As it has been over two months since we last "spoke" on this forum and it is snowing today, I figured now is as good a time as any to make an obligatory post to this blog.
Ardent readers of this blog may recall that winter is, by far, my least favorite of the four seasons. I have to stay busy in a concerted effort to avoid the winter doldrums. Lately, that has been challenging.
Personally, 2023 was a great year for concerts. 2024 is going to have a hard time topping last year, but as of now, I have tickets for Extreme/Living Colour, Ashley McBryde, The Steel Woods, Hank Williams Jr./the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Christ Stapleton/Marcus King/Nikki Lane, and Styx/Foreigner/John Waite. Praying that Heart schedules a show in the DMV area or Knoxville, TN in 2024. Key West would work too.
While I have dropped the ball on submitting short stories to magazines the last couple of years, I have continued to write them. My plan for the rest of the day is review my drafts and pick one to polish and (hopefully) submit by the end of the month.
Although progress is moving at a glacier's pace, I continue to work on the 3rd Clay Sullivan book. Maybe setting a release date will light a fire under my ass. It worked with Dead Man's Breath. I'll give it another month.....
Thank you to everyone who has bought "Wrestling Trivia Night: Volume 1" so far. If you enjoyed it, please leave a positive review at Amazon and/or Goodreads.
What am I currently reading?
I'm still working on Michael Connelly's catalogue and just finished Desert Star. I have one more novel (Resurrection Walk) remaining, then I will have to move onto another series.
To see what I'm reading at any given time, follow me on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/tyler_cates
What am I currently watching?
We are in the midst of basketball season so University of Tennesse men's and women's basketball dominates the majority of my TV time.
I have found myself starting several TV series and abandoning them after a few episodes when the show's politics and 'box-checking" made them unbearable and unentertaining.
However, I recently watched Reacher (on Prime Video) and Lawmen: Bass Reeves (on Paramount+) and found both to be extremely entertaining. I absolutely loved David Oyelowo and Barry Pepper's performances in Bass Reeves.
I don't go to the movies as much as I used to, but I did see The Iron Claw, the biopic about the Von Erich family. I highly recommend seeing it when you can.
What am I currently listening to?
I'm really digging Zach Top lately. I saw him open for The Steel Woods last summer and he was fantastic. Check him out especially if you like traditional country music.
https://youtu.be/9fb8gz-02yA?si=x00b0hjvCBpUCfyr "Bad Luck" is a good song to start with, but I haven't heard anything from ZT that I haven't liked.
Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you soon.