December never counts. The month is spent buying presents, going out to lunch and writing Christmas cards. It's difficult to get anything done, but I try. I'm setting up plans for revising Chapel, which should take no more than a couple months. Megan D. gave me some excellent edits. I really liked them. I meet with the Youngs next weekend. In the revision, I'll give more detail to some of the characters and emphasis some of the magic a little more. I'm getting a sense of what works and what doesn't. Overall, the book is strong.

I've been alternating between writing and poker this week. Monday and Wednesday were all poker, and Tuesday and Thursday are all writing. So far it's worked out all right. I've been focusing on tournaments at Players Only. The players are much softer than at Poker Stars. I play some limit poker to accumulate some of the bonuses at Players Only. It's more enjoyable than grinding out at 10 tables on Poker Stars. The limit players just aren't as strong.

I'm planning my trip to Reno over Christmas and need to buy chains for my MINI. I haven't put my Christmas to-do list together yet. I need to!

Today I have lunch with two former co-workers, Cheryl and Judy. It'll be a very pleasant lunch, catching up on the year and seeing how they're doing. I'm looking forward to it.

Racquetball, Music, Stories, and Poker

Yesterday, I played in our club doubles tournament. Dorian and I took second. He didn't play that well and was suffering from a bad back. We weren't competitive at all in the finals against Tyrone and Steve. It was somewhat frustrating because I was playing well and really wanted to reclaim the doubles trophy. Next time. I'm hungry for some racquetball wins. I'm determined to increase my endurance and play smarter. I'm excited about the new year and play to take ten lessons with Angela Grisar. This will really improve my game. She's a top 10 pro and very nice. I need instruction to improve my game.

Last night I listened to Ari and Richard at L'Amyx, then watched Heather Donnell's 10-minute short film at my place with the Youngs and a few others. Sweet film about the power of story and comic books. Today I read chapters 9 and 10 to Sophie, who needs to be finished before our roundtable discussion next weekend. A lot to do to make the book better. I found all sorts of things I'd like to change in the two chapters I read today.

Getting back into poker starting today. I miss the game and would like to increase my skills this month. Also cleaned computer stuff and paid some bills. Feeling the crunch these days.

Today I finished organizing the garage, edited the dreaded second sentence of Julia Milan, sent some emails, posted a few pictures on Facebook, and read. The days fly by, as always. Chatted with Megan D. on Facebook for about 40 minutes. That was fun! Sent some pics of Sandy to Rhonda. She'll love those! Tomorrow is our club doubles tourney. I don't think we'll win, but hopefully we won't embarrass ourselves. D has had back issues lately.
I was hoping to play some poker tonight, but it didn't happen. Maybe Sunday I'll get back in the groove.

Cleaning the Garage

I spent most of today cleaning out the garage. It's been a project I've wanted to start for about a year. My idea is to organize everything in Banker's boxes and put them on shelves. I got the shelves up today, and tomorrow I fill them up with boxes.

I met up with Sara N. last week for coffee. She gave me lots of agent suggestions. I plan to send out queries after the new year. I'm working on my query now. How aggressive should I be? Part of me wants to say this series is going to be over-the-top huge, but another part of me thinks I should be more quiet and reserved. Where has that gotten me?

I had lunch with the director of the PBS documentary I was involved in back in the 90s, Tom Weidlinger. He's such a great guy. We talked about our projects and will meet again next week. He's a good person to know. I'll show him a few scripts and the first couple of chapters of the new book. I'm glad we're back in touch.

The Young family has read the book and we're doing a roundtable next week. That should be interesting. I can't wait to receive Trey's detailed notes. Maybe he'll be an editor when he grows up. I'm looking forward to the next draft...now that the plot's on paper, it's time to have some real fun!

Rambling

Reading James Lee Burke to remind myself what clear, crisp, solid prose sounds like. I like his descriptions and witty humor. I'd like my writing to read so well. Today, I was hoping to pound out 10 new pages of material, but I was sidetracked with plot concerns and the feeling that I didn't know the details of my story as well as I should, which is somewhat true I'm afraid. So I spent the day thinking. Is thinking another form of procrastination? Sometimes, but I did need to think through some issues today. I meet Heather, Jackie and Connie on Friday and that should be fun. I'll try not to be too preachy. Sometimes I get that way. I'm such a fixer. Stop it. Back to the book...chapter 8 is shaping up. Lots of family drama there. Two counseling scenes, one with Nicholas and Julia and one with Mara and Julia. It's a fun way to show the differences in the two characters.

End of June

Chris read chapters 6 and 7 and enjoyed them. He can't wait to find out what happens next. I can't either. I worked on chapter 8 today. I worked on the psych scenes and wrote down ideas for school. Chris wonders if Audrey is to be trusted. In many ways the book feels like a season of "24." I love it!

Played some poker today for the first time in ages. I need to get back into it. I need to make some money. Broke out some books and watched three videos on PokerXFactor. Also did four loads of laundry today before 3, a record. Productive.

Halfway There

I'm gearing up for two months of non-stop writing. I'm halfway done with the first draft of Chapel. Now comes the good stuff. I really like this story and see all sorts of possibilities for later installments. Meanwhile, I'm firing up the poker playing again. I haven't played at all this year, which is a surprise, yet necessary. I really needed to get the book off the ground. Now that I know what's going on and where it's going, I can start playing again. I also need to think about creating a cushion, and that means dedicating myself to making some money. The priority, however, is writing and getting this novel completed. Then I can write Retro-Therapy, a script Chris and I plan to compose together. I can't wait to write that script.