Sports, Sports, Sports, Sports (And Some Writing Stuff)!

Holy moly, what a sports weekend we just had! NBA Championship on Saturday, and then a Stanley Cup presentation on Sunday. I didn't really have any skin in the game, but my preferred teams ended up winning, which is nice.

I haven't been watching basketball outside of the Raptors run back in 2019, and before that, it was back when I was a kid with three channels on rabbit ears, 'cause there wasn't anything else to watch, heh.

But on Wednesday, there was no hockey, so I threw on game 4 for background noise as I did my evening internet stuff. Knicks were down by 26 when I tuned in, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention. But my eyes kept going back to the TV as they continued closing the gap, and soon I was all-in on the game. They won 107-106, completing the best comeback win in NBA Finals history.

And on Sunday, after trailing pretty well the entire game, they once again came back and got the points they needed right at the end to secure their first championship in 53 years, with MVP Jalen Brunson scoring 45 points. Not too shabby !

And on to the hockey. As I'd feared, Carolina absolutely dominated the Canadiens and cruised to an easy 4-1 series win. Still, pretty impressive for the youngest team in the league to make it to the Conference Final. They have a bright future ahead.

The dastardly Vegas team swept Colorado in the West, mostly due to injuries to their star players, and the Stanley Cup Final matchup was set. I thought it might be the most boring series in recent memory, but it was extremely entertaining.

Game 6, where they clinched the championship, was the least entertaining game, but it was just a Carolina clinic of shutdown hockey after they established a lead. It sure helped that Brandon Bussi played the game of his life, securing the shutout win. What a great story - this dude (who will be turning 28 in a couple weeks) made his NHL debut this season and had one of the best rookie starts you can get. He's too old to be considered for Rookie of the Year, though.

​Happy for the Hurricanes. Well-deserved win !

Well, that was a lot of sports, but like I said, it was quite the sports weekend !

I've been up to a few things writing-wise of late. I'm up to 2800 words for the Fellowship anthology, which is roughly at the halfway mark, I think. It's probably going to be the longest short story I've written. The theme for the anthology is "sentient weapons," and I'm having a fun time with it. My story is about an enchanted arrow that strikes a fleeing infantryman in the leg, which sets the stage for a fun buddy comedy adventure. I've got a few weeks to finish it up, and I'll be working on it again this weekend.

I also wrote a new flash piece, and I've been putting out some more magazine submissions. Consequently, I've received more rejections, bringing my yearly total to 51. I should be good to hit my goal of 100 rejections by the end of the year, though I wouldn't mind another acceptance or two before then.

Chester and the Sex Robot vs the Woke Mind Virus sold fairly well in May, so I leveraged some new Amazon ad campaigns for June, and I've already hit May's numbers just halfway through the month. It's my first summer after putting a book out on offer, so maybe this is normal? Summer reading boost, perhaps? Hope June closes out strong and the momentum carries into July and beyond !

To finish up the Me Stuff, I started my third week of work today. It's been a little tricky adjusting to a day shift after working 11-7 for so many years, but I'm gradually getting more used to it. I still need to have a nap most days after I finish, but usually it's not longer than an hour and a bit. I'm feeling pretty confident and I think I'll do well here. I'll get my first paycheck later this week!

Anyway, that's about it for now. Thanks for checking in and hope to see you again for the next update !