Vacation was fun while it lasted

Last day before it's time to go back to work. Little mini-vacations are awesome. They can help recharge the batteries. I look back at the last few days, and I could grumble about not getting as much writing as I had wanted.


I could grumble. It wouldn't change anything, though. I was still writing and doing the things I needed to do to improve my craft. OK. I had hoped to be done with three chapters of my Mall Demons Urban Fantasy Serial. I'm almost done with one more chapter, not three. So what.


Sometimes we must be happy with whatever it turns out to be. Otherwise, we could harm our efforts at the mental level. And at the mental level is where writing starts. So, mess that up, and you mess up the words.


The words is what it's all about.


Maybe the last few days for you haven't been as productive either. It happens. As long as it doesn't happen all the time, it's OK. Don't be your own worst enemy, your own worst critic.


Live and learn. 


I may not have written three chapters as I wanted, but I did write a prelude. I also decided to spin off a second book in the Mall Demons series as a prequel. I realized a few of my characters (Evangeline, Watcher and Sargas Vak) have interesting backstories that I could expand upon in other books.


With NaNoWriMo coming in a few weeks, I just might use the exercise to write that first draft of the prequel.


Other tasks I took care of during this vacation: I updated my LinkedIn and YouTube accounts. I'm excited about using YouTube to offer audio versions of my series. 


Tomorrow it's back to writing. Goal: 2,000 words.

Poetry Fest!

As I continue editing my novel, hammer out short stories, and read, read, read, I am also finding myself drawn back to poetry. I look back at my first attempts at writing - all poetry - and shudder. But, I can still see more than 20 years later the energy with which I wrote.

Now as a father, I am helping my daughter with a poetry writing project for school. She has to write several poems and illustrate them. In college, I had a similar project.

Then the other day a student stopped me in the halls to tell me he'd read one of his poems recently during an open mike session. It was his first public reading, and I could tell he was excited about it. I still remember my excitement from my first public readings. It's a great feeling. He sent me a link to his YouTube video. So, here it is...