Mail Call / What's Up and The Fat Kid Lament

Happy Friday kiddies!  I don't know how the week has progressed for the rest of you but MAN has it been a busy one on my end.  Before I even get started today I want to take a moment to say thank you to all of you that are apparently reading this blog on a daily basis.  I have been so slammed with life and other projects this week that I haven't been able to post anything since last Friday and yet The Cynical Sarcastic is still averaging over 75 page views a day!  Considering where this little rant-fest sprang up from last fall, I find that to be very humbling and will make sure that from now on I do a better job of keeping the content flowing!  Thanks again from the bottom of my scribblin' little heart!

Moving on . . .there were two emails this week that I wanted to respond to for our Friday Mail Call.  In the interest of time, let's get right to it...

I have just recently purchased both of your books and really enjoyed them.  I couldn't help but notice that they were published really close together.  I know most authors write only a book or two a year.  Are you writing them that quickly?  When can we expect your next book? I've also just found your blog.  If you've already answered this on the blog, please email me and tell me where to find it.  Thanks, Jamisha N.

Thanks for the email Jamisha.  I'm glad you enjoyed the books.  Yes, I actually have answered your questions on the blog in the past BUT it's been a while back.  It probably isn't the worst idea to catch some of the new folks up as well, so here are your answers. 

Thanks for the compliment, but if I were talented enough to crank out a novel every two months I definitely wouldn't be back in the job market again!  Bounce was actually conceived of during October of 2011 and then fleshed out through April of this year.  After editing and overcoming / learning the publication process, I was able to publish it in May.  By Design however is a very different project.  I began writing that book in 2004.  I completed it in its first form in 2005 and began shopping it to agents.  Because of the subject matter and the badgering to remove a lot of the racier content at that time, I became disgusted with the process and shelved the book.  I basically relegated it to a trunk novel and just let it sit for six years give or take.  The something interesting happened.  The first book took off in sales very quickly and really shot over any expectations I had for it.  I decided to capitalize on its momentum and took another really hard look By Design. I realized I had a great story that just needed some updating and maturing and decided to get it ready to publish.  Now I consider that to have been a great decision because it has outsold the first book and continues to do so.

With regard to the next book... well I'm currently in the midst of three projects and one side project.  If you'll check the right side of the main blog page, I keep a roughly updated schedule of upcoming work and when it will hopefully see the light of day for everyone's reference / amusement.  Right now I'm working on an untitled project with Brandon Stoops, a new author in the Raleigh area, that we're hoping will be completed and to market before the end of the quarter.  I'm also working on two novels somewhat simultaneously, Hurricane Carolina, a rock n' roll romance, and The Shadow of Death, a psychological thriller.  I expect to release both of these next year with HC coming first in Q1 and TSOD in late Q2 / early Q3.  My side project will actually be announced on the blog in the coming days, hopefully as early as this weekend.  If you enjoy the blog, I'm hoping you'll like the first anniversary collection I have planned for late November of this year.  The intent is to choose 70-90 of the favorite posts and publish as a collection with all first month sales going to charity in time for Christmas! 

I'm a Facebook friend and have just started reading your blog.  I plan to start on one of your books this weekend.  My question isn't really about the writing but about your diet you talk about on FB.  What got you started on that?  How's it going?  Are you seeing any results?  -Tracy.

Thanks for the question Tracy.  Simply put, I was well on my way back to being a fat sloppy bastard again and decided to do something about it.  To give you a bit of back story, around the time of my 30th birthday in 2003 I weighed 380 pounds.  Even at 6'9" that's a big fat bastard.  I went through my divorce that following January and found out that I was very close to developing a cardiac issue after trying to run ten flights of stairs like they were giving away free cookies on the top floor.  One ER visit later, I developed some sense and started getting back in control.  Over the next two years I got myself down to 265 and kept the weight down until about three years ago when my job began demanding crazy hours.  My weight crept back up until late March of this year when I realized I had inched back to 330.  Beginning April 1 I started back in the gym five days a week and began playing basketball daily.  I'm now down under 300 pounds and, due to some hardcore motivation, I'd hazard the guess and say I'm stronger than I've been since college and almost back to that level of conditioning.  For August my training partner and I have adopted a pretty hardcore diet to get rid of as much jiggle as possible before we start a major gain cycle in September.  To answer your question, sister it has been ROUGH.  I'm seriously about two chicken breasts and a brussel sprout away from a hate crime.  We also have made some mistakes like undercutting our carbs too far and having no energy or overdoing it on cheat day and spending the entire afternoon in the bathroom but hey, morons gotta be morons on occasion after all.  My goal is to get down under 290 by September 1 and then maintain it healthily while we're putting on mass over the rest of the year.  We'll see what happens, but thanks for the support.

Tracy's letter really got me thinking about the major changes I've made in my life and routine since April.  Prior to April I was sleeping late, lazing around a lot, playing way too many video games, and spending most nights up until 4 or 5 am writing.  Now I'm putting in cardio twice a day beginning at 7 a.m. (up to 5 miles or more daily), spend two hours plus in the gym five days a week, and play ball on Saturday mornings.  Not bad for the guy that had so much joint pain after climbing five flights of stairs in January that he almost didn't make it to work the next day.  I tell my friends all the time that I'm beginning to feel like my body is truly ten or fifteen years younger (uglier doesn't count smart asses) and I've having a lot of fun weeding out all my XXXLT clothes.  I've got to get new pictures up for the blog and Facebook, but I'm waiting until September to do so to see just how much flabby I can scare off before hand.  Sometimes I even pull up pictures from January just to stare at how pregnant I looked! 

Why go into all this detail about losing weight with you all?  It's simple, really.  Even though it makes me sound like a bad infomercial, if I can do it, so can you.  Don't get me wrong here, there are parts of me that really miss being able to eat like a fat kid chasing down a diabetic coma.  I mean, after all, it's just not right that I've reached a point where I could consider daydreaming about a box of Krispy Kreme a part time job for chrissakes.  But the fact of the matter is that I'm almost 39 years old and if I didn't make a change now, I wouldn't make it for a long time if ever.  My father is 65 and has been neglecting himself for twenty five years since he stopped playing church league softball at 40.  We now walk 3 miles a day six days a week.  Even though he's dealing with some knee pain, he's losing weight and already talking about bumping up our mileage in September.  It sounds a bit silly, but I think my relationship with my father has even gotten better because of the daily stroll.  In any event, as I said earlier, if my big chubby ass can do it, anyone can. 

Well kids, with all that being said, it appears to be time to head back to the salt mines.  The books aren't going to write themselves and there might even be dishes in the sink and beds to be made.  Man do I need a job!

Have a great weekend!