I'm Baaaack!

If I mull it over it’s hard to believe I haven’t blogged in nearly a year (how is this possible?).

For months now I have been telling myself I need to at least write an entry explaining why I’ve been away. While it was not intended I suppose there’s a peculiar irony in the title of my most recent entry from December of last year -- “To See A Disappearing Act” -- especially since immediately after I proceeded to disappear.

So, here’s what’s going on... About two years ago, I started my first novel. Writing a book is something I hadn’t contemplated or attempted since I always endeavored to write screenplays or teleplays. To be honest, in my innocence (or dare I say ignorance?) I didn’t really change my story development process. Probably, this is why some of my preliminary readers have said, “It reads like a movie.”

When I finally started the first chapter, I have to admit it was liberating. Writing screenplays is extremely rigid since you can only put on the page what you expect your audience to see on the screen. Such rules do not apply in books where you can more easily jump back and forth in time or delve into a character’s inner thoughts.

About a year ago, I laid down my first draft (with quite a bit of blood, sweat and tears). Some days I would write and believe my work was brilliant. But there were also dreadful days when I composed chapters that really weren’t working at all. My only solace was that I had something concrete. A sculptor must start with a large block of stone and craft it into something intentional like Michelangelo’s David or the Pieta. When I completed my first draft I was ecstatic to have something on paper. In reality all I had was a block of stone. I had this mass of words and chapters -- all of it put together into a huge mass of something that would eventually, hopefully become my book. But it wasn’t a book yet. During this phase I was still blogging quite regularly. In this last year, however, while I have been absent, I have been chipping away at that first draft, working to create what I hope will be an enjoyable, perhaps informative story.

In any event, this is the reason for my absence. While I haven’t been blogging, I have been writing. In the next weeks and months, I hope to share more thoughts and experiences on this journey we call life. And I’ll certainly keep you posted on my progress with the book (and my search for a publisher).... Until then, HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!