"There are some things which practice does not enhance. Thunderstorms never practice. Surf does not take graduate lessons in hydraulics. Deer and rabbits do not measure how high they have jumped and go back and try again. Violinists must work at it and study. And ballerinas. And goalies and shortstops and wingbacks and acrobats. But that business of acquiring expertise in screwing turns it into something it wasn't meant to be." Travis McGee (DRESS HER IN INDIGO by John D. MacDonald)
By coincidence I found the time to sit down and visit my blog today, exactly one year to the day since I last posted. I guess that means my life has been busy. It has.
Q: So how's the writing going?
A: Not as well as I would like.
Q: Do you have excuses?
A: Of course! I'm a writer. Writers have more excuses than finished products. (Well, except if you're Gene Wolfe, Joe Lansdale, or Ed Gorman.)
Q: Then what did you want to blog about today? The economy? Politics? Child rearing? Celebrities? The Olympics?
A: I'd love to comment on any of those subjects. Economy: There's a plot among the rich to put the rest of us in our place. We've ruined designer clothes and handbags and shoes for them because WE'RE wearing them, too. My theory began when I found Crocs on sale by the boatload at the Rural King. Politics: I'd like to see Barak Obama and Evan Bayh paired against John McCain and Condolezza Rice. Yeah. Child Rearing: I'm glad I was a kid in the late 50s and early 60s. Boy, was it fun. And schools need to be smaller. We're driving kids to drugs (kids need to run and jump freely, not be tamed with drugs) and into gangs (smaller schools allow for more cheerleaders and sports teams and leaders which big schools limit). Celebrities: I am not interested, thank you. The Olympics: Boy, did we get ripped off in women's gymnastics! And having said that I would like for the NBC commentators to understand that the other countries have come to the Olympics to drag home metals, too. I doubt any one athlete came to deliberately dash the hopes of any other athlete. Better him/her? Of course. But honestly.
But, that's not really why I'm posting. As usual, I feel compelled to write about writing. Strange, huh?
Nobody I know seems to be reading much these days. Or if they are, they aren't BUYING books. This seems a sad time. But then again, a few of the books I've been struggling through are just that: a struggle. Did we writers kill the written word?
I'm gonna ponder that and try to get back here tomorrow. You see I've just gotten Joe Lansdale's LEATHER MAIDEN and I'm chomping at the bit for some good writin'.
Best
Judi
