Wind, rattling the windows...

Weather's turning. Again. Beautiful sunny day is on its way out, and a long bank of gray clouds is steamrolling its way over the mountains. Not sure what the forecast is, but by the look of it we could wake up to snow tomorrow.

Early morning visit to the allergist, then home to work. It might be Tuesday, but it had Monday written all over it. Slow going, start to finish.

Read an article in the NYer by Gay Talese about a motelier (I'm coining that word, by the way) in Aurora, named Foos. A voyeur. Could say more, but-- 

Looking ahead to summer. Fishing. Time in the mountains. Been locked up all winter and finally starting to feel it. Nine new pieces in from N. Gonna read all before making any decisions.

It's the little things...

Back in touch with some old mates from SF. Good to be able to read their work. Easy day here in the Springs. Weather sunny, temps in the 60s. A good day all around. Up early to do some revisions, but mostly took things in stride. Quit the keyboard around noon, and went off to a movie. Dinner out with family later.

Albuquerque on the mind. Changes coming in spades, though it's hard to say when and in what proportion. Been surprised more times in the past month than the previous five years, total. How is it the most obvious things can still sneak up on us? 

Nice thing about getting older, you look forward to stuff like planting a new bush. Painting a window sill. 

Resurrection...

Quiet Easter Sunday. Brunch with family, long distance calls to more family, then off to the Dodge dealership to ransom the truck from it's water pump woes. Sun came out. Big snow of yesterday is all but melted. Grass is almost green.  

Good (sort of) Friday...

Tugged in all directions. 

Put last touches on "Unseen" this morning. Will start sending it off next week. Spend rest of the day researching markets...trying not to worry about the future. Weather took turn this afternoon. Looks like that mountain of snow we've been promised might actually come though.

Truck needs new water pump. Ouch.

Road trip in the making...

Stuck in what feels like an endless state of revision. Good? Bad? Hard to say. Maybe what's best now is to stand down, take a breath, and come back to some of these pieces later. Happened on a title for the story of the two hunters. "Wilderness of Pain." Lifted it from the Doors, "The End." Still monkeying around with dialog, wondering if condensing some of the interior action won't strengthen the work.

Proofs in for "Desperado" from the editors of the American Fiction anthology. Edit looks clean. Looking forward to seeing the final product.

Earmarked a few of my yet unseen drafts for some upcoming deadlines. If that doesn't get them out the door, nothing will. 

Leaving for Durango tomorrow. Albuquerque the day after. Bittersweet doings, but with any luck more sweet than bitter.

 

Moving sideways...

Close. Close on at least four stories, but all an arm's length from being in the mail. Niggling details. Last minute additions. Etc. Trying to find a balance between elevation and ornament. The best thing is to clean them up, send them out and move on. But for some reason they're reluctant to go. Maybe I'm asking them to do too much.

Good day, workwise. Not a lot of time to spend on fiction, but paying projects were in abundance. Got over to the park late in the day. Enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. Hit the gym after five, but too many people around for a good workout. Need to start earlier, when no one's there.

Long conversation with an old friend this morning. News not good. Son's in a bad way. Hard to swallow those things as you get older. Time's never your friend, but at the same time it's the only remedy to most of life's difficulties.

A stream of consciousness...

Beautiful Sunday. Writing, yard work, the gym, grocery store. Short conversation with the old folks. One of those days where one thing flows into another, and suddenly you're a minor character in a Virginia Woolf story. Worse fates have befallen people, I suppose. 

The course of things...

Did it. Managed a reading draft of "Dead Drift." Put in some serious time on another new story as well. Between the two finished a NYer piece by Don DeLillo and did some catch up reading in the Jenks book.

Dispiriting email from a buddy in Wisconsin. Bad luck going back so many years it's hard to fathom. Getting older doesn't fix much, does it? Strange looking back and remembering how good  things seemed at the beginning. How much they change and veer off course with the smallest bit of english.

Got some sleep last night. Needed it. Looking forward to a quiet evening. Right now, got a kitty who needs attention.

Postage due...

One or two sentences away from putting the finishing touches on "Dead Drift." Much headway on   new story, "Trigger Happy," today. Didn't realize it was so close. Good to have so many pieces in the works, and so many more in the wings. Been a slow go for the past eighteen months. With "Unseen" and "Good Bad Friday" both near the finish line as well, may have four strong stories in circulation by month's end. Not overanxious, but want to move on to newer drafts. Time to get the manuscripts in the mail.

 

 

Bewitched, bedeviled, and bewildered...

Been plugging away at four different stories, all close to completion, but each one's posed its own special difficulties. "Dead Drift" is probably closest to being finished. Should have a reading draft by tomorrow, certainly by the weekend. Feel really good about the piece. Hope it lives up to expectations. Dragged a copy of "Bad Good Friday" into the office this afternoon, and went at resectioning it the old fashioned way. With a scissors. Sounds stupid, but no shit, it worked. I now have a working draft that both makes sense and moves forward--instead of sideways. Whatever works, right? 

Daylight Savings Time? This weekend? Am I right about this?

Two draft day...

Squandered the better part of a beautiful day at the keyboard. But it was worth it. Made great headway on one story, and nearly came to a passable reader's draft on the second, "Dead Drift." Have good feelings about the work these days, and hope the old instincts are on target. Off to the gym late afternoon. Back home after a short workout. Gonna glide into Saturday night.

 

Revising, revisiting...

Into the office early. Good work done on "Dead Drift," formerly "The Catch." Reordered the narrative, streamlined the action, trimmed dead wood, and rewrote the ending. Still need to smooth out the diction, but the piece has already improved by leaps and bounds. Also made some good advances with a new story, working title, "Walking In." Have four pieces now, all within a few  good edits of going out the door. At least three others not far behind. Want to believe this is going to be a good year. Not worried about quantity, but would like to see a leap forward in quality. Bigger pubs. Maybe a few extra bucks on the side. 

Nice weather today, and more promised tomorrow. Someone mentioned seventies, but it seems too early for that. Anyway, a classic Colorado day. Blue skies, snowy peaks, and fresh air. The antidote to a whole helluva lot that's going on right now. Another nice thing. Saw my artist friend, George S. yesterday. Been too long. Had a great visit, and am already looking forward to the next.

 

Rubric Tuesday...

Up early to say goodbye. K off to New York, then Florida. Good morning with the little man, then off to dental appointments, the office, and home again. Had the chance to delve deeper into Poetics of Fiction, and am fascinated--truly fascinated--by what I'm learning. Put in a bit of time editing, but wasn't able to make huge headway owing to other work. Tomorrow, right? Cold weather blew in overnight, snow as well. Tomorrow's supposed to offer a respite. Let's hope so.

Behind...

Windy day. Bad dreams last night. Woke up in a sour mood and couldn't kick it. Slow morning, but managed some edits this afternoon. Making better progress than hoped on my new birth-parents story.

Letter off to the folks. Looks like I won't be making the trip south this weekend. Feel bad about that, but work and other obligations are standing in the way. Gotta re-group and start counter-punching.

Better, Best, Bested...

Last good day before the Chinooks blow in again, if the weather folks are right. Sunny, blue skies. It was all there for the asking, providing you didn't have any prior commitments to keep you from it. Which I did. Spent the morning getting the new iPhone working, gathering up tax documents, taking care of the odd errand, and managing the smallest amount of editing on an old manuscript. Been banging away all week, but can't seem to make things move forward. Hope that means when it gives, it comes in a flood. Finished Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, while riding the bike at the gym. Fun piece of work. Really enjoyed it. Re-read the first ten or so pages of "Sonny's Blues" too. Quite a story. Quite a story. Letter out the door to D. today. Always feels like a message in a bottle, sending them off.