Random thoughts...

[Ben Staad]

Dan, You are still the man!

[Dan Hocker]

Oh I see how it is... lol Dan's not here... lol. Joking aside book output the last 2 years has been very slow largely due to covid and now how difficult it's become to manufacture books right now. The last 2 years have been really tough for our productivity. Gwendy's Final Task for instance has been at the printer close to 3 times longer than a book usually takes once it's been sent to the printer. They've had to change gears and order different paper for the book 4 or 5 times at this point. The last time the paper mill they were getting the paper from just up and closed it's doors out of no where and canceled all it's outstanding orders. Apparently right now all the paper money is in cardboard. It's been a nightmare.

[RonClinton]

I thought that as well. Over the years, I have made the assumption, that Brian was integral in helping sort out a number of well known issues.

Richard has said as much in interviews, that — to paraphrase — his company’s success has been due to hiring quality people and letting them do the heavy lifting. Even his kind note today congratulating Brian admits he’s “never been much of a businessman.” So when someone so apparently key to the operation leaves and book output has already been concerningly slow for some time, it’s worrisome. But with Brian sticking around part-time, perhaps those heightened concerns are unfounded. I certainly wish both Brian and Rich/CD much success moving forward.

[Ben Staad]

I thought that as well. Over the years, I have made the assumption, that Brian was integral in helping sort out a number of well known issues.

Good for him…I’m sure he’ll make Lividian even more of a success. I admittedly have concerns about what this means for CD, but I guess time will tell.

[RonClinton]

Big news out of the BJF camp. Brian is leaving CD full time to pursue his own interest. He'll be hanging around in a part-time capacity. I couldn't be more happy for him and looking forward to carrying on with the journey. Congrats, Brian!

Good for him…I’m sure he’ll make Lividian even more of a success. I admittedly have concerns about what this means for CD, but I guess time will tell.

[Ben Staad]

That is awesome news. Wish him the best. Fantastic author and business owner.

Big news out of the BJF camp. Brian is leaving CD full time to pursue his own interest. He'll be hanging around in a part-time capacity. I couldn't be more happy for him and looking forward to carrying on with the journey. Congrats, Brian!

[sholloman81]

Big news out of the BJF camp. Brian is leaving CD full time to pursue his own interest. He'll be hanging around in a part-time capacity. I couldn't be more happy for him and looking forward to carrying on with the journey. Congrats, Brian!

With the success of Lividian and his other side projects, this doesn't surprise me in the least. Congrats Brian!!!

[Brian861]

Big news out of the BJF camp. Brian is leaving CD full time to pursue his own interest. He'll be hanging around in a part-time capacity. I couldn't be more happy for him and looking forward to carrying on with the journey. Congrats, Brian!

[TacomaDiver]

Thank you both. I've never been through a fire situation like this before and it was frightening. So fast (that's what 100+ mph sustained winds will do!) and destructive.

[Sock Monkey]

Thank you for the kind words and thoughts.

The fires definitely impacted us, but we got VERY lucky.

I'm not sure if it was better or worse, but we were in Texas as the fires burned. We drove down to East Texas to surprise my wife's family at Christmas, and it was nerve wracking and INTENSE watching from a far as everything was happening. We left our two cats at home, which added to our stress. (Sorry SK collectors, my copy of Misery was unharmed so there wasn't one less copy out there to drive your price up.)

Work and our apartments got evacuated, and and the end of it all, the fires stopped a little less than half a mile from where I live. The neighborhoods across the street that I have walked countless times through lots dozens of homes. (Not as bad as other neighborhoods where the entire neighborhood burned down - 300+ homes in one neighborhood are gone.) This part of Colorado lost about 1,000 homes that afternoon and night.

Oh man. I’m glad everything turned out okay for you. Sorry to hear about the other losses though. We had a massive fire tear through our area back in 2020 and we had friends lose their homes. It’s devastating.

[Ben Staad]

I am glad to hear that you, your wife, cats, and books all escaped those awful fires. What a devastating event for the area.

Thank you for the kind words and thoughts.

The fires definitely impacted us, but we got VERY lucky.

I'm not sure if it was better or worse, but we were in Texas as the fires burned. We drove down to East Texas to surprise my wife's family at Christmas, and it was nerve wracking and INTENSE watching from a far as everything was happening. We left our two cats at home, which added to our stress. (Sorry SK collectors, my copy of Misery was unharmed so there wasn't one less copy out there to drive your price up.)

Work and our apartments got evacuated, and and the end of it all, the fires stopped a little less than half a mile from where I live. The neighborhoods across the street that I have walked countless times through lots dozens of homes. (Not as bad as other neighborhoods where the entire neighborhood burned down - 300+ homes in one neighborhood are gone.) This part of Colorado lost about 1,000 homes that afternoon and night.

[TacomaDiver]

I just saw an article regarding the fires in CO. I think TacomaDiver lives in that area. If you live in the area I hope you and the family are safe.

Yes, I believe he does. My business partners son and family lives there also. They evacuated at 7pm last night. No word yet after that.

Thank you for the kind words and thoughts.

The fires definitely impacted us, but we got VERY lucky.

I'm not sure if it was better or worse, but we were in Texas as the fires burned. We drove down to East Texas to surprise my wife's family at Christmas, and it was nerve wracking and INTENSE watching from a far as everything was happening. We left our two cats at home, which added to our stress. (Sorry SK collectors, my copy of Misery was unharmed so there wasn't one less copy out there to drive your price up.)

Work and our apartments got evacuated, and and the end of it all, the fires stopped a little less than half a mile from where I live. The neighborhoods across the street that I have walked countless times through lots dozens of homes. (Not as bad as other neighborhoods where the entire neighborhood burned down - 300+ homes in one neighborhood are gone.) This part of Colorado lost about 1,000 homes that afternoon and night.

[Brian861]

If anyone is dealing with health issues and trying to balance life, work, and a gazillion doctors appointments please know that you are not alone. It is so incredibly difficult sometimes. Just had a doctor cancel an hour before an appointment. I structured my whole work day to go to this appointment and ever started work an hour early. Wish I could send them a bill for my time which they wasted.

No doubt. They'd sure charge you if you didn't show up or cancel in time.

[Ben Staad]

If anyone is dealing with health issues and trying to balance life, work, and a gazillion doctors appointments please know that you are not alone. It is so incredibly difficult sometimes. Just had a doctor cancel an hour before an appointment. I structured my whole work day to go to this appointment and ever started work an hour early. Wish I could send them a bill for my time which they wasted.

[Sock Monkey]

I reviewed my book budget from last year vs. actual and I just about doubled my budget. That can't happen in 2022. I have a few books from LP that I will need to pay for but I think 2022 will be a low purchase year for me.

Over the next few weeks, as I review finances, I will create a new book budget for 2022 but I don't see it increasing much from last year. So as I stated above that will mean less purchases to counter the rising cost of books.

Kind of a bummer as I love collecting and supporting specific publishers, authors, and artists. But honestly inflation has outpaced my income.

Anyway. I'm just kind of rambling in the random thoughts section of this site.

You’re braver than I am. I’m afraid to look at my budget versus actual expenditure for 2021. I know that I blew my budget to smithereens.

Like you, I’m going to have to reassess my budget and book buying. Some life changes are quickly approaching that is going to make this necessary for me.