Mourn the orphans

One of the things which fascinates me about the writing process are the orphans -- all the little concepts, characters, phrases, plot lines, and drafts that are created and eventually discarded along the way.

The road of writer's journey is littered with them. Generally they go unmourned, hardly noticed. Long forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind.

But sometimes I wonder . . . what could they have become, if circumstance had been right?

Not quite a pup-in-a-blanket, but tasty nonetheless, no?

What in the world is this, and why am I posting it, you might ask?

To answer the former, just as it appears to the naked eye, it is quite literally a doggie bag. (Pun intended.) Both cute and disturbing at the same time.

To answer the latter, I saw this little gem down in San Diego at this year's Comic-Con on the way to lunch and immediately thought of Joseph Mallozzi who was to appear at the much anticipated (from my perspective) Stargate Atlantis panel and occasionally blogs about, and posts pictures of, four little dogs he and his wife own.

Writing alone, together

As some of you may know, my transition to becoming a writer has been a long time in coming. A long time, because I had been thinking about it and planning it for years before actually doing something about it. Planner, I am no more! A man of action, am I! This year I finally took steps toward creating a more "writerly" life.

I decided I needed to surround myself with all things literature and writing related. So, I joined my local library's mystery book club . . . which led to a desire to read science fiction, the genre of choice during my youth, as well as chat with others about it, too . . . which lead to finding a few like-minded library staffers and starting a science fiction / speculative fiction book club . . . which led to finding other stymied, writers-in-waiting . . . which led to form a writing group.

So, how's the writing coming, you might ask? Actually, pretty good! (Thanks for asking.)

The writing group has been the best thing for my writing. I can set goals from here to eternity, but there's nothing like a group of fellow writers, to whom I am accountable, to help keep me on track. And the fact that I am not only helping myself, but helping others along on their own writing journeys, is a great motivator. It helps that we keep things low-key and light. As an example, just check out the name of our writing group and its blog, Fifty Lashes with a Wet Noodle: The Writing Group, or Fifty Lashes, for short.

We're actually moving along quite nicely in our preparation for this year's NaNoWriMo. Our goal is to finish the first drafts of our novels via NaNo during the month of November. This will be the first NaNo for the majority of the group. (I've tried to do NaNo twice before, but never actually started writing anything. See, it's that whole not following through problem I was talking about.)

Anyway, I suggest you think about joining, or starting, a writing group if you're serious about becoming a writer. Sure, you could always do things yourself, alone. But it's so much more fun with company.

Hanging at the library

So, my local library is great. Nice new facilities, lots of good books and resources, and free Internet access via wifi. The only downside, besides the fact that the Internet access is a tad slow, is that my cell phone's signal is weak to non-existent inside.

It's not that I'm planning on taking calls and chatting loudly in the library. How rude would that be? I would step out to take calls, natch. It's just that there are times when you need continuous mobile communications, when every second counts . . . you know, family emergencies, agent calling, surfing on my Blackberry. That sort of stuff.

It's situations like these when it would be nice to have the Blackberry Curve 8320. With its UMA capabilities, the Curve would allow me to send and receive phone calls in poor cell reception areas via the Internet in areas that have an available wifi network. Of course it'll cost an additional $10 (or is it $20?) a month for T-Mobile's Hotspot @Home service, but improved indoor cell phone usage, plus unlimited calling while using wifi, would be worth it.

Now, if I could only just figure out how to deal with whole $250 price tag to upgrade.