Rebirth
Hello friends and fans. I've got some Meet & Greet/Book Signing news, but first, let me recap:
It's been approximately nine months since I last wrote a blog. This is something of a rebirth, in which I obtained a new job right before 2020 began with a newspaper in a new town 100 miles from my previous location. All seemed well to begin with, although trying to pack and move with what little time I had available and the distance, not to mention all my crap, took about two months to complete. That was with a lot of help from others.
The new job kept me pretty busy, so much so that I really either had no time to write my fiction or I wasn't up to it just due to the lupus complications. That was frustrating, but at least I was writing and getting paid for it. By March, I had insurance for the first time in years. I got to use it once for a miserable trip to an ER where I will never go again, even though they are only two blocks from where I currently live. Either I had some unknown virus or food poisoning. They couldn't pinpoint what it was, but they sure as hell itemized a $15,000 bill fine and dandy. This was the day before it was announced that COVID-19 was found in a patient in Arkansas.
So, I worked from home for the most part. Journalists/media types were provided a letter and press pass. It allowed me to be out and about if a curfew was ever instilled (never was) so I could risk my life being around potentially sick people so I could gather the news. WooHoo!
Most of the people I worked with were nice, and I got along with those people pretty well. I really liked the editor, John Lovett. We had some related interests and he was a cool guy. When COVID-19 hit, it was difficult to try and maintain only 40 hours/week because there was plenty of news. There just weren't plenty of businesses open, meaning a lot less advertising. A couple of dozen writers and other staff lost their jobs on May 1.
So much for the health insurance I never got to use for regular reasons or even finding a primary care physician in the area since doctor's offices and hospitals were closed down. As you probably know, visits were off-limits to everyone unless it was an emergency or possibly COVID-19. But hey, I got to piss away some money on life insurance and other benefits that did me no good, not to mention, once again, a 401K that I had nowhere to roll over, so I got a nice penalty for more money pissed away.
Come early July I wasn't feeling well at all. So, I did a drive-thru COVID-19 test. Took them a week to respond, and that was after I finally called them and they were like, "Oh yeah, sorry." (same shitty hospital system - different location). And despite what the governor said about there being little to no cost if you didn't have insurance, they just keep billing me. I pay a bill then they find something else to bill me for. So far, the COVID-19 test has come up to more than $600, but they're discounting it for me. I'm only having to pay $400 in addition to the ER trip because that's what my unemployment is for...to pay idiots that can't remember to call or tell me what's wrong.
Of course, all of the conventions I had planned on attending as a panelist and a seller have been canceled. But, this Saturday, Aug. 29, from Noon-2 p.m., I'll be one of the authors signing at Chapters On Main in Van Buren, Ark. for Independent Book Store Day. So, if you're in the area, the store will be doing all kinds of stuff with authors, food, and games all day. Come on by. I'll be the curly-haired guy sitting at a table wearing a mask and gloves signing books.
Although I don't want to really be in a crowd, I figure the book store couldn't be any worse than Walmart or the grocery store. Half the people in those large crowds don't wear their masks properly, assuming they wear one at all despite the mandate. No one gets onto them because they don't want to hurt their business. How about the fact you might be turning away customers who don't want to shop with you any longer because you care more about a buck than my health?
I realize 2020 has sucked for everyone. The rebirth has been very much like a breech birth. I'm seeing how many kicks to the ass I can take before I get out and breathe. But, while job hunting, which is a 40 hour/week job in itself, I have been writing or revising a lot of material. I'm going to be getting back to finishing The Savage Cat prequel soon.
I've also had a few short stories published or accepted for publication, so at least I haven't been stagnant. A lot of those links can be found on my new Twitter account @EthanNaht1.
I also managed to get the Nahte Words store back up and working through Square. The original Wordpress is in the middle of being revamped to promote Beagle Mountain Press in general. And, of course, the LIVE 'N' LOUD site is still up and running. I have been doing some updates on it when I can.
Speaking of Beagle Mountain Press, the current project is a collection of horror stories & poetry with the working title Island Terrors & Sea Horrors. It will include the works of Edgar Allan Poe, H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Wilhelm Hauff, Sir Thomas Moore, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Washington Irving alongside some new stories & poems from myself and Larry Atchley Jr. David J. Martinez, creator of The Savage Cat, is working on the cover. There will be other illustrations throughout the book, including some Gustav Doré and a few other artists. I'm hoping to have the book out in time for Halloween. It should be a fun & haunting read for All Hallow's Eve and into the bleakness of winter when the wind chills the bones and the landscape is bleak and gray unto the horizon.
It's been approximately nine months since I last wrote a blog. This is something of a rebirth, in which I obtained a new job right before 2020 began with a newspaper in a new town 100 miles from my previous location. All seemed well to begin with, although trying to pack and move with what little time I had available and the distance, not to mention all my crap, took about two months to complete. That was with a lot of help from others.
The new job kept me pretty busy, so much so that I really either had no time to write my fiction or I wasn't up to it just due to the lupus complications. That was frustrating, but at least I was writing and getting paid for it. By March, I had insurance for the first time in years. I got to use it once for a miserable trip to an ER where I will never go again, even though they are only two blocks from where I currently live. Either I had some unknown virus or food poisoning. They couldn't pinpoint what it was, but they sure as hell itemized a $15,000 bill fine and dandy. This was the day before it was announced that COVID-19 was found in a patient in Arkansas.
So, I worked from home for the most part. Journalists/media types were provided a letter and press pass. It allowed me to be out and about if a curfew was ever instilled (never was) so I could risk my life being around potentially sick people so I could gather the news. WooHoo!
Most of the people I worked with were nice, and I got along with those people pretty well. I really liked the editor, John Lovett. We had some related interests and he was a cool guy. When COVID-19 hit, it was difficult to try and maintain only 40 hours/week because there was plenty of news. There just weren't plenty of businesses open, meaning a lot less advertising. A couple of dozen writers and other staff lost their jobs on May 1.
So much for the health insurance I never got to use for regular reasons or even finding a primary care physician in the area since doctor's offices and hospitals were closed down. As you probably know, visits were off-limits to everyone unless it was an emergency or possibly COVID-19. But hey, I got to piss away some money on life insurance and other benefits that did me no good, not to mention, once again, a 401K that I had nowhere to roll over, so I got a nice penalty for more money pissed away.
Come early July I wasn't feeling well at all. So, I did a drive-thru COVID-19 test. Took them a week to respond, and that was after I finally called them and they were like, "Oh yeah, sorry." (same shitty hospital system - different location). And despite what the governor said about there being little to no cost if you didn't have insurance, they just keep billing me. I pay a bill then they find something else to bill me for. So far, the COVID-19 test has come up to more than $600, but they're discounting it for me. I'm only having to pay $400 in addition to the ER trip because that's what my unemployment is for...to pay idiots that can't remember to call or tell me what's wrong.
Of course, all of the conventions I had planned on attending as a panelist and a seller have been canceled. But, this Saturday, Aug. 29, from Noon-2 p.m., I'll be one of the authors signing at Chapters On Main in Van Buren, Ark. for Independent Book Store Day. So, if you're in the area, the store will be doing all kinds of stuff with authors, food, and games all day. Come on by. I'll be the curly-haired guy sitting at a table wearing a mask and gloves signing books.
Although I don't want to really be in a crowd, I figure the book store couldn't be any worse than Walmart or the grocery store. Half the people in those large crowds don't wear their masks properly, assuming they wear one at all despite the mandate. No one gets onto them because they don't want to hurt their business. How about the fact you might be turning away customers who don't want to shop with you any longer because you care more about a buck than my health?
I realize 2020 has sucked for everyone. The rebirth has been very much like a breech birth. I'm seeing how many kicks to the ass I can take before I get out and breathe. But, while job hunting, which is a 40 hour/week job in itself, I have been writing or revising a lot of material. I'm going to be getting back to finishing The Savage Cat prequel soon.
I've also had a few short stories published or accepted for publication, so at least I haven't been stagnant. A lot of those links can be found on my new Twitter account @EthanNaht1.
I also managed to get the Nahte Words store back up and working through Square. The original Wordpress is in the middle of being revamped to promote Beagle Mountain Press in general. And, of course, the LIVE 'N' LOUD site is still up and running. I have been doing some updates on it when I can.
Speaking of Beagle Mountain Press, the current project is a collection of horror stories & poetry with the working title Island Terrors & Sea Horrors. It will include the works of Edgar Allan Poe, H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Wilhelm Hauff, Sir Thomas Moore, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Washington Irving alongside some new stories & poems from myself and Larry Atchley Jr. David J. Martinez, creator of The Savage Cat, is working on the cover. There will be other illustrations throughout the book, including some Gustav Doré and a few other artists. I'm hoping to have the book out in time for Halloween. It should be a fun & haunting read for All Hallow's Eve and into the bleakness of winter when the wind chills the bones and the landscape is bleak and gray unto the horizon.
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