As a writer, and a believer in organized labor, I unequivocally support the Writers Guild of America strike. As a fan, however, I am already dreading the thought of doing without new episodes of my favorite shows: Pushing Daisies, Lost, House, Heroes, and all the rest. Not that I can't think of plenty of other ways to spend my time...but I crave certain shows with a passion, and I hope they settle this strike SOON.

Well, it's done. We've closed our swimming pool for the season...so now, of course, we're faced with temperatures rising to the 80s by the weekend. It figures. Still, I'm glad it's done. Pool-closing is always a chore, no matter how carefully you think you've planned for it. Weather unpredictability can be a real nightmare, too. The last two times we closed our pool, the days were extremely windy, throwing lots of leaves into the water and blowing the cover all over the place. Better, I guess, to have done it this past weekend, when the air was relatively still and most of the leaves were on the trees. Nevertheless, I still feel like I could have gotten one...more...swim out of it. Just one nice Indian summer weekend, and I would've been lounging in the water again as if it were the middle of July. Life's too short to miss those opportunities, right? So maybe I should pull that cover off and slip back in this weekend after all. What could it hurt?

Well, Easter weekend was fun, I have to admit. We had houseguests from out of town, including my 5-year-old nephew, who's a riot. On the plus side, we had good eats and entertaining visits with my in-laws (who vastly outnumber my own family). On the downside, I barely wrote anything for the past three days. I did manage to expand and refine a work-for-hire pitch, and I'm really pleased with how it's developing...but otherwise, I just couldn't fit in any focused work. We'll be having houseguests again next weekend, so my plan for this week is to hit the writing HARD before my schedule locks up again. I've got some deadlines stacking up over the next few months, which is a wonderful curse to have...but I need to make headway in the immediate future to avoid heavy pressure later on. So let's roar forward into the new week as if it were a new year and get some stuff DONE.

Well, here we are at the holiday weekend, so it's time for my productivity to go in the toilet. What with houseguests, family activities, and church stuff, this entire weekend will be a complete write-off on the writing side. There's just nothing to be done about it...which of course drives me crazy. What little blocks of time I've been able to set aside over the past 2 or 3 days have been less than productive, because I hate to start a project knowing that I'll have to break my train of thought for 3 solid days. So I guess I'll just have to man up and get through to Monday, when I can get rolling on the writing again. Of course, next weekend, we have houseguests and events, too, due to a wedding shower! Good grief!

Current Mood: melancholy

Well, the verdict is in from my official First Reader (a.k.a. my wife, Wendy): my latest story is worthy! In Wendy's words, "Send it out!" So that's great news. Now, I just have to get the NEXT one started!

On a side note, I saw the movie 300 today, and really loved it. Everything about the film was just incredible. On the other hand, I finally got around to watching the Battlestar Galactica season finale, and I thought it was awful. What a difference a year makes. Last season's finale really blew my mind. I literally talked about it all summer and couldn't wait to see what the Galactica team came up with next. Sadly, what they came up with was a weak, meandering string of episodes that never lived up to the promise of last season. I think Ron Moore and his team have lost their way. In fact, I hate to say it, but I think Galactica has jumped the shark.

I finished the first draft of a short story today! And it feels great!

I have no idea if the story's any good, but at least it's done. Believe it or not, this was the first story I've written from scratch in many months. In fact, it took some real mental gymnastics for me to get the short story-writin' part of my brain cooking again. Last year, I said I was going to focus a hundred percent on novels...and by gum, I did! I only wrote a handful of short stories. Now, this year, I have some excellent publication possibilities related to short stories, so I had to get myself back in gear again.

And it really does feel great. I admit it: I'd forgotten how much I enjoy writing short stories. It's a whole different animal from novels, of course...and from anything else, for that matter. Now, I just have to hold my breath and hope my First Reader likes it! That would be my wife, Wendy--most trusted, and sometimes most brutal, of the First Reader profession. She knows her stuff, believe me, and she doesn't pull any punches. No free pass from that girl...and as I've learned again and again, even when I think she's wrong about something I've written, she's right.

If you ask me, I think she ought to be an editor for a New York publishing house (and not because I think she'd buy my work!).

I'm a huge jazz fan, so I might be biased...but I just heard a cut called "Where Y'all At?" from Wynton Marsalis' new CD, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary...and I think it kicks ass. You might want to check it out. Not only does it slam the current State of the Union, but it features Wynton rapping (or as close to rapping as he can get) plus some great horn riffs and a chorus that sticks in your head. I haven't loved everything Wynton's recorded, but this is great stuff. One of these days, I'll have to trot out some more of my personal jazz recommendations for you. (Stop groaning! It's good for you!)

My current top-ranked favorite Cool Thing: people who chew gum while they're working out in the gym. Yes, of course I'm dazzled by their ability to chew gum while running on a treadmill or banging out reps on the weight bench. It humbles me when I realize that these folks have an especially high degree of coordination that enables them to do this. They blow me away with the sheer coolness of the look...the oh-so-laid-back attitude as they combine their favorite activities into one stylin' statement. "What's the matter with you?" they seem to say. "Can't chew gum and bench press/run/do sit-ups at the same time? You poor freak!" I'm impressed, I admit it! So why do I keep hoping to see one of them gag on that gum just once?

Well, I've finally got some projects in the works which might turn into actual sales...but I've had so many things fall through before that I'm afraid to say anything about them! Last year, in particular, I got all excited and talked about some ultracool projects that looked definite...and then they went away. I ended up with one sale all year. So for now, I guess, my policy is to keep my mouth shut until a sale has been completed. (In other words, when the contracts are signed, the check's in my hand, and my bit's been scheduled.) In the meantime, I can at least say that I'm writing a short story, a pitch, and a script. Those things in themselves are pretty huge, as I've been battling a case of writer's cramp (good term for it, actually) for quite a while now. It took some doing to get back in the saddle, man, so that's enough excitement for me to talk about tonight.

Have I actually begun to feel grateful for quality rejections? Yes, I have. Agents and publications sometimes send out quickie form letters, often without any indication of what submissions they're responding to. My favorites are the ones that come on a tiny slip of paper...maybe a sixth or an eighth of a standard sheet of typing paper...which don't include the cover sheet of my submission or even a quick chicken scratch scrawl of my submission's title on the rejection slip. For someone who circulates dozens of novel queries and short stories at any given time, this is a real pain in the neckus maximus. On the other hand, I feel a rush of goodwill whenever an agent or editor takes the few seconds to jot a "no thanks" and a signature on my query or cover sheet...or the most coveted prize, a signed rejection on letterhead. Seriously (and perhaps sadly), this little extra bit of consideration makes me feel all warm inside. Let me just say this: I have some idea of the nightmares these folks have to deal with on a daily basis. I suspect the avalanche never stops, and it's all they can do to churn out the form slips...but still.