writer
Couldn’t get it going today. Up early and all the rest, but didn’t get a whole lot further. Started a new story, revised on the drafts I’d been working on earlier in the week, and that was pretty much it. Thought I might take a trip to the gym and clear my head, but even that didn’t work. Ended up downing a sudafed and going back to bed.
Fingers crossed for a better tomorrow.
It’s like there’s no losing this cold. Two weeks in now, and only the slightest bit of improvement. Even sleep doesn’t help much.
Up later than usual, but did some good work once I got going. Started another new short. Started a third I’m gonna piece together tomorrow.
Made it to the gym , but didn’t have a lot in the tank. Muddled through, is the best you could describe it. Maybe things will pick up tomorrow.
First day of formal impeachment proceedings. Fear it’s gonna be a long, long time before we have another “normal” news cycle.
Missing my boys.
Put in some decent work this morning.
Two radio spots, an ad and one collateral piece out the door before 1:00. Even got in a little bit of revision time on the new short. Too bad this cold is punching back, or I might’ve gotten further. Wish to hell there was something to do other than wait it out, but so far I haven’t thought of it.
Bagged going to the gym in favor of rest. Put in some market research, made a few submissions, then went off for a walk around the neighborhood.
Nice afternoon. Better than I’d hoped. Sun was high and warm, and there wasn’t much of a breeze. Got in a close to a mile, then drifted over to Starbucks for a late day latte.
Time to punch away at the N stories sitting in my queue. Take on some of the other miscellany I’ve been dodging.
Hope springs eternal, right?
Wow. Almost let this one slip by.
Still in a brain fog, I guess, from the cold.
Small day all around.
Weather got cold.
Need to ramp up to face tomorrow.
Miss my boys.
Easy does it day.
Up at 6:00, off to the keyboard. Worked on the new short a while, got some paperwork out of the way, then went grocery shopping. Killed the rest of the afternoon making soup and watching a ball game.
Gonna rest up tonight and hope for another chance to sleep away this wretched cold.
The say snow tomorrow. No worries. Have a lot to keep me busy.
Not sure where the next few weeks are heading, but feel a definite pull in the general direction of the holidays. Looking forward to getting in a little more writing, a little more reading.
Meanwhile, need to stay focused on what’s in front. Fine-tuning the work. Not listening to the chatter.
K stayed for dinner. That was nice. Made some good plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Quiet around the neighborhood. Moon looked pretty tonight in the haze.
Be nice to divest myself this cold, but it seems to have stalled out in my head. Been sleeping better, but by better I mean sleeping at all. No gym two days running, trying to rest myself into health. Hasn’t done much except leave me two days out of shape, and a long way back to the heavy bag when I finally pick myself up.
Did get in some good writing this morning. Feeling better and better about the new short. Think I’m pretty close to a reader draft. Hope so, anyway.
Thought we might drive south and put the canoe in, but just didn’t have mojo. Spent the afternoon at the movies instead. Saw a joint called Jo Jo Rabbit, which was surprisingly good, though why I say “surprising” I don’t know. Critics were giving it pretty high marks.
Talked to Mom for a few last night. She’s down in Tucson visiting friends. Was nice to hear her sounding strong and energetic. Gonna give her a call a little later in the week, do a little more catching up after she gets back home.
Haven’t heard much about the long piece. One note, and that’s it. Fingers crossed, right? It’s all you can do.
A day of mild comebacks.
Commercial projects off in the mail, TTN manuscript back to editor, an easy workout at the gym, and letters to the boys. On hold with the Social Security Administration now, trying to figure out what’s wrong with their online registry portal.
Slept better last night. Cold moving from head to throat. Hoping to rehab over the weekend and come back strong in the new week.
Started the new Leif Enger novel, Virgil Wander yesterday. Quite charming. The perfect story to follow up the Trevor book.
Been thinking about a drive south tomorrow, down to Lake Isabel. Try and get in a little canoeing. Gonna have to wait and see what the weather holds, thought, before loading anything up.
Quiet day, otherwise.
Quiet and pretty.
Nice to have fall back for a few days.
Geez. Another night not sleeping. Woke a tad after midnight and with the exception of a half hour here and there, never went back. A solid week into this cold now, and sick of it.
Finished a couple of radio spots today and an ad, and worked my way one step closer to the last edits on the TTN ms.
Give anything to be able to breathe.
No gym today.
Thought I might get a little more done, but ran out of time.
Hoping for a good night’s sleep.
Signing off.
Hit hard by the crud. If I could manage a good night’s sleep it might help, but you can’t sleep if you can’t breathe. Up at midnight. Tossed and turned the rest of the night. Was up before six, and spent most of the morning catching up on billing, etc. Also got a good start on the radio spots for C.
Drifted off to the gym early afternoon, did a little grocery shopping afterward, then came home and wrote more.
Found out my story, “Kings in Exile” was named a finalist in the Sequestrum New Writer Awards. First bit of decent news all week.
A big wind blew in, cold weather with it. Temps will drop tonight, for sure. Still supposed to be a nice weekend, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Pretty decent day up until late afternoon.
Finished the William Trevor novel yesterday. Felicia’s Journey. Wow. What a writer the guy was.
Gotta push hard to finish the commercial stuff tomorrow and finish my notes to TTN. Best to cash it in for tonight and take a strong run at it tomorrow morning.
Wish I weren’t so damned tired. Add that to the endless list of other wishes, right?
Signing off.
Fighting off the new cold.
Downed some Sudafed last night and crashed early only to wake at 1:00 and never get back to sleep. Oh, well. Put in some early time at the keyboard, then went off to a meeting. Back home, moseyed off to the gym and then to the barber. Not much of a day, but nothing to complain about either. Pushed a few things out the door, and prepped for a few more coming in.
Weather was nice today from what I saw of it. Warm, sunny, with blue skies.
Weekend’s supposed to be in the 60s.
Who knows, maybe fall will make a brief return.
Meanwhile, looking at an early bedtime.
Back in town, back in the saddle, back to work.
Pittsburgh seems like a million years ago already. Long day coming home, but maybe because of the cold and maybe because of three and half hours in the air and maybe because it just feels that way. Anyway, had a great trip. Seeing the boys again was terrific. Glad to be home, but sorry for how long it will be before we get together the next time.
Had a nice, spirited dinner at K’s last night.
Went to be early, but woke early too.
Meetings tomorrow. Scripts. Lots of good things going on. Just need to find a way to keep pace with all of it.
Pittsburgh, day two.
Woke to the happy creaching of a three-year-old barreling into the bedroom at six a.m. Spent the day in the house with the boys—rain was falling in sheets—but had a pleasant, if cold night, Trick-or-Treating, talking, and goofing off. Great seeing them again. Tomorrow, off to the aquarium.
Got an unexpected acceptance today from a literary journal out of Stockholm, Two Thirds North, letting me know they’ve accepted my short story, “Frank the Redeemer.”
Lots going on.
Thrilled to be here, but tired of wet weather all around.
…and the weather people were finally right. Woke to a ton of snow. Spent the morning shoveling instead of writing. But no complaints. The neighborhood looked particularly beautiful today.
Leaving for Pittsburgh tomorrow. Well, leaving for Denver, anyway. More snow’s predicted for tomorrow, so we’re getting a jump on the drive. Spending the night in a hotel. Flying out Wednesday morning.
Can’t wait to see the boys. Seems like they’ve been gone a year already. Got a home-made Halloween Card from Jack today, and couldn’t believe how far he’s come with his spelling and penmanship. Haven’t seen much of Mattie since they moved. Hope he remembers us.
New short is coming along well. Still have revisions before I can call it a reader draft, but I like the direction it’s heading.
Rejection from the BFR. Sixteen months after submission. 2019 will, in most respects, be a year I’ll happily bid farewell.
Gonna sit back and chill tonight. Hope tomorrow’s snow doesn’t arrive until I’m sitting in my room in Denver.
Played catch up most of the day.
Up late. Spent most of the morning researching markets and mailing off manuscripts. Took a pleasant timeout to sit in front of the fire on the patio and drink coffee.
Cleaned the house while waiting for the sprinkler maintenance man and the Xfinity tech rep to show. All good. Sprinkler blown out, software update on TV successful, house spic ‘n span.
Like to say I accomplished more, but it would be a lie.
Head all full of Pittsburgh at the moment. Can’t seem to get around it. Keep telling myself not to think beyond the moment, be the mountain. But it’s gonna be a long time before things come correct on that account. A very long time.
Now that I think about it, I’m tired of exactly as many people as I happen to miss.
But that’s a conversation for a different day.
Good day.
Good revisions, good talk with an old buddy, good workout.
Snow came but didn’t stick. What’s better than that?
Good day all around.
Close to having a reader draft on the new story. Quiet on all other literary fronts.
Put in the best workout I’ve had in weeks at the gym. Came home and made a pot of navy bean soup with ham shanks I roasted this morning.
Looking out the cottage window at snow. They’re saying six to ten inches. Figure I’ll have my work cut out for me either way come morning.
Read the second of the N stories I’ve been saving. Impressed with both, given the ages of the writers, but don’t plan to advance either.
Up later than I would’ve liked, but made the most of a slow start. Did more cleanup on the new story, wrote a letter to the boys, got in some research, and re-read an old Mavis Gallant piece before taking off for the South Platte, fly rod in hand.
Beautiful day on the water. It’s all catch-and-release on the stretch out of Deckers, but that’s the way I wanted it. Had a great time.
Looks like some more commercial work will be coming in. Happy for that. Just counting the days now before we take off for Pittsburgh. Nice to be busy in the meanwhile.
Supposed to snow tomorrow. We’ll see. Right now it doesn’t look like it, but a cold front could move in fast with wind like we had earlier in the week. Either way, have my shovel ready.
Been trying to kick-start the day since I got out of bed. Think maybe this allergy stuff is getting to me.
Made some progress on the new story, but couldn’t find the mojo to put the last of the pieces in place. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe I should leave it a while and start on something new. Nice thing about having the long piece out of my hair, I’m getting in some good reading time. New issue of Ploughshares showed up in the mail today. Looking forward to cracking it.
Got over to the gym for the first time in—what?—four days? A little hard getting it going, but managed a decent workout before going home. Figured to ramp it up tomorrow, but the weather’s going to be so nice I might ditch the workout in favor of a day on the water. Maybe drive back up to the South Platte in Deckers.
Wind keeps blowing, leaves keep falling. Been a disappointing fall in terms of color. The big cold last week killed most everything. Good reminder to take it when it’s in front of you, and forget about the rest. Yeah. Some fishing tomorrow might be just the thing.
Think maybe it’s the fire up in Salida that’s giving me so much grief. Eyes’ve been on fire for two weeks.
Big winds all day today, so decided to drive up into the mountains and escape the keyboard for a while. Spent the afternoon chasing the South Platte around Deckers. Skies were overcast and the mountain was brown after the freeze last week, but the scenery was still unbeatable.
Many many dead trees on the burn scar up there left over from the Hayman Fire. Saplings coming on in some of the areas, but they’re a long long way from being trees.
Close on the new story draft. Think it’s gonna be okay. Might start something new tomorrow, just so I have something else in the hopper.
Looking forward to getting back to the gym.
Busy Saturday.
Woke early, put in some time at the keyboard, then killed an hour or so at breakfast with Mom. Had a nice visit all around, though a little less event-packed as the others have been. She says she wants to go canoeing the next time she’s up, so who knows? Maybe we’ll get a nice day and drive over to Quail Lake. Meantime, it’s back to work.
Caught up with Jackie on FaceTime and had an amusing, if brief, chat. Mattie squeezed in a few words, too. Looking forward to seeing those two characters at the end of the month. Feels like a year since we’ve been with them.
Did a little more yard work this afternoon, followed by a trip to Rocky Top, followed by some shopping. All in all, a successful day.
Feeling the crash coming on, so don’t expect to stay up late. Figure to get an early start in the morning and maybe finish a draft of the new short piece.
Weather beautiful today, but the smoke from the Salida fire is still heavy in the air.
