Friday, March 24, 2006

Entering the deadline cave

I have a firm deadline to get this novel finished - next week! This is because I am attending a novel workshop in May to learn more about writing such a thing and part of the qualifications for attending is a finished novel.

I have been working on it and sometimes wish I could just find a box to crawl into with my laptop and room service. It's hard to write at home sometimes because there is so much here that cries out for my attention. Plus John is home from college this week and silly me I want to spend a LITTLE time with him...

Well, I'm going to chain myself somewhere and get this finished. I will warn family and friends I may be very focused this week and just be patient with me I WILL get back to normal (or what passes for normal with me )

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Back from Tennessee...

Hardest part of the trip was the drive - Central Florida to Tennessee is a long hard drive, even with Don and I taking turns. But the benefits were worth it.

One great part of the trip was seeing my oldest friend Tina. We figured out we have known each other 20 years and we have kept the friendship up in one form or fashion all that time. She is probably my best friend, one I can tell ANYTHING to, and I was happy to see her house for the first time. It was great seeing her husband and son as well.

The real goal of the trip though was to visit John and his college and see for ourselves how things are going. They are going pretty well. We have some minor concerns, but the president of the college told us many parents would give anything to have a son like John. He is doing well in his studies and seems to be growing more comfortable in interacting with others, though he will never be Mr. Life-of-the-party. We left feeling pretty good about stuff there.

I got some writing done as well. Going through Atlanta enabled me to get a lot of stuff for my novel, which is partly set in the area. Tina here was again a big help, and I have promised a glowing acknowledgement in the book if it gets published. :-)

Today was the first day back from the trip - I unpacked, checked online stuff, deleted a TON of email and started organizing a long list of stuff that needs to be done. Will write my column after Bible Study tonight and work a little bit on the novel. The next few days will be busy with writing and family stuff as I try to finish the novel, get some short stories mailed out and other stuff.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Funny quote...

My friend Tina sent this quote to me. Since I am a columnist (not a "communist" like some of my friends like to joke) I see a lot of truth in the funny:


"A reporter gets an assignment and writer the necessary coverage, but a columnist always starts with nothing but a deep hole to fill."
-- James Qwilleran, The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell