Getting inspired

    So as I mentioned in my last post I will be taking a side trip on this blog and in life. I've been getting ready for the trip in usual fashion, buying a new pack and getting anything I may need out of closets and a shed.
     One way to get ready for a road trip is to watch a few movies about road trips. I'm not talking about National Lampoons Vacation or any of that. Instead I chose a select three. Vanishing Point, Easy Rider and Duel.  The first two films you are probably familiar with. A guy drives a white Challenger through the desert.  The next, two guys ride motorcycles and drugs across the country. The third film in the marathon is a little different. Duel is a great film staring Denis Weaver. While driving home through what appears to be eastern California, cuts off a tanker truck. The truck driver does not take it so lightly. The driver begins to follow Weaver through the winding roads of the desert.
      Much of the film takes place in Weaver's car through monologue. He does a lot of sweating as he speculates what the driver wants. Its a great film with a conclusion that can only go one of two ways, someone dies.

Scouting Back Roads

     So I'm going to get personal on this post and a few coming in the next month. I speak abstractly about my past and my likes but soon I will be taking a trip through the back roads of America in my 1978 Scout II. The Scout was in my dad's barn for six years before I finally had the cash to haul it down to Orlando to a specialty shop for an overhaul. I've had the motor rebuilt and many new parts swapped. 
     Starting August 10th I will be driving the Scout from Daytona Beach, north to the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way to Virginia. I've been planning this trip for some time and can't wait. I hope (and know) my expectations will be exceeded.
     Just a quick back ground, because this Scout would not mean as much to me without it. My dad bought the truck in 1986 just after my 7th birthday. I still remember the day we took it home from a Marine named John Glenn. (Not the astronaut) I literally grew up in that truck. When I was seventeen I was offered many options to replace the Scout by my father who was not willing to give her up. Maybe if Craigslist had been around then this story would be different. As things where, Scouts where kinda hard to find and this particular model had everything but a dash clock.
      Forthcoming will be pictures from the road as I travel north in my Scout with a friend of mine. We plan to avoid GPS and travel just paper maps and word of mouth. We'll see what happens.
     Since this blog is mostly about my writing I will mention a project I've been scribbling down. Its a story about a truck, more specifically an IH Scout II. The Scout will journey over thirty years and exchange hands a few times. I have the outline and a general direction. I hope the open road will inspire me to finish it.

Circa 1996, the first refurbishment

Check it out

     I co-started a new blog today with Jorge. http://sastrewagnerproductions.blogspot.com/
It should be up soon. SastreWagner Productions will be the place we can get our ideas out and share them with all of you. The Collectors is under review right now and hopefully will be available for purchase soon. Also coming soon will be a quick trailer for the book coming out in August from SastreWagner Productions (here by known as SWP)
     Check back with our new blog for updates on the book release and video.

Pay Your Debts on Time

Here is to old ideas new again...   

         The Collectors is something I have been working on with my friend and writing partner, Jorge Sastre. We just got some logo art done and here is a taste.
          Its a tale as old as time. Man borrows money to gamble, loses the money, owes a debt and now must face collection. The Collectors face the collection of their life as a set up on a collection leads to a hit on their lives.
         Originally the story was conceived as a movie and has sat in script format for some time with some interest. Keep your eyes open for the book and a trailer video coming soon...

Sold out...for now

So my rants about work are done. I quit one job and took some time to write and think about what it is I want to do. I have to say that the thought of working for anyone or group of people was never something I cared for, unless it was a small group. I have found that small group of people and guess what, most are artists. I work with a bunch of artists and geeks so I can't complain.

It turns out going to work is not such a bad thing. I've always got along with my co-workers regardless my job. The big thing that is lacking in this job is what makes it so easy to go to, NO CUSTOMERS. Yes, every job has them and in a sense co-workers can be customers, but I don't have any direct dealing with customers.

So I don't like customers and trying to sell books can make that tough. When that day comes that I have to shift to selling more than anything else I'll suck it up, but until that day I will just enjoy going to work and not hearing/dealing with customer.

Call of the Wild

What is it about being in the great out doors that just calms a man? I recently spent a little time on the Appalachian trail, a little stretch in western Virginia. The goal of the hike was to make it to Spy Rock. It was a great view and I made a new friend while in the wild.
     I know why I love to camp. I am a loner. I like to be out doors and not see anyone for a while. The easiest way to ruin a camping trip for me is to show up. Once while out in the Ocala Forest I did my best to avoid human contact. I heard a few voices in the distance and saw a few shoe prints but that was it. Mission accomplished. Another time I came across a man wearing only jean shorts and carrying a jug full of local berries. He said he had been out there three months and asked if I was planning to stay at my camp a week or more. I loved the idea but societal pressure was forcing me back the next day.
      Senses are heightened out in the wilderness; hearing improved, vision crisper. I feel alive. Despite these physical changes and isolation, I still don't know what it is about that call that I hear.
     After a short taste of the Trail, it is all I can think about and I want to go back and spend a lot more time making friends that dont talk so much. (insert picture below of my wild dog)

Year End Sale

   The rush is on to finish all the crap I started or have been working on or promised myself I would finish by the end of 2011. Well the clock waits for no man. I have some time this weekend to finish up a few things which is always my writing. I have a new manuscript to self edit before I attempt to find rejection from publishers and agents. On a positive note, I have a book contract that has been sitting on my coffee table for the last three weeks waiting to be mailed out. I just need a stamp.
   There are a lot of people out there running around trying to get their year end crap finished. Its like the ads on tv just before Christmas telling us how many days left. The reality is we have plenty of days to finish things and to give gifts. Just today I got a Christmas gift. Time is precious and we all die which adds pressure to the things we want to accomplish in our lives but the truth is we either have the time or we don't.