Southern Myth

Working on family stories.

The Haunted Garden

Plotted eighteen chapters and worked on action between the characters. This is a YA Book.

Dr. Carnley

To day one of my oldest friends died. Dr. Joe. He lived life. He touched many lives. He always had a smile, something funny to tell me. Goodbye Joe.

Jane Austin

I keep sticky notes of tidbits about writers and here is a funny one.
P D James said this about Jane Austin 's novels. "A Mills and Boone story written by a genius.

Anyone looking for a good historical read the Tudor Secret.

It's All Over But the Crying

Practiced piano..reading H.H. Bates's short stories.(very good) I still haven't came up with the solution for the Victor story. Working on that. Jane called and I think I will go visit the second week in August.

Business dinner at 5:30.

Day 2 haven't written anything.
What in God's name am I doing with my Life??????????????

The Long Hot Summer

Picking peas, making pickles and pulling weeds are the hallmark of my latest endeavours. I've written some poetry and letters, but that's a puny record for someone who planned on finishing the first draft of my latest attempt or rather another novel in a long string of stories sitting around in this office.
Time is the killer. And speaking of time can we make it visiable, only by doing something tangible holding a manuscript in my hands would do nicely.
My goal is to write every day.. something if only another note to myself.

Too depressed to write.

I'm depressed.
Jane's depressed.
Anyone else out there depressed?

Writing is a lonely business. Maybe that's why I read so much, you can't be lonely and depressed while you're in a really good book. No, you travel the world, become another person, have adventures, love affair, sometimes a strange new life. Commit murder. Hang. Be buried. Become a vampire. See, I feel better all ready.

Day Seven and My Day Off

Opening Line to a famous novel.
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Name the novel and author.

This is a good example of how to raise a question in the reader's mind. The opening paragraph should always raise questions in the reader's mind. And do the following three C's
capture
captivate
convince

And while I'm on C's there are 5 C'c of a good story
Character, Conflict, Choice, Change, and Compassion. I would also add Surprise.

Sundays are always the same, the family gathers, I cook a big meal, we watch TV. I go to bed early and read. By five I need some time alone. Life is dull on Sunday. I didn't sleep last night, so I have dragged all day. Tomorrow I start Chapter 4. I'm skipping Chapter 3, as I was hacking with no inspiration.

Funny Quote

"Frankenstein is a book about what happens when a man tries to have a baby without a woman."---Ann K. Mellor

Jane gets the prize for the borrowed title contest. It was Shakespeare--Sonnet 30.
A Victorian pill box is on the way.

Blue sky, cool air and I'm feeling up today. Three days of rain and the rivers are flooding up here in the north country. I'm working on Chapter 3 and know I have to build suspense and a big question in the end. Well Hell, I don't have a clue as to what that's going to be. I love writing. It's like going into a wilderness. Today I'm hacking a path with a machete. Day 6. Lily is on snake patrol. We always have a problem when we have high water. Although, she's been falling down on her job lately. We have a cabinet in the garage that I put can goods in and my son reached in yesterday for my chicken noodle soup (I eat chicken noodle soup every day) and curled up next to the soup was a cotton-mouth snake. I don't know why, but I seem to have lost my appetite for soup.

Advice from Elmore Leonard--"Try to leave out all the parts that readers skip."

Quote of the Day

"My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine.
Everybody drinks water." Mark Twain

TWENTY FOUR INCHES OF RAIN
When you live in the country and get this much rain the toilets don't work.
The lake is flowing into the yard.
My wonderful sand road to the house is flooded. It's 1/8 of a mile to the main road so I may be house-bound.
Lily kept her legs crossed all day yesterday and finally went when I carried her box into the garage.
Please excuse the spelling mistakes, my spellchecker is on the front porch waiting for the rain to stop, which won't happen anytime today.

This is a game called borrowed Titles:

Remembrance of Things Past---By Proust
Taken from:
"When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past."
Who wrote this?

Day five. 2500 words. Yesterday we had no electric so I wrote on paper. Oh well. I like what I wrote (that's something)
but one page a day isn't going to make the deadline.
Back to the hot seat, the grind, the tears.