I wake up to the sound of gulls jabbering. A thick, muffling fog rolled in overnight. The construction on the building in front of me hasn’t started yet. It’s much better to wake up to the sound of gulls than jackhammers. Motivating, even. It is cold again, but still warmer than a month ago. This…
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This is one of a series of posts that will be chapters in my forthcoming book, Don’t Sell Your Book. CLICK HERE to find related blog posts. In addition to the Three Day Method, there are other strategies for writing your first draft quickly and/or painlessly. In fact, there are probably as many ways to…
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I like being five hours ahead of the US east coast. I can do a day’s worth of work—or play—and still take care of business. For the most part, I don’t…but I could. I am still working out the timing on some meetings. 8:00 pm EST is 1:00 am here. Any evening meetings are not…
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The question of how much it costs to self-publish a book comes up at least three times a week in the various online writing groups that I participate in. There are so many people who want to write a book and have it published that they are easy pickings for vanity presses and scam artists.…
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How do you get a Portuguese visa? Normally, US residents who are visiting for under 90 days don’t need a visa in Portugal or most other EU countries. However, these are not normal times and the pandemic has countries closing their borders. I plan to reside in Portugal long-term which puts me in a different…
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It may be a bit telling that one of my favorite movies is a weird cult film from the ’80s: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Peter Weller with hair. Yum. Actually, it seems like everyone was in that movie: Christopher Lloyd, John Lithgow, Rosalind Cash, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum (and the…
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Albufeira: Portuguese for everything is uphill. Yesterday, I made a new rule for myself: Don’t walk downhill until I know for certain I won’t have to walk farther uphill. Some neuron in my brain fired the other night and I remembered that I was supposed to register my presence with the local authorities. I went…
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And… we’re in the air. Chicago to Heathrow is about a 4,000 mile flight. We’ve got a tailwind that varies between 40 and 60 MPH and an airspeed of 560 mph. The outside temp is -65.2 degrees which is cold enough to keep the Pfizer vaccine stable. A bit too chilly for this Florida girl.…
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The Adventure Begins… I swear to you, I have an almost completed post on the visa process, but I need to slip this post in as an update. Yesterday, January 4th, was my departure date from the US. Today, January 5th, at approximately 4:00 pm Portugal time, I should have landed and by 6:00 pm,…
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This is a week of uncertainty. Another strain of Covid has been found and countries are shutting border again. Brexit is not helping—with the UK pulling out of the European Union, I don’t know if EU countries are allowing flights from England to land. My flight goes through Heathrow. A person on one of my…
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