Darn! I forgot I had this blog here!

Not really... just been so doggone busy. In fact, I'm heavy into learning all about ebook conversion software. Why, you ask? Because like it or not, the doors are blowing off the traditional publishing model. Ignore it if you want. It's a quick fix society...has been for years. I've played by the rules, played nice, followed the guidelines, waited patiently.

Nobody has ever said, "You suck as a writer! Don't quit your day job...", so I've maintained the course. But I can't ignore the technology, the tools that are available in a free society. Or the growing tide of self-pub mania. Oh, I've not completely pulled out of the trad-pub realm, just keeping my options open. It's like this...if I came to your playground with my dodge ball and I saw you and your friends playing like a bunch of octogenarians wearing depends and sporting walkers, the dust collecting on the ball as it sailed through the air in some odd (and very slow) time warp, and was told I would have to be voted in to play, I would go form my own dodge ball game. I wouldn't care if yours was the Queens dodge ball league and had been around for 150 years. It's that simple.

My first book has undergone a metamorphosis that would put The Fly to shame. I've done all I can do with it, but it will be published. I will not surrender. My second book is coming along nicely and I just did a line edit on the first 200 pages. I've also "sold" a story to a literary publication that will be in print by January and I'm fishing around another short story as I write this. See? I have been busy!

Here's the deal with the trad-status, per say. I'm working with a trad-publisher to get my book in print, but when, no one can say. There is NO contract, just a "gentleman's agreement". I will not live forever. For the life of me, I cannot understand why traditional publishing takes so long! I know the ins and outs of the process, but there seems to be a floating lag factor that cannot be nailed down and stomped like the turtle-paced, snail headed monkey that it is. We've come too far to be operating like scribes from the 16th century. That's why I'm learning ebook stuff. Enough is enough. Sure, I know if I go that route it will be a struggle, but it will be a struggle that I have control of. It will be a struggle that will keep me engaged in the process and not sitting around waiting for the turtle-paced snail head to tell me what's going on.

Well, that was refreshing. Just needed to get that out.

The Soup of Life: A Personal Reflection

In my lifetime, I've come to realize that soups full of many things, are usually the best soups. The ingredients, taken individually, may not be to my liking, but blended with many ingredients and simmered adequately, they make a satisfying meal. Life itself is much like that. Each occurrence in our lives are like the individual ingredients, some good, some not so good, but in reflection, the soup was pretty good.

As my wife and I celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary today, I couldn't help but reflect on that soup. As this year has unfolded, we've experienced some good and bad ingredients, and the combination has been rather bittersweet for me. The good has come in the form of the realization of what I want most out of life in personal growth: to pursue my writing, my passion. The completion of my first book, and the trails, errors and growing pains that a writer must endure, has been every bit as frustrating and satisfying as I would expect life to be. The excitement I feel now, as I write my second book, is fulfilling on a level that I've never had the pleasure of experiencing. My wife has been an solid supporter of this dream, and for that I am eternally grateful.

The bad ingredients, on the hand, have truly been bad. Yes, the bad has come in the form of the realization that we will lose a lot this year. As I stood on the shores of life watching countless people being swept away by economic disaster, I was blindsided by a disastrous wave of my own. The only consolation being that our children are making their own way now, building their own lives, and are no longer dependent on us.

Remember that soup? I'm not writing this to complain about those bad ingredients, or to toot my horn over my love of writing. Life is like a good soup. It will come with good and bad ingredients, but blended together and simmered over time, that soup will taste just fine on reflection. A soup full of those ingredients will be a life well lived. As for my wife and I, we will move forward and eventually reflect on how good the soup was in 2011. We will have each other, and we will survive. But one thing is certain and constant from this point on: I will write everyday, I will write with passion for what I love, and I will do it for the rest of my days. And if the first 29 years are any indication, my lovely wife will be there until the end.