Kirby was the subject of a newspaper article today. Surprisingly his
books weren't the main focus - it was his hair. Kirby is growing out
his locks to donate for wigs for sick children. Good job Kirby.
There was mention of a new book he is writing that will be very exciting.
Kirby fill us in.
I feel really bad about not doing anything new with the website for so long. I can see most people don't come in here very much, and I can also see not too much gets posted anymore. It is not as lively as it was back when Gina and Dave were coming in regularly, Gina to light my fires and Dave to be the calming hand. haha We still have a good core group who comes here, though, and I hope to be able to liven things up on the website as a whole in the near future.
However... Then there is now. Right now, for those who haven't heard, I'm in the middle of studying to become a captain in the fire department, and I am the first to admit this has never been a passion or goal of mine. That is why it's become such a time-consuming aim lately: I'm playing catch-up on a lot of things I should have known many moons ago, so to speak. So the books have suffered, the art, music, poetry, and even the 1/6 scale figures and horses have suffered. But it is a raise of 16,000 dollars if I get promoted from 1st class firefighter to captain, and that's a sum I can hardly afford to turn up my nose at in today's financial environment. Win or lose in my bid for captain I promise that after the testing process in the first part of May I will once again pick up with my books, etc., but as a forewarning I will still continue to take on new responsibilities if I've made it far enough up the list to hope for the promotion, so I won't be concentrating on the books and things with quite as much zeal as I used to. I don't want to take a job with the responsibility of captain without being properly prepared. There is too much at stake, far more than just a big raise. I will have people relying on me to keep them safe in bad situations and to keep them happy on a day to day basis, or at least satisfied in their work. I will have to act as a go-between with them and our staff, and at times that seems like a fulltime job.
This is turning out to be a longer letter than I planned, but I just wanted you all to know that I've not forgotten my roots. I'm just having to redirect for a little bit. I do indeed have The Secret of Two Hawks finished. I need to paint the cover and get it typeset, however, and my typesetter seems to have gone even FARTHER down under than normal (he's in Australia). I haven't heard from him in a long time and can't get a reply from him on any letters I've sent him. So as unfortunate as it is I'm back in the market for a typesetter, and it is not as easy a task as one might think when there is a huge promotion at stake and LOTS of study time.
There it is in a nutshell. I planned on having The Secret of Two Hawks out months ago, but when my typesetter disappeared things took a downturn, and then, seeing the writing on the wall for our financial world, I got the idea in my head of going for the captain's spot and the rest is history. I always swore I'd leave this department as a firefighter, and this whole testing process makes me wonder if I shouldn't have stuck to my guns, but down the road a few years, when I'm comfortable in the job and have a much brighter retirement future to look forward to, I think I'll be glad I went for it. In the meantime, wish me luck, and I'll try to visit more often. If any of you think of it and have a question for me here, please drop me an email if you don't hear from me very soon. Sometimes I just need a little reminder.
Kirby, Good to hear from you. Good luck with Captain's exam. I feel
you will do well and if you make it will do an excellent job. You always
struck me as the kind of guy who would go the distance once you have committed.
Just remember your fans will always be waiting for you and eager for the
next book when every it comes.
Wow, Garry! I was excited to see you in here. It's been a while since I saw your name. I wish we could get some more conversations rolling on the board. Gina was always good at that, even if they were often controversial and she often ended up feeling bad, as if she were under attack. But I often wondered how she thought she could try to defend someone like Madonna to a group like this without a lot of jeering and booing! Personally, I know at least one of Madonna's songs I liked. But she is certainly no role model I would want my daughter to follow.