My lollygagging ways will be the best of me. In 2010 I am banning all lollygagging. I will become a time efficient, super charged writing machine. Not only original ideas but the most perfect prose you can imagine will fall onto the pages in a chain of lines so smooth that the story will boast its own skin.

And then again - maybe not.

I can’t believe it’s December. We are leaving on the 18th and returning on the 27th. The dogs will be boarded. I would love to bring them with us, but they are big and excitable and too much for any of our families to welcome. The last time we went home for Christmas the kids were just young, (I think M was three) and we ended up hitting the Plaster Rock Highway at night and it started to snow and blow. The Plaster Rock cuts through the province and although it is a lot faster than going around the coast, it is pretty much just wood and more wood. It is just not the road you want to find yourself on in a snowstorm with two small, tired and car sick children. I think it was after that trip when we decided we would switch our yearly trips home from Christmastime to summertime.

E is writing tests in most of her subjects and E, well, she stresses over writing tests. It is a little more these days since this new term marks will be the ones she uses to apply to Universities. She sometimes comes home during her spare to study and when she studies she reads out loud and paces, which makes trying to write a little difficult.
(That’s just another excuse I’m using these days – I have a list) What I need to learn is to stop putting other things above writing. No one is going to remember me because my sink is empty, or my fridge is clean or my baseboards are white. I don’t know why most of my brain function goes to minor things? And it is not that I actually do these things, I just keep thinking about doing them instead of concentrating on my writing ☺ -- I don’t think three cups of coffee helped either. But I did finish a poem and sent off a story yesterday. Counts for something. And I wish I could show off some of M's art that she is bringing home these days. But pastel crayons and scanners don't mix, I don't think. Maybe I'll try taking a photo.
Hope everyone is having a good week.
edit -- here is one of M's drawings

Walked the dogs last night and thought of another story. The full moon helped. I also watched this TED talk that was very funny and quite well said about creativity. I’ll put it here although it is twenty minutes. I need to jog now. Dogs are waiting patiently.

That’s all for me today. Oh the frustration of not getting it right. And I don’t even get the satisfaction of ripping the sheets of paper from the typewriter, crumpling them into tight wads and throwing them over my shoulder. All I have is a pathetic delete key. Yes, it is a tree-friendlier way of showing the frustrated writer, but really, there is no show to it. I want to make a little app where when you select more than five paragraphs and hit delete it triggers the sound of paper being ripped from a type writer and crumbled into a ball, and I’ll just mime the action to the sounds. Retro writer app or something like that.

I’m now am off to shop for a baby gift. I haven’t heard anything yet but our nephew’s wife went in last evening to have her baby. G’s sister, who is or soon will be a grandmother, was beyond excited. I also have to start holiday shopping. I don’t shop well. Half the time I end up after much fruitless searching getting the same old things, which usually involves candles or scented bath bombs -because I figure who doesn’t like candles or scented bath bombs. And I’m still racking my brain thinking what I should buy my father (besides books), who isn’t so keen on candles or scented bath bombs. I look back to my childhood and find it funny that we kept buying him soap on a rope when he only took baths, not showers. And having eleven kids – he received a lot of soap on a rope. Mainly the Old Spice kind, but I believe Brut made a lovely rope and soap combination also. I am so looking forward to spending the holiday back east this year. It has been at least ten years so I may get a wee nostalgic while I wait.

And speak of the [Insert evil deity of your choice] they arrived. Oh, and is Stephen King's new one a hefty size -- if the man is anything, he is prolific.

I need to head out in the rain to get ink for the printer. Kids and their assignments keep bleeding it dry. It was a bit of a week. G had day surgery on Monday, so I spent the day with him at the hospital. He is as right as rain now. My sister had celebrated her 50th birthday and so I sent her some books. She is a big reader – gosh she must go through two books a week. And since I was ordering books, I ordered a few for myself that I am happily waiting for. Not that I don’t have anything to read, just wanted the joy of holding new ones with shiny covers that the dust of my house had not yet touched. But at the rate I read these days, they’ll probably be layered by the time I get to them. Oh well. Can’t have too many books. Every time I feel slightly guilty about buying another book, I try to balance it with things I rarely buy for myself – and it sort of evens out.

I’m almost finished “The lies of Locke Lamora,” by Scott Lynch. What can I say - it did start out a little slow for me, but it turned into an incredible read. I love it. I read some of the reviews on amazon and I see where some reviewers had trouble with the back and forth time line to Locke’s childhood, but I think it works well, and I can’t see how he would have told the story any other way. And his world, holy shite, he did a good job. I think I might go from this to “The Gathering Storm” when it arrives. He certainly put me in the mood for more fantasy, and I really haven’t read much of it this year.

-- thinking business wise but if you could bring back a few cases, I wonder what the starting bid would be for a bottle of moon water? You know you want some. Good for what ails you :)

Sorry, I don't know why I am in such a book frenzy today but i just read the first few pages of "The Golden Mean," by Annabel Lyon and oh, it sort of leaps at you in a very good way -- I was at first  only curious about it  because it is up for a Giller tonight, and now i want to run out and buy it.

I finished reading Catherynne Valente’s online novel – The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland... I enjoyed it.  And I am really starting to like "Lies of Locke Lamora". It might take me a little while to finish it because the world he built is quite detailed and elaborate and I have to stop once and a while to picture it. It’s quite clever.
I also see where “The Gathering Storm” is getting good reviews on Amazon. I have to say I wasn’t planning on reading it – I was frustrated with the last two books and it all seems so long ago now -- but shoot… now I want to find out what happens to that bunch from Two Rivers. Especially Mat and his dice, and Elayne and Nynaeve.   I wish they would make a law that you can’t keep a continuing story going longer than, say, seven books. I give thanks to J.K. Rowling’s for that one. Cause I need closure, man! I know in some circumstances, like Robert Jordan’s, this is not always possible – but it is one of the reasons why I hesitate now to start another long series even though it looks to be a compelling read (for example Stephen Erickson’s) I read the first book of the series, and liked it but when I heard there was a projected ten books, I’m still undecided to invest the time without the insurance of a conclusion. I rather just wait til a series is complete and buy the box set -- but that is hard to do :(

Two quick rejections this weekend. One I think was personal– said it was a delight to read but unfortunately didn’t rise above the other submissions in meeting their needs.  – I think I would have a better chance if other writers would just stop writing so freaking well :) -- but because I can’t control that, I’ll just have to work harder to reach that level.

I am just about to make Sunday brunch and then take the dogs on a walk. We decided to drive home for the holidays. We hope to stop the first night in Quebec City. And on our return trip we’re going to stop to snowboard/ski for a day at a resort about an hour outside of Quebec City.  We have to board the dogs anyway, so there will be room for our boards.

Which reminds me the dogs need their shots updated.

Yay, I had a story accepted by Moon Drenched Fables. It will be up in March.

It was funny because I was just admiring the moon on my evening walks with the dogs, and also this morning as it sat full and low, just above the Long Term Care Facility.

M is home sick. She has been sick since Friday. My guess is H1N1 –  But she is coming around except for a very sore throat.  But because she is home, I have to put up with the racket of roofers – I was planning on disappearing to the library for the day, but I can’t leave M to deal with it alone. It sounds like they are tearing the roof off – Oh – I guess they are. Nothing to do but turn up our music.

“Hardly education
All them books I didn’t read
They just sat there on my shelf
Looking much smarter than me”

If I finish fixing this chapter I been working on, I hope to get a few submissions out this afternoon. I only have two flash pieces out. Oops.

It was quite a nice day - very windy but sunny.  Leaves galore blowing up and down the roads -– flipping from their bellies of pale pink and yellows to their sun sides of crimson and gold.  November tomorrow.  Good luck all of you who are writing new novels :)

I finished reading "Candide" and I liked so many lines in it. Many made me laugh out loud but I think my favourite is when they are in Venice and are at Pococurante place and are admiring the paintings and his great library of books. All the noble does  is criticize every work that Candide and Martin point to in his library from Virgil to Milton to Homer.  It ends with…

“Oh, what a surprising man!” said Candide to himself; “what a great genius this Pococurante must be! Nothing can please him.”  That made me laugh.

I am now reading “The Lies of Locke Lamora,” by Scott Lynch. I purchased this book a while ago, and had started it, but at the time I was in a restless mood and I couldn’t get into it.  It had more to do with me than the merit of the book. I’m getting to like Locke. 

I have to remind myself not to buy any new books until I finish the ones I have.  But doesn’t Stephen King’s new one look interesting –“Under the Dome”?

So I was going through my to read pile and thought I would try "Candide" by Voltaire – I didn’t know who Voltaire was until I read Roberto Bolano’s 2666 earlier this year and one of his character’s referenced this writer. And so I wanted to find out more about him. I bought “Candide” because it appeared to be one of his more famous and approachable pieces, although to Voltaire it was one of his lesser works – well that is what the introduction said. Anyway, I started it last night, almost finished (it is a rather short read once you get through the introduction and his biography) and it is one of the wittiest works I have ever read – extremely dark but so quick and satirical. I wasn’t quite expecting such a read, and I can see how Bolano’s book mirrors it slightly – Especially in the part about Archimboldi. 

As for writing – the rewriting is taking me forever – my chapters from here forward are in such a mess. The basic story is okay (I think) – just seems like every line needs improving. I made the mistake of reading a few chapters ahead yesterday, and I almost did the big sigh and said, oh crap –how am I going to fix all this up?  This will only work for me if I concentrate on one chapter at a time, regardless how long it takes me before moving onto another chapter.

Had a bit of an east coast weekend. Saturday G and I drove up to the Karwartha lakes area to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of a couple we know from our hometown. And it was so nice to see so many familiar faces. (All who had come to Ontario for work at some point following graduation)  I actually knew most everyone there - some I could not put names to right off. It has been twenty years since I seen some of them. Anyway, I felt  bad because one person, he knew me, and was friendly, and I racked my brain but could not come up with his name, and to embarrassed to ask, so I asked G who he was when  we were driving home, and when G told me his name, I wanted to go back and apologize for not knowing him. He was a good childhood friend of one of my younger brothers, and was always at the house growing up. Gosh I felt bad for not recognizing him. – I don’t know if it is my eyesight, my memory, or simply because our middle age selves don’t look at all like our teen selves :) -

Today, I had a nice jog with the dogs. It was a tad chilly starting out. Still can’t get enough of Modest Mouse. They are good to jog too.

“Someday you will die and somehow,
somethin's gonna steal your carbon.” – if that doesn't keep me running.

Found a good article on teens and their future plans. G and I have this discussion lots.

Just discovered Modest Mouse -- Their "We were Dead before the Ship even Sank" album. Wow, love them.

Just about to go for a jog. G is off to Boston for the next few days. I received a rejection on a flash piece this morning. It was the one I had the rewrite request for back in August. My very first rewrite request and I totally flubbed it up. Sounds like I made the story even more obtuse.

G had read the rewrite and said he liked it. So I had sent it off with a certain confidence. G doesn’t read much of my stuff, so I was happy that he enjoyed it – But then I had this conversation with him this morning after receiving my rejection.

“Did you understand what my story was saying?”

“Yes, but.”

“But what?”

“Well you write a little off-kilter.”

“Oh?”

“But I know how you think, so it made perfect sense to me.”

“Are you saying you just need to live with me for twenty years before you can understand my stories?”

“No, I’m saying I like off-kilter.”

(Umm--- now I’m not sure if he’s talking about me or my writing?”)

We went up north of the city yesterday and walked a few wooded trails. We even convinced E and M to come with us. It is a sunny weekend  here. Just about to make a pot of chili, and while it simmers I'll go for a jog. 

I have been watching "The Vampire Dairies" on Thursday nights with M since it started.  So far it is holding up very well, mainly because of the character of Damon -- he makes a very entertaining vampire. 

I finally got out for a couple of jogs. Yesterday G and I jogged about 6 kms through this lovely ravine park that follows a creek. Many of the trees had dropped half of their leaves, and so the leaves they still held gave almost mirror like reflections to the leaves that covered the ground below them. It was very pretty.  Plus it was a grey, cool day, which in my opinion, is the perfect contrast to the warm colours of the trees.

Today, I plan on making turkey soup, walking to the grocery store with the dogs for some much needed things, and tidying up. But first I plan on spending a few hours with revisions. I am back working on “In a Beggar’s Pocket.” I think I have the first several chapters as clean as I can get them. (well for now anyway, who is to say how much I will learn as a writer in the next few months, and want to change it all again  )  I am not participating in NaNoWriMo this year, but instead I plan on spending the rest of Oct. and the month of November on fixing up IABP. Hopefully I will have a semi-polished product at the end of this period.  I keep putting this story away when I feel I am not doing it justice, but I am now determined to see it through.

I fell by the wayside a little the last few weeks. Stopped jogging, didn’t write very much at all. Maybe it is the change in the weather, but what ever it is I wish to remedy that.  Just feeling blah. Today started off in the usual way, ironing a shirt for G, making lunch for M, reading over an assignment for E that she wrote on “The Tempest” – she wanted to know my opinion, if it sounded okay, to edit, but the truth is, her grammar is ten times better than mine. I wish I could get her to read over some of my stuff. Anyway, once everyone got out the door, I just sat down here with a coffee and never moved since. Dogs are wondering when they are going for a walk. They actually don’t like staying out in the back yard in the mornings, because they fear I might leave the house without them. We must stick close to her, until she utters that most perfect of all words, “walk”

If one dog is in the house and the other is out in the back yard, and I whisper to the one in the house the word “walk”, and then I let the other dog back in the house, the other dog knows immediately that a walk is about to commence. Maybe she reads the speed of how fast her sister is wagging her tail.   

I managed to submit four stories in September. Two already came back. I didn’t get one out to WOTF but in 2010 for sure, for sure.   Anyway, better pull up my WIP and stare at it some more.  Have a great week.

Edit: title is from the song I was listening too.