Look Ma! I wrote a BOOK!

Today, I am proud to announce that Pill Hill Press has accepted my very first novel, "The Ways of Khrem," for publication.

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Words cannot express how thrilled I am about this opportunity, and I hereby announce that my diet is temporarily suspended while I celebrate myself silly. This includes the prohibition against gluten, and I intend to enjoy my first pizza in over a year. Perhaps a hamburger is in my near future as well!

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After glutenizing myself stupid for a day or two, I will crawl back on the wagon and get on with the process of editing the novel, and also continuing the work on Argiope.

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WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And The Words Flow On

I am approaching the three thousand word mark for today, and the words still keep coming. I love it when this happens. If I could write constantly at this rate I could have this novel finished by the end of next month.

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Of course that's not going to happen. But it sure would be nice.

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Still, it always seems that it's when I'm really cranking out the text that life decides to step up and throw a wrench in things. Karla has to work tomorrow so I can't stay up too late, even though I'm still getting a lot done. And I'm going to have the kids all morning tomorrow, then have to take them to a party in the afternoon, so Saturday isn't going to see much in the way of production. Sunday, I'm hoping to take Sheridan to Old Town Spring for one of our Father/Son outings because winter hasn't let us do that in a while.

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Anyways, I guess I better get back to writing while the muse is upon me.

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Update: It's 3:OO AM and I have a little over four thousand words added to the manuscript. I hate to do it, but I need to call it a night. The kids are naturally going to get up early since it's a weekend.

Late Start

I slept in today, so I got a late start on my writing.
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On the good side, I ripped out four hundred words in no time since I had a good idea where the next scene was going. I like to get at least a thousand words a day in when writing a novel. I don't always get that, far from it, but this is a good start.
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I'm going to have to pick up the kids soon. So writing will probably slow to a crawl until they go to bed. Tomorrow is a birthday party, so I don't expect to get much done tomorrow either. Weekends are not terribly productive for me, what with the kids being home and family things to do.
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At least now that the computers are working, I can park the kids in front of their favorite programs. There are some fun educational programs out there these days, and they keep the kids busy while hopefully teaching them a little something.
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Oh well, back to work.

Moving Right Along

So, through the dark arts of whining and bitching, I managed to rouse my muse and get some writing done. I've hammered out about fifteen hundred words so far, and the scene is coming together nicely. I will have to go back and see if I need to make any changes to earlier parts of the story to accomodate this, but I don't think it's necessary.

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The new scene adds a little depth to a supporting charactor. I just need to make sure it doesn't compromise her for the purposes of later in the story.

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Oh well, I am at twenty three thousand, five hundred words now. Somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way through the targeted length of the novel. Here's hoping the muse stays on top of her job. I still have March, April, and May to finish the first draft of this book by summer. Then I can move on to my next project.

Update: Bitching Helps

So there I was, whining about having to come up with filler material when I would prefer to be putting in "blah blah blah", and suddenly it unfolded right before my disbelieving mind. Not just good filler material, but material that actually contributes to the story and solves a problem I was wrestling with.
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I love it when that happens.
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Maybe a little bitching now and then is a good thing? I guess my muse got sick of listening to it.
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Update: The kids are home from school and making writing nearly impossible. I wonder if bitching and whining will cause a Babysitting Fairy to descend from the heavens and let me work in peace?

Scene Problem

I need a filler scene.
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The next scene I'm ready to start writing does not belong up against the scene I just finished. There needs to be something in between them.
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The problem is that I'm against "filler" material, just on instinct. They tend to either bog down your story, create a situation you need to deal with, create needless exposition, require a POV jump that I didn't want to do, or just stand there and scream "FILLER SCENE!"
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Yet in this case I need one.
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Sigh

Back on the Wagon Again

I am back on my diet, and Karla has the potato chips under guard over on the counter by her.

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Sigh.

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My blood sugar feels like it is hovering somewhere around the level of my ankles, even though I know it should be fine. I did eat a modest amount of carbs today, so I'm not doing without. I just need to convince my body of that. I will reacclimate to the diet here in a day or so.

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I'm getting ready to gear up and get back to work on Argiope. I'm having to struggle my way through this particular work like I never have before, but the effort seems to be worth it. Progress is slow, but it's getting good reviews from the proofreaders. I'm just going to have to keep plugging away at it. I keep reworking ideas from chapter to chapter, trying to keep the tension and action at a certain pace.

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I'm also trying to make sure each charactor is well represented. Argiope has several important charactors, and I want to make sure they are distinctive and easily graspable by the reader.

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Oh well, bedtime. Good night, folks. Or good morning, since most of ya'll will be reading this after the sun comes up.

A Small Measure of Progress

Well, I had to get tough with my muse.

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I hated having to do it, but you can't let muses slack off on you or they get lazy and eat all your chips. Sometimes you just have to crack that whip. It's for their own good.

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Anyways, I'm starting to get better ideas about how to go forward. My original idea was simply too stilted and lame. Today I've come up with two that are better. Nothing written down yet, since I have to decide which way to go, but things are moving forward. I'll stratagize what I can do with each scenario today and tonight, then get back to writing tomorrow when the kids are in school.

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Things are looking up.

Hitting the Wall

Following the example of my son, it appears that my muse has also done a header into a large brick object.

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I spent the day staring at the screen, debating how badly each lame idea that appeared really stunk. It was pretty unproductive, to say the least. I've reached a scene change, and now I can't come up with what the next scene should even be. I know what I'm trying to reach, but my original idea is boring and kind of lame so I'm trying to rewrite the idea in my head before writing it the first time on paper.

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Make sense?

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I didn't think so.

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So maybe a day off is in the offing. And if that don't work, then go back and do an edit of what I have so far. That's always a good use of time. I still have a proofreader or two to hear from, so I might just do that. I'm also beginning to wonder if this thing is going to make a full size novel, or just a good sized novella. It's a little too early to tell, but I think content wise it does have the ability to be a novel.

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Oh well, the lady who helps me clean the house comes tomorrow, so I will have work to do anyways. Funny how that works out, too.

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Sigh.

Rays of Sunshine

Despite the chilly and gloomy weather outside, there a few rays of sunshine today.

First of all, my weekly weigh-in reveals that, despite my orgy of carbohydrate gluttony last night, I have now lost twenty pounds. Woohoo! A milestone! Now to get back on that wagon and keep going.

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Also, Cherri Galbiati sent me a link to another blog, by author Morgan Mandel, http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-add-extra-pages-on-your-blogger.html , that could be very useful. It shows you how to add pages to your blog, just like a website. It got me thinking that that might be a good way to support a novel when I get it published.

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For instance, I could make a blog dedicated to "The Ways of Khrem" that includes maps, artwork, and flash fictions involving other inhabitants of that world. It would be good marketing, and offer free content to attract fans of the series. The same could work for "Argiope," although the content would naturally be different.

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It bears real thinking about.

Writer's Night Out

Cherri Galbiati called yesterday evening, and invited me out to a writer's night out at Denny's. Naturally, I leapt at the chance of both getting out of the house, and enjoying adult conversation.

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We talked quite a bit about writing, and indulged in foods forbidden by our respective diets. Then we each solomnly swore not to blame the other one for our own dietary naughtiness. Then, with our guilt put properly in perspective, we enjoyed ourselves.

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Sometimes talking with another writer can be especially illuminating. You can be explaining something you're doing, and then realize right in the middle of it what you are REALLY doing. And that helps you approach a story from a fresh perspective that really helps. And another writer can provide a fresh pair of eyes, and an insight to help you see what you are blind too. That's one of the reasons I really value those infrequent nights at Denny's...even though it probably set my diet back by a week.

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Let me tell you...when you have been sugar and carb free for a month and a half, you just can't stop at one coke.

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On the family front, the boy is recovering from his head butt with the fireplace quite nicely, and says he would like to visit the emergency room again soon. I think he is a little unclear on the whole good thing/bad thing concept here. Rowan is a little nonstop dynamo, as always. And Karla has been practicing her new skills as a computer engineer by trying to keep the kids computer running. Overall, she's doing a pretty impressive job.

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Me, I'm still hammering away at Argiope. If I can get five thousand words a week done on it, I can have the first draft finished by summer. That's my new goal at the moment.

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Oh well, back to work.

Minor Glitch

Yesterday we had wipe the C drive on the main computer and put on an Acronis image. While we saved the important files, it seems I forgot to include all the images I tend to use for this blog. Not a catastrophic loss, but I will need to build up a new portfolio of public domain images.

Just a hiccup folks.

No big deal.

Wow!

Pill Hill Press has done me the honor of allowing me to open and close their upcoming anthology, "Pandora's Nightmare: Horror Unleashed," with two of my stories. They are titled "So It Begins," and "So it Ends," and are basically two parts of the same story, but told differently.

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"So It Begins" is a one thousand word piece of flash fiction told in the first person, and is the story of an individual who unleashes something very bad on the world. "So It Ends" is the story of an unlikely hero/ine who picks up the attempt to set things right.

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I want to thank Pill Hill Press for giving me this opportunity.

Back to Argiope

Well, two of my proofreaders got back to me and seem content with part one of the story. So I have now launched into part two.

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This part is where things slow down for a while. It's a lot of that yucky talking stuff that I hated as a kid. But it needs to be done. Some charactors need to regroup, others need to assert themselves, and yet others need to be introduced. Up till now, the story has moved rather rapidly and has a surplus of action. Gunfire, explosions, and bitings, oh my!

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I am pleased that my antogonist in part one seems to have made the intended impression. She's important later on in the story. But now I introduce another couple of charactors, who represent a faction that could be either good or bad. And their back story, although a bit fantastical, actually makes sense...as do their motivations. I'm real fussy when it comes to internal logic in a story. It ruins it for me when an author deviates from his own internal logic, so I try never, ever to do it.

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Got company in the morning, so I guess I better get to bed. At least I got over a thousand words in tonight. If I can get that every day, I can have the first draft of this book done in no time.

Oh Dear

It seems that my new laptop is more capable than I thought. While it obviously can't be compared to a desktop of today, it turns out it can actually do most of the things my old desktop could do.

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Like play most of my old games.

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Like play them while connected to my HDTV.

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Oh, my.

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My writing is in trouble. This does not bode well at all.

Splat!

So, my six year old apparently did a swan dive onto the brick hearth of our fireplace. Head met bricks, and the bricks turned out to be harder. What ensued was a frantic flurry of phone calls, bloody paper towels, tears, and Karla making one of the fastest trips home I've ever seen. In the confusion I dropped Stinkerbell off with my friend Charlie, only to turn around and pick her up again when Karla made it home so fast that she could take the boy to the emergency room instead of me. Then another friend, Cherri Galbiati, had to take our insurance card to Karla because we couldn't find it at the time Karla left and I was stuck home watching Rowan.
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So a big thanks to my friends Charlie and Cherri.
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In the end, they sewed a one inch hole in his forehead shut at the emergency room. Now he is sleeping on the couch, while I work on my writing. I don't know if he will go to school tomorrow or not. He thinks he can, but I bet he wakes up sore tomorrow. We'll see.
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I'm now starting Part 2 of "Argiope". I'm kind of feeling my way through it at this point, trying to keep the situation and behaviors realistic enough to keep the reader interested, while trying not to get in the way of the plot. So far, so good. I also intend to go back and insert some things into Part One. Just a couple of short scenes and descriptions that could add to foreshadowing and flesh a couple of parts out.
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So far the reviews from my proofreaders seem positive, even though it was a first draft that just crawled with no-nos like "was", "had", and "-ly" adverbs". I tend to squash those things when doing my second and third drafts. For now, I just wanted to make sure the scenes and charactors were making the proper impressions and setting the proper moods. My first drafts are always broad strokes.
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Which is why I learned to make double sure never to accidently mail a first draft to a publisher. Trust me, it can happen. Then all you can do is just apologize for all the mistakes, and send them the correct draft.
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I wonder if publishers are used to writer's pulling idiotic stunts like that?

Yeah. Been there, done that.

Stage One

I finished the first eighteen thousand words of "Argiope" in the waiting room while Stinkerbell was seeing her occupational therapist. I cheerfully saved it and sent it off to my favorite proofreaders.

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It's only a rough first draft, and I told them not to really worry about typos and stuff unless it was really awful. I am more interested in getting impressions on what works and what doesn't at this stage of the game.

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Meanwhile I need to start thinking about the next part of the book. It is going to be a lot slower paced than the book has been up till now, but I don't want to bore the reader to death either. So I will need to mix in a little drama or suspense while I have these different charactors trying to figure out what's going on.

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I'm debating switching gears and maybe writing a short story or two while thinking about this. Since I've already got "The Ways of Khrem" done, I have all year to finish "Argiope." That doesn't mean that I intend to take all that year, but it does mean I'm not pressed for time in finishing the goal I set for myself this year. Actually, I hope to have it done sometime this summer. But I don't have to kill myself now trying to beat a deadline. Besides, getting short stories out there is a good way to get my name out there too.

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Who knows, maybe one of these days I will write something my six year old can read. He keeps asking what I'm writing, and I'm forced to do a lot of hemming and hawing. The poor boy already has reached the age of the monster in the closet, he doesn't need tales from Dad to make that monster worse.

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I remember my own monster. I guess that's sort of what I write about nowadays.

Heading for the First Finish

I'm closing in on finishing the first part of the rough draft of "Argiope." I think I'll title Part One "Encounter." Anyways, I'm working my way towards the end of the scene with the big shootout, and I'm sort of surprised with the way it worked out.

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I actually had the scene envisioned differently when I started writing it, but partway in it started writing itself and went in a different direction. I can't complain because I like the way its turning out better than the original idea. It's going to need work, as it's pretty skeletal at the moment, but thats what second, third, and fourth drafts are for. Right now, I just need to hammer this thing out.

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Then I'll have to start strategizing Act II. I intend it to be a slower part, with different charactors trying to figure things out, and the introduction of new charactors taking place. At this point I already have a casualty count of eight dead and four wounded, so it's time to back things down for a while. Now it's more of an aftermath type situation. I wonder if it will turn out anything like I currently have it planned.

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Oh well, today is Stinkerbells double therapy visit at Children's Hospital. That means almost two hours in the waiting room, so I guess I'll take my laptop and do some writing there. I'm learning to squeeze in writing opportunities wherever I can.

Quiet Time

Stinkerbell's teacher handed her off to me with a fervent "good luck" today. Apparently she had been a little wild child. Then her therapist literally carried her back into the waiting room to me, saying she was bouncing off walls.

Now she is sound asleep in her bed, having nodded off on the way home. So I am going to put the boy on the main computer to play some game, and get on my own work computer to take advantage of the quiet. I might get a little writing done today after all.

Hooray!

Progress of Sorts

My weekly weigh in reveals that I have only lost 1 1/2 to 2 pounds this week. Not exactly shedding the pounds at the speed I hoped for there. I guess that any loss is a good one though. At least I'm not porking up. But at this rate it's going to be a long time before I get anywhere near my goal.

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Heck, I'm not even quite down to point where my old doctor told me I should lose weight a couple of years back.

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Sigh.

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On another front, work on "Argiope" proceeds. I'm now at 16.600 words, and working my way towards the end of the hospital gunfight and the end of part one. I think another thousand to fifteen hundred words should do it. Then I'll send part one off to my proofreaders while I try to strategize my way through part two.

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Or I might take a break and do a short story or two. I don't know yet. At this rate, I'll finish "Argiope" and get skinny at about the same time.

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Oh well, we shall see.

Progress

Well, I have added two thousand words to Argiope...and it's all gunfight. The shootout in the hospital is one of the bigger scenes in the book, so I knew this part could take a while.
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This scene serves several purposes. It keeps the action level of the book high, and it also reinforces how dangerous and strange the forces arrayed against the protagonist are. It introduces an antogonist currently named Maggie, and demonstrates to the reader what a formidable threat she is. This will help make her reappearance later in the book a more tense and suspenseful event.
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After I finish this scene, I think I'll slow things down for a little bit. Give the reader a breather and let the protagonist ruminate over his situation. I also have another set of important charactors to introduce. But first I have to finish this gunfight. It's probably going to take another thousand words or two. Making it the biggest scene in the first part of the book. I'll have to go over it later when I have more of the book written, to see if it needs to be reduced in size or not.
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The kids are going to be home with me for Presidents Day today, so I doubt I'll get much writing done. That's one of the reasons I sat up so late writing tonight. Ah well, I need to turn in and get a few hours of shuteye before dawn.

Uh Oh

The wife has just informed me that today is Valentines Day.

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I seem to have made a strategic blunder and not paid adequate attention to my calender.

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Hmmm...creativity may be called for here.

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UPDATE: Men need to develop some kind of Early Warning System for days like this. Maybe sirens that go off over loudspeakers set around the town, twenty four hours before the event. That way we knoew that time is running out, or even that such a day is approaching.

Taking Up "Argiope"

After a quick read through, I started working on Argiope again.

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It wasn't easy.

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I had shelved the project just as I started the scene where a large gunfight breaks out in a hospital. Kind of a difficult place to hop back in and start writing. The thing is, "Argiope" has quite a few of those places since I'm only thirteen thousand words into the story and I've already had two people eaten, two people blown up, and another shot in the women's bathroom.

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And now the action picks up as "Maggie" and her silent partner engage a squad of six police officers that are between her and the protagonist she has come to kill. This is a complex scene (which is probably why I shelved it here), as I have to keep track of the movements of six officers, Adam Sellars (the protagonist), Maggie, and her friend. And probably a nurse or two, and a patient who attempts to be a hero.

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My approach for this scene is to break it into little chunks, hopping from one charactor's point of view to another in little mini-chapters, to give the scene a more hectic and frenetic pace. We'll see how that works.

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And I'll learn in the future to shelve projects at a place where they are easier to get back into.

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Oh, and I'm typing this on my HDTV display again. It makes me feel like an evil genius in his secret lair...working in front of his master view screen. MUAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Mmmmm....

My case of Zevia cola arrived today. I must say I'm really pleased. It's a tasty diet soda with none of those awful artificial sweeteners that makes your hands shake or feeds nasty bugs in you gut. It's pricey over the internet though, what with that shipping and handling, so I'll need to check out Whole Foods for the stuff. I hear they carry it.

It's just one of those little things that make my day brighter :)

UPDATE: Either this stuff is like crack, or I've gone too long with out carbonated drinks. I've drank three already, and had to force myself to stop. Yep, this stuff is too pricey to drink it like that. Gotta go to Whole Foods soon.

Dusting Off Argiope

So I did a read through of the chapters I have done on "Argiope." I'm actually pretty pleased with it. It reads fast, and has a lot of action in it.

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Depending on what happens, that may be my next project. I would like to get that novel written before the year is out. I like the charactor, even though he needs a little lightening up. I gave him many of the same physical challenges I deal with, but in his case his infirmities are the result of a car accident. It still lets me write about something I know about, because I know many of the challenges he faces that a physically normal person may not think of.

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I'm typing this right now, using my 42 inch HDTV screen as a computer monitor. This is so cool! I can use my tv to write, surf the internet, watch high definition videos from youtube and vimeo, and even play computer games. My score of man points are going through the roof! RAWR!

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I luvs my new laptop :)

Dithering

I seem to be caught in some kind of writer's paralysis. I just can't decide what to do next.
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I have moved "Argiope" from my main computer over to my laptop, just to start familiarizing myself with that project again. I've spent the morning reading that. Actually, I'm pretty much migrating all my projects to my laptop now. It saves time and hopping from one computer to the other.
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Looking out the window reminds me that I sure am glad I don't work outside anymore. It looks miserable out there.

Trying Different Things

Yesterday I decided to do things a little different when taking my daughter for her Weds therapy sessions.

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I usually end up sitting out in the waiting room for two hours as she has one therapy session right after another. Most days I use this time to either read a book, or go over a short story manuscript if I have on printed out. Today though, I decided to take my laptop instead.

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The first thing I learned is that my laptop case does not hold diapers near as well as my bookbag does. This was a bit of an obstacle, but I persevered and managed to cram a diaper down in there. Then I found out that my large, seventeen inch widescreen laptop doesn't exactly fit well in my lap at all. So once again I improvised and filched all the magazines they had off a little round sitting table and pulled the table over beside my chair.

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Then I had to fight off the temptation to pass the time playing mah-jong.

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That was a challenge too, but I pulled it off. Finally, with all the distractions behind me I managed to write the opening page of a short story. It needs work, but at least it's production. I'll take that any day. Thursday, I have the house to myself most of the day so I will hopefully get more done. The house is in good shape so I can focus on my writing. Let's hope I come up with something...and steer clear of the devil waters of mah-jong.

Hanging Loose

Just sitting here, eating a tub of raw spinach and making my daily blog post so my mother knows our house didn't burn down or something.
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Got another busy day today. We have a teacher's meeting with the boys teacher, to discuss his academics this year, then I have to take the girl to her speech and occupational therapist. So I don't have much time for writing today.
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I have moved some old story beginnings I started from the main computer to my work laptop, in order to go over them and see if any inspire me to take them further. Sometimes I get a really good start on a story, and then run out of steam. When that happens, I shelve it for future perusal. Never, ever, throw good written material away. Sometimes a little time and distance is all that's needed to come back and make it even better than it would have been in the first place

A Cause For Cautious Celebration

A while back, I submitted the prologue and first two chapters of "The Ways of Khrem," to a publisher.

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Today that publisher asked to see the rest of the manuscript.

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Now that in no way means that the publisher is going to accept the novel for publication. It just means the opening chapters were good enough to merit a look at the full novel itself. But that is still a cause for celebration in itself, so I am relaxing my carb restrictions tonight...just a tad...and having pinto beans and hot links for dinner. I know that doesn't sound like much, but to my carb starved body it sounds like heaven.

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Now if they actually do accept the novel, then the real celebration will take place...and diet be damned. I will glutenize myself stupid, while pouring down Dr. Pepper and gorging on pizza and chili cheese dogs. But until that glorious day, I will content myself with the mild charms of pinto beans and sausage.

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It's all good :)

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UPDATE: I am now full of beans and insanely happy about it.

Coming Up Empty

Well, I didn't write a single word today. I just couldn't come up with a single idea of where to start. I don't always need a complete story in mind to start writing, but I've got to have something. So far...nada.

On the other hand, I did figure out how to hook my laptop up to my new HDTV and use it as a Blue-ray player. That right there counts as major man points. Now I have this instinctual urge to run out into the woods in my underwear and strangle a deer. RAWR!!

But I'm a little old and fat for those kind of activities, so Bambi is safe. For now. On the other hand, I have lost four more pounds since last weigh-in so some things are going in the right direction. Although I have eaten so much meat and greens lately, I'm more likely to lose control and attack a potato than I am a deer.

MMmmmmm....potatoes. Hash browns. French fries.

Sob!

Heading for the Well

Well, I'm between stories again and soon it will be time to head back to that well.

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My choices of anthologies with the two publishers I'm used to is narrowing. LL Dreamspell has a revenge themed anthology, while Pill Hill has a monster anthology and a space anthology that might be up my alley. My latest work has gone to Pill Hill, so I think I'll try to come up with something for LL Dreamspellt this time.

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Revenge is a pretty rich field, but at the moment I don't have any ideas for it. Sometimes it helps to ponder on a specific topic for a day or two and see if something comes up. Research revenge as a topic, and see if some article or observation I come across sparks a little inspiration. LL Dreamspell also has a romance anthology open, but my wife is still laughing at the idea of me being able to write one of those.

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On another note, the Super Bowl party went well and we all had a good time. The game was exciting, the food was good, and the kids were only mildly obnoxious. Okay, the kids were actually vibrating with the excitement of us having company, and vying for attention any way they could. But it wasn't too bad. Basically we all sat around, watched football, and complained about our diets. It was fun.

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Now I just need a story.

T minus Five Hours and Counting

The Super Bowl is upon us. The Cowboys didn't make it again this year, so I don't exactly have a stake in this game. Heck, neither of the teams are even teams I hate, so I can't even root against either of them. I suppose I'll just settle for enjoying football.

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On the other hand, we have company coming, and the house is currently a trash dump. The mess is amazing, and time is running out. My first plan, of sleeping in and seeing if the kids would clean it, has failed miserably. So now it looks like I'm going to soon have to settle for Plan B, and pitch in.

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Sigh!

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Oh well... Go Saints! Or...Go Colts! I guess the Saints are closer to Houston, so I'll root for them. Makes sense.

Weekend Visitations I

We're going to be going to my parent's house in about an hour, so there won't be much to post about today. We'll be seeing some cousins of my mine that I haven't seen in years. That will be good.

I suppose I'll use the drive there to try and come up with ideas for my next story. Nothing like a drive through the peaceful countryside to stir up some nice and morbid ideas. Or perhaps the clamoring of the kids will inspire a good murder mystery.

Ah well, it's all fun and games until someone writes a book.

Quiet Today

The kids will soon both be off to school, and Karla is taking the day off. That leaves me to quietly write here on the coffee table with little to no interruption.

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Perhaps with a few solid hours of steady writing I can finish this current short story and start editing it. With a little effort, maybe I can have it finished either tonight or Monday night. There won't be much writing over the weekend since I'll be out of town on Saturday and hosting a Super Bowl party on Sunday.

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I'm beginning to understand why writers tend to be recluses. And childless. But it's too late to do anything about that second part, so I just make the best of it that I can. One can write masterpieces while unplugging stuffed animals from the toilet. I'm sure of it.

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I'm currently working on finishing this. I'm now about four thousand words into it, with a thousand words to go.

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UPDATE: I have finished the first rough draft of "The Warp/So It Ends" It currently has two names, depending on who it is submitted too. It will first be submitted to Pill Hill Press for their Pandora anthology, under the title "So It Ends." If it doesn't fit there, it will be submitted elsewhere under it's previous title "The Warp."

UPDATE 2: Due to the fact that the story was already two thirds written and previously edited, a couple of hours of intense editing was all it took to polish it off. This is exactly why it pays to keep your old unfinished projects on file, so you can come back to them some day.

Reading About Writing

I did some work on a short story yesterday morning, but my time was cut short due to taking my daughter to see her speech and occupational therapists. That gave me nearly two hours to kill, sitting in the waiting room, so I decided to pull out some of my old books on writing and do a little studying.

I think that reading about writing is very important. For one thing it can help reinspire and remotivate the writer, which is of paramount importance. It can also help the author brush up on skills that he might have been letting slide. The importance of both of those things can't be overstated. Just reading yesterday on setting and editing had me going back and looking at my current project with freshly critical eyes. And thats how things get better.

So I just need to remember to brush up on my skills from time to time... and remember to chew my raw spinach salads better. But that's a different story.

More of the Same

It will be another short day, as today is Stinkerbell's speech AND occupational therapy day. So my afternoon is pretty well taken up.

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Working on a short story at the moment. It was inspired by the little piece I wrote for Pill Hill Press's Pandora anthology, and is even a companion piece to that story. It stands on it's own though.

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I've got a busy weekend coming up...Saturday at my parent's house visiting relatives, and Sunday is a Super Bowl party. so housecleaning will also be demanding it's share of my time soon. Sigh, it's not easy finding time to write sometimes.

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But I shall labor on.

Update

Pill Hill Press just accepted my little piece of flash fiction titled "Jupiter Rising."

It's been a fairly productive week. One small short story and two pieces of flash fiction accepted.

Now I need to write something a little more substantial. Not a novel. Not yet. But one or two true short stories might fit the bill.

Porky Presses Onward

I only lost two pounds the past week. Not the results I was hoping for, but I guess things are at least still headed in the right direction. That makes thirteen or fourteen pounds since I started, but I'm still a long way from skinny.

I think the kids enjoyed Snow White last night. I fell asleep and had to go to bed before it was over, but I remember them doing a lot of hooting and hollering over the movie. Rowan laughed at the antics of the animals and the seven dwarves.

I'm thinking of doing a few short stories again before diving into the next novel. I've already done a few flash fiction pieces, just for a change of pace, and it felt good to actually be writing again after all that editing. I'll go through my old shelved short story pieces and see if I'm inspired to finish any of those first.

Today will be a short day because I have to pick up Rowan and take her to her speech therapist. That's okay, my projects for today are all short in nature.

Dinner and a Movie

Tonights dinner will be "sausage de la poo," a mixture of garlic salt and hamburger rolled in a non gluten flour mixture and deep fried. The kids love it. Following that will be a screening of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a movie the kids haven't seen before.

Just been puttering around today.

Writer's Night Out

Cherri Galbiati and I went out to Denny's last night for one of our rare and wonderful Writer's Nights Out. We yacked it up until well after one in the morning, and no food whatsoever was thrown. Overall, it was a great time.

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I wasn't so bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, though.

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Just got the four year old off to school, and now is that pause in the morning while we relax for an hour until it is time for Karla and Sheridan to hit the road. Sheridan's enjoying breakfast and Karla is enjoying the internet.
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I'm not sure what my plans are for today, yet. I'll need to visit the grocery story sometime, and I might drop by Best Buy and look at some electronics. On the other hand, it's cold out there so I might keep my time outdoors to a minimum. Ah well, I've got about an hour to think about it.

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Good day, folks.