I am happy to announce that I've finally moved out of chapter one of my middle grade novel. I was caught in endless revision as I shot out in one direction or another trying to feel where the story was leading me, then scrapping it and starting over again. Finally, I found the proper path. It was sweetly scented and lit with dappled rays of something or other. All of this means that chapter two in "Sneaker's Secret" is coming along nicely. I am working on the story every day. In fact, I am working on the story instead of blogging, another thing I should be delirious about. Except for the not blogging here part. That is obviously bad, and how disappointed you must be in me. I am penitent.
By the way, the iPad is working out as a novel writing platform. Last night I could not sleep and gave up around 4am, then went for a walk. It's not a safe thing to do, but because I have a misguided belief that nobody cares about me at four in the morning, I can almost feel immortal. So I brought my iPad with me, as well as a flashing sign on my back that read "PLEASE MUG ME". I had gotten the idea into my head that 4am was a perfect time to test out that "geocaching" thing I had been hearing about for years, so I fired up an iPhone app and followed my clues into the darkness.
The clues led me to Walgreens a half a mile away. As expected, the parking lot was empty except for a slightly chubby idiot walking around with a lit up iPhone kicking at bushes and wondering if he had lost his mind. You see, my iPhone is a first generation unit. It doesn't have GPS. It uses a form of triangulation between radio towers to determine location. It's fairly accurate within 200 miles or so. I followed the hints to go leftish to one side of the parking lot, then followed the clues to go rightish to the other side of the parking lot. The app even mocked me at one point and told me I was close.
Did I mention that the parking lot was empty? There was nobody there but the lamp posts and I.
Since that lark turned out so well, I decided to head home when I noticed a brightly lit tree in the parking lot of a brewery. I liked the image of a large, lone tree lit up in the asphalt jungle and thought perhaps I had found a place to repose awhile and write. So I did. The only interruption was a very noisy bat who flew overhead a few times. Other than that, words appeared in my story as I typed on the glass of my iPad and I couldn't have been happier.
Hopefully, my earlier tales of professional success will weigh heavier in your mind than my fool's escapade in a parking lot. If you could take a moment to let me know what you think of all this, I would be delighted. You could even share your own fool's escapades if you dared.
