In case any of you missed my triumphant (And groggy) post on Face book earlier I finally finished the rough draft of my first novel. Well, not my FIRST actually, there are several others, all in various stages of completion. I've come to realize that every long piece of writing is a lot like a relationship. You are completely in love with it at first, enamored, can't think of anything else. In other words, The Honeymoon Phase. Unfortunately, in writing and in life this doesn't last nearly long enough and suddenly writing the story you were so madly in love with at first becomes routine, normal. You still progress on it, but it doesn't have the same drive, the same passion as when you started. Then you hit the rough times. Those times when you look back over your work and want to throw it all out. Scrap it as a useless waste of your time. You wonder what the hell you were ever thinking, this story was a bad idea from the beginning and its time to move on with your life, maybe write a couple of short stories, have a short literary fling, just to get some excitement back into your writing. If you're feeling particularly daring maybe play around with some poetry or even a script or two, just for thrills. Your story will still be there, it'll be waiting for you when you want to come back to it. And that's when most of my novels are still sitting. It seems like once I hit that point if I walk away I can't seem to get the same feeling for it as when I started. Most of them are parked still, sitting, waiting patiently on a hard drive or in a folder, untouched for several years while my life has moved on. Well, I finally finished one. Just the rough draft, mind you, there's still a lot of work to put into it before its ever ready for publication- but the story is done. I suspect I feel at the moment like most people do on their 50th or 60th wedding anniversary. I weathered the storm with this book. I stayed true to the writing and I finished it. There is no better feeling I can remember having other than celebrating an anniversary with my Wife. So..moral of the story- Stick with those books, People. Even though they might be tough at times in the end the result is worth it!

So- After watching election ads ad nauseum, listening to the radical left wing, the radical right wing, everyone glaring at each other, all the ridiculous amounts of anger and hate associated with the upcoming elections I have come to a realization. WOW are people getting  played like finely tuned instruments! The media..on BOTH sides... are whipping everyone into a frenzy, the election ads all seem to point out how rotten the other guy is, (I've noticed VERY little about how great either candidate is, just how bad everyone else is) Battle points are being 'conveniently' provided for people to rally around. (Does anyone find it a strange coincidence that although the gay marriage debate AND CHIK-A-FILA have both been around for literally YEARS and have likely always held the same opinions as they do now, nothing was said about it before?) The truth of the matter people is this: We have 2 choices. We all have to live in the same country or move. There it is. That's our options. Well, or we could have a bloody revolution, shoot each other for having different beliefs, allow our country to get ripped apart so its really easy for another country to walk in and take over..I SUPPOSE that's an option, even if not a good one. Seriously, everyone- Anybody who reads my random babbling- I'm going to ask you one favor. It'll only take a second and I promise it won't hurt. Think of ONE thing that you have in common with a member of the 'opposing' party. I don't even care what it is. It can be as simple as "Hey- You know..both of us have 10 fingers on our right hand!" Honestly, one thing, one person. Its a start. Maybe that liberal bastard was complaining about the same grocery prices you were when you were stuck in line with him at the store. Maybe that gun crazy pro hunting right wing bitch stopped to admire the same baby laying in a stroller that you did. It doesn't matter what it is. 1 thing in common is the start of common ground. Once we have common ground we can have dialogue. Its an amazing gift humanity has created. We can talk to each other. Not yell at each other, not accuse or bereave, but talk. Once we talk, we can compromise. once we figure that little gem out, we can move to co-exist. After we can get back to THAT,  who knows where we might go. Stop letting the media make your decisions for you. Stop letting political adds whip you into a slavering frenzy. Think for yourselves, and think toward how you COULD get along with someone who believes differently than you do, as opposed to how wrong they are and they should change because you think differently than they do. If something really and truly affects your every day pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, by all means say something about it, but make sure it REALLY affects you and isn't just something you don't disagree with in principal. Stop being a willing puppet of those people who would dearly love to have a nation full of dull eyed sheep who follow their leaders docilely in to be sheared and then slaughtered so they can be laid on the silver platters of those in control and served with a nice mint jelly. I was pondering this morning about the terms that are bandied about so freely. Right wing, Left wing... I began wondering WHY we use those terms and then a raven landed outside my window. He looked at me for a moment and flew off and I realized something. He had to use BOTH wings together to fly. In my humble (And likely deluded opinion) it seems to me that it would work the same way for a country. Aesop was correct. United we stand, divided we.. well, I think everyone knows the rest.

Ah,, Procrastination, thou art a cruel mistress, yet I cannot seem to resist you~ Why is it that every time I have a chance to write I'm not in the mood to so I find any excuse in the world not to and when I am insanely busy I come up with the most amazing idea that I can't wait to put down? I think that's the magical difference between a writer and someone that wants to be, being able to sit down and put words down no matter whether you feel like doing to or not. Maybe someday I'll master that. In the meantime I seem to have an endless fascination with conversing on line. Even though it takes time away from my writing, I find the chance to converse with someone an endlessly fascinating pastime and I don't think I'll ever get to the point that I won't put aside my work to have a chance to say hello to someone! I have progressed, though- I have reached the point where I can (After chatting for a while) say that I'm in the process of writing and I really need to get back to it. most people are amazingly understanding of this fact. Speaking of which, if you'll all excuse me, I have an idea bouncing around in my head that REALLY needs to be written down! Have a great weekend everyone.