The incessant rain is getting me down. I have a bike expedition planned to take place in two weeks and the only trainiing I’ve been able to do in the dry is in the gym. Useless, because after 15 minutes with my legs going like egg-beaters is my max. I get bored too easily. Of course if a shapely woman is exercising in front of me then my boredom threshold is significantly stretched, but my other aim in cycling and hiking is lost. All those lonesome miles are marvelous for dreaming up plot nuances and new characters for my sci fi and other novels. How can I do that if I’m distracted? No win. Roll, on the dry summer. I think I might have to plan for fewer daily miles for my expedition, which is a nuisance.

If you open your window you can probably hear laughter from America. No, that isn’t a new comedy show as such, but HR people reading my resume for a writing job I applied for in Baltimore. My chances of getting it are astronomical – in more than one way. Do NASA really need me? Do I have the ‘right stuff’ to convert the science techie speak from their scientists and engineers into astronomy-made-easy? Well, I’ve kinda done it before, and it was great fun working with teachers, the Remote Sensing Centre in Reading, and with Keith Hilton at Chester University to produce the Cheshire from Space pack a decade or so ago. I’m not going into details about my application for this US job, unless you write to me privately. Enough to say that I have a friend on the inside, who knows my writing and background (so do you thanks to Wikipedia – hah) and thought of me.

I’ve been up early, and late, editing a friend’s thriller novel. He’s paid me to do a critique and copyedit of his ouevre, and it is interesting in several ways. He has used his own inside niche knowledge of the scaffolding industry to a great effect. I shouldn’t give anything away at this stage, suffice to say, John Goodwin, that I do enjoy my work!

 

About these ads