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Weekly: 2641
The Writing Life:
It’s been a tough week for writing. The need to move out of Croton Manor has taken priority.
A big part of our upcoming exodus has been the need to find a home for a 113 year old B. Shoninger upright player piano. The piano has been a part of Nancy’s life since she was a child. She has quite an attachment to it. During her teenage years she was a latch-key kid. She came home from school every day to an empty house and the piano occupied her time and kept her company. It is an old friend to her. We’ve tried for months to give it away, to find a home for it, but it seems no one today wants an old piano. It’s a shame that I’ve had to disassemble it and haul it to the dump. That process reminded me of the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Dave disassembles HAL, module by module while HAL pleads for his life. At every step, every touch, the old piano cried out in the same way.
Otherwise, life is full of daily decisions about what is going with us when we leave, what is going to storage, and what is being disposed of, to thrift or to the dump. Those things are mentally consuming. There has been little or no time for brand promotion. My one accomplishment in that regard was to post an essay about the Great Chicago Fire to memorialize the event 153 years later. The point is, we all owe an apology to Mrs. O’Leary and her cow.
The Research Desk:
Research is a daily occupation for a writer. At least it is for me. I often lose myself following rabbit trails that have stolen my interest. Following a recent conversation about Sheol, and how it might be different from Hell. I began researching the meanings of both and then focused on the scripture in 1 Peter 3:18-20. Soon, a story idea began to develop and that turned into an outline and the beginnings of a first draft. So, here I go again. Completely off track, following a strange white rabbit who is apparently late for some appointment. Before you know it, I’ll be caught up in a Mad Hatter’s tea party, completely off the rails and missing my next deadline.
Faith & Work:
For me, the two go together. Faith and work are intertwined. In fact, faith must and does shape every aspect of life. What you believe about life, about the world, about the supernatural, who we are, where we’re going and what motivates us, will shape your view of the world around you. How you see the world will shape the way you respond to it. That’s how I see it and that’s how and why I write about it.
This week, whenever I could make time, I’ve been working on the third novel in my Gray Empire series. It’s called, The Rift, and it’s about division; between people, cultures and secret societies. In spite of many distractions, I managed to get well into Chapter 19. It’s called The Majus Scroll. In it, Rick and the team find an ancient scroll written 2000 years ago by Simon Majus of Bible fame. One mystery of the scroll is how it got to Rosslyn. The answer to that is deeply rooted in the story of The Rift. Within the scroll and the ring that binds it, lies a vital clue about the True Grail and about an anonymous enemy who has been covertly manipulating Rick’s quest from the beginning.
The Business of Writing:
It is a business, writing that is. At the least, there is an aspect of business beyond the art. That’s true of any art if it’s intended to sustain the artist. “Business,” however, implies some sort of commercial exchange that results in revenue. That may be true for some authors. In my case it begins to feel like a cruel joke. Calling what I do a business is something of an overstatement. Nonetheless, no matter the volume of the revenue stream, the “business” of writing consumes too much of my time. For me, at this point, too much of my process is focused on brand promotion and not enough on writing. So, this week, in remembrance of the Great Chicago Fire, on October 8th of 1871, I wrote and posted an article on my website in sympathy and defense of Mrs. O’Leary and her cow. Oh, yeah. Did I mention maintaining a website as another drain on time and energy? Just another aspect of the business of writing.
Community Connections:
I write about community connections on my blog, On The Lagoon. My latest article is about Eve Air Mobility, a new urban flight company joining our business community on the Space Coast. Check it out at the link above.