You can feel it seeping into your mind at first. Then it hits your body.
As you’re going along, working hard, you start to feel less motivated, less energetic, and less like pushing through to your goal.
You start to make excuses. You even rationalize that you have gone far enough, that most people wouldn’t have made it as far as you.
That overwhelming sense of faux confidence can be your undoing, if you allow it. Continue reading
Filed under Blog
I was on my way to work through a foggy morning. Thick clouds of the evaporating moisture hung heavily as I pressed down the interstate.
Fog is a funny thing. It seems harmless enough. But I remember it causing several terrible car accidents when I was younger.
It just looms there in front of us, pestering us.
There are a lot of situations in life that can be foggy. Maybe you would call them periods of uncertainty.
They’re times in life that seem harmless enough but in the end can be extremely dangerous. Maybe the fog is a temptation you struggle with. Perhaps it is a difficult decision about your career path or something in your personal life.
The fog is something we experience in one way or another. And in these moments, our future is defined. Continue reading
I’ve been working extremely hard for the last few months on the first book of a new series. I originally wrote the story as a movie script then decided to do it as a book instead.
It’s called The Dream Rider and I am super excited about it.
The release date for this book will be June 14, 2013. This story is unlike anything I’ve ever written before and is a major leap from the genre I typically work with.
The Dream Rider is an up-tempo, intense, mind bending story that blends theoretical quantum physics with fiction and takes an average college student, Finn McClaren, on journey he could have never thought possible. Finn is mediocre in every sense of the word until a fateful night when a strange man tries to kill him. Finn believes it was all a dream, that is until he wakes up in another world, overrun by an evil emperor.
Finn must fight through a series of gladiator battles in a struggle to survive and find courage he never knew he had. Along the way, he learns about the real meaning of dreams, and about an ancient power only he possesses.
Below is the cover art designed by hand by Greg DeCicco.
For those of you anxious for the next Sean Wyatt story, don’t worry. The next and final installment of the original Sean Wyatt Trilogy will be released in late summer. Final? Yep. It’s the final book of that storyline. But fear not, loyal readers, Sean Wyatt and the crew have many more adventures yet to come. One may just be heading to the coast of Greece…..
For now, Sean and the gang are off to Egypt in search of the two final chambers of Akhanan. What will they find? You’ll have to wait a few more months to find out. ;)
Feel free email me if you have any questions or thoughts. It’s always cool to chat with you guys.
Speak soon,
Ern
It’s that time of year again. Well, at least in the southern United States it is. If you’re not from around here you may not even understand what I’m talking about.
Out in the deserts, they don’t have it. I’ve even considered moving to one of those locales just to get away from it. In the north, it has probably not arrived yet, but don’t worry, it’s coming.
Pollen.
It came like a thief in the night. Actually, I think I started noticing it in the morning. Either way, there was no doubting it had arrived.
My eyes became itchy, my nose runny, and there was the strangely bitter taste in my mouth that no one else seems to notice but me.
Yep. Spring has arrived, and while I’m thankful for the warmer weather, the pollen that comes with it is a dreadful byproduct.
Or is it? Continue reading
Filed under Blog
About five months ago, I saw people panicking everywhere in my hometown. I saw it on Facebook, too. People were talking about how America would collapse if a certain President was elected. There were giant signs out in front of churches that read “save America now” and “last chance to save our country before it’s too late.”
Today I read an article about how the economy is doing better than it did before the recession. Maybe some folks get a little hysterical when they feel strongly about their opinions.
Perhaps they will end up correct. This little upswing in the economy might crash right back down and everything could go haywire. I doubt it, but it’s certainly possible. Continue reading
Filed under Blog
I write books. I also work a job as a high school guidance counselor. On top of that, I coach soccer. I have a girlfriend and two cats. Yeah, I like cats (truth is, I love most animals).
Stands to reason that I am probably pressed for time most days. You’d be right in thinking that. I try to always hit my minimum daily word count of 2000 words (with a hope of 3000) on top of working my job, coaching, and spending time with my little family.
Each morning, I write down the goals for the day on my white board. It sits across from me in my office so I can see the things I have completed and not. I put the things of highest priority at the top and work my way down. If I don’t get to something, I just push it over to the next day.
For a while, I used to get down on myself when I didn’t finish all of my daily goals. I felt like there was a timer counting down all the time, ticking away and adding pressure to my routine. I guess I felt that way because I wanted to be able to write books full time and the more books I wrote, the closer to that goal I would get.
You lose perspective on the truly important things when you think that way. You find yourself less happy with the work you complete, you can get irritated, and the feeling of failure starts to creep its way into your mind.
I read an article about author Dean Koontz once, on a plane heading to Seattle. Koontz is a New York Times Best Selling Author, something most writers dream about. But up until a few years ago, he wasn’t really content with what he was doing. The article went on to talk about how he and his wife got a dog, and that dog changed everything.
The dog demanded time from Koontz, time he should have been spending at the computer creating new novels. But he didn’t have a choice. He had to play with the dog, walk the dog, let the dog sit on his lap. A funny thing happened as a result.
He found that he was getting less work done but feeling much happier with his life. His wife, too, spent more time with Dean and the dog, bringing the two of them closer together. Their lives stopped being just about the business of writing books and more about the important things, moreover, the most important thing. Balance.
Maybe you have heard the expression, “all work and no play.” I firmly believe in that. It’s the reason that, no matter how many of my goals I’ve completed or how many words I’ve written, when my cats jump into my lap, I stop what I’m doing and pet them. It’s the reason that when my girlfriend comes home, I quit working for the day and just spend time with her, even if I haven’t hit my daily word count.
Even in the books I write, my characters take time to enjoy the things they want to do in life.
It’s all about balance. Nothing else really matters when it comes down to it. You could be the richest person in the world with fancy cars, a beautiful home, and more toys than you knew what to do with. But if all you do is grind out goals every single day, you won’t be happy. So do yourself a favor. Let the good little things in life interrupt you. Enjoy the interruptions. Your goals can always slide over one day for the things that really matter.
If you like this post, check out this interview by a great guy who gets it, Chris Brogan. I think you’ll like it too.
Filed under Blog
