Writing Progress

It's only Tuesday but I'm having a good week of writing so far. Last week was a tough week.
I got two lengthy scenes done in longhand today, so I am pretty pleased. Also had lunch with a dear friend. And am now unwinding with a glass of unoaked Australian chardonnay. All in all, a good day.

Ah Oooh!

That's the call of the werewolf, as rendered by the late greate Warren Zevon. Werewolves wishing you a happy Lunar New Year (which is naturally the new year that werewolves would celebrate, no?) I'm picturing Asian werewolves lunching on raw meat dim sum.

Ok, I have been working at a coffeeshop since 8:30 am today. I have finished a scene I started Saturday. The female werewolf is on a date with some poor schmuck. She knocks him out with a date rap drug in order to steal his flash drive. What does she want with his flash drive? Ah, that I'm not telling. But she doesn't eat him...yet... because he still has something else she wants.

And now, on to the next scene. (I have a list of 12 that I need to add to the manuscript.)

Catch you later, gentle readers!

In Case You're Wondering

what I had such a bug up my ass about in that last post... it's actually an idea I'm playing with for a character I'm working on for a future novel. He is in that awkward period bordering Gen X and the Baby Boom, and he finds a lot of his problems in life come from blindly following the example of the Baby Boomers. Am I this down on the Millennials? No, not really. Although I do think their parenting skills leave something to be desired, and I do wish they had a slightly less conservative bent. But that's just me. :-)

Parents and Children

We (Gen X) were the last generation to separate from our parents. In some ways, the Baby Boom's trajectory was all about separation: separating from their own parents, of course, but also separating from the generations before them, from the established institutions of the time, and from the entire culture. The point of separation is to make room for one's own adulthood, but once they made the room and walked into it, they did not bring adulthood with them, or even the seeds thereof. They brought instead the leftovers of adolescence: the narcissism, the self-indulgence, the naive idealism, and most of all, the overweening sense of entitlement.

And we (Gen X) followed eagerly in their footsteps, never considering that to destroy a culture without presenting a viable alternative meant destroying the collective identity and a major component of each person's sense of self. Listen to the music of those in their twenties. You get one of two things, You get either self-absorbed whining or you get militantly antisocial posturing; one or the other; nothing whatsoever to promote a positive vision of the place of the individual in society.

So I ask: What have we wrought?

Now the children of the baby boomers are parents and the children of Gen X are also reproducing merrily. It's difficult to imagine more laissez faire parenting. Watch the children running around shrieking. Any expectation of control has vanished. Even TV commercials are full of parents of toddlers who have given up. They just shrug as if this is the way it's supposed to be.

You can't blame the parents, though. Look in their eyes; you can see they are clueless. The baby boomers are only now (as they join AARP) overcoming their distrust of adulthood; they never let their children grow up. Is it any wonder we now see such miserable parenting? What's to become of this country?

The Mystery of Subplot

I finally have a working title for this werewolf novel I'm writing. It's Chapel of the Wolves. I'm working on what I consider to be the seconed draft, although I haven't written all of the subplot yet. I'm thinking it will take 4-5 chapters to be interspersed among the main plot chapters, with some editing for continuity. I have compiled all the existing chapters into one file, and to my amazement, the printout is 270 pages long.

The suplot has been scaring me for two weeks now. I have an idea but not THE idea. But I've learned that, if you don't know what comes next, you'll probably find some answers in the early chapters of the book--things you didn't realize were there. That's why I printed the draft and am working on it--editing and gleaning ideas at the same time. I have a couple of good ones, so I'm feeling distinctly optimistic at this point.

The problem with writing is that I get so nervous that I won't have any ideas, I can't help eating massive quantities of junk. So I'm putting on weight. It's not a good thing. Any writers out there, if you have ideas about how to combat this, let me know. Thanks!

Cats with Short Fuses

Okay, we brought Natasha upstairs last night, and she cuddled with Kurt on the bed until we turned the lights off. Then she started hissing at the boys. All night long.

I asked Kurt to take her downstairs when we were leaving this morning, to keep her safe from the boys' harassment. He did so, but what a scene of mayhem ensued. He has deep bites and scratches on his hands, so deep that he bled through the bandages on the ferry this morning. This cat has a short fuse. She turned her nose up at her morning meal and scorned her dinner because she's still mad. So she also carries a grudge. Sigh. I tried to bring her upstairs tonight, but she took a snap at me. I tried to entice her out of the room, to no avail. Still, I think things are going as well as they might after a period of nine days. Still need to get some photos of her. I'll tell you it's frustrating, however.

Inauguration Day

I've been more cynical than I'd like to be about the Democratic Party during the election process. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to have voted for our new president, and I certainly hope the change in economic policies bring about a more farsighted approach to business development, peace, and improvement of our own self-image as Americans and our image abroad. But I'm not optimistic. Power is bad for people. Look how corrupt the Republicans were under W and H before him. Look how corrupt the Democrats were under Clinton. I don't expect better under Obama, because people are people and there are too many opportunities for graft and deceit in Washington, D.C.

Nevertheless, I found myself tearing up several times today with the cool, unexpected breath of hope rushing into my face. I wish the Obamas and the Obama administration every success in reforming the system. I rejoice that our nation has taken this huge step towards racial healing. I pray that the people of our country join in a new vision of what they can be, what we can be, if we let go of our fears and let ourselves surrender to the feeling of goodwill to our fellow human beings.

Kind of sappy, so I apologize. But I know you feel the same, whoever you are.