Working Without a Net

Progress being made on the Script Frenzy front. As of this writing, I have 6,000 words done on Doc on Loan, "only" 14,000 more to go! I'll be traveling this week and I hope to be able to get a lot more done on the long, boring plane flights. I figure I should have four page a day written to stay on track … so what, I'm about twenty-one pages behind, that's all!

My production is a little low anyway this week, thanks to a head cold I got out of the blue the other day. I hope to shake it by Wednesday because I'm flying out of town. If you've never flown while suffering from a cold, consider yourself lucky!

American Chronicle

I'm finished the piece entitled "The Crisis at Walter Reed: Outrage In Absentia." Though I got a decent number of hits on it, I was amused by one piece of feedback. Obviously, the reader took issue with what I wrote, but could hardly express himself coherently. I particularly liked the comment about how he wished my toilet paper would be replaced with sandpaper.

I welcome all points of view and certainly know I'm my opinion is just that, my opinion, but when I use the Army Times as my principal source material, you pretty much have to figure I've gone right to the source for my facts. Anyway, I chose not to respond to the author of the letter because I don't look at this writing as a debate, but rather I'm expressing my point of view. If you disagree, get your own gig and take me on.

I haven't decided on a topic for my next article yet. It will either be an article: criticizing Vladimir Putin for his overreaction to the proposed missile shields in eastern Europe; urging a fresh look on how we interact with Cuba; exploring the death penalty in this millennium. Let's see how many fans I can win with my views on one of these topics.

Short Fiction

"Macdougal Street" continues to do well on Helium.com. Right now, it's #4 of 47 in the "Short Story / Life" category. It hasn't gotten any higher than #4 since I posted it, but I'm pleased it's doing as well as it is.

I made some progress with the first draft of "Bones Under the Bed," but the new screenplay has been taking most of my time.

Other

Out of the blue this week - and probably as an homage to The Sopranos (one of my favorite television shows ever) - I started writing scene summaries for a Mafia novel I'd like to write. It has quite an interesting twist and I'm enjoying preplanning the work. I usually don't have attention deficit issues, but one thing that writing has done for me is to open up my mind to every possibility. As I said in my interview with E.I. Johnson, I'm feel just like a kid in a candy story sometimes!

Thanks for your kind comments, friends. Wherever you are (or on what island you landed), I extend maximum greetings and good things to you.

Michael C. Cordell