RANDOM NOTES AND WRITING UPDATES

Here are some random updates on my writing process:

* Today, the last submission package returned for Bad Moon Rising. I don't think there are anymore out there. It was from an agent--a rejection, of course (I don't say that out of lack of confidence, but more out of a mathematical/law of averages perspective).

* Regarding the Young Adult book entitled GodTalk. I'm almost finished with chapter 15. Then I will only have two more chapters to finish before having a completed rough draft. Today, during my writing time (which I have cut down to every other day before work, due to work/family obligations), I worked on chapter 15 and wrote some notes on what I wanted to accomplish in a second draft of the novel. I purposely keep writing without looking back at what I wrote to avoid unnecessary self-criticism, but I do have a feeling that it's been going well. It's always seemed well-organized (I had a fairly tight outline) and I like the points I'm making. Of course, I could look at it when I'm done and want to use it as compost.

* Saw the Fall Preview issue of TV Guide. I've loved that issue since I was a kid. Now I look at it to see if any of my L.A. acting friends have gotten gigs in any of the new fall shows. It seems this Fall there will be a show called The Book of Daniel, concerning a Episcopalian minister who deals with stress by having periodic conversations with Jesus. Hmmmm. Deja Vu. Uncomfortably close to the premise of GodTalk. I'm feeling a little bit like I did the first time I heard about Killer Swell. We'll see. . .

* I still need a one sentence pitch, cover letter, and synopsis for GodTalk. I'll work on those after I get the second draft done.

* Paid for the Southern California Writers Conference 20 that will be held in February. My school is paying for the registration fee (yahoo!!) and I paid for three one-on-one advance reading critiques. Since BMR is dead in the water, I'll be trying to pimp GodTalk.Wish me luck.

* The novel tentatively entitled Hollywood Martyr has almost a full chapter in the can and, after polishing GodTalk, I'll most likely try to work on that.

* After reading The Best American Poetry of 2005, I'm getting the itch to write and submit some poetry, but with my writing time at a premium and the fact that poetry DOES NOT pay (but instead merely nurtures and feeds the soul), I don't think I'll be pursuing that right now.

* My short piece "The Father-Daughter Dance" is coming along. I actually did something I don't normally do; I began to edit before a full draft was done, but I was curious as to what I could having analyzed the Mark Helprin story "White Gardens." I tightened some of it up, but I still haven't had a chance to look at the Sam Shepard piece "The Devouring Lion."

* Can't do everything at once. On the other hand, I'm reading a mystery novel by the awesome writer David Baldacci and in the acknowledgment section, he thanks his wife and says something like "Book number ten, can you believe it?"

* Bastard.