Get Out!

I have never been a fan of horror flicks unless they are in the Scream series, which probably doesn't count as horror. One movie that I recall seeing was the Amityville Horror. Any house that tells me to get out is going to get its way. I've thought of this movie many times recently because I've discovered that I am virtually incapable of writing inside my house. The only way I have any success is to get out and go somewhere, anywhere else that doesn't have the threat of dishes or laundry. It's a miracle that I can sit on my couch at home and write this much. Anyone who can write at home amid distractions from kids, dogs, and burping spouses has my full respect. I have less of an attention span that the gnat that just landed in my tea, so I applaud those who can put the blinders on and keep working. With this post being the rare exception, I have to Get Out to make my mark on the world. Otherwise, I end up accomplishing as much as the clueless gnat that decided to do the backstroke in my tea.

Jeff Dunham and the Pursuit of Goals

My son has many interests outside of what some might consider "normal" for an 11 year old.  He was probably the only kid who dressed up as a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.  His newest fascination is Jeff Dunham, or more accurately Jeff Dunham's ventriloquist act.  We recently caught a rerun of Jeff Dunham: Birth of a Dummy on the Biography Channel and it grabbed his attention and mine for a variety of reasons.

While my son was entertained by Dunham's colorful cast of characters, I was drawn into his story for different reasons.  For one, he had intense dedication to his goal of taking his act to the Tonight Show and like any good story, he suffered setback after setback.  He faced criticism from other comedians who regarded his act as too different to make it in the cutthroat comedy scene.  A last minute rejection from the Tonight Show threatened to send him over the edge.

What does this have to do with writing?  On the surface, nothing.  If you look a little deeper, you can draw parallels between Dunham and anyone who has ever wanted to be published.  A goal is a goal and reaching that goal amid obstacles is the essence of great storytelling.  Another correlation is the journey of the indie author, the one outside the mainstream who grew stronger with each rejection and published their novel.  Like Jeff Dunham, the author never abandoned his goal.

Confessions of a Rewrite-aholic

You can't have good writing without rewriting.  I think it was Hemingway who said that the first draft of anything is shit.  Writers must give themselves permission to write that first draft without stopping every couple of sentences to revise.  I must confess that I am as guilty of fixing my work as I go and I don't think that I'll ever completely kick the habit.  I finally completed my first novel, but many years were lost to the rewrite addiction and my story just didn't progress as it should have.  Writing is the only area of my life in which I'm a perfectionist.  My car looks like a mobile garage sale and I'm really terrible at laundry.  But with writing, I just couldn't allow myself to make mistakes.  It was only after I had a come to Jesus meeting with myself that I broke up with my habit.  That's not to say that I don't have relapses.  As with other addictions, relapse is part of recovery.

Meet Max...

My excessively needy Boston Terrier
with a heart of gold

Nightmare over

Since the beginning of January, we have been dealing with a major health crisis.  My 11 year old son became very ill.  He was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called HSP that caused intestinal bleeding, severe abdominal pain, and a rash.  He was treated with steroids and gradually weaned off.  Unfortunately, he became sick again after going off the steroids.  Multiple hospital and clinic visits later, I became overly emotional and started crying in front of a doctor who proceeded to tell me that I needed to seek psychological counseling.  I guess when even the best doctors in the world can't tell you why your kid isn't getting better, where do you go?  What do you do?  For me, it was a turning point.  I resisted the urge to call that doctor some colorful four letter words.  Instead, I made the decision to switch my son to a gluten-free diet and see what happened.  At that point, I felt like I had nothing to lose.  The results have been phenomenal.  He hasn't been sick since last Thursday and he's healthier and happier than he was before he got sick.