Simple Literary Will

One of my favorite novelists and comic book writers Neil Gaiman has done all of us writers, songwriters and photographers a real solid by having a lawyer friend of his draw up a literary will. Here's a link to Neil's Blog where you'll find the downloadable PDF.

Funky Weekend

I spent most of Saturday procrastinating and surfing the net. I wrote about 1200 words on a new piece. Although, I’m happy to be able to report that I wrote something, it wasn’t a project I have a deadline for, and was probably just more procrastination.

Sunday was a lot more productive. I woke up at the crack of ass--thanks to the time change--and could not get back to sleep. So I spent the first half of the morning doing more web surfing. I’m not going to get down on myself (how great would that be?) because I was able to complete another chapter and slap another 1900 words on my meter for this weekends. I’m only counting the words in a scene after I actually use them in a chapter so I’m sure I’m probably closer to 68000. My goal is to have the draft completed by Sunday the fifth.

If money were no object...

Periodically my partner and I have conversations about wining millions.
Before I go further, I should point out that my partner has a job, that pays well and that she enjoys.

She’s also a semi-pro poker player. I say semi-pro because in order for her to be pro she would have to make the same annual salary that she makes in her day job. Semi –pro simply means she makes half her annual salary. My reason for bringing this up is because she and I have often discussed what we would do if she hit it huge or if we won the lottery. Keep in mind, we don’t play the lottery, this is just a figurative conversation.

Anyway, she seems to think she would continue to work her office job. I say bull. I don’t care if you love your office job, most of us would rather be doing something more creative. She pointed out that when I had the opportunity to write full time, (after the lovely tech boom of 2000) I got fat, bored and mean. Well, she didn’t say it like that, but she implied it.

So with that in mind, I asked myself, would I continue to work an office job if money were no object? It really differs in every office, but I’m starting to think that people who sit in cubicles have accepted some facts about life that I am not quite ready to accept. I haven’t reached my full potential nor am I willing to sacrifice for the next generation.

Screw that. If money were no object, I’d buy myself a jet plane so that I could procrastinate in the Bahamas, sit and admire the women in South Beach, and write this blog from a café in Paris. Care to join me?

1st daft of short story complete

The good news is, I completed a draft for my short story this morning. The bad news is, I’ll need to cut at least 500 words during the editing process. I really hate cutting. I usually save myself the aggravation by shooting low and adding if necessary. Adding is infinitely easier then deleting your words.

Authors on my shelf

Not only do I write fiction, but I read it. Here are some links, in no particular order, to authors that I have on my bookshelf. I'll update the list with more links and descriptions when I have more time.

Renee Bess

Radclyffe

Gerri Hill

Georgia Beers

JD Glass

Lori L. Lake

Jane Vollbrecht

Neil Gaiman

Quitting the day job

I keep a day job for two reasons. First, I need the health insurance (and the pay isn’t that shabby either), but the second reason might surprises some people. Too much time proved to be detrimental to my productivity. Writing can be a solitary and lonely life. I spent nearly two years writing full time and I found myself procrastinating and getting very little done. Now, there are people out there (very successful people) who are able to treat writing like a full time job and put in eight hours a day. I’m not one of them. Or at least I wasn’t three years ago. If I were financially able I would probably revisit writing full time, but for now I’m happy with things the way they are.

On a related note, I was speaking with author bud Renee Bess and she asked about my schedule. Normally, I write from 5-7 in the morning, which gives me thirty minutes to get ready for the day job. Since I’m currently on a deadline to have my manuscript to my editor by mid December, I’ve changed my schedule so that I’m getting an extra thirty minutes during the morning. I’m also writing from 7 to 9 at night. In a perfect world, the night shift would be for editing, but my trip to Massachusetts put me behind a few days so I’m playing catch-up.

Then vs. Than

After going through my huge stack of mail, I was pleased to find the newest issue of Writers Digest. I struggled for months with whether I should renew my subscription, boy am I glad I did. Let me just say that I have a few foibles that have haunted me since I began to write seriously.

For example, the difference between then and than has eluded me for years. I'm smart enough to go back and do a find before I send in my manuscripts, but I would much rather save myself the work and not make the mistake in the first place.

I’ve read several short explanations of how to determine which word to use, but none has stuck with me well enough to become natural in the heat of the write.

I opened my trusty Writers Digest this morning and I saw the following advice:

The word than is used to compare things (note the word compare has an a in it)

The word then is used to reference time (note the word time has an e in it)

That’s all I had to read. I’ve got it now. Of course I could muddy the waters by mentioning that then can be used to replace the phrase, “in that case,” but I’ve decided to never use that phrase in my writing ever again just so I won’t have to remember that part.

Sunset in P-Town

I wish my camera phone could have done this justice.

Cape Air Cesna

I grinned the whole way to P-Town on this thing. It seats 10 people total one of which is in the co-pilot seat. My enthusiasm was dampened greatly by turbulence on the ride home. I'll be driving from Boston next year.

On the way to P-Town

Well, here I am waiting for the train to portland airport. I sometimes forget how weird portland people are...until I smell them.

Friends and Family plan

Like most writers, I’m not independently wealthy. Hell, there are months when I struggle for middleclass. I’ve had to organize my life so that I can write in the mornings and evenings while still working a full time job.

Is it fun? Oh yeah, believe it or not, I love it.
What I don’t love is the fact that my mother and two of my friends have gotten mad at me for not calling them or answering my cell phone. The fact that I’ve had final edits on one book, and a proposal for another book due concurrently, is absolutely no excuse for not taking the time to chat.

So, much to my chagrin, I’ll have to add “friends and family time” to my efforts to organize my writing career. I just hope my mother will understand when at two minutes past the hour, I cut her off by yelling, “I have to go write that sex scene now,” just before I hang up the phone.

Spanky

Spanky decided she would nap in the laundry basket.

Losing things

I’m leaving for P-Town in less than two days and I’ve already lost two items. One was a gift check for $25.00 the other was my bankcard. Actually, I’m pretty sure the machine kept my card, but I am willing to accept at least part of the responsibility. I think loosing things is my brain's way of forcing me to slow down.

Such A Pretty Face

I am pleased to announce that my fourth book Such a Pretty Face has been contracted for publication by Bold Strokes Books. The book has been slotted for a July 2007 release which means I'm going to be a busy, but happy camper.

Over the coming day's I'll try to get as more information up. I hope to meet some of you in P-Town. I have some celebrating to do.