Well double shame on me.

I have committed the cardinal sin of a blog and that is to let it lapse! It is hard to believe this is my first post since Feb 20th. It has been that long, so thought I better get back on.

No I have not gone away. Yes I am still working on the book(s). No it is not done. And yes, like a fine wine, I will sell no rhyme before its time. Please be patient. The grapes are ripening and the verse is getting there. All good things are worth a wait.

For someone retired(semi), seems I have been awfully busy the last six months. I am back working my old day job nearly half time. We are up to 3 grand kids now (2 under 1 year) and another is on the way, so I have grandpa duties added to the mix now. And the boat and the Lake Erie walleye beckon, often competing with the hopelessly far behind "honey do list."

But mostly, my free time has been spent working on getting a final draft of Myles Traveled ready to go off and be read by some publishers.

My readers this winter all concurred in two areas. The good news; they liked the book draft I gave them, and liked it very much. The even better news; they all had candid and constructive feedback as to how to polish it up and make it better. I have been busy with a complete rewrite - hacking some places with a chainsaw, others with an ax, and a whole bunch with some light pruning shears or a fine scalpel. That is in addition to incorporating all the edits Coach Myles is giving me from his constant reading and correcting.

I am one chapter away from finishing another complete rewrite. The bones are fixed and Bill and I are down to the window dressing - cut a bit here, add some there, move this, remove that duplication, rearrange these sentences, and find just the right word in the Thesaurus for that phrase that still doesn't ring quite true.

This will be my fifth time completely through, from beginning to end and we now have it where I want it. Next step will be to compare my own proof reading with that an independent proof reader has been doing for us, and then to go completely through this final version with Coach Myles.

After that it will be bound, packaged, and sent off with fingers crossed to a couple of potential publishers who have assured me they will read it. You will be the first to know when that happens, at which time I will start moving Stories of the Shoe along again.

And of course, it will soon be time for the start of fall camp and back to some more regular Buckeye football commentary. Whew! Where is the summer going?

Go Bucks and thanks for your patience.