What happens when we make plans.

First thing is God laughs. The second thing, common to most of us struggling writers, is life. We have to pay the bills. We have to take jobs we absolutely hate and put up with people who just don’t get us. We hear that age-old question from the pragmatic, “Why don’t you get a real job.” I would rather create my friends…on paper. Much easier to manage that way.  I know when I dreamed of becoming a writer in high school, I saw the glamour. I was going to be the next Hemingway. Boats and parties, limos, houses in Cuba (well, maybe not that one), beautiful women and never having to worry about the light bill. I was going to sit down and write the next great American novel, in one draft, mind you, and it was going to rocket to number one on the New York Times Bestseller list. Hell, my license plate says BSTSELLR. A bit of “act as if” state of mind and I still hold out with hope in my heart.  The hardest part is transmitting that hope from my heart to my fingers on the keyboard.

 I have been beating myself up for the last several years because I haven’t penned a word, or at least a productive one until lately. My writing head has finally come alive, leaving behind that chorus of self-doubt we all seem to struggle with.

We have lived through Hurricane Florence and then Hurricane Michael that could’ve been devastating to our beautiful North Carolina coast. But we all survived. Some worse the wear than others, but I thank God for the mercy he bestowed upon us. I think that all was my catalyst, along with some heart issues, that got the creative juices flowing.

What got me motivated, you ask? We moved our writing group, Writers Bloc, to the Senior Center in Calabash and it seems like it was the shot in the arm we all needed. Fresh blood. New perspective. New people. Whatever happened, I have been spitting out pages of my new novel Backfire at a very satisfactory rate. Hell, this is the first blog post I have done in five years. I forgot how to get to this site, and it’s mine! Now, that’s all about to change. I am going to try and upload a chapter or two of Backfire to wet your appetite. If I have to say so myself, it is a great story. More on that next time. Ciao for Now.

P.S. Yes, I do look older, not sure if I am wiser. Time will tell. 

 

 

To Ponder

Our minds can take us to some very dark places when we think no one is looking.  It is those illicit pleasures and fantasies that lurk in the depths of our souls, held at bay by the fear of reprisal, that spark new life in our bellies when awakened—the forbidden fruit that men and women alike secretly covet.  It is usually of the flesh—the touch of a new passion that ignites the sleeping ogres that are buried deep within our respectable facades. We feel alive again and soar with secret excitement that must remain ours alone.  We feel that churning in our gut the moment we awake and carry that secret with us while we try to maintain our daily lives and then embrace our pillows at night with heart-pounding fantasy pretending it is something else. 

Some possess a mightier sword and resolve than others and are able to lop off the heads of those persistent goblins that pop into our thoughts.  Most of us do not…