April 30

Writing station with printed manuscript

April 24, 2010

Chasing turkeys out of the manuscript

April 30, 2010

April 29

Above the Androscoggin River

Turner, Maine

Getting ready for float season

Little Sebago Lake, Windham, Maine

The manuscript was printed and reviewed, some parts more than once. The parts that weren't reviewed more than once are too ghastly to read again! It may be unrewritable. Where did that judgment-free zone go? Pity. The drawers are all full in the house. The manuscript will have to go somewhere else. Maybe in the catch-all container in the back of the airplane. It should be light enough to make no difference in the weight, but the balance is another story. Hmmm. Another story. The month of May approaches. Grin, grin, nudge, nudge.

April 28

0428

Happy Birthday.
I've sold your chair.
You know, the red vinyl one,
So low to the ground
That even 30 years ago,
You could barely get out of it.

I've changed the PIN
To my accounts
So when I buy groceries
Or gas
Or books
I don't remember this day.

I've stopped visiting,
Stopped calling,
Stopped planning a party.
But, oh how you dance
Like a dervish in my dreams.

On your birthday you are happy.
Not scowling
Not editing
Not pressured for time
Not serving.

On your birthday
You walk with me in the orchard,
White blossoms fanning out at dawn,
And watch the dog stumble on sticks
That years ago she would have
Leaped effortlessly
In her joy to sniff out the game.

On your birthday
You eat chocolate cake,
Black forest cake.

Having gotten where you wanted to be,
Sitting alone in your tiny room,
The blue screen of the laptop
Lighting the corner where you sit,
Eyes closed,
Chest still,
Watching the river of your thoughts
Slow and deep,
Do you look at me sideways
And say something other than,
"You again"?

April 24

Since there wasn't a good calf roping picture,

this one at the edge of a volcano will have to do.

Done. 50,000 + 3 words of a draft.

This deserves a day of rest and admiration.
Then the rewrite.

See ya.

April 23

All that wordy baggage full of stuff is aired, examined and put away, given away, thrown away. The 50,000 words will likely be written in another day or two. Now the real story is ready to begin. It may go on to the end of April. This has been work, and fun work. Travel lighter!

April 22

EARTH DAY

"Home, Let me come home.

Home is wherever I'm with you."

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

http://www.mtvmusic.com/artist/edward_sharpe_and_the_magnetic_zeros/videos/452305/home.jhtml

April 21

A break at the lake.

A little music, fire, space.
Ahhh, Bach.

April 20

"My reach is global,
My tower secure.
My cause is noble,
My power is pure."

http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#Flobots/all/1/515403537

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fiY-j3tCEs&feature=related

April 19

One of my heros is a wonderful cheerleader.
Thank you, Auntie!

April 18

First the luminescent phytoplankton,

then missles launched into pickup trucks,

all on the Fourth of July!

Where is this novel leading?

It better not lead to a discussion of how an engine works.

Anything but that.

April 17

There 's an opening to teach flying in Nepal.
Not too many approaches there.
A few mountains to avoid.
Wouldn't that be something?
Ooh, Kathmandu.

April 16

Wouldn't it be great if good words could be written so fast you could hardly capture them on a page? "Good things are coming on the winds, my friend."

April 15

Bravo for all the Cheerleaders!
If it weren't for them, all the animals would be silent.

The boats would be beached.

The stars would spin out.

April 14

Writing

can be as difficult as moving a DC3
Or easy as leaving prints in the sand.
Both have their finer points.

April 13

Moosehead Lake,
Greenville, ME Fly In.
Moving the World.
More Fire, Please.

April 12

Resisting the urge to sit back,

Words are written for the fire,

Flying like rice at a wedding.

Palms out in offering.

April 11

Marianne Williamson said, "You need do nothing,"

It hardly seems worth complaining, but really, the characters are all in place.

They're just not DOING anything.

They're all candle gazing, trataka, a fine meditative technique.

But it's not going to make much of a novel.

A little savior faire is required. To know what to do.

I will have to remember rule number 2: It doesn't have to be good,

and that candle gazing is said to improve memory and concentration.

April 10

Today is like this,
Half sitting, exhausted atop Dead Woman's Pass,
Grandeur of the Andes in the background,
Pleased at the accomplishment,
Knowing I still have to get down from here.

April 9

Could it be all the Ganesha's positioned throughout the house are removing more than the writer's share of obstacles? Sitting Ganeshas, dancing Ganeshas, fearless Ganeshas, green plastic Ganeshas, glittery fabric Ganeshas, Ganesha magnets, pink girly Ganeshas. The more the merrier.

The novel is sprouting, along with organic broccoli sprouts in the cupboard darkness, and the tendril of smoke sprouting from the calculator used for taxes. Remembering the heart, I tend the sprouts.

April 8

It's the start of Week Two.

"Well, this is an opportunity, isn't it?"

Opportunity had to be on the river by 11:11.

All the good ideas went down river.

So that's where I'm going.

April 7

Gone Flying!

April 6

Ten thousand words! Sound the trumpets!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMmGRzm8HEU

10,000 days would be some 27 years from now.
10,000 miles would be from Maine to Southwest Australia.
10,000 Maine lady bugs could fit in a square about 9.5 inches. Eew.

A Wyoming friend would declare this Admiration Day.

April 5

Instructions in the novel writing kit (containing 4 stickers) suggest one sticker "be applied to the novelist's person at the beginning of each week, to be worn for at least an entire day". Sure, if it increases the word count.

April 4

Happy Easter.

All the characters are brooding, thinking instead of acting. They need shaking. Maybe a snake could make an entrance. Yeah, a rattler, that's it.

Daisy met a coyote in the woods yesterday.
Rachel submitted her ad in the personals. Today B. Al Hormann decides whether he wants to answer Rachel's ad. Manny is looking for easy money. Henry is baking ham for Easter. Which one is the snake?

It is glorious to have the windows open and feel a breeze that doesn't contain buckets of driving rain. Time for a little Vitamin D from the sun and cholesterol from all the dyed eggs.

"And so we begin again, glory hallelujah!" Marianne Williamson.

April 3

Holy O'Hare!

Day three. Already a psycho killer has gained entrance to the concourse.
"Excuse me, sir, this is a love story. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
He's probably trying to get me to wash the dishes.

A surprising number of odd jobs keep popping up. They seem important. The dog needs a haircut, the foamboard that blew off in the last storm should be replaced today, that Tai Chi DVD purchased last month is calling to be watched, the piano that hasn't been dusted for at least a year must be played, conspirators all.
Which way? Off into the brambles? Or straight ahead on the path of the park-like setting?

April 2

Yesterday, Day 1 = 2,208 words written.

The extra words go into the bank for those days that might be less productive.

The peepers have come back to life in the flooded areas out back in the tree nursery.

A good Spring day.

Rabbit Rabbit, April 1, 2010

Writing rules for the month
(from No Plot? No Problem!, by Chris Baty)

1. No can'ts.
2. It doesn't have to be good.
3. Delete nothing.
4. Rewards and treats are mandatory.
5. It is a completely new venture.
6. Word padding is encouraged.
7. Borrow liberally from the lives of surrounding people.
8. No exerpt sharing.
9. No sharing of writing duties.
10. The writer does no dish washing or floor mopping during April.