Month: January 2014

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First Love

You know, I almost married the girl. It was a whirlwind romance, born in summer, gestated in fall, and tested in a harsh winter, followed by an even harsher spring. We met, we wooed, we made exchange of vows (of the future marriage kind, not of the marriage itself kind), and I even spent the … Continue reading First Love

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I Remember

I remember… Phillies’ games on school afternoons the smell of popcorn at my first movie a time when tapes were king long walks up and down South Street paddle boating in Baltimore asking Kareema Perkins to go steady wishing for rain in summer dreaming of sheep in order to sleep blushing but no one noticing … Continue reading I Remember

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Checked Out: Week 1

Yes, I checked these out.

Okay, so admittedly I’m a book addict. I can’t help it. About this time last year I decided I was going to stop frequenting the library, that the number of books we own that I hadn’t read had gotten so huge that I would instead focus on them.

Two weeks later I was back at the library checking out an armload of books and breathing a huge sigh of relief. I know there are worse things to be addicted to (a lot worse), but I think I know now how crack addicts feel when they’re going through withdrawal. It wasn’t even like the books here at the house aren’t adequate, either. It’s just that I *knew* there were so many more out there, and I had to get my hands on them.

So, this year I’m not even pretending to be a good boy and read just the books here. Sure, I will sprinkle them in here and there, but I’m not going through that whole thing again. In fact, I’ve decided to use some space here to tell you about the books I currently have out from the library each week (they honestly do change from week to week). Maybe you’ll even want to read some of them, and perhaps I won’t even end up reading all of them myself, but at least for right now they’re in the queue, and sitting snugly on the bookshelf in my corner of the living room.

Here’s what I’ve Checked Out this week:

1. Innocence, by Dean Koontz

So, one of my favorite authors writes a book and I immediately seek out libraries hoping to get my grubby hands on it. Sound familiar? Oh, and did I mention that it’s our book club‘s book of the month for January, too? It means even if it wasn’t something I wanted to enjoy myself, now I have to get it done too. Continue reading “Checked Out: Week 1”

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Words

Words can get us into some serious trouble, can’t they? Have you ever been in a situation where a misunderstanding involving the words you used (or didn’t use) caused a major rift between you and someone else? And all you wanted to do was SCREAM what you were really trying to say, but they weren’t … Continue reading Words

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Cutting Room Floor: Part 3

Scraps of papers on tiled floorSo, for the first time in my history of writing, I honestly don’t think I have a protagonist, and if I do it’s a tough call which one of my “main” characters it would be. The novel has a sort of staccato rhythm as it jumps back and forth between one character and the next, and amazingly enough I like the pacing and the lack of a solid “lead” character. In fact, I liken it to movie with an ensemble cast where everyone keeps up their end of the action. As I go back through the novel one more time for this final edit (the word “final” being relative, knowing me), I’m fascinated by the interconnections.

Now, of course, by fascinated I mean it’s a complex dynamic between characters in a very tight timeline. While I was initially writing it I moved through the complexity pretty quickly, but looking back on it it’s another one of those pieces that just seemed to write itself. Those are my favorites by far.

Well, I’m no closer to coming up with a title, but I’ve made a decision on that. Unless one just comes to me in an epiphany, while I’m editing I’m going to leave it to the side. That of course also affects the cover art, but I’ll deal with that as we get closer to the end of the month. Ideally I would like for my title to come from a pithy line in the novel itself. Those are probably my favorite titles, the ones that remind the reader when they get to it why the book was named thusly. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but inspiration could of course strike at any time. The second I know the title, you will know the title. That’s a promise. Continue reading “Cutting Room Floor: Part 3”

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Getting Cliqueish

“I don’t put people into groups like the jocks, the goths, and the nerds do. I’m a free-thinker. Everyone should be more like me.” To an extent we all judge others, whether they’re short or tall, large or small, black or white, gay or straight, or any other dichotomies that exist the whole world over, … Continue reading Getting Cliqueish