I hope you’ve all had a great week! Mine has been extraordinarily productive. This week I dove, head first, into drafting the chapters for the new novel, Portraits of the Hearthhold. I’m working on chapters one and two simultaneously. I’m very happy with how it’s coming along.
Also, in the spirit of world-building and manifesting this new book into the world I took the time to indulge in some cover design sessions. This is purely conceptual at this point but I’ll be playing around with cover ideas as I’m writing.
I hope I can keep this momentum up. If so, I should be finishing the draft sometime in early 2027. I think I'll be taking Saturdays off from work on the novel to dedicate to my weekly Hive blogs.
You Only Live Once!
Just kidding! Although I have to admit it felt good to get in touch with my inner ten year old and daydream about owning a Roadster for a few minutes. I made this graphic with AI to prank a few of my friends and couldn't resist sharing here. It's good to dream, right?
Honestly, I would have zero use or the disposable income for a car this extreme. Something like the Rocket version of the Roadster falls into the category of things that would be amazing to experience but not so much to own. I do see the value of developing a halo car like this and think it's important that engineers keep pushing the boundaries. It's inspirational. The Rocket version of the Roadster is available by invite only and I imagine only a handful of this trim package be produced. Hopefully at least one will be purchased by a company to offer the experience of what it's like to drive/fly!
Autumnal Thoughts
I'm seeing a lot more fog on my morning walks. We experienced unseasonbly awesome weather this past week and there were big differences between daytime and nighttime temps, hence the mist. We're seeing large numbers of migratory birds passing through the area.
The fall colors here have just about peaked and I think the cooler, windy, and wet weather in the forecast next week will strip the trees of their remaining leaves in short order. Soon the days will be cold and much shorter. It will be perfect weather for me to sit at my writing desk with a warm cup of green tea and bang out more pages.
Halloween Mode
Tesla's software engineers have been cooking with this year's Halloween software update.
When Halloween-mode is switched on not only do the turn signals sound like owls hooting and the car looks like a ghost but the sentry mode will play scary sounds when someone walks by your car in a parking lot. Juvenile? Absolutely! But it's a whole lot of fun nonetheless. This software update has me getting into the spirit of the holiday more than anything else so far.
With so much to be angry and fearful about in the world today it's refreshing to have as many things as we can in life that bring us pure joy. This Model Y definitely fits into that category.
MobLand
If you're looking for something entertaining to watch this fall and you have Paramount+ I highly suggest MobLand.
We're watching the new season now and as much as I hate to say it I think I'm liking it even more than I did Peaky Blinders (which I didn't think was possible.) Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan play their roles as a complete sociopaths to complete perfection. MobLand has to be one of the best crime dramas I've ever seen. I'm always looking forward to Friday when a new episode drops.
All for now. Make this a wonderful day.
It’s great that you’re making progress on your novel and planning to finish it by the beginning of next year—which is just around the corner! I also think it’s a fantastic idea to set aside a specific day for writing on HIVE—Saturdays, in your case—because it allows us, your readers, to look forward to your weekly post. Even though we don’t have seasons here in Venezuela, I’ve always been fascinated by the colors of autumn. Sending you a hug, my friend.
Thank you! It's made such a difference in productivity to just focusing on the novel during the week. It's great to hear people still look forward to my blog after all these years. Dialing it back to once or twice a week has really brought the joy back into posting. I can't imagine what it's like to live in a place that doesn't have seasons. I could certainly due without winter though! : ) I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week my friend!
Damn, the Tesla Roadster looks dope ... however, I'll stick to my all-time favorite Lamborghini Aventador Roadster LP 740 😎 Cool prank though ;)
The more I see it, the more I like it. It's like a cross between a Lambo and a fighter jet. Even the UI is modeled after the UI in fighter jets. Love the Aventador! They are beasts. Thanks, I like to get a prank in every now and then. : )
We have been getting some crazy fog lately. It's been beautiful, but difficult driving to work in the dark! My wife and I just finished the first season of MobLand. I don't know if you have discovered it yet, but there is a hack with Paramount Plus that you can enhance the dialog of some shows. That makes it much easier to understand what they are saying if you don't want to put the closed captions on.
Us too. There's such a huge difference in daytime & nighttime temps. Oh nice, I didn't know about that feature on P+. After watching so much British TV I can understand it now. I remember when I first started watching Peaky Blinders deciphering the accents was really difficult—the Scottish series Still Game was even worse. Closed captioning was my friend. : )
We decided to hold off on Season 2 until all the episodes are out. We started Neagly instead last night.
We haven't watched Neagly yet. It's on our list though.
Good luck with getting that novel done is such short order! I look forward to it. I finally managed to place an order for your last two books. I can't do it myself for some tech reason, and have to get one of my daughters to do it for me. Done just today!
Thank you! I hope I can keep the momentum up. My plan is to finish it while we're in Arizona in Jan/Feb. I appreciate you ordering those and hope you enjoy them. Are you an Amazon Prime member?
I am not. I try not to use Amazon at all, but sometimes, as with your books, it can't be avoided. I buy local, from small shops, in cash, as much as I possibly can.
Not a bad idea! My books are available at other online retailers but the prices are usually higher. I just discovered an eBay seller who has them priced 2x retail price. Thanks again for buying some copies!
LOL! That is a great prank, for a few second I thought that you actually ordered that Roadster :)
I am sure if you have a billion dollars in the bank that is a great car to add to your collection of vehicles...
Got you! ; ) Even if I had the money it would be difficult for me to justify. I'm really hoping some of these Rocket and Thruster trim levels of the Roadster are allocated to companies who rent them out to offer people the experience of seeing what they're like to drive (or fly?) Tesla is now saying the Thruster version will go 0-60 in 0.5 seconds with a top speed of 400mph. Hopefully it would have a "chill mode" like the other cars because I don't think I'd survive those kinds of G's.
The autumn fog and changing colors sound beautiful too, and the ghostly Tesla Halloween mode made me smile.
working on the first two chapters simultaneously sounds like a good way to keep the story consistent. those morning walks in the mist look properly atmospheric for getting into a writing mood
Hi Eric,
I see you like cars. The only car I ever covetted was the Corvette that was used in the old TV series, Route 66. When I started my first teaching job I bought a 1973 Mustang and it was a really powerful car but when our first child was born I bought a 'sensible' compact Chev and hated it. I now drive a Mazda CX 5 and love it. I'm fairly easy on cars - my previous vehicle, a 2011 Santa Fe lasted me 15 yrs and I only traded it in because I had a hard time getting parts. But as for that Roadster Rocket...nada. I'm past that and just want relaible transportation. Maybe that's all I ever wanted, lol
I always have loved cars. My Dad was into muscle cars so my brother and I were exposed to it early. I didn't get my first fast car until 2022 but I've mostly owned sensible cars (Hondas, Saturns, Toyotas). My brother has owned a lot more exotic cars. He has the new mid-engined Corvette now. The new Mazdas are very nice!
👍