Sunday, August 12, 2007

Less is more

Whoever invented the web log opened a Pandora's box on an unsuspecting world. Now every other person and their cousin have blogs (including me) and we're expected to post daily. Oh, the pressure and the guilt since I'm averaging a monthly posting not daily.

I suppose I should have my Blogger's license expunged or extracted or whatever they do to failed bloggers.

It's hard enough to concentrate on the main goal—writing, publishing and marketing my books—without the added stress of creating regular posts. Perhaps my problem is I haven't learned the proper blog style and tend to write rambling essays instead of succinct dispatches. Or perhaps, as John Lennon once said, life is what happens while you're making other plans.

And it surely does. For example, the DiGenti B&B has had a stressful month caring for an ailing cat (Satchmo has developed fatty liver disease and refuses to eat) which entailed many trips to the vet and constant worries. On top of that my mother-in-law was here for her annual month-long visit. She's a dear and really no trouble since at 92 years of age she tends to sleep nearly as much as our cats, but this was one more distraction when I rationalize why I haven't posted more.

Another welcome distraction was a visit by our son and daughter-in-law. Since they live in southern California, these visits are indeed as welcome as they are rare . On top of that I broke my toe the morning before they arrived. Not that I've visited a doctor to confirm my own diagnosis, but two weeks later it's still swollen and sore so I'm assuming it's broken. There's not much they can do for a broken toe that you can't do for yourself, so I've been limping along and taking an occasional ibuprofen. At least you would think the experience would have broken me of the habit of walking around the house barefoot. But no. I'm still at it although trying to avoid using my toe to shove large pieces of furniture around.

Throughout all this tornadic activity I've managed to write nearly everyday. This is good news for my publisher who is expecting WINDRUSHER AND THE TRAIL OF FIRE sometime this month. Take heart, I'm 2/3 complete and rapidly approaching the big climactic scene. If I could only figure out how to make all the dangling threads come together and tie it up neatly in a bow. Well, that will have to await the emergence of the magical muse when the time arises, but rest assured I won't leave poor Windrusher up a tree or buried in a cave. He will be rescued and the bad guys will get their comeuppance.

And soon I will return to MATANZAS BAY for another, and final, rewrite. The human genome was mapped in less time than I've been working on this mystery. Believe me, though, it will one day see the light of day.

In the meantime, I've managed to complete another posting and assuage my guilt for a few more days.

Adios until next time.
Vic