Plans for the future

Not that I'm not wishing and hoping you'll buy a copy of "Chronicles," but ...

I have two plans for books in the coming year.

One is the aforementioned book on cat naming. I have not had good response from posts on cat message boards, etc., but I have saved what I got, and hope to get more.

The second - and this is my first public notice of it - is a book about the history of NFL stadiums. With so many new stadiums built, it's a good time to start looking back at the old ones. I plan to start a  Kickstarter.com account to get donations to purchase some photographic rights, cover postage to contact sources of material, and cover preliminary publishing costs (including sending some copies out to NFL figures for comments for the book cover).

Ideas are also welcome.

Finally, for the first time anywhere, my proposed title, borrowed from the Glen Campbell song "Galveston:"

"The Fields Where We Used To Run."

12 days of coupons

The good folks at Lulu.com are offering 12 days of coupons on orders. Check it and see if there's one that matches your book-buying needs! (And yes, you NEED my book...I'll be happy to hypnotize you if it will help!)

A request for readers

I'll be doing my own search, but if you know of any shots of pre-1970 NFL stadiums on Flickr or any other such site, please let me know. It's for a possible project that I plan to start after the playoffs. Thank you.

Yes, I'm at yet another place

I keep learning about possible exposure, and have a new place at authorsden.com.

It's  at this page - authorsden.com/raybarrington

A Black Friday item from the book

Promised you a sample from the book, and here it is, appropriate for Black Friday.

Suffering from Shopper Syndrome

January 17, 2003

Welcome to the last column of November, and you all know what that means: Christmas shopping.

I have been in a near-fatal car accident; I have had five root canals; I even got married. In my wife's home state. With only my sister and her family on my side of the aisle against all her family and friends if trouble broke out (it didn't).

But there is one event each year that traumatizes me more than all of the above, and that is shopping between Thanksgiving and Dec. 25. I do admit to the occasional road rage, to the venting of frustration now and then.

But put me in a store in December, and I become a maniac.

It starts slowly, my anger building as I circle the parking lot like a runner in a 10-kilometer race, seeing the same scenery dozens of times, before finally finding a spot at the farthest possible point from any door.

That gets me in a wonderful mood.

So after hiking across the asphalt - it's December, remember, so the odds of snow and cold are at least 90 percent - I enter the next circle of hell.

It is not claustrophobic in a mall in December. That's reserved for submarines and small airplanes, and the occasional mine shaft. It is vicious.

Children, on a sugar buzz and excited to see Santa, dart about at knee level between people carring more packages than a herd of bellboys.

Adults, most in no better of a mood than I, grumble as they watch their charges and charge watches.

And that's in the main traffic area. Enter a store, with narrow aisles, and it gets worse.

Want to avoid that by going to a big-box retailer? It's no different.

I have found myself wanting to slam my shopping cart into someone idly standing in an aisle, blocking all traffic, but then I stop myself and remember the poor person is probably in shock, with that thousand-yard stare one sees on a battle fatigue victim.

I try to keep my energy going by humming a little ditty to myself, sung to the tune of the fast part of the Olympics theme:

"I hate this, I hate this, I really, really hate this..."

Eventually, and often to my surprise, it ends. Presents are bought, and now all I have to do is wrap, tape, tear, cut, curse, stack and deliver.

And, I hope, see the smiles when the presents are opened.

Darn it, they'd BETTER smile.

A Thanksgiving (non-sales) note

First off, I want to thank those of you on my social media who have put up with me flogging my book the past few months. I'm very excited to have done it and appreciate you putting up with that. This is the first time I have tried something like this and I am very pleased with the way it turned out, and I'd like to share it with as many people as possible.

Tomorrow, I plan to have a special Black Friday post with an excerpt from the book. I hope you enjoy it. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

Holiday Special - 25 percent off through Dec. 14.

Thanks to Lulu.com, my book will be on sale through December 14 for 25 percent off. Note: This is only good at lulu.com and not at Amazon or any of the other places. If you've been on the fence, now is a great time to check it out (or if you liked it, give some to friends).

To get the discount, use the coupon code BUYMYBOOK305 when you order. Note there is a maximum $50 discount on your order!