Month: January 2004

Place your bets

Writer guy

Before I started doing contract work, Friday was my day to celebrate, since I’d survived another week on the job. Boy, did I look forward to every second of those 2 consecutive days off. That probably should have told me something.

With contract work, weekends don’t mean much, because I never know when the work is going to dry up, so my tendency is to start as soon as the ink dries and just keep going. Every contract will end sooner or later.

One constant that serves as a mental touchstone is writing. No matter what’s going on, I find some time to write every day. Whether it’s the novel, a screenplay or revisions, it’s about the only thing I have control over. Even that control is an illusion, because I don’t know what’s going to come out of the pages I write. Maybe people will like them, maybe they won’t. It’s not for me to say or predict.

I only control the knowledge that I’m going to keep going. And whatever end is out there waiting for me, my present course continues.

It’s all smiles and cries

Writer guy

I’m breathing a sigh of relief because I got an email from editor person, informing me we are on for tonight. Thank you tech guy for resolving the conundrum that haunted editor person and threatened to derail this evening’s session.

To preserve writing momentum for the second book, I’ve decided to blog each day only after I finish my targeted page count. Which means the new blog entries will now appear towards the early to late afternoon. Note this revised plan still holds with the stated update schedule of one blog per day, every day unless it’ s the end of the world or I can’t get to my PC, whichever comes first.

The new release schedule has other benefits. Now when I blog, my brain will have absorbed the necessary daily dose of caffeine and this will improve the quality of the entries. I’m not sure exactly how many milligrams of caffeine that is, but based on what the wife tells me, it’s too much.

Surely there are some among us who drink a pot of coffee every day, besides myself. Right? Anyone?

Did I say a pot? No, I meant half a pot of coffee.

Bad Moon Rising

Writer guy

So editor person calls me in a panic about ten minutes ago because they can no longer read any email. Nothing opens they said. Nothing will delete they said. I did what I usually do. I listen for a minute, say uh-huh that sucks then put them in touch with tech guy. Right now editor person and tech guy are sorting through the email mess together.

Here’s hoping they work it out ASAP. Because if editor person can’t read their mail, they can’t get their work done for the day job, thus precluding the task of being editor person later tonight.

It’s beginning to make sense now why 9 out of 10 authors wind up at AA meetings on Wednesday evenings.

I can’t afford a good drinking binge right now on any level.

Still pushing forward with book number two. I’m nearing the twenty page mark and still reaching for the perfect title, although at this point I’ll settle for something just better than what I have.

Cha…cha..changes

Writer guy

Good day, good day. Did I mention it was a good day? Everything seemed to click at the PC. I wrote three more pages for the second book. I apologize for the secrecy around the title, but what I have now is just a working one and I’d rather avoid pigeonholing myself later.

Besides, it’s one of those titles that have two meanings, and the secondary meaning can be mangled into a sort of connotation that some might feel is detrimental or catastrophic. Boy, I bet you can’t wait to hear what that title is now, eh?

Anyway, the instant I come up with something better, I’ll disclose the working title, and the new one.

On the getting an agent front, I began my assault on Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers. I’m formulating my plan. Also and this is related, I had three free hours last night because the wife had to answer level three support calls for her job, so I dove in headfirst and read Sol Stein’s – How to Grow a Novel.

Sol Stein has edited some of the biggest names in fiction. He has invaluable insights on the writing process and some of the unadvertised intricacies of the publishing business. I’m going to reread this book every time I start a novel well into the future.