Scott William Carter

"All Kinds of Family." Comics published twice a week at www.runofthehouse.net.

"Mental Space" Comics published twice a week at www.runofthehouse.net.

"Five Minutes Ago."

More comics at www.runofthehouse.net.

"Today's the Day!"

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"Another Dimension."

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My book, THE DRAGON LOTTERY, is FREE for a limited time.

Win the lottery? Congrats! You get to fight the dragon—to the death!

More info and links to all retailers here:
www.scottwilliamcarter.com/the-dragon-l...

"Recursive Dreams."

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A few pictures from a hike last week with Rosie up in the Dunn Forest area, near Corvallis, Oregon. Eight miles on old logging roads, 1200 foot elevation gain, views of the Willamette Valley. Didn't see a single person the whole time.

"Counting Stars." Never miss a comic! Subscribe at: www.runofthehouse.net.

Likewise! I'm constantly striving to be an Internet minimalist, to use it with intention rather than be just another slave to an ad-driven algorithm.

"Plenty of Time." Never miss a comic! Subscribe at: www.runofthehouse.net.

Our good deed for the day: Found a crow with a broken wing in our back yard. Managed to gently scoop him up and put him in a dog kennel, then drive him 40 minutes to the nearest wildlife rescue facility. He seemed fine other than the wing, so we're both pulling for him.

I agree! It's become a recent favorite.

"Outrageous Demands." Never miss a comic! Subscribe at: www.runofthehouse.net.

"PNN." Never miss a comic! Subscribe at: www.runofthehouse.net.

Does steak taste better with a view of the Oregon coast? Why yes, yes it does . . .

"Life Goals."

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Rosie in her happy place. Leash free. Tall grass. Nose down.

You had me at Honolulu.

It's not perfect (no method is), but I've used this one a lot when "basket case brain," as I call it, takes hold. These days, it doesn't seem to take much either (one glimpse at the news seems to do it.) BTW, this series of posts is around 250 words. Or the equivalent of one manuscript page. :)

But if you can really embrace this mindset, focusing on just writing your 5 minutes and 50 words every day (stopping or continuing, depending on how you feel), you might be amazed at how the words add up.

Most people fail at this trick not because it's too hard but because it's too easy. (Me included.) The ego rushes in and screams "50 words is NOTHING! You must write 1000 or 2000 or 5000 words or you'll never get anywhere!" And then your fight or flight response is triggered and you seize up.

That first post was 57 words, by the way. The key, I found, is to be really okay stopping. That's actually the hard part. I've found that 95% of the time I want to keep going. Almost all of the resistance my lovely amygdala conjures up for me is in that first five minutes and fifty words.

If you're having a hard time writing, here's a little trick that often works for me: Just set a timer for five minutes and tell yourself you just have to write 50 words. That's it. You can keep going if you want, and time allows, but you give yourself permission to quit if you have 50 words.

I'm not getting any affiliate money for that link, btw. Just thought I'd give a shoutout when credit is due.

I've become an IDrive.com convert. I finally decided to spring for a more automated online backup rather than just rely on my hodgepodge onsite method plus some manual Google Drive work, and I have to say $10/year for 500 gigs, plus the automated tools, email reports, etc, has me impressed.

Great stuff from the War and Peas duo!

"TARIFFS." Comics published twice a week at www.runofthehouse.net.

Of course I enjoyed "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "Duel," and other classics, but there were other gems. Some were quite touching: "The Conqueror," a Western about a Billy the Kid wannabe. And "Mute," a long story about a young telepath, ends the collection on a powerful and poignant note. (3/3)

Fun, pulpy, and dark, I enjoyed these thirty tales immensely. For kids growing up, Matheson was Goosebumps before Goosebumps. It's no surprise that a lot of writers (including Stephen King) point to Matheson as a formative influence. (2/3)