses. See, now you guys can see this list and you can bug me if you haven't heard from me in a while. Just refer back to this list and say "Gee, Dave, I thought you were going to (insert appropriate comment here) this year. What happened to that? Eh?"

And I'll have to look all sheepish and admit what a slacker I am.

Still, I AM a slacker, so you might be wasting your breath, but hey, I gotta try, right? :)

Okay, here's the list:

1) I WILL write. Every day. I will not find excuses not to write. I will not play video games or watch TV. I will park my ever-expanding hindquarters in my computer chair and pound out two hours of writing per day, five days per week.

2) I will NOT give up. Just because my great, wonderful, fantastic and very original novel has not sold (yet), I will not use that as an excuse to no longer try. I will spend NO time convincing myself that my best is simply not good enough, and will instead work to improve on my writing.

3) I will NOT be afraid to try new things. I have been writing predominantly horror and dark fantasy, but I want to try my hand at something else. I've had a MG book kicking a rock inside my skull for several months, and I'm going to take a crack at it.

4) I WILL communicate more with the writing friends I have made over the last year. I've been slacking on that (y'all know who ya are). Some of them have had incredible years and I am very happy for them, even if I don't write much.

5) I WILL give my agent a reason to keep me as a client even though my first book hasn't sold (yet). By "a reason..." I mean I will give her a wonderful new book to pitch, and I will do so before June of this year.

6) I WILL update my blog at least once per week. Even if I have very little to say, there will be SOMEthing new on this site EVERY week.

7) I WILL finish the novels I start. So far I have written two complete novels. This means I AM capable of finishing a novel. Therefore, there is no excuse for the three unfinished novels I have on my hard drive.

Ok, that is all I can think of for now. If I come up with any more I'll post them here. how about y'all? Any New Year's resolutions ya wanna share? Eh?

See Y'all!