storyfires

Finished the book today, after a minor panic attack because it wasn't done and two ultra-marathon writing days living on trail mix, clementines, and Dove's dark. Still needs polishing. And a better name. And, yeah, reducing. Fattest book yet. Oops. But 'tis done. A draft that I like. And now, oh, yeah, time to pack. And buy face-wash. And dental floss. Leaving for SCBWI NY in two days. I'll tell all y'all about that soon. See you later!

It's February again, the Unspeakable Month, and time for the annual Trash-on-February post. January brown air Because February, Month of Love, is also the season of toxic air, no sun, brown icicles hanging off cars, and cold that goes on and on and on. January: no new snow, and dog Tis the time of left-over, tired-out snow, and pollution-induced bronchitis; also pneumonia, sinus infections, flu, and any other lung disease you've ever heard of. There's nothing to sing about but inversion-magnified pollution, the tedium of cold ugliness everywhere, and did I mention the really bad air? Fa la la, and so forth.  I barely need mention the decking of halls with pukey-colored Valentines' decor, fuchsia underwear ads, Pepto-Bismol candy, trashy movie-trailers for films that think sex is romance...and yeah, of course, the really, really bad air. We keep topping the charts for worst in the nation. Me, trying not to breathe brown January air And then t...

January is marathon month. I'm not talking about running. I have no motivation to run lately: four miles max for long runs, if you're being generous. Probably you shouldn't be that generous. I'm not sure I ever run that far. On my off days I watch Merlin reruns while I ride the bike trainer. Sometimes I have more off-days than on-days. Sometime I think all days should be off-days. Running Shoes    Vs.       Biking Shoes Clearly running isn't one of my New Year's resolutions. I run when I feel like it. That keeps it fun. And I believe in doing what the season calls for. In December it calls for good food and family get-togethers, and, of course, gaining weight. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the extra five. Family get-together  2014  And right now the season seems to be calling for a marathon write. So I write. All morning long. All afternoon. All evening. Because it's dark and cold outside. The air looks like poop. M...

The cold and snow wouldn't have been a problem at all if I didn't have a deadline to meet on my WIP. I like cold and snow. It could snow this hard every week all winter and I'd be good with that. When people say they hate the cold weather, they get blank looks from me. But when it snows this much and gets this cold, and you have to wear a face-warmer up over your nose and neck, and jam down your beanie to meet the face-warmer, and take off your glasses so they don't fog up when you breathe, and you wear a million layers and cover all the remaining exposed skin with olive oil, just to walk the dog (yes, that picture you're generating of me is as alien-weird as you think), and your bum still feels frostbit when you get home, and the cat turns into a fluff-ball and the old dog gets all frisky and puppyish just because there's all this white stuff on the ground...well, that's when cold-weather Russian-related story-thoughts fly in with the wind-chill whether ...

Dear Mini-van, No offense, LYN, but first of all let me say how glad I am that it was you and not my kid. I mean, my kid was inside...without a seat-belt...head-on collision...not her fault...and your air-bags deployed and all she got was a bad case of shock (you mean, I really could die in this car? The mini-van?  So humiliating!). She also got a few bruises, and an invisible piece of glass hiding somewhere in the skin of her pinky-finger. And you, LYN, got death. Too bad the camera wasn't focused so we could all see just how dead, with the window all broken out and both drivers'-side doors caved in and the engine all squished and bleeding engine-juice all over the street.  I'm so sorry, LYN. Unfortunately, nobody else is. Especially not my girls, who have been forced to drive you to school and work.You've been made fun of a lot in your life, and you didn't deserve it. We've been through a lot together. From the day we went to Jamba Juice with th...