I should be quarantined
Not that I have frequent visitors at The Dojo. But yeah, I feel like I tried swallowing an iron pine comb. Looks like I will have to keep my big mouth shut as my throat heals.I have a broad assortment of meds, I was raised by a pharmacist you know.This does make it hard to work on the book. Coherency can be a struggle when medicated. Nonetheless, I shall forge ahead.Speaking of books, I gave a look at a few bestselling chic lit books on the market, knowing I am NOT the intended audience but wanting to see the style of writing that grabs editors' attention.That was very silly of me.I am writing for a totally different market and mus

Last day in New Orleans
I've seen much more of the city this time around than my first experience many years ago. The narrow nearness of the French Quarter caught my attention upon my arrival. This part of town has its own close intimacy. The blocks are small, easy to traverse. Go tromping along a midtown Manhattan block and you'll see the difference.The tour through the city took us to parts left unrepaired from Hurricane Katrina, areas that are far from the tourist candy land of the French Quarter. Grass has grown over the vacant lots where houses once stood. I took some photos, shot some video. Yes, it's been some four years since Katrina struck and the effects are still quite present and in many c

Getting ready to fly
In about 12 hours I will be in New Orleans. It's supposed to be pretty warm though there's going to be scattered storms when I arrive and again Friday afternoon. That's when I will be on a bus tour of the city. Awesome timing, JP.It will be hot and humid the first two days and I packed appropriately. Then the temps are supposed to drop like 20 degrees for Saturday. At least I won't be sweating bullets on Halloween.I decided to skip the evening riverboat. It was becoming a very tour-heavy schedule and the weather might not cooperate Friday night.I will see parts of the city still suffering from Hurricane Katrina. Some of the proceeds from the tour go to re

Writers conference in March!
Going to register for the Liberty States Fiction Writers conferencehttp://www.libertystatesfictionwriters.com/lsf-writers-conference/I will have Heritage Fields done and polished by then. First draft is drawing closer to completion with November as my deadline (REALLY). I'm writing short to make the story move. It's the best way to kill my bad habit of padding the page. So at most the first draft will be 80,000 words.I write more dialogue these days with just a bit of tagging to keep the blocking straight. It's like writing a screenplay or rather thinking about one.

Pepper is doing just fine
She seems to be back to her old tricks which means reminding Paulie that she's the boss.A month ago she seemed to be at the end of the road. But after her surgery, she is back to business. No special tricks, no hilarious moments. Just a couple of dogs being out f or the day. And of course Paulie deserves some screen time too..."Always be relentless. Never be ruthless."