[Living Sensical] Having a cold one is one thing - but this?

Coldest weather in half a century. But we made it through...

Hi,

All about the cold this week. And keeping the cows happy (more or less) while the course has to be posted…

Subjects this week:

• Farm News

• Writing News

Farm News

After the snows hit (several of them), it got really cold. Broke a record since the '70's.

At least our water stayed on. But extra layers I had to get on…

Yup, them cows are in the back - somewhere.

But with all that, there was still some great winter scenes:

Funny thing is that cold weather breaks things. My own truck and the farm truck refused to start. And I was running my wife’s car to get down to the cows daily. (They wouldn’t let me walk that far in sub-zero weather.) And getting my 6-3 frame squeezed into that sports model was something. Chevy Impala - not the 50’s version I had as a first car in high school.

The new waterers have their problems. Just need some adjusting, though. Cows have plenty of hay, and are finding snow can be a decent drink. While the culverts have kept collecting run-off. That snow acts as insulation, and melts from the bottom up.

And they also are getting that apple cider vinegar every day - just add a pound of salt to that 4 gallons and at worst it only gets to a slush, no matter how cold.

Tiny Home Tales

Wife was 80 miles away, babysitting great-grandkids. I was over-nighting at the main house, catching up on writing. My daily routine includes checking the cows daily, and always stopping by the cottage to check on it. That morning of her return it was 12 below outside there, 44F inside. The oil-filled heater wasn’t making the grade. It came up a little bit once we shut the black-out curtains, but the next thing was a trip to town.

Yes, all the regular heaters were already sold out. But we got a new electric blanket and some cutsie little thing that through we’d have to return. But - the next morning, we were up to 68F. Not above 0 yet outside. All we needed was that little extra.

Once it started getting above 0 at night, then we didn’t need that extra. Last night it was 74 inside. Her cooking had helped hot things up (along with the extra spice she likes.) So I had to open the door for a few seconds to cool things down.

The other things that started up were my two trucks. One’s going to get a new battery, and the other is getting a tune up. For real.

Writing News

Getting the course out. And I found out that all my plans were going way over the top. What I was going to send out to just a few wound up broadcast to everyone.

Of course, you all have been patient - and don’t seem to mind.

So, I guess we’re going back to my usual full tilt. Like I am around here. Probably 7 posts a week will continue after this course is over. My job continues to share all I learned about writing and publishing. People I’ve been reading about think that writing is all anguish and writing blocks and so on. Of course, my long background in personal development took me past that before I started that fiction writing experiment.

Now that I’ve found Campbell’s books, it’s a whole new scene.

So, I hope you stick around for the ride. It’s going to be the best ever. Sharing this all with you is just icing on the cake.

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The homework on Substack continues as I can find time for it. It’s a whole different world here than on the last six months of Twitter-X/LinkedIn. People are helpful and considerate here. They have to write long-form really well to get where they want to go.

Twitter/X, all social media, as I’ve covered several times, is simply another scam. There, it’s all trying to beat the system, which is rigged. Again, when everything is free, you’re the product.

On Substack, it’s about improving your craft - both in writing and running a writing business. A perfect world for me. (Other than I get to farm every day - but that’s just fuel for writing…) Here, your writing is the product - real world.

Next: still two books in the hopper. I got these a little further this last week. Both will be 50K/200 words at least.

And outlined my copywriting research this week, as it’s continuing to push at me. My discipline is to finish up what I’ve started first.

But I do know that copywriting is the third skill of writing, even ahead of fiction and non-fiction. And it’s only mastering all three that enable you to really succeed as an author. That’s a fact I can prove.

Just stand by. I’ve got some four more courses and as many full paperback texts to get out to you. All about how to really succeed as a writer and make a living at it. Should be a wild ride.

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Thanks again for opening this. And reading these books.

And leaving a rating on the Living Sensical site for the stuff you buy there.

As well as leaving recommendations on Bookbub in addition to reviews anywhere else.

You know, that "paying it forward" kinda thing.

Do keep sharing these books with your friends, too.

I hope your life is not too interesting to be overwhelming, but sufficiently engaging to keep you amused. (Like some of us here...)

Robert

PS. Again, you can always email me about anything.

PPS. Do upgrade to the paid newsletter version. That helps me keep the lights on - so I can keep this coming to you.