Hope you all had a glorious holiday season. It was quiet here, after the initial flurry of pre holiday disasters etc, and am now trying to settle back into some kind of a routine, so I can get back to writing. Part of that involves gettig up early -- a habit i was able to dump with relative ease. This surprised me, to be honest. I've always been able to get up early, even after a late night, so having to actually set the alarm, and then giving myself "just five more minutes," felt a little odd, but it's all coming back to me now.
Wrote yesterday. First time in what feels like forever. got 1577 new words down. AND I exercised, and walked the dog (usual result there. I really don't like walking the dog.) and then went out ot the back yard and played iwth him for a while. Luckily the weather's still warm, so it was fun, not torture. I threw the stuffed Santa Claus he got for Christmas, and he retrieved it for me, with much diving and rolling and playing in the snow. He also shook the crap out of that little thing. I believe rats are lucky Alberta's rat free. The dog has good instincts for snapping small necks etc.
Have made it a goal this year to read some of the "how to" books I have in the house. Started "Writing the Blockbuster Novel," by Albert Zuckerman. Much of the usual in the beginning of this book. The things to look for in a book that could make it to blockbuster status -- high stakes for characters larger than life that readers care about deeply, with a dramatic question to be answered, possibly high concept, from multiple points of view, with interesting even exotic settings. So there you go. It tickled me when I read this. The only thing I'm missing is the exotic setting. Does a small bit of Cuba count? We'll see about that, too.
Actually, I'm intrigued with this book, and will continue to read it. Let's see how the masters do it. And speaking of masters, blasted through Stephen King's "The Cell" on Boxing Day. What a great ride! Will reread, to see how he set things up and built that story. But not today. Today, I write.
Other books on my to read list are "How to Grow a Novel," by Sol Stein, "The Marshal Plan for Novel Writing," by Evan Marshall, and "Self Promotion for the Creative Person," by Lee Silber. The last one is a how to on getting the word out about my work. Was fairly horrified when I read through and realized image is important. I guess this means no more jogging off to the grocery store with my pajamas tucked into my boots and more or less hidden by my husband's winter coat. Darn it. That's so comfortable.
Had a "Heroes" marathon party at my house on January 1st. Didn't work out as well as I'd planned, because my vision of marathon TV watching is at least 12 hours of episode after episode, in order if humanly possible. (The way my husband and I watched Homicide, Life on the Street, last year. Baby, we blasted through 7 -- count 'em 7 -- SEASONS in the holiday break. THAT was a marathon. Also demonstrates what happens when you get two addictive personalities in the same TV room with time on their hands, but whatever.) The wimps at NBC gave us three episodes, starting at 9 PM our time. Most of my friends had to go to work the next day, so didn't bother coming over. A couple of people did though, so it was all right. We ate too much, and watched the small offerings, and now wait anxiously for the next show. Those of you not watching Heroes, do so. It's a wonderful series. Heroes with an edge. Heroes not sure what the hell is going on -- just knowing they have to do something. Heroes with gifts that oftentimes do not seem like gifts at all, but curses. Gee, feels a little bit like life, doesn't it? Sometimes the dialogue is a little bit clunky, but try to get over it. The story's the thing, here. And it's a heck of a good ride. Hope they can keep it up.
OK, it's down to work now. Oh, no word yet on Manhood Road. Fingers still crossed? I know mine are!
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