Back from Thailand!

Hello Folks!

    Happy 2015! Hope all of you have had a great holiday season. As many of you probably know, I spent my holidays in Thailand this year. Thailand is a beautiful country, and I highly recommend it as a vacation destination. We spent much of the time an hour north of Kanchanaburi, where we were able to see the Bridge of the River Kwai (made famous by the movie of the same name), explore museums, learn much about the Death Railroad from WW2, including a hike through the Hellfire Pass, explore many Buddhist Wats (temples) and see the famous Tiger Temple. The history of the area is rich, and I have a short story already started from what I learned (a few more ideas floating about too).

In the Safety of Sunflowers

  The end of the trip finished up south of Bangkok in a much more tourist oriented town known as Pattaya. The town has a beautiful beach area, and destinations that range from the very adult centric (the town did start growing when it became the R&R destination for Vietnam soldiers) to the extremely family friendly. There are some amazing gardens in the area, and more rich history to explore. Definitely worth checking out if you get the opportunity.

Chilling with Thomas's Alter Ego

Sending Wishes up with a floating lantern

 Now I'm back in the real world, fighting off jet lag and getting ready to return to the grind. This should be a fairly busy year. I've got a short story centered on depression that I've gotten good feedback on. I'm going to do one more edit on it then start shopping it around. If I can get it published through a magazine that'd be great for boosting the visibility of my other stories, but if I don't like the terms offered then you can expect to see it published along side Safety of Sunflowers. I'm really liking what I've got laid out for the other short story inspired by my trip, so I'll probably run it by some magazines first as well.

Riding Elephants

Getting Grabbed by Other Elephants

Then of course, I'll put my nose back to the grind stone on Book 3. I plan for it to finish out the current storyline from Waking Up Dead and The Glacier of Gods and Monsters, but there is a lot that needs to happen to properly wrap things up. I won't hesitate to put it into two books if it really needs to be.

A Scenic Hike

Alright, back to unpacking. Enjoy your January and for those in Winter, try to stay warm! Coming from the tropics back to Texas in January means that's my most difficult goal :)

-Zabe