Wednesday, July 27
ideas are brewing
I'm happy to report that ideas are brewing for a new novel. Maybe this fall and winter I'll start again.
Wednesday, July 13
It's the second half of 2011
Monday, January 3
Happy New Year
Monday, August 2
Question?
What is the lifespan of a personal blog? Six years? Three years? 19 weeks?
Thursday, November 26
No no NaNo
Well, there's still a few days left in this year's novel writing contest, but as I've not typed a word of fiction in two plus weeks, and my word total sits at 11,000 or so, it's safe to say my efforts are over for this year. Oh well.
I have been writing a lot of poems lately. Maybe I'll post a few here in the coming weeks....
I have been writing a lot of poems lately. Maybe I'll post a few here in the coming weeks....
Sunday, November 8
NaNo update
I had two very good NaNoWriMo days back on the first and second of November, but then I haven't done much since then, so I'm quickly falling behind pace. I've got a couple of characters, but they're still searching for a plot. That happens....
Friday, October 30
Holy cow!
It's been a long time. I noticed I had a link to here from my NaNo 'author' page, and when I clicked it. Empty.
Whew.
Want a quick recap of the past four months? Graduation. Summer. Lawn mowing. Some guitar strumming. Kid went to college, moving to Denver. Other kid started senior year here on the edge of nowhere. More lawn mowing. Ran the dog a bunch of times. Watched Flight of the Conchords. A lot. Not much writing. No writing,in fact. Sometimes now I think I'm over it, ready to move on with my life.
Then other times, not so much.
And so we -- and by we I mean I -- start National Novel Writing Month again in about 28 hours. I have a couple of characters in mind, but no idea what plot will happen. So, I guess, I'll just start typing for a few days and see what, if anything, happens.
Whew.
Want a quick recap of the past four months? Graduation. Summer. Lawn mowing. Some guitar strumming. Kid went to college, moving to Denver. Other kid started senior year here on the edge of nowhere. More lawn mowing. Ran the dog a bunch of times. Watched Flight of the Conchords. A lot. Not much writing. No writing,in fact. Sometimes now I think I'm over it, ready to move on with my life.
Then other times, not so much.
And so we -- and by we I mean I -- start National Novel Writing Month again in about 28 hours. I have a couple of characters in mind, but no idea what plot will happen. So, I guess, I'll just start typing for a few days and see what, if anything, happens.
Saturday, September 5
September
Autumn is coming. Cooler nights. Green color draining out of the leaves. Summer is slipping away.
Thursday, May 21
Lost
I've been lost in life this year, not posting much here on the edge, obviously, fooling around a bit with Twitter and Facebook, not working on the novel at all, preparing for a high school graduation in the family.
Nothing else to report.
Nothing else to report.
Tuesday, April 7
Goals, goals, goals
Had lunch with my writing pal Jared today, and he found out about a local writer's conference with agents, workshops, etc. So we shook on a deal to have a book ready for next year's conference in Fort Collins in fifty weeks.
Goals can't hurt, can they?
Goals can't hurt, can they?
Saturday, February 28
Death of the Rocky
I'm not a highly religious person, but I still consider the morning newspaper a miracle. Even with all the instant wireless net stuff and Tweeting this and Facebooking that and blogging everything else -- and don't forget good ol' TV! -- the coordination required to report, write, edit and manufacture a several-dozen-page daily printed newspaper and have it delivered to my doorstep each morning for about 50 cents a pop is still something worth appreciating.
Long ago, I worked for several newspapers from tiny ones to small weeklies to medium-sized dailies owned-by-the-NY-Times, and it never ceased to amaze me that I could be up at midnight typing frantically to beat a deadline, go home, eat a bowl of cereal, watch Letterman, sleep and wake up a few hours later and have a newspaper on my driveway, waiting for me, with my words in it.
I bring this up simply because Denver lost its Rocky Mountain News on Friday, after nearly 150 years of turning out a paper. It's gone. Newspapers seem doomed, which is a shame.
Maybe some genius will figure out a way for all those editors and pressmen and writers and photographers to find a way to get paid and be employed in the digital future. I sure hope so.
Long ago, I worked for several newspapers from tiny ones to small weeklies to medium-sized dailies owned-by-the-NY-Times, and it never ceased to amaze me that I could be up at midnight typing frantically to beat a deadline, go home, eat a bowl of cereal, watch Letterman, sleep and wake up a few hours later and have a newspaper on my driveway, waiting for me, with my words in it.
I bring this up simply because Denver lost its Rocky Mountain News on Friday, after nearly 150 years of turning out a paper. It's gone. Newspapers seem doomed, which is a shame.
Maybe some genius will figure out a way for all those editors and pressmen and writers and photographers to find a way to get paid and be employed in the digital future. I sure hope so.
Monday, January 26
Motivational Posters of the Year
I know it's still early in the year, but nothing will top motivational posters featuring our hero, Kurt Vonnegut. My favorite is still "Purpose."
Monday, January 12
Harry Potter and the long cold winter
So I started re-reading all the Harry Potter books on the first day of winter, thinking, 'reading all the Harry Potter books again will be a fine way to pass the winter.' Three weeks in, and I'm through the first four books and yesterday started year five, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's a pretty fun way to spend these long cold dark (sometimes snowy) winter nights, speed reading about Harry, Ron, Hermoine and their many adventures with Hagrid, Dumbledore, Malfoy, Snape, He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named and the others.
I've read the books before, of course, and seen the five movies too. (In fact, over New Year's, we watched the first four again, two each night, back to back.) Then again, the first time I read them I was reading them aloud to my then-little children, and to my then mid-sized children. K and I took turns reading the books at night to the kids, so parts I read, parts I listened to, parts I missed, and parts I had to re-read alone to catch-up, and then too there was a year or two between books, waiting for Ms. Rowling to write them.
This time, I'm just racing through them (well, as fast as I can, which admittedly isn't that fast). And while it's pretty fun to read them like this, it's also a bit bittersweet, since, y'know, my children aren't listening this time, they're no longer little, and they're both likely to be out of the house and off to college in 18 months.
Sigh.
I've read the books before, of course, and seen the five movies too. (In fact, over New Year's, we watched the first four again, two each night, back to back.) Then again, the first time I read them I was reading them aloud to my then-little children, and to my then mid-sized children. K and I took turns reading the books at night to the kids, so parts I read, parts I listened to, parts I missed, and parts I had to re-read alone to catch-up, and then too there was a year or two between books, waiting for Ms. Rowling to write them.
This time, I'm just racing through them (well, as fast as I can, which admittedly isn't that fast). And while it's pretty fun to read them like this, it's also a bit bittersweet, since, y'know, my children aren't listening this time, they're no longer little, and they're both likely to be out of the house and off to college in 18 months.
Sigh.
Tuesday, January 6
Keep pushing
Advice to myself:
"I write a lot about "keep pushing" and the notion that simple perseverance will see us all through hardship, competition and just plain life. Gladwell and his 10,000 hours show the data behind that notion. So as we launch into the New Year, I will not be doing flashy workouts that are different just for the sake of being different. I will write, I will run, and I will ride my bike on a somewhat continuous loop throughout the year. I will get better, just a little, every day. And I think that's one of life's great elations, that daily progression to a better version of ourselves. "
-- Martin Dugard, in a blog post on life -- and on writing
"I write a lot about "keep pushing" and the notion that simple perseverance will see us all through hardship, competition and just plain life. Gladwell and his 10,000 hours show the data behind that notion. So as we launch into the New Year, I will not be doing flashy workouts that are different just for the sake of being different. I will write, I will run, and I will ride my bike on a somewhat continuous loop throughout the year. I will get better, just a little, every day. And I think that's one of life's great elations, that daily progression to a better version of ourselves. "
-- Martin Dugard, in a blog post on life -- and on writing
