Misc

New Dog Bed

Buddy, the cat, was taking Luci’s bed a lot. Luci would often have to lie on the floor or the couch in the other room. I decided to order a second dog bed, so Buddy and Luci can both have a bed in the office where I spend most of my time.

The new dog bed arrived yesterday and it’s smaller than I expected. It’s actually too small for Luci. It’s probably too small for Buddy too, who is roughly the same size as Luci. But Luci doesn’t seem to mind. She spent most of yesterday in the new bed and it looks like she’s going to do the same today.

On Writing, Writing

Research for the Novel

Since I got the five pages into the short story, I’m working on the novel now. Just watched this video for research. Russia is one of the settings in this series.

I’m still not comfortable giving out the titles of the books or the series, but Book One is still under consideration at one of the big publishing companies. It might be a long time before I hear anything.

I’m 63 pages and 13,020 words into Book Two right now. I want to get to page 71 before I call it a night, but don’t know if I’ll make it.

 

Series Talk

Santa Clarita Diet

Do not start the Netflix original series “Santa Clarita Diet”, which stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. I repeat, do not start this series. It is highly addictive and you will be hooked.

Santa Clarita Diet is outrageously hilarious gore. You will laugh and you will be shocked. Once you start this series, you will be unable to get away from it. You will watch one episode after another.

You have been warned.

Football, NFL, Sports

Another Brady Bowl

During most of the game, I was thinking the title of this blog entry would be “Not Every Bowl Can Be A Brady Bowl”, but things got turned around in the fourth quarter.

I spent the day at mom and dad’s. We had a lot of food, chicken wings and ribs off the smoker, plus a bunch of other stuff to munch on while we watched the game.

I admit, I considered rooting for the Falcons, but in the end I decided to root for Patriots again. First, because I’d always considered the Pats to be one of my backup teams. Second, because Tom Brady was Michigan’s quarterback back  in the day. So, I decided I’d stick with the Patriots.

I know about the controversy surrounding the Patriots last Super Bowl victory, but, eh, I decided that I didn’t care.

I would have been perfectly fine if the Falcons won, though. The Falcons had a very good lead for most of the game. They were beating the hell out of the Patriots, sacking Brady and all that. But I guess Brady found his arm at some point during the fourth quarter and screwed it back in.

The Patriots scored a few times and the fourth quarter ended with a 28-28 tie. An overtime was added and the Patriots landed another touchdown. Game ended with the Patriots 34 and the Falcon 28.

Music, On Writing

Same Old Situation

Writing a brand new short story. Two pages in so far,. I want five pages before I stop on the short story for the day, and then I’ll want ten pages on the novel. Want to get it all done by midnight. Let’s see if I can.
Of course, I got music blaring. Music helps the words flow from my mind to my fingers, which are hammering away on the keyboard.
ETA
Got one more page to go on the short story. Think I’ll just finish it and go to bed. Tomorrow I’ll try to start earlier.

Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Hunting, MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL, NHL, On Writing, Sports

My Minute Bio

The magazine I just submitted to required a publication-ready bio be included in the submission, so I threw this together. Hope it does the trick.

BIO:
Rob Darnell lives in a nice neighborhood. His office window looks out on a lake. He has a cat named Buddy and a dog named Luci. He loves the Detroit Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, Pistons and the Michigan Wolverines. An avid deer hunter, he spends time in a tiny shack from the beginning of October until the end of December. His website is robdarnell.com.

On Writing, Writing

Forgotten Story

I found an 8,800-word story that I don’t remember writing. I can’t say for sure what it’s about, but a quick skim reveals that it is a crime story.

Think I’ll go ahead and submit it without reading it and see what happens. If it’s published, maybe someday people will come up to me and talk about this character or that and the things they did, and I’ll have to ask them, “Which story is that?”