The New Blog Do

Just like my emotional hair, I got bored with the way my blog looked, so I changed the template. I initially started looking at WordPress templates, but didn’t want to bother with actually working on something new. I’m in too lazy a mood to muck around with learning. Luckily Blogger has added some new templates that don’t look totally stupid. So, here it is.

I do miss my calla lily picture though. But, it’s still on my website, so I guess it’s okay that it’s not here. Kind of makes the name of the blog a little silly now… but you’ll have that. Silly me.

Here she is...

 What do you guys think of the new layout?


Oh - and if you're looking at this on a mobile device - you get something totally different... just an fyi. :)

The 3:00 A.M. Blog

It’s going on 3:00 A.M., and I want to write something. Anything that isn’t Indigo. Don’t get me wrong, it’s going fine and dandy – I just felt like writing something else. I need to get out of my characters’ heads for a while.

There's no one in the place - except you and me...

So is this finally a blog about how well the writing is going? Apparently so. I’ve been on quite a tear the last few weeks. Not making a ton of forward progress, but doing a lot of editing and shaping; fine tuning, if you will. It feels good for a change, and I think it may be because I’m forcing myself to do it. I have a finite set of hours in the evening that I am at least re-reading and editing, if not writing new stuff. Every once in a while I’ll print out a hard copy and take my red pen to the whole thing. It’s amazing what typos or inconsistencies you can find in a hard copy that you don’t see in a digital one. Plus when it’s on paper, it just feels like a book… and it’s getting heavier every week, which is nice.

I did another complete rework of the point of view back to first person, which is just more comfortable for me to write in. It may not be the right way to do it, but it works for me. Also, since the story of Indigo is suspense – being in first person allows for that immediacy that I don’t think you get with a third person point of view. First person is more intimate; and I think, allows the reader to become even more involved in the story – rather than just being a spectator. Again, this is all subjective, and some people hate first person narratives, but then – they don’t have to read my book, do they?

I will say that I am so happy that the warm weather is at last upon us. I can finally sit in my favorite writing spot (my enclosed patio) and just type away, occasionally glancing up at the various critters around my yard. We get a lot of visits from the neighborhood squirrels, blue jays, and even deer if they’re brave enough. One of these days I’ll live somewhere warm enough to be able to do this year round. Until then, I’ll take advantage of the few months I have. I don’t think I’ll be as motivated just sitting in my office.

Well, that’s enough meandering for one night. Off to sleep; perchance to dream of Indigo and Maya’s next steps…

My Characters; My Friends.

I’ve finished the first 50 pages of Indigo for the WeBook contest and submitted it for judging. It will most likely be a week or so before I start seeing feedback from readers, and my anxiety is palpable. It’s always nerve-racking to send your creative babies out into the world, but this one is especially difficult for some reason. There is always fear of rejection – I think that’s natural for any author, but Indigo gets my blood pumping so differently than Ghosting did. He’s been in my head for so long, nagging at me to get out, and now that I’m doing that – it’s like telling a deeply personal secret to the world. It’s not as though I’m baring my soul, or standing naked in the middle of a mall, but close - I think that’s a pretty close analogy.

I'm ascerred.

When you spend countless hours thinking, writing, reading, re-reading, and editing the crap out of something, it’s hard not to personalize it. It’s even harder not to internalize the characters. They live in your head – and you’re the biographer telling their story. You want to get it right, and you want to do right by them. After all, they are trusting you to tell it correctly. That’s a big responsibility for an author to undertake.

My own imagination brought them to life, sure. But now that they’re here in my head, they’ve evolved into something somewhat real. They have their own personalities, senses of humor, vices, mannerisms, histories, endearing qualities, and character flaws (pun intended). No, I’ve not gone mad with invisible friends. I don’t talk to them - out loud anyway, but they are always present in some way. It’s hard to explain fully. It truly is one of the wonders of being a writer – the ability to create these completely intangible, yet concrete people and scenarios. And as a writer, you live with them almost all the time, whether you want to or not.

So all I can do now is wait for the feedback and criticisms from the contest reviewers with a mixture of excitement and dread. It’s a horrible combination, yet delicious in its own way. In the meantime I’ll just continue writing as though Indigo is the best thing since Shakespeare penned his first sonnet. Until the bubble gets burst by a critic, it’s a good feeling to have.

Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

The writing world suffered a huge loss today. While he hated the term "science fiction" (he preferred "fantasy"), much of Mr. Bradbury's work is classified as such. When you think of science fiction - you think of Ray Bradbury. He invented dystopia decades before The Hunger Games made it popular.

Most people know him from Fahrenheit 451 (required reading for a lot of high schoolers), The Martian Chronicles, or Something Wicked This Way Comes, but he was so much more.

He published at least 27 books, over 600 short stories (he was the KING of short stories), plays, screenplays and teleplays (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Ray Bradbury Theater to name a few), fiction and non-fiction, and even children's literature. He was quintessentially the writers' writer, and would write at least 1,000 words a day - no matter what.

His impact on the imaginations of readers and writers will be felt for generations to come. His passion for creativity will be sorely missed. In reading about his prolific writing career today, I came upon this quote that should inspire any writer (me included):

"If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world."

A True Pioneer
(AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)