Sunday, November 23, 2008

On Breaking Resolutions and Other Year-End Activities

This morning, one of my Twitter buddies announced that she was "considering how many new Years resolutions I can break between now and December 31." In reply, I advised her to "be creative, break them alphabetically."

Later, I started thinking about how a bizarre resolution list would read:

1. Aardvarks, limit my annual kills to twelve
2. Aarons, stop drunk dialing strangers with that first name
.
.
.
185. Zzyzx, refrain from sneaking into the California town under an assumed name

Yes, folks, it's officially that time of year when I lose my mind. Last year's scheduled insanity break was deferred, thanks to a little extended stay at Chez Glendale Adventist. The truth is I love the holidays and last year's detour had me doubly bummed for that reason. I'm making up for lost time now that I'm not all out of it.

Meanwhile, back at the keyboard, NaNoWriMo has become an unattainable target. I realized I have a higher priority than writing … sleeping. As much as I wanted the joy of being sleep deprived -- you know, the suffering artist thing -- I felt the call of Morpheus a little too alluring for my book's own good.

So what does that mean for Lens Flare, then next great blockbuster novel? I now have a new goal … finish the first draft by New Year's Eve. I really believe I have a solid plot and the material is complex enough to keep the reader guessing (hell, I'm still trying to figure it out and I created it). No worries, good things come to those who persevere.

What this also means is I have to go back to editing the first draft of my non-fiction book, The Year I Lost November. It's rather difficult at times reading the emails between my wife and my parents they exchanged during my illness (which will be incorporated into the "story"). As much as I hated it, I couldn't prevent those closest to me from worrying so much.

Meanwhile, my marketing "blitz" for In The Foothills has been on hiatus due to all of the other writing projects. More on this next time, hopefully.

So, have a great Thanksgiving, everyone! By the way, if you want to tweet me, I'm on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/socalvillaguy.

Best,
Michael

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