Paula and I are very thankful that we were only on the edge of the recent hurricane that stuck Southwest Florida. The full force of the storm hit Fort Meyers area and was a true disaster. We got some strong winds and some rain but nothing major. We are about 100 miles north of where the eye of the storm made landfall.
I belong to the local Rotary and will be helping load donated relief supplies this afternoon. We feel terrible for those who lost their homes down there. We can empathize. We survived two of California's worst fire storms back in 2003 and 2007 - the Cedar Fire and the Witch Creek Fire. We lost one of our homes, a brand new barn (full of hay), fencing, and many trees. Though we cleaned it all up and moved on, things were never the same after that. I'm sure that's the way it is for all those who survive any big natural disaster. We wish them well.
On a much brighter note: my newest novel, Trouble in Choctaw County, hit #1 for native-American literature on Amazon on the 17th and 18th of September. I consider this my proverbial "15 minutes of glory". Today it is #1560 and #1,070,357 overall - numbers I'm more used to seeing.
Nevertheless, I was very excited when I hit #1. My marketing guy, Chris Gibson, assured me that it was a significant achievement. I'm still waiting for a call from one of the television morning shows asking me to appear on national TV. I've been waiting near the phone.
In case you didn't hear, my marketing guy got me a spot for an interview on The Authors Show podcast. I guess that was another 15 minutes of quasi-glory. The broadcast lasts 15 minutes. If you want to listen to it, just go to Books on my website and select Trouble in Choctaw County. You'll find it there. Or, you can go to theauthorshow.com and scroll down to "Archived Authors Interviews"
I know I don't look a day over 80, but I turned 74 on October 4. Yep, the ol' 74. Surprisingly, I feel great and apparently in good health - for which I feel very fortunate. In fact, I'm thinking if this whole author thing doesn't work out, I might start up a python hunting guide business down in the Everglades. Plenty of 'em down there.
Seriously, I'm enjoying life here in our little swamp house. The picture that accompanies this month's blog is the view from the desk where I do my writing. It's very peaceful and quiet. We're surrounded by pine woods and cypress swamp, with lots of wildlife (I don't mean Paula - although she's pretty wild).
One more thing - READ A BOOK, preferably one of mine.