by M.L. Buchman
The last time I was bored, I was 12. (I'm nowhere near 12 anymore, just sayin'.)
We had moved right at the end of the school year. Shy new kid in new community that had no forum (like school) to meet new kids. I spent the summer watching "The Galloping Gourmet." Yep! Graham Kerr and I bonded deep at the age of 12. And yes, while I love to cook, that's not the point of this post.
I was bored to tears, literally. At the end of that summer, I swore I would never be bored again...and I haven't been. There are times since when I sort of wished I had a boring summer...or month....or even a boring day but nope! Instead time just fills up with all of the fun things I've found to do.
Sometimes I have months that are exceptionally NOT boring, And July 2015 has certainly been one of those.
I think it started with our first vacation in FOREVER! Due to a few small circumstances (like having a kid in college during the recession, the business that I'd worked in for 6 years going bankrupt, and a few little events like that), it really has been a long time. So we ventured forth on a little driving trip for our first foray. We live on the Oregon Coast and we decided to do a little driving tour up to Canada. We wanted to visit Victoria, British Columbia (a city we dearly love), see a friend who lives up that way, and visit the aforementioned kid on the way home.
Of course, I can't leave well enough alone...it turned into a research trip. "What if my next heroine was from Victoria?" To me that added a whole level of interest to the vacation and thankfully my wife is a woman of infinite patience (and she gets into it to). Of course I was a pilot ages ago (on this side of 12, but not by much comparatively) and my character is a pilot. This made for rather odd vacation photos I admit:
(Seriously, almost every photo I took is like these.)
But we had fun anyway!
Then I decided to release a collection of my free fiction. ...Okay, I admit on the surface that doesn't really make sense, but it does. Last year I started publishing a free short story on my website for a week every month (a series called the Ides of Matt). And now I've collected all baker's dozen of last years stories into a single volume, written introductions for every story, and just released it for pre-order (Oct 14th release date). I'm very excited about this volume because it includes romance, SF romance, mystery, science fiction, and fun. The monthly story has been a great chance to play and fans tell me they love it. (Hint: It's still going on from the 14th to the 20th every month at www.mlbuchman.com.)
For those more traditionally minded, we're just a week away from my next release, also available for pre-order (Aug 4th release date).
This third installment in my Firehawks series. If follows the love story of wildland firefighting aviation pilot Vern Taylor and his penchant for breaking the helicopters that Denise Conroy must keep fixing. If that isn't a reason for true love...well, you'll just have to read the book to find out what is.
Now can I go be bored for a bit? Pretty please?
Nope, I can hear my next set of characters calling to me to come play!
So, what do you do when boredom threatens?
I'd love to hear!
The last time I was bored, I was 12. (I'm nowhere near 12 anymore, just sayin'.)
We had moved right at the end of the school year. Shy new kid in new community that had no forum (like school) to meet new kids. I spent the summer watching "The Galloping Gourmet." Yep! Graham Kerr and I bonded deep at the age of 12. And yes, while I love to cook, that's not the point of this post.
I was bored to tears, literally. At the end of that summer, I swore I would never be bored again...and I haven't been. There are times since when I sort of wished I had a boring summer...or month....or even a boring day but nope! Instead time just fills up with all of the fun things I've found to do.
Sometimes I have months that are exceptionally NOT boring, And July 2015 has certainly been one of those.
I think it started with our first vacation in FOREVER! Due to a few small circumstances (like having a kid in college during the recession, the business that I'd worked in for 6 years going bankrupt, and a few little events like that), it really has been a long time. So we ventured forth on a little driving trip for our first foray. We live on the Oregon Coast and we decided to do a little driving tour up to Canada. We wanted to visit Victoria, British Columbia (a city we dearly love), see a friend who lives up that way, and visit the aforementioned kid on the way home.
Of course, I can't leave well enough alone...it turned into a research trip. "What if my next heroine was from Victoria?" To me that added a whole level of interest to the vacation and thankfully my wife is a woman of infinite patience (and she gets into it to). Of course I was a pilot ages ago (on this side of 12, but not by much comparatively) and my character is a pilot. This made for rather odd vacation photos I admit:
But we had fun anyway!
Then I decided to release a collection of my free fiction. ...Okay, I admit on the surface that doesn't really make sense, but it does. Last year I started publishing a free short story on my website for a week every month (a series called the Ides of Matt). And now I've collected all baker's dozen of last years stories into a single volume, written introductions for every story, and just released it for pre-order (Oct 14th release date). I'm very excited about this volume because it includes romance, SF romance, mystery, science fiction, and fun. The monthly story has been a great chance to play and fans tell me they love it. (Hint: It's still going on from the 14th to the 20th every month at www.mlbuchman.com.)
For those more traditionally minded, we're just a week away from my next release, also available for pre-order (Aug 4th release date).
Now can I go be bored for a bit? Pretty please?
Nope, I can hear my next set of characters calling to me to come play!
So, what do you do when boredom threatens?
I'd love to hear!
Like you, Matt, I hate being bored. I just heard about another writing op and I'm too excited about it. Why? Because I have 2 books to edit and another one to write in a current series, plus the first one to finish in a new series! Shoot! What do I do first?
ReplyDeleteHave a facebook party, of course. What did we do before the Internet? I don't remember long stretches of boredom as a kid, but I do remember what happened if I mentioned I was bored. "C'mere, kid. I can use some help with something." LOL
I'm like you, Matt. I rarely get bored. In the days before cell phones, I guess I might be bored in a waiting room with nothing to read. But now I don't even have that problem.
ReplyDelete