Thursday 6:14 pm...

Another day in the wild west.

Early to the gym, edits at home on "Ocean's Apart," an hour or three looking after little things, then away to the office. 

Can tell it's getting close to the end of the week. Energy levels flagging. Big day tomorrow with early morning presentation, script writing, and a bit of ad work on a tight deadline. 

Enjoyed the drive home tonight. Traffic was crazy, but the air was clear and cool, and the last bit of sun was a warm, happy gold.

Music, man...

Up later than usual. Into the office earlier than usual. Banged away at video scrips most of the afternoon, set up a meeting or two, then hit the gym late in the afternoon. Warm today. A clear bright autumn sun. Getting close to that time of year I love best.

Neighbor's brother? Cousin? back in town. Musician. Man plays a mean trumpet. Is playing a mean trumpet. Prelude to an orgiastic harmonica/trumpet duet later this evening, I'd wager. Fun to hear them. Nice people.

Close on drafts of both "Man of Letters" and "Ocean's Apart." Keep thinking they're there, but every time I re-read the drafts there's always something else. That feeling that one more edit will make it better. Sometimes it's a good feeling, sometimes its a feeling of despair. When it's good, it's best to hold on and wait for the words to come.

Debates tonight, I think. Something presidential. Or what one hopes will be presidential. Might tune in. At worst, it could be good for a few yucks.

Life's lessons...

Scattered day. Again. 

Up late--last lazy day of the holiday weekend--off to the keyboard, then to the gym. Another old folks class! No matter. Rode the bike, read more of the Comanche book, then home for a bit of letter writing and business correspondence.

Believe "Man of Letters" to be shaping up into a good story. Hope I'm right about this.

Off to the movies this afternoon. Saw "Hell or High Water" for the second time. Nice, nice story. Wish I'd written it. Particularly good dialogue about poverty being a disease, passed down from generation to generation.

Brief exchange with TJ at N. A gracious man and insightful teacher. 

Feats of illumination...

Can't seem to get it in gear. Doldrums. Must be the return of the hot weather.

Picked up some lumber and hardware for the back fence. Maybe frame it out tomorrow.

Unsuccessful in getting to the theatre. Or the restaurant. Mouth beat up. Bad.

Re-read Richard Bausch's "Hotel Macabre," which appeared this week in Narrative. Have an interesting anecdote about this story, but can't repeat it online without causing one of us a great deal of embarrassment.

Fire tonight?

Easy does it...

Quiet day. Spent most of it resting, writing, reading. No gym, no yard work. Haven't had one like this in a long, long, long time and probably needed it. Revisions to "Man of Letters" went pretty well, and the story is near to being passable. For a first read. The other, the one I started a few days ago? Not so much. It needs a better open, and a better thread of dramatization. The possibilities are there, but the actualization isn't. Yet. Still, some fun stuff to work with.

Don't know what the hell's going on this year that correspondence from the journals is so slow. Maybe it's that I've submitted some of the pieces to contests, none of which appear to be in any hurry to respond? Should make a note of that in the future. Not all that practical to have your work tied up for nine months to a year, but also not very practical to shell out entry money then abandon it.

Notes in today from T&B re: RMSMB. Look forward hearing what they have to say. Meanwhile, press forward with the work at hand.

Weather improved. Felt like fall today, sunny and breezy. A touch humid. Maybe build a fire in the backyard tonight and enjoy the stars. 

Books, bookings, and Mom...

Dreary day. Overcast. Gray. Humid.

Office early, gym later. Remembered why the reverse is better. No old folk groups at 6:00 am. Made some nice revisions on two stories. Think one of them might make it as a reader draft soon. Got this checklist in my head that keeps growing. Ought to commit it to paper one of these days rather than relying on memory. Make for faster,  more efficient editing.

K off to Florida. Booked out of here at 3:00 this afternoon. Should have some quiet time over the next couple of days. Be nice to finish the yard work, knock out a finished manuscript, and see a movie. Or two.

Comanche book is fine. Looking forward to a bit of reading time tonight. 

Need to get a letter off to mom. Send along a copy of the Flint Hills Review.

Hmmm...

Cheerful day. Lots of sun, high flying clouds, a good fall breeze. Out of the gym and into the office early. Worked out a new draft, best first shot in a long time. How many mss are sitting on my desk, days away from being finished? Must be five. Of more interest, why haven’t I been able to shove them out the door? A real head scratcher. Been in this place before. You wake up one morning, and suddenly the words all fall into place. Not gonna panic or try and hurry anything cause it wouldn’t do any good. Just gonna wait and see.

Nice meeting this afternoon. New TV script in the works. Got a nice walk through Old Colorado City. Could’ve used a Starbucks but settle for a house brew. Back at the office made a few more revisions.

K leaves for home tomorrow. Been a nice visit. Like to get at least one new ms out the door before the weekend’s out. Maybe it’ll happen, maybe not. But something to shoot for. 

 

Tuesday and counting...

Closing the book on another one. Back and forth day. Read a little, wrote a little, looked after small things around the house.

Casting still in progress for Our Souls at Night. Extras won’t be called for another week and half. Meanwhile, scripts for at least two videos, a draft for a coffee table book, and scattered manuscripts staring me down.

Rain again, off an on.

Dinner guests coming. Gotta run.

 

Rainy day, dream away...

Big rain blew in this afternoon. Clouds on the mountains still all swollen and bruised. Temps fell into the 70s and will probably stay there for a few days. Good sleeping weather, for sure.

K’s inspection on the new digs went well. Lots of reason to celebrate. Happy for her. Hope the rest of the song and dance goes as smoothly.

Saw Hell or High Water at the theater out east, yesterday. Nice bit of filmmaking/storytelling. Like to go back and see it again. Maybe this weekend?

Stalled out, writing. Need to step back and take a breath of air. Step up the reading for a few days. Having luck with the revisions, but they seem to be coming more slowly, which usually means I’ve gotten far too close to the manuscript and lost my aesthetic distance.

Empire of the Summer Moon continues to impress. Gotta fetch a hardcover for the permanent library when I’m finished reading.

Calling it a wrap. Need to get home to the house guests.

Plate full, not going back for seconds...

Up later than usual, today. Loafed over a couple of cups of coffee, then watered the garden and sneaked off to the gym.

House guest-ing again this week. Maybe through the weekend, depending on everyone's plans. 

Going to a movie this afternoon. New western, the title of which eludes me. Reviews looked good. Who knows, maybe were coming into a revival? That'd be nice.

Speaking of the west, reading an absolutely spellbinding bit of historical nonfiction. Empire of the Summer Moon.

Have the feeling things are gonna get kind of hairy around here the next few weeks. Got projects piling up at the office, new responsibilities at N coming down the pike, and who knows, maybe even some extra work on the movie set in Florence. Exciting times.  

 

Cattle call...

Slept in, up at 8:00. Put in some quick edits on a story, then ran off to the Hillside Community Center for the casting call of Our Souls at Night. Two hundred people already there when I arrived. No worries, though. Line moved quickly. The production staff was polite and efficient, and after a headshot and short briefing, was home again. We'll see what happens from here.  

 

All I gotta do is act naturally...

Finished a reader draft of "Oceans Apart" this afternoon. Good to have it near-ready for the mail. Cut 1000 words of backstory from "Man of Letters" yesterday, and it breathed new life into the piece. Feeling optimistic about it again.

Beautiful autumn evening. Nice rain earlier made everything cool and breezy, perfect for a good night's sleep.

Going off to a cattle call tomorrow. Netflix is looking for extras for "Our Souls at Night." Should be an interesting way to kill a Saturday. Will bring a laptop and good book along.

A little bit of sunshine...

Interesting hodgepodge of a day. All over the road, literally and figuratively. Work, meetings, more work, more meetings. Caught up with old friends, revisited old projects. Researched new projects and got a head start on tomorrow's to-do list. For all that, it feels like I'm still behind.

Tried to punch out a few lines at home, but was beset on all sides by kitties. First with meows, then with cuddles. Had to abandon the laptop keyboard for the office computer. That, or give up on my projects and resign myself to a nap.

Fall weather's drifted in. Low lying clouds were clinging to mountain valleys like smoke this afternoon. Sky opened later in the day and the sun broke through. Needed that. I miss the sun when it's not around.

 

 

 

The list goes on...

Good day at the keyboard. Got scripts out of the way, managed some billing, made a number of productive revisions to the Hawaii story (tentatively titled "Oceans Apart"), and logged a rejection on "Dead Drift."

Early day at the gym, early day at the office, then day early home to look after small things. Mid morning meeting tomorrow to discuss video scripts, and production.

Weather's been cooling off, though it may have made it into the eighties this afternoon. Not sure. Only know I didn't need to run the AC, which was nice. Prime fishing weather in the cards, and fingers crossed I can take advantage. More guests coming in over the weekend, so we'll see what the gods are willing to dispense with, favorwise.

Is it crazy I'm still dogged by the memory of my old fishing vest? Wonder if it'll ever turn up? Stranger things have happened, I guess.

 

Lazy Sunday...

Big party last night. 75th birthday, 20th anniversary all in the same shot. Hit the rack late, woke up with absolutely no energy. Even so, finished critiques of B&T stories and blazed through two quick revisions of some new short fiction. 

Beautiful day for fishing. Wish I'd planned ahead. As it was, good to push some work out the door, and get a jump on the week ahead. Still have a script staring me in the eye, and two new video projects in the wings.

Maybe sit outside by the fireplace tonight. Turn in early, and start fresh in the morning.