My first week at 36

Seven days have passed since my birthday (I should be allowed to celebrate for the whole month).

Have my bones been creaking a little more than usual? Nah. Are those more grey hairs on my head? Course not!

Am I taking a broader assessment of life as I know it? You bet.

Things I'm doing differently these days include drinking more veggie juice each morning and taking my vitamins. And I'm recording conversations with my mother when I drop by the house.

Speaking of houses, I may try buying one. I've got about six months left on my current lease. I have the means to get into something modest, no palatial mansion...yet. But there are a number of considerations to make before I take the real estate plunge. Stay tuned.


On the literary front...

In speaking with a couple of authors last night in Manhattan, I was heartened by some of the things they told me. While it is true that the digital age has made the media and publishing landscape a scary place, it's evolving and not dying.

Bookstores may not like this, but it's OK if e-books grow in popularity. No, it's not the same as picking up that paperback and reading poolside. However, e-books can put long-form writing in front of the short-attention-span masses. Textbooks for example are rapidly appearing in e-book form. As long as the content gets read and there is a clear business model, lets not quibble about the format.

Then again, I was a little shocked to hear about a couple of kids getting a book deal about... well I'll let you figure this one out. Must literature really be reduced to this?

Twitterature: 19 Year-Olds Score Twitter Book Deal

As for me and my writing, I've hauled myself back into the saddle working on Heritage House. I've had a number of "late night pizza" evenings where I nosh on a slice of pepperoni while working on the story. Not the best thing for my waistline but it keeps me focused. I'm amused at the "bromance" that I see emerging on the page. That was not part of the original plan, but what story ever comes out exactly the way you imagine?

I may put the revised first chapter up in URBIS for critiques. We'll see. I am getting caught up in rewrites again when I should be moving forward. Heritage House is happening in odd spurts. I have a few disjointed passages that pop into my head out of sequence from where I am at. Maybe after a sip of wine it will all start to flow in a more natural order.