I’m on Spring Break this week from the university and luckily none of my instructors loaded me down with extra work.  So I have some time to myself, finally.  I’ll try and get some writing done this week, but for now I wish to share some of my thoughts about the future.

First off, “No one panic!”  I’m not giving up on writing novels.  Writing is my passion and to stop doing it would be like ripping out a huge part of who I am.  Writing is not just something I do, it’s who I am.  So there is no way I’ll ever stop.  I’m even planning on getting some voice software like ‘Dragon’ so I can dictate my ideas to the computer on those days when the fibromyalgia is making it difficult to type.

But as for my university studies… I just don’t know anymore.  Most days it seems most of my instructors are talking about how we’re being prepared to not only get a Bachelor’s Degree but to pursue a Master’s Degree.  In fact, most of my classes seemed geared to doing just that and nothing else.

I entered university to gain more knowledge and skills to help in my quest for getting a job in Human Services.  But instead I’m hearing (from the instructors mind you) that “These days a Bachelor’s is the equivalent of what a High School Diploma was a few years ago.  What you really need to do if you’re going to get anywhere is pursue a Masters…” etc.  Hearing things like this does not inspire me very much.  I’m 50 years old, I cannot keep wracking up more student loan debt and do nothing but intern work for the next 4-5 years.  PLUS… all this extra studies would take away from my writing and spending time with my wife.

Originally I started university so my wife and I could keep living in the off-campus housing that was inexpensive and an easy commute.  But we’ve discovered this year that my wife is deathly allergic to certain plants in the area where we are living, and the pollens are out of control this year to the point other residents who have lived in this area for years are having troubles like never before.   Now both my wife and I have asthma which is being exasperated by these conditions as well making life much harder for us both.

We’ve both started putting in applications for county jobs and I’ve got an interview for one county job next week.  Yesterday we went to Santa Cruz to get job applications for Santa Cruz Metro, which has some nice job openings as well.  We’re both going to keep putting in for other decent paying jobs with benefits as well until either of us land something that pays good.  We’ll probably be moving before this year is over.  We are going to try and stick near the water (we live near the Monterey/Santa Cruz Peninsula).  But I don’t think we can stick it out where we are for more than a year.

In the meantime, I’ve got 6-7 more weeks of class after this break is over.  Don’t know how much writing I’ll be able to get done, so I’m going to say flat out that “The Door” will NOT be released in May as originally planned.  I’m aiming for September to release it and then do a second release in December involving “The Vampyre Blogs”.

At this point I’m undecided which tale of “The Vampyre Blogs” to release.  I have a complete 1st draft of a novel and a novelette.  Both are going to be getting proofread and edited during the next few weeks and will be more than ready to be released in December.  The novelette is a Christmas story I posted on my other blog “The Vampyre Blogs – Private Edition” last year.  I am planning on making illustrations for the story to make it more special in book form.  The novel would be the normal style I’ve put out before.

I could use some feedback from you all on what you’d like to see come out first.  So I’m attaching a link to a survey so you can help guide my decision:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WSX8S5C

That’s all I have to say for now.  I just want to say thank you all for continuing to read this blog and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.  Take care and keep writing.