2001.05.11 - Thoughts and ideas and storylines and characters and plot points continue to expand and get nurtured, but currently only in the addled mind of its creator.  Still optimistic, I really figure this will be 98% hashed out and rouged completely by the fall.  I tend to go into writing coma's a few times a year and this one seemed to coincide tremendously with my recent life changes.  Generally by mid-Spring I tend to awaken and fill pages rapidly.  Just a pattern I've noticed over the years.  As for a little insight... 

the lesbian characters are coming together smashingly... some of the best stuff I think I've typed in months.  

Holdinger is starting to become his own person... molded slightly after Bill Murray in Scrooged and Richard Dreyfuss in What About Bob?, he's becoming an eccentric, neurotic semi-genius with a life filled with dumb luck and fortune.  

Carlos and Lenny continue to strengthen that bond and we get to the root of Carlos' problems and hear a little more of what happened to him in the ten years since his exploits in When The Wall Came Tumbling Down.

Barney is still rather despicable, but he's really very much on the fence.  I'm not sure how despicable he can be...

Meighen and Jason are preparing and figuring what the hell is going on, and what the hell will go on with their lives... Jay is drifting, quite certain he'll take over where Barney leaves off... and Meighen has her own health issues to deal with while trying to keep this disjointed family of hers in a stoic stable way.  

And the settings... the settings... cruising down I-90 in a cream colored Buick pulling in all the sites and sounds to offer with some good conversation along the way to Buffalo and on up to Niagara Falls and back to Lakewood.  

Like I've been saying all along... I've been keeping it fun and light and healthy, so should it remain until the day you get to read it at your leisure.

2001.02.10 - As I've promised before and have yet to deliver... I will make good.  Click here for a very rough preview of what I'm currently working on.  Please visit the message boards (Better Parts forum, natch) and tell me what you think.

2001.01.04 - Been working rather hard lately, sewing this thing together... been building and tearing apart characters and situations, and as I've said before if I didn't like it, I wouldn't be doing it.  :)  But, I reiterate, I'm projecting a late 2001 finish, with a mid-2002 release in mind.  Also, as I've said before, I'll post some tidbits and excerpts and exciting things in the weeks to come.  I'm also thinking about enclosing a chapter in the final release of Enough Shorts... I'll keep you posted.

2000.11.25 - To Better Parts and Other Places.  It was odd.  I had these dreams last night... there were more than two, but they all sort of mingled together in those waking hours as my conscious mind fought my subconscious mind for supremacy... anyway, I woke up and had this one thought in my mind.  And thus, it is now the working title, and presumably the final title for aforementioned "An Ode to Lenny, or The Day I Saved The World From Imploding."  I think I'll stick with the Kubrick type thing, or Vonnegut for that matter, with the multiple titles.  

To clarify where this comes from, it is actually a toast that Mr. Carlos Rich shares with just about everyone he meets.  And I suppose after typing it last night (did I fail to mention I've been working on this?) it seeped into my sleep and viola.  I actually rationalized this because the novel has a lot to do with improvement and travel, so it actually works.  And it's one of those things you could sit and rationalize for hours while you're sucking down a cold one.  To better parts and other places.  Oh, and the white hippopotamus.  :)

Untitled

Or better known by it's working title, An Ode To Lenny.

Originally designed as exactly that, an ode to one of my favorite authors and screenplay adaptees, Elmore Leonard, but the story has since morphed adding need for the "Untitled" tag.  

The story was to revolve around a ring of car thieves and their impending life choices, but it has since become a Carlos Rich piece dedicated to parenthood.  (This is somewhat due in part because my history with action pieces is sketchy and a certain Jerry Bruckheimer produced vehicle hit earlier this summer and turned my stomach on the subject [Nicolas Cage/Angelina Jolie anyone]).  I'll reveal more details as I feel they should be revealed, but for now, that's all you get.  I will go as far to say that in my Microsoft Word document I have collected 14,301 words and 56 pages.  So it's well on it's way... the general story has been hashed out and I'm still having a jolly good time creating twists and turns and just truly letting the story lead me by the hand until I can sum it all up and tie with a nice twist-tie for all to see.  

Completion of rough draft is still planned for early spring and the third edit (otherwise known as the one that sits and festers in my subconscious for a few months, most of the time bleeding into years) is slated for a late fall 2001 finish.  

2000.10.31 - Just as I get notice of RBK's availability, I've sewn up another chapter in this messy piece.  Got Carlos and Lenny running through Roaming Rock, Ohio trying to avoid a collision with cops and shotgun shells.  Seems to be motoring along nicely... got a couple of articles that back up my thoughts on energy consumption (hint, hint at some more subject matter).  So, more articles equals more text and a banging I will go, on this keyboard that is.  And I think I may have come up with a better working title... The Day I Saved The World From Imploding.  (Another ode to a great work... for those of you who get it, you will get brownie points).  Again, this is gonna be another bumpy ride, so buckle up... but I fear even a glimpse is a way off, as your votes are pressuring me into sending up Enough Shorts... next.  Buh-bye.