How to stay busy

RETIREMENT

WATCH RERUNS OF OLYMPICS ON TVPAIRS FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONS (900 A.D.)

Ragnar & Helga:Take home the gold.

Hormone & Steroid testing instituted.

Picture courtesy of Prof. Dennis Dittrich

TAKING GRANDKIDS TO ZOO

MORNING

TAKING GRANDKIDS TO ZOONOON

I’ve seen dead horses that looked livelier..

Unique Giraffe Anatomy

Ball and Socket joints

Cervical vertebrae ~ foot long

17 to 18 inch tongue

Front hooves nearly twiceAs large as rear hooves

I’m a docent at the zoo

Bone spur found—best example of oneSince I looked at a grizzly after a spat withHis mate.

DRIVING SON TO APPOINTMENTS

Son Tyler with a drain from his pericardium (heart)To the vial he’s holding.Chemo started 2 weeks

later. Healthy now, thoughstill on chemo.

Acute LymphoblasticLeukemia

SCRIBBLING I

www.garyfjones.comLaunch & Book Signing22 OctoberAt Lazlo’s

When Wisconsin veterinarian Doc dies, his family learns that to inherit his fortune, they must decipher the cryptic codicil he added to his will—

“Take Doofus squirrel-fishing”

—and they can only do that by talking to Doc’s friends, reading Doc’s memoir, searching through Doc’s correspondence, and discovering clues around them.

AVAILABLE 21 OCTOBER

1. Expanding old family stories—book too short: 3 years

2. Summer extension classes at UW-Madison: 2 years

3. Search for a plot—they insisted I have one: 1 year

4. Rewriting / Revising ~ 25 times: 2 years

5. UW Critique: cut 3 chapters, add 2: 0.3 years

WRITING~8 YEARS

1. Searching for an agent / publisher: 3 years

2. 1st Publisher goes bust; find a new one: 1 year

3. Editing, cover design, proof reading: 0.8 years

4. Competition: 2,800 New Titles in English daily

5. Marketing: Never ends

GETTING PUBLISHED

October 22, Interview WI Public Radio 11:00--11:45

Launch party, Omaha, NE

Book Signings & EventsSpring Green, WI, Arcadia Books, October 25,

Marshfield, WI, Book World, October 31,

La Crosse, WI, Barnes & Noble, October 30,

Wausau, WI, Janke Book Store, November 2,

Lincoln, Indigo Bridge, November 17,

Seward NE, Chapters Books & Gifts, November 21,

Omaha, NE, The Book Worm, November 22,

Madison, WI, Mystery To Me, Spring 2016:

EVENTS

SCRIBBLING II

Publication: May 2016

Veterinary virologist Jason can’t keep his mouth shut, can’t lie convincingly, and can’t follow orders. So why does the CIA hire him to find and destroy a deadly hybrid virus stolen from Jason’s lab at the University of Minnesota? From Washington to Djibouti, from Minneapolis to Yemen, Marines cringe, Senators turn livid, and Agents shudder as Jason struggles to keep the virus out of the hands of jihadists.

A JERK, A JIHAD, AND A VIRUS

Anthology of short stories and essays,

fiction and creative non-fiction2018

SCRIBBLING III ??