J.A. Pitts

Proud of my daughter!

My daughter survived the private black belt test last night at our Tae Kwon Do school, Overlake True Martial Arts. This is for her provisional black belt. She has to have that a minimum of a year before she’s eligible to test for her first degree. She’s twelve. I’m so stoked for her. This is a significant effort for anyone to go through. Years of hard work and dedication, extra classes, outside work, stress, worry and joy. She’s really earned her shot at this and I could not be prouder.

My son has his first degree, and he’s nineteen. He started at a later age than my daughter did, so she’s ahead of the curve in our family. I’m proudly on my blue belt, though my two jobs are preventing me from attending class as regularly as I need to be. It’s a way of life, not something you can just toss off every now and again.

I’m looking forward to getting back into it in a couple weeks and begin the long slog back to ground zero, and then onward to advanced blue.

Meanwhile, tonight we celebrate the second, public, test. Will be fun to see those who survived last night’s private test, in with all the other ranked students who test.

Black belt tests only happen a couple times a year. Excitement is the order of the weekend.

OMG, so very cold

Went to my next camping class with Girl Scouts. Saturday from 10am to Sunday at noon. Learned a TON, and had a blast, but man, was it cold — at or below freezing. And if you’ve never slept on a bunk, in an open-air A-frame cabin, that was made for kids, you haven’t enjoyed the real life.

At about 4am, as I trudged across the field to the ranch house to use the bathroom (yes running water) I was reminded how Conan the Barbarian was always stripping to his birthday suit and scrubbing down with snow or something as crazed.

That’s rough living. Me, I was glad for my 5 layers, nice wool hat my wife had knitted for me, mittens and the super cool sleeping bag I had. Only got about 3 hours sleep Saturday night, but was worth it. Next time, I’ll be better prepared.

Up next, I’m taking Wilderness First Aid. Two night sleep out in March. Crazy living, but I’m having a grand time. Wish I’d done this when I was younger.

Publisher Weekly Reviews Black Blade Blues

With the launch date coming up fast, I’ve got my first ever Publishers Weekly review.

Great opening line. “Pitts brings Norse mythology into the modern world in this amusing debut.”

Here’s the link

I’m pleased. Money Shot, as my good buddy Jay Lake would call it, is: “…there’s enough entertainment and romantic tension to keep readers interested in the planned sequels.”

Not too shabby. Working on readings/signings and will post again as they become real. Stay tuned.

New boots, new blisters

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m training to become an outdoor specialist with the Girl Scouts. My next class is Outdoor 2, which consists of my first overnight camp out. It’s Feb 20th. I’m very excited about it. I went to REI and bought some new boots.

Couple problems so far. I have wide feet, so they are a bit tight. And, it takes about fifteen miles to break in a pair of boots. I thought I’d try and break them in before the camping trip. Sunday I went for a 2+ mile jaunt through the greenbelt. It was great. Very peaceful. Now, of course, my legs hurt, and I have a brand new blister — little toe, right foot — about the size of a dime.

So, bandaids for now, but I wore the boots to work. Not a ton of walking, but more than having them sitting under my desk at home.

I’ll take them to RADCON this weekend.

Sending ARCs across the globe

Sending ARCs out. Packaged six tonight. One to Australia and one to South Africa. The rest are more local in geography.

Feels good to start the process of getting them out there. April 27th is rushing along at a breakneck pace and I’m feeling like I won’t get enough done.

Of course, what I need to be doing is writing the next thing. I know this. I’ve had some pretty influencial people the likes of Jay Lake, Kris Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Cameron McClure (super agent)… and on and on… explain this concept to me. But part of my day job is project management, and it’s hard to let that go.

I’ll do some interviews (yeah!) and give some ARCs away at conventions. I’ll even send some more out to reviewers, but really. The book is going to do as well as the writing will allow. If folks like the story and the characters, I’ll do just fine. Deep breath time.