Yes. I’m getting reading to Switch Off

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Usually I have some good news in this spot, but today I’m changing this a bit. I’m closing shop for the month of June and since we’ve all been in a reflective mood lately, I thought I’d use this Monday to reflect a bit about where I am and where I’m going. 

There are several fronts to reflect on: personal life, my writing, this blog.

On the personal front, all is as good as it gets. I’m very lucky to have a family, a home, my health, and friends. I can’t complain about any of it.

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As to the writing, there’s all sorts of issues with that. I’m shredding a lot of my latest WIP out of frustration. I have a story to tell, and I’m not telling it right–not yet. The good news is that my research is turning up some fascinating history about something I know little to nothing about. 

• Did you know that silver miners spared rats in the mines? And that was because rats were supposed to have some kind of special sensor that signals them when there’s about to be a collapse. When the rats ran, so did the miners.

• And in the lower depths of a silver mine (1000-3000 feet) temperatures could rise to 140/160 degrees F.? They had special cooling rooms where miners retreated to cool off and drink water. They could only work about 40 minutes at a time before collapsing. I’d make it to about a minute.

There’s more. I’ll save it for another post when I regale you with my writing success. 

By now you know I’m writing about silver mining in the 1800’s. This period has always fascinated me, so reading about it has been exciting. It’s getting that story to cooperate that’s giving me fits.

Weary Blogger Help

As to this blog, I’m weary of it. I love to blog, but I’m tired of this one. I’m hoping that after a month away, I’ll come back with some enthusiasm and some new ideas about how I want this site to look. 

This next year I’ll be a co-host for The AtoZ Road Trip with a great blogger at Madlab Entertainment . I won’t do much before July–maybe a couple of posts, but after that I’ll be there regularly once or twice a month. It should be fun, so join us. HERE’S where you sign up. 

Some Housekeeping

I’ve made some more changes to the sidebars. I like to keep them up to date as often as possible. New books. New hops. New ideas.

If you’d sign up to follow me by email (top left sidebar), I’d appreciate that. I don’t use the emails except to respond to comments that I think might be interesting or fun to discuss. And I don’t bug people who prefer not to reply to my emails. Temporarily, I’ve gone back to responding on the blog in hopes some will return to see my responses.

Now with a nod to my usual posts, here’s my Quote for the Day:

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.” Edward Abbey, Naturalist