This is Fresh Air, and This is Fresh Air, and

I am a big fan of Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR. It's where I first encountered a book called Bird by Bird that changed my thinking about writing lo these many years ago. It's also where I heard an intelligent, funny man with a great voice (and nifty Scottish/British/Midwestern accent) talk about Sandman and Coraline and American Gods. And because of many of her interviews, I've purchased other books and CDs and DVDs over the years.

The other day, I tuned in at the office. She started with an interview with a woman who is the primary caregiver for her husband. He has MS. She's written a book about the experience and heads up an organization that works to make people aware of the issues facing home caregivers. Very interesting and moving. They went to break with Terry saying, "We'll be back after the break with more from [whatever the woman's name was]."

The break, then Terry says, "We're back with Brian Cranston of the new AMC series, Breaking Bad." Huh? The final ten minutes of the interview. Talking about the character and how it differs from the father in Malcolm in the Middle. She thanked him at the end of the interview and said, "Up next Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new DVD collection of Ernst Lubitsch's operettas."

This time I waited with interest for the quick break to end.

They played an installment of an interview with Philip Shenon, who wrote a book about the shortcomings of the 9/11 Commission. Supposed to be followed by an interview about faith as a bipartisan issue, but really followed by the end of an interview with a guy who wrote a book about the failures of the Bush Administration.

Whew. What a weird ride. I have no idea what was going on. Was it a problem from WHYY in Boston or with KRCC locally? It was ultimately amusing in a baffling sort of way.

I've felt like that reading some published books. More often with critique submissions. They start out as one thing and then suddenly switch to something completely different. It's like the author can't figure out what they want to write so they do a little bit of everything. I'm not talking cross-genre here, or having a cool plot twist. I'm talking about an abrupt shift. Starting with Jane Eyre and ending with Hunt for Red October.

Has that every happened to you? Just start writing one thing and take a left turn somewhere? Do you keep going or stop and try to figure out why it's taking that turn?

My guess is that it's actually two different books, both wanting to be written at the same time. But I've been wrong once or twice before.

A Post on Evil Editor

No, I didn't submit a query or the beginning of a story. I didn't have a continuation or a fake plot published. But one of my comments made it through the moderation process **addendum: Face-Lift 482**. And a subsequent comment said it was the best laugh the guy had that day.

Okay, I'm grasping here. Busy Monday and didn't post. Off sick yesterday. If you can catch things online, it's either John's or Courtney's fault. Busy again today because I was off yesterday. Do you detect a trend? And I didn't want to get the refresh of Shane shame.

Has anyone here ever actually submitted a query or beginning to EE? Thought about it? Worried that if you did, especially the query, his comments would freak you out? Not that I'm projecting, mind you. Okay, I'm projecting. Had all those thoughts. But it also might be invaluable feedback. Yeah, I'm thinnin' about whipping up a query when the rewrite is just about done and sending it in. Just to see what he says. May need an emergency Pirate gathering afterward.

Back to work.

Buh-bye January

Some months have a greater impact than others. January is supposed to be one of those overlooked months. The holidays are over and spring is still feeling a long way off. It's a blah month. Usually. For some reason this January has seemed to go on forever--and not in a good way. I've covered for coworkers on vacation or sick leave, had a monster head cold and spent way too much of my free time volunteering. It's been a month that felt very much out of my control.

Not that I think I have a lot of control over any particular time period. But I usually have more control over how I spend my time during whatever time frame. The question is: Can I take back that control in February? I certainly hope so.

Last February I tackled a self-imposed challenge. The anti-NaNo challenge. Every other day, I responded to a prompt, like "Describe your antagonist's pet." The other days were for new plot ideas. I got some good stuff out of that month. And some not-so-good stuff. It spurred me on, though. Set up the year as a creative one.

So, what about this February? Rewriting MMG is a biggie for me this time around. Had a bit of an ah-ha moment about it yesterday morning--which was still January, I know. But because it was January, I didn't get a chance to do anything about it. My theory about February being different should mean that I do get a chance to tackle the ah-ha idea today.

Bret made me an offer about Apollo's Lyre that I may not be able to refuse. Instead of editting--and, therefore, having to deal with authors (what a weird bunch they are)--I might do a regular column. Hmm. Four or five issues a year. Could I be the next Miss Snark? Ms. Snippy? Maybe I could be the Not So Very Nice Editor. Any ideas? What kind of column would you like to read?

And here's to a happy, productive, creative February for all of us. Well, we already know that Jenny's going to be productive, but you know what I meant.

Poor D.B.

She is really struggling with The Artist's Way right now. I tried to tell her that it took me three tries to get past the fourth week, but I don't think she's buying it. I had a lot of trouble with the "no reading" rule for week four. It stopped me cold the first time, along with all the emotions and issues that had been brought up in the first three weeks. The second time, too. Finally, I just said, "Screw it" or something like it the third time and ignored the rule.

D.B. has trouble ignoring rules. I'm afraid this week may break her. I hope she does continue. I think she could have fun with it. But she's got to want to do it so I'm backing off.

It's been an interesting 3 weeks for me, too. I pulled out my copy of the book and have been reading along with her. Some of the pages are falling out. The result of going over the first part so many times until I "got it right". I've also revisited some of the tasks and exercises. Interesting. I couldn't find the original notebook so I don't know exactly how my answers differ this time around, but I'd bet they do. Different place in my own journey.

Like D.B. I had started thinking too much about Morning Pages. I've been zipping along on them and getting better results. And I've been trying to do them before anything else in the morning. As the day starts to intrude, the tone of the pages changes. Maybe Afternoon Pages should be in a separate journal. That might help clean out for evening writing. Interesting thought. We'll see.

So, this week is all about revision. Re-vision. Seeing again. Looking at MMG with new eyes, but also seeing it for the umpteenth time. That should be an interesting journey, too. Let's hope it's a fun and productive one.

News as Entertainment, Entertainment as News

Heath Ledger died yesterday. That is all that is known for sure right now. Yet, every 'news' report is leading with the 'story' today. Before the autopsy was even performed, speculation was reported as fact. Words were thrown around.

Overdose
Brooding
Easy-going
Depressed
Suicide
Accident

"Well, that's their job," a coworker said this morning. No, their job is to report what really happened. And no one knows that right now. It could take up to 10 days to get a toxicology report back. The ME has said the autopsy was inconclusive. Yet, you'll see and read reports over the next week about 'what really happened'. Yet none of it will be the whole story. Because they're rushing it out. They're talking to only one person at a time and then regurgitating that one person's point of view.

What happened to journalistic integrity? Fact checking and getting second sources and all of that? Some of it is the competition between the 24 hours news outlets. But what about the magazines? Will Entertainment Weekly and People and Us wait to start their articles until all the medical and forensic reports are in? Doubt it. I'd bet that the next issue of each will feature Heath Ledger on the cover.

***From Ad Age: NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- People magazine's issue on newsstands Friday will be the only celebrity title this week with a cover story about the awful, but clearly biggest, news of the cycle: yesterday's discovery of Heath Ledger dead at 28. ***

And here's the tough question: is it really news? It's tragic for someone that young and talented to die. But young, talented people die on a daily basis and it doesn't even make a headline in a local paper. This goes hand in hand with the reporting about Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan. Is it really news? I don't think so. But there it is. They've been on a movie screen or been recorded singing and that makes them special.

Another coworker went to a funeral last night. A 15-year old girl made a bad decision about sneaking out of the house and was killed in a car accident. Sad. Tragic. I just Googled it and only one local television channel's website comes up. Not the local newspaper or the other three television stations.

A lot of people died last night. And a lot of people mourned last night for people who died in previous nights.

When Characters Nag

on the next Montel.

The One And Only Iron John recently posted about a character who is demanding John's attention. He wondered if it happens to everyone, how to deal with it, is he going crazy, etc. As to the last question, the answer is, "You're a writer. Of course, you're crazy."

I have to admit that I have a character trying to get my attention right now. Like John, I want to do something else first, but she doesn't care. I guess I can't blame her. I've been creating this person for five years--that's twenty-five in character years. She's all grown up and wants to go explore the world. Guess I may have to help her do that.

The character in question is Kitty from MMG. And it's not just her. Bits of narrative and description intrude when I'm in the middle of something else. Other characters pop in from time to time to let me know how they've changed in the past few months. But that's not the catalyst that's sitting me down this weekend to begin the rewrite.

No, what convinced me that it really is time to rewrite is a dream I had last night. Now I've dreamed stories and characters before, but never agents. Then Dan showed up to tell me he's waiting.

Hmmm. Thinking I shouldn't ignore that one.

Just Thinking

I haven't really been racking up the word count over the past month and a half. But does that mean I haven't been writing? I don't think it does.

Had a lovely lunch with Fleur and Moe yesterday. We talked about lots of stuff but mostly about writing. That's just what Pirates seem to do when they get together. Moe said something about how non-writers don't get that writing isn't just the physical act--that there's a lot of writing that goes on when we're nowhere near a notebook or computer. I saw an interview with Tim Robbins once, and he talked about how his kids would tease him when they'd go into his office and see him staring out the window. "You said you were working." "I am."

That's the kind of writing I've been doing. Making notes, both mental and actual, about characters and situations and plots and settings. I've been doing this for Vesta and for MMG. Things are falling into place. You can almost hear the clicking some days. And it feels like playing in this mode. Anything can happen. It's not written down yet, you see, so it's still maleable. The clay hasn't been fired. I even had a flash for TNN yesterday morning: Southern Gothic, but with humor. Groovy.

The hard part is to realize that we are still being creative. That we are "writing." Because we don't have something to show to others. I've been beating myself up over being blocked. But I'm not. All kinds of good things are happening. Can't wait to see where all this leads when I do start committing it to "paper."