Personal Things and Personal Experiences

So, I haven't posted about my downsizing journey in some time, so I thought this would be a good time to revisit the topic.

The above picture shows just about all the personal stuff I own. In this box are the con badges and program books I've chosen to keep; the maps, brochures, business cards, and other bits I'm hanging onto; a few issues of magazines in which my fiction or nonfiction appeared in; and other personal odds and ends. This doesn't include the print books I still have or what's on my desk.

One box. Why so little?

It's easy to accumulate things, even when you live a life that's not all that active. You don't have to go to that many events to accumulate quite a number of badges, program books, business cards, and so on. Live long enough and the "stuff" will add up. It's why we now have a whole industry devoted to renting spaces to store what we accumulate when we can no longer store all of it in our own homes.

In recent years I've realized that I was keeping things that meant little to me. Why keep every piece of correspondence? Every badge and program book from every con I've been to? I have digital photos and memories, so do I also need to keep the physical stuff, too?

My personal answer is "no." Things seem to matter less and less to me. I'm trying to get to a place where experiences matter instead of things. It's ongoing work for me, at least the "having experiences" part. But I'm finding that I'd rather have experiences, however few they are, than having lots of things.

I'm going to try to write more about my downsizing journey in the future. I hope those posts will help you, or at least get you thinking about your own life and where you're going.

The Andrew Manson Steampunk Mysteries

This is the last series consolidation of the year, but it also includes some newly-published material. It's The Andrew Manson Steampunk Mysteries, and here's what it's about:

Andrew Manson is an inventor with a passion for mechanics and a knack for getting embroiled in mysteries.

From Florida to New York City, to Washington, and back again, Andrew finds himself dealing with shady characters in an America where airships won the Civil War.

Will Andrew be able to get his combustion engine working? Will he ever escape trouble? And what about the fashionable young woman in the Airship Dress?

This volume contains all five Andrew Manson mystery stories, including the previously published short novels WILLOW HILL and EIGHTY HOUSE.

This is in both print and ebook editions. Willow Hill and Eighty House are no longer in print, as they're in this collection. Check this page for store links.

Writing Stats for June 2017

Here is the latest update about how much I'm writing this year.

I plotted out some stories and, on June 12, I got back to writing. Over the rest of the month I wrote 115 pages. That's only a dozen pages shy of what I could have done if I'd met all my session goals during that time. The main reason why I didn't was that I also had to proof another book so it would be ready to be released. Stay tuned for that news next week.

Aside from the story I'm writing, I have three more plotted out. Two are in the universe of this current story. The other will return me to the "Jake Bonner 'verse," though not with Jake himself. As it happens, plotting out that story might allow me to salvage another work I'd written and set aside.

If all goes well, I should have some good writing months ahead of me. Here's hoping!