A week-and-a-half after retirement, my buddy sent a pic from the gym room at work, asking where I was. My first thought was, "Why are they in the office on a Saturday?" It was Thursday. That shows where my head is. š I haven't hit a home run in my job search, nor has anything knocked my socks off. I had an opportunity that appealed to me more than others, working at a startup called Tenstorrent. Though I didn't get the job, I realized through the process that I really like the idea of a...
3 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
I would like to lock down my blurb so that I can send it to the cover editor. I took input from April, then made more edits. Iām open to suggestions. Also pretty happy with it. The Mother of Trees withers while the trolls prepare to conquer a crumbling world. The elvesā only hope rests on a desperate plan forged by a fanatical Warder with questionable motives. Elliah, a magicless elf cursed by prophecy, holds the key to either salvation or destruction. Forced into an uneasy alliance with the...
10 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
I've got the email sequence and epub ready for ARC readers. Sign up here for your FREE ARC epub of Book 2 of Thaumatropic Roots, Bones of Cenaedth. (It puts you on the same email list you're already on... it just tags you as an ARC reader and sends you the emails specific to the release.) All books by Steven J. Morris May you get lost this week in another world. Follow me on Goodreads. Subscribe
14 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
This is my first day āretiredā after 27 years at Intel. Everyone tells me I should have a plan how to spend the first day. I donāt. I'm kinda thinking a beer for breakfast. Set the tone. Maybe ask my wife to bring it to me, so that she understands the tone too. I am sorry to say that Book 2 of Thaumatropic Roots will never be completed after my wife reads this newsletter and drops a toaster in my bath. Rude, right? What did you do, or what do you hope to do, the first day you retire? a few of...
17 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Itās really interesting how much your identity gets caught up with your work when youāve been at the same place for 27 years. How much time should I take to figure out who I am without Intel? Iām two weeks away from leaving my current job, and Iāve kicked the tires on looking for a new one. I wish it could be writing, but Iām not there yet. So Iāve dusted off my resume, and even done a few phone screenings. So far, nothing has been a good fit. But I wonder how much of that is because Iām...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
My big non-writing news: I clicked on the "I'll go ahead and take the Early Retirement, thanks!" button at work. That means I have one more month at Intel, and then I'm off to do something different. For new folks, I have three teenage daughters, so I'm not in a place to stop working. I want to be able to help pay for college, post bail, hide the bodies of presumptuous boyfriends (I assume that takes money to do well). Intel lets you put a nickname in their system. As a big Calvin & Hobbes...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
As Iāve mentioned, I paid for three months of Ad School. This email focuses on what Iāve learned from Ad School regarding FB Ads. But first, let me summarize where I am in my journey with the Ad school: I have revamped my 7 kdp keywords, done small blurb revisions, increased the price on my books, but learned that my covers are off. Iām redoing the cover of Mother of Trees first (the new cover was in my previous newsletter), and then working on Bones of Cenaedth, but after that I will tackle...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Turbulence ahead! The last couple of weeks knocked me around. Intel, where I work, announced 15,000 job cuts, which is 15% of the workforce. My projects are quite safe, for reasons I'm sure it would be improper for me to share, BUT for the first time, I'm old enough that I've been offered a retirement package. I've worked there 27 years! That's kinda crazy to think about. Longer than I've been married. Twice as long as my youngest kid has been alive. I don't have enough money to retire--I...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Writers' Corner I mentioned in my newsletter that I participated in the free Amazon Ad School window. I decided from the bits I learned to sign up for 3 months of Ad School. I have to admit, I kind of regret it. While I'd made some headway into the training during the free window, within a few days of paying for it, I hit a lesson that made me realize the timing wasn't right for me to sign up for three months of Ad School. I cannot pin down now which lesson it was, but the key learning was...
3 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 7 min read
My wife and I had a nice little long-weekend trip in the middle of what is otherwise a very hectic and stressful juncture of our lives. I spent one amazing day fishing with my buddy, Bobby off of Anna Marie Island, FL. Me with a snook (she went back to the ocean) and a goofy look on my face (I kept that) Bobby with a permit (that one was a fight and a miracle... wrong line, wrong hook, wrong bait) Sunset on the water Other than quick, and much needed, breaks, weāve been tackling family...
3 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read