Well, what’s to say today? I was talking to some family and we were discussing this and that and I said that I wanted to see “Project Hail Mary.” And some knew about it and some had heard a little bit. Well, I think I talked them into getting together and going to see it. Now I plan to see it this week with Camera Girl. She’s not the biggest sff fan by any stretch of the imagination. When I brough her to see the original Star Wars film she was not particularly impressed. And come to think of it, she’s never been impressed by any sci fi or fantasy movie (or book) I ever gave her. Well, I take that back. She read “The Hobbit” back in 1975 and liked it. But that was it. When I told her to read the “Lord of the Rings,” she laughed in my face. So, she may not be the most willing audience for this movie. But since one of the characters is a puppet I’m guessing there may be an appeal there to her love of animals. So, I’m going to see the same movie in the theater twice? I think this may be the first time I’ve ever done that. Well, I’m sure it won’t kill me.
The other thing I’m doing next week is go see an accountant about how to pay my taxes on the royalties from my book. I have an inordinate fear of the Infernal Revenue Service. I think they’re a malevolent force causing pain and suffering for ordinary people at every turn. So, I’m going to find out what the process is for this kind of capital gain. I don’t think I have to pay quarterly but you never know so I’m not taking any chances. Also, I think there is a way to write off expenses like advertising and marketing so if I can find out whether it’s worth it I may even break even on this whole experiment (maybe!!!).
A friend was asking me about the sequel to the “The Sniper.” He had particular questions about the back story for some of the characters like Connors and Cutter. I said I’d love to tell him some of the details of their back stories but I still haven’t made them up yet. I think he was a little shocked that these important facts didn’t actually exist yet. Maybe even betrayed for investing in a story that was sort of a Potemkin Village. But I feel justified in pushing out the corners of my little universe as the spirit moves me. Although I will admit I’ve decided to do some outlining of the world, at least from a 35,000-foot height. I need to decide what stories will grow out of the eucatastrophe I set off in the first book. I mean, you don’t sink the White House, Capitol and Pentagon into the Earth’s crust without taking advantage of the elbow room that provides for political and social upheaval on a grand scale.