The Rainy January

I've been in an introspective frame of mind of late. Sometime around 2:30 this morning I finally completed the first draft of my latest novel, so I guess introspection has actually been required. The earliest file date I can find for this story is late November, 2008--which means I've been at work on it for well over year.

Back in late 2005, I gave myself one year to write ISABELLA MOON, and pretty much nailed it, give or take a few weeks for initial revisions. This year, in addition to working on the novel and touring for CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS, Pinckney and I edited the amazing (IMHO!) SURREAL SOUTH 2009, and sent our oldest off to college a year early. In September, I started the Wardrobe by Sam blog. Excuses? Nah. Just life. A really full, fun, never-dull life.

But you know how there are those things that kind of make you just stop and wonder? Yesterday, the rain continued for a third day here, and I found myself entertaining the dogs out on the concrete pad in the driveway (We could park several large RVs out there--we kind of wonder what the people who poured it were thinking. Rocket launching?).

This is what I saw when I looked down:

 

 

Could only have been better if there had been a raptor perched in one of the trees....

This Wednesday, the 27th, writer Kelli Stanley will drop by for an interview about her kick-ass new thriller City of Dragons. You're going to want to read this book.

Fever Dreams and Rotary Club

Project Runway began tonight, once again. Why is it that Heidi Klum is so stunning, but she looks dreadful in almost every outfit she wears on the show? Puzzling. But the show was a balm to my sniffy self--I've had a cold and fever for three days. Each night has brought strange dreams: cat-eating crocodiles and children drowning in deep, unfamiliar water, a dream in which I stood behind a window, unable to save a child who, while trying to get closer to a giant suit of armor, tumbled from a great height landed on his back, unconscious. They've been dire, frustrating dreams.

Here's something new: I received an invitation today to speak about my work and Isabella Moon at an area Rotary Club next week. A hundred or so years ago, when I was in college in business school and selling office supplies on the side and was an officer in Pi Sigma Epsilon (a co-ed sales and marketing fraternity), I imagined that I would participate in Rotary Club one day. But here I am, 25 years later, and I'll be at a Rotary luncheon--only I'll be on the program. I'm looking forward to it, but it feels a little surreal. I should mention that my office supply experience was not for naught--I learned that one should never let another person use one's fountain pen. Did you know that a pen nib wears down almost immediately to conform to its owner's writing style? Lend it out, and your Mont Blanc is ruined!

Also, a new guest-blog invitation that I'm excited about. I'll post when I can offer details.

I'm working on the new novel almost exclusively these days. It is due soon, soon, soon. I've been thinking about posting a snippet on each blog, but don't know how/if it will work yet. It still feels like a secret I don't know if I'm ready to share.