Month: February 2023

Aiight so we’re all on Team Arwen, yes? Correct? Very good.

Writing

I took some time one night to scribble out a few initial paragraphs to a project I’m not really discussing here. It was fun. I need to write like that more often.

Didn’t write anything new on the Stack. Headed there right after this.

Reading

I finished four books, maybe? Yeah four sounds right.

This week my main goal is to finish a L’Amour that I own in print. 50 pages a day ought to do it. I’m off work, so audiobook play will be limited. After I finish the L’Amour, I’ll figure out what I’m reading next.

Drawing
Major progress on the cover for Sheriff Porter.

Video

I was going to do a video on a book about Tetris but honestly, I didn’t care and I don’t think anybody else did either so I scrapped it.

I’ll probably do a video this week, and I’m taking requests.

Audio

New episode of Radcracker landed this week. Bad sound quality in a few segments, I appreciate your patience.

Fitness

Threw down another 600 pushups on the week, bringing the total to 4300 on the year. I’ll do at least another 500 in the coming week. I finished reading a book that is kind of a sales pitch for intermittent fasting plus an expensive workout apparatus, but hey, it’s cheaper than buying an entire Olympic weight set and supposedly gets you similar results soooooooo I dunno. Got some homework to do. And I’ll just keep being an isometric beast in the meantime.

Get back at it.

Throwback to a signing in 2015. I’ve got my hand up. The baldy-beardo on the left is David J. West and if you thought it was me I understand.

This was a week of regression in many ways. I just didn’t get a lot done.

Writing

If you haven’t read THE HERO NEXT DOOR, buy your copy here:

Other than some reviews, I didn’t make any time for new writing. I won’t be making time this coming week, either. The current production focus is on drawing. Should I find myself in a position to write, it will most likely be another review for Upstream.

Reading

If you want to know how this went, listen to the most recent Radcracker (down under Audio).

This week I will read WHITE OPS by Declan Finn, MAMMON: NEMESIS by Rob Kroese, THE LESSER DEVIL by Chris Ruocchio, and I will at least start FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS by Graham Hancock. That one is a longer book so chances are I won’t finish it, it depends on how quickly I can knock out the other three.

I do want to make regular time for the other shows and stuff that I listen to at work. WriterDojo and TalkVille are my Wednesday shows, and I’ll usually pick up a few Nerdrotic/Valliant Renegade/YoungRippa videos too.

Drawing

Very minor progress here. Thus I will commit to one hour today (Sunday), one hour on Tuesday, and two hours on Friday morning. This will require me to get up at the usual time even though Friday is my day off. Having concrete goals is the key.

The focus of this week is to finish the ink work on Elizabeth, get the background detailed, and be 100% ready to move into colors and rendering.

Video

I did a few during my DOT breaks, including this one that is getting a lot of views in the last 24 hours. It’s a reply to Dank’s video on the Ohio train derailment.

Audio

I covered SOMETHING by Dakota Krout, THE CRUCIBLE by Will Rodriguez, and ARSENAL by Jeffrey Haskell. I also talked about Raquel Welch, who died last week. Listen here.

Fitness

I did 500 pushups, which is the bare minimum. I was too tired and lazy on Saturday and talked myself out of a fifth day (125 pushups per day.)

I will repent of my mental fatness and add a sixth set to every day this week, so the count is not off. This will prepare me for 150 pushups per day in March.

I will also exercise in the shop on Monday and Thursday. Even a simple four-exercise circuit is preferable to nothing. That said, I did get close to 214 on the weigh-in.

Is it summer yet…

WRITING

I finished the Round Robin chapter. Beta notes came back for HOWLING WILDERNESS but I don’t think I want to jump into that just yet. This week if I spend any time writing, it’ll be on edits for SHERIFF PORTER.

READING

I deviated a little from last week’s slate. I finished FORCED PERSPECTIVES and CALLSIGN VALKYRIE, both of which need reviews at the Stack and Upstream. I punted on SOMETHING, and instead read HORUS RISING. Really liked that one, but man there’s a lot to process.

This week I’m reading SOMETHING, and also THE CALIFORNIOS by L’Amour, and THE CRUCIBLE by Rodrigues. If I finish it, I have a short one to get through too.

DRAWING

Got to finish the cover for SHERIFF PORTER. After that, it’s interior illustration time.

VIDEO

Only did one, about Formula One racing. It was fine.

AUDIO

New episode of Radcracker, as usual. I think I’ve been letting these run too long. I need to get back to 8-minute segments.

FITNESS

I didn’t have a single day in the shop. BUT I did get back down to 215, and I did all the pushups that I needed to for #PectoCracker. Standing total right now is 3,075. Next week I need a shop day.

I’m gonna commit to one long walk with my kids and the dog, too. We need to walk more.

Things are in motion…

WRITING

Last week I did very little, it was more about organizing SHERIFF PORTER for print. But this week I have to take a hiatus from my own project to write a chapter in Nate Shumate’s ongoing round robin book. It’s due soon.

READING

I finished EMPIRE OF SILENCE, plus a book about George Washington Carver, and an anthology of fiction based on Bass Reeves.

Next week I’m reading FORCED PERSPECTIVES by Tim Powers, CALLSIGN VALKYRIE (a Galaxy’s Edge novel), SOMETHING by Dakota Krout, and maybe one more if I have time. The GE novel will get a review over at Upstream.

DRAWING

The picture above is from the forthcoming cover of SHERIFF PORTER. I’m working on those for now. Ten in total.

VIDEO

I had a couple of Ask A Trucker vids, but the main one was my End of January Report, followed by an unboxing video for EVS’ latest CyberFrog comic.

Stay tuned for more Ask A Trucker videos, and subscribe to the channel. If you don’t like YouTube, I’m also on Rumble.

AUDIO

This week’s Radcracker was a little bit shorter due to work interruptions. I talk about EMPIRE OF SILENCE, the original Transformers movie, and more.

FITNESS

I made it to the end of January doing 100 pushups a day, five days a week. In February I’m up to 125. As of Feb 5, the count for #PectoCracker is 2450. This week I’m adding situps to the mix. I got fat for this week’s weigh-in, unfortunately, but this morning I was back down to 215. This Wednesday my goal is to be no heavier than 214.5.

Go buy my books.