It’s on to century #2 with Blog Post 101. Thank you to everyone who emailed or commented their support and congratulations on reaching 100 blog posts. It’s an accomplishment that I’m proud of and didn’t really expect.

Novel In Progress

Jonah Chooses Amazing continues to steam forward. I’m hopeful for an end of September release. JCA Bookmarks have been completed and I’m just now starting to give them out to friends and family. If you would like a bookmark, please email me at roygmundheim@gmail.com with your writing address and I’ll send you one.

I’ve been sharing information and excerpts from my novel here over the last year. The goal has been to reveal enough without giving away too much. It’s been a delicate balance. I do provide a warning and disclaimer for Jonah Chooses Amazing that reads as follows:

Advisory: This novel contains coarse language, descriptions of violence, and sexual content.

Names, characters, places, events, and incidents in this book are fictitious and should not be interpreted as real or factual. Any similarities to real events or people are strictly coincidental.

References to real people, cultural icons, and historical characters are made in fictitious conversations or in fictional citing of fictional written work.

I also considered adding the following disclaimer but chose not to:

This novel breaks rules! If you are looking for elaborate descriptions of mountains, rivers, and rolling fields this is not the novel for you. Imagination is required. There’s no hand holding. You will need to follow the breadcrumbs and put the pieces together. There’s irony, sarcasm, and subtle humor that relies on the readers intelligence and open-mindedness. It is not laid out as you would expect. Paragraphs aren’t even indented correctly (on purpose) and the journey from internal thought to actual actions is fraught with danger and mystery. Proceed with Amazement.

Choose to Start

A lot of people say they want to write a book but that they don’t know where to start. My advice is to start writing with the intention of writing a book. Write one word, then another, then another. You start where you are with whatever knowledge you have.

In the story, Jonah becomes very focused on ‘actions’ and it’s a very good place to start. He realizes that thinking about doing things won’t get things done. It’s the same with writing a book. It’s not possible to ‘think it’ into existence… unless you’re a Jedi.

Words of Wisdom

1. Know that actions are important.

I recently read, “Replace ‘sorry’ with ‘thank you.’ Instead of saying ‘Sorry I’m late’, try ‘Thank you for waiting for me’. #changeyourmindset”

Or…orrr, orrr, instead, don’t be late. #changeyourbehaviour

2. Don’t be afraid to do things badly… especially when starting. Learning a language, writing a book, starting a blog, or whatever it is; Expect to suck.

Thanks for reading this month’s blog. I’m doing my best to get this great content out there despite spending most of my writing time and energy to prepare Jonah Chooses Amazing for release . It’s been a challenge but it’s getting there. Stay tuned for more amazing content and updates on my upcoming novel. It’s now time for the ending jokes. Enjoy.

“I passed the nursing exam and received my license. I’m now a Registered Nurse!”

“That’s great. I just bought Batman Volume 101 and joined the Batfan Club and mailing list. I’m now a Registered Nerd!”

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Retirement Planning

“I don’t see how you can retire. Your numbers don’t add up. I mean, you’re not even 50 years old.”

“But I’m learning Spanish.”

”Oh! Ok then.”

“Plus my self-published novel is coming out this year.”