I don't do resolutions, because I really suck at them. I don't like to look back, unless it's something so bad that I might actually learn from it. And since I'm way too superstitious to wish anything good for myself (lest I somehow piss off the karma gods), I thought I'd instead offer up a more general list of New Year's wishes:
1. I wish for peace and happiness for those of you in turmoil. Remember that this, too, shall pass. It always does.
2. I wish we could all just finally get along (in the words of poor Rodney King. Remember him?) Of course, this won't happen. I mean, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday. But I can wish, can't I?
3. I wish nothing but good things for my friends and family.
4. I wish the Cubs could just once win it all. Really. Just once. Then I could die happy.
5. I wish everyone could find their soulmate in life. I did.
6. I wish we could go back to the Moon. Space travel is so cool. I wish my sons could experience what I did back in 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Lunar suface and gave me a massive case of goosebumps.
7. I wish Led Zeppelin would get back together and tour again.
8. I wish for security for the insecure of the world. You know who you are.
9. I wish I had one more wish to make this an even ten.
10. I wish I hadn't wimped out on that last wish...
Happy New Year.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A haze of creativity
Well, I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. today in the throes of mapping out my new novel. I'm not sure why I go into these almost manic phases of creativity, but I do. And it seems to be effective.
A few days ago, I had a very general idea for my next book--a spark of an idea if you will. It's a return to the theological thriller genre of my first book. But a general idea does not a completed manuscript make! So I put on the mp3 player (music is essential to my creativity process), cranked up the tunes and thought the story through. And through. And through. Ad nauseum.
It started coming to me in large chunks yesterday while working out at the gym. And it kept coming off and on throughout a fairly eventful day (our 12-year-son broke his foot at a snowball fight. Go figure).
For some reason, this is how I create. The idea comes to me in the form of a daydream and I spend the next few days feverishly taking notes from my own thoughts and committing them to paper so I don't forget them. Of course, the story continues to change and grow right up until I type "The End." And sometimes, even beyond that.
At 2:20 this morning, the ending finally came to me in a thick haze of cigar smoke with REM pounding in my ears. And what an ending! Man, I love it.
So I wrote it all down in my pretentious little Moleskine notebook. (Hemingway used one, you know!)
The book idea is big, deep, sexy, scary and damned exciting. It's going to take every ounce of any talent I might possess to pull off. But damn, I'm looking forward to trying.
I am a "seat-of-the-pantser" when it comes to writing, meaning I don't really work from a formal outline. Sure, I do several outlines, but when I write, the story just goes off to where it's going and I seem to have very little control over it. Sounds weird, I know. But my characters seem to think for themselves once I start writing.
I suspect that, when it comes to fiction writing, that's a good thing. (Or it means I'm truly insane.)
I'm going to continue laying the groundwork this week and hope to start writing in earnest next week (although I admit I do have the first few paragraphs already done).
While I'm not ready yet to disclose exactly what the book is about (ooohhhh, a secret), I will keep you updated on my progress. Of course, I have a month's worth of editing and revision on my completed novel coming up soon, so that will untrack me a bit.
Happy New Year!
UPDATE: Crap. I'm so wiped out today that I forgot to wish my 12-year-old son, Brennan, a Happy Birthday! The poor kid broke his foot yesterday and is spending his birthday creeping around on the smallest pair of crutches you've ever seen! They are so cute. ;)
Oh, and he can't wait for school to resume on Monday so he can tell his friends all about his horrid injury. He might even tell a girl or two ...
Anyway, happy birthday Buddy. I love you. Dad.
A few days ago, I had a very general idea for my next book--a spark of an idea if you will. It's a return to the theological thriller genre of my first book. But a general idea does not a completed manuscript make! So I put on the mp3 player (music is essential to my creativity process), cranked up the tunes and thought the story through. And through. And through. Ad nauseum.
It started coming to me in large chunks yesterday while working out at the gym. And it kept coming off and on throughout a fairly eventful day (our 12-year-son broke his foot at a snowball fight. Go figure).
For some reason, this is how I create. The idea comes to me in the form of a daydream and I spend the next few days feverishly taking notes from my own thoughts and committing them to paper so I don't forget them. Of course, the story continues to change and grow right up until I type "The End." And sometimes, even beyond that.
At 2:20 this morning, the ending finally came to me in a thick haze of cigar smoke with REM pounding in my ears. And what an ending! Man, I love it.
So I wrote it all down in my pretentious little Moleskine notebook. (Hemingway used one, you know!)
The book idea is big, deep, sexy, scary and damned exciting. It's going to take every ounce of any talent I might possess to pull off. But damn, I'm looking forward to trying.
I am a "seat-of-the-pantser" when it comes to writing, meaning I don't really work from a formal outline. Sure, I do several outlines, but when I write, the story just goes off to where it's going and I seem to have very little control over it. Sounds weird, I know. But my characters seem to think for themselves once I start writing.
I suspect that, when it comes to fiction writing, that's a good thing. (Or it means I'm truly insane.)
I'm going to continue laying the groundwork this week and hope to start writing in earnest next week (although I admit I do have the first few paragraphs already done).
While I'm not ready yet to disclose exactly what the book is about (ooohhhh, a secret), I will keep you updated on my progress. Of course, I have a month's worth of editing and revision on my completed novel coming up soon, so that will untrack me a bit.
Happy New Year!
UPDATE: Crap. I'm so wiped out today that I forgot to wish my 12-year-old son, Brennan, a Happy Birthday! The poor kid broke his foot yesterday and is spending his birthday creeping around on the smallest pair of crutches you've ever seen! They are so cute. ;)
Oh, and he can't wait for school to resume on Monday so he can tell his friends all about his horrid injury. He might even tell a girl or two ...
Anyway, happy birthday Buddy. I love you. Dad.
Monday, December 28, 2009
My dream is no lie
When I finished my first novel in late August (pending more edits, of course), I decided to start something a bit lighter. See, THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW is a rather dark theological thriller with some very deep themes. Many of them were ripped from my own soul, my own experiences.
It damn near killed me to write it.
Consequently, I figured a political thriller with lots of plot and very little depth would be just the ticket. And now, about 13,000 words into it, it turns out I was right. It's been much easier to write and doesn't send me into those dark and scary bouts of depression like the first one did.
So why am I shelving it in favor of yet another dark theological thriller?
Good question, and one I shall attempt to answer.
During the two years it took me to write THE DEVIL, I constantly felt like I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I felt overwhelmed. Frustrated. I didn't feel nearly talented enough to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. There were days when I was so pissed at myself that I honestly considered just deep-sixing the whole damned thing and looking for a real job. Oh, there were many, many dark days of self-imposed agony. I feared deep in my soul that I wasn't good enough to fulfill my lifelong dream.
I was still being held hostage by my fear of failure, which is eclipsed only by my fear of success. A line from Springsteen's The River kept me up at night:
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?
And then I finished the damned book one hot Friday night in a frenzy of writing, coffee and cigars. And people read it. And they liked it. Sometimes, they liked it alot.
And I started to feel something I had never felt before, despite all of the things I've managed to accomplish. I felt as though I had finally put my heart and soul into something and ... I somehow pulled it off!
Wow.
As low as I had felt writing it, I felt equally high as others read and enjoyed it--as they got it.
Now I don't know if THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW will ever see the light of publication. Only God knows that for sure -- and He ain't talking. But now I know the satisfaction of completing something that seemed all but impossible to complete. It's one hell of a feeling.
So I'm hard at work laying the groundwork for my next novel. Its working title is THE CROSSROADS and it's a novel about the epic battle between Good and Evil. God and the Devil. Man and his Soul.
I'm depressed already ... and loving every minute of it!
It damn near killed me to write it.
Consequently, I figured a political thriller with lots of plot and very little depth would be just the ticket. And now, about 13,000 words into it, it turns out I was right. It's been much easier to write and doesn't send me into those dark and scary bouts of depression like the first one did.
So why am I shelving it in favor of yet another dark theological thriller?
Good question, and one I shall attempt to answer.
During the two years it took me to write THE DEVIL, I constantly felt like I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I felt overwhelmed. Frustrated. I didn't feel nearly talented enough to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. There were days when I was so pissed at myself that I honestly considered just deep-sixing the whole damned thing and looking for a real job. Oh, there were many, many dark days of self-imposed agony. I feared deep in my soul that I wasn't good enough to fulfill my lifelong dream.
I was still being held hostage by my fear of failure, which is eclipsed only by my fear of success. A line from Springsteen's The River kept me up at night:
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?
And then I finished the damned book one hot Friday night in a frenzy of writing, coffee and cigars. And people read it. And they liked it. Sometimes, they liked it alot.
And I started to feel something I had never felt before, despite all of the things I've managed to accomplish. I felt as though I had finally put my heart and soul into something and ... I somehow pulled it off!
Wow.
As low as I had felt writing it, I felt equally high as others read and enjoyed it--as they got it.
Now I don't know if THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW will ever see the light of publication. Only God knows that for sure -- and He ain't talking. But now I know the satisfaction of completing something that seemed all but impossible to complete. It's one hell of a feeling.
So I'm hard at work laying the groundwork for my next novel. Its working title is THE CROSSROADS and it's a novel about the epic battle between Good and Evil. God and the Devil. Man and his Soul.
I'm depressed already ... and loving every minute of it!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Just a very short blog to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, etc.
From my family to yours, have a peaceful day tomorrow and a blessed New Year.
BTW, we settled on Adventures in Babysitting for Friday's Family Movie Night. Not very Christmasy, I know, but by Friday night we'll all be, you know, rather tired of it all!
I expect to start blogging more often on Monday. See you all then!
From my family to yours, have a peaceful day tomorrow and a blessed New Year.
BTW, we settled on Adventures in Babysitting for Friday's Family Movie Night. Not very Christmasy, I know, but by Friday night we'll all be, you know, rather tired of it all!
I expect to start blogging more often on Monday. See you all then!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A busy weekend
I know I've been lax on my blogging, but holiday madness has officially arrived in the Towery household.
On Friday, we did our usual Family Movie Night and, afer much debate, settled on "Knowing," a so-so sci-fi movie that the wife and child loved. Me? Not so much.
Next week, I'm starting an '80s theme. Maybe I'll kick it off with either "Adventures in Babysitting" or "Ferris Buehler's Day Off." Gotta love those 80s movies! Molly Ringwald, here we come.
We got up early on Saturday and drove to suburban Chicago to have an early Christmas dinner with Jennifer's Dad and his lovely wife, Cher. We had a really great time. Ev and Cher sure know how to host a holiday gathering!
Today, my family came over and we had a sirloin tip roast AND a 12-pound Butterball turkey! I had both in the oven at 6:30 this morning. Thank God for coffee. Again, we had a great time! There's really nothing better than kicking back with family and just talking, laughing and remembering old times. It's one of the best things about the holiday season.
We get a breather until Christmas Eve, when we're having the two older boys over for a full-fledged family dinner before candlelight services at our church. On Christmas morning, we'll head north again to Jennifer's brother's house, where he is serving Turducken! Wow. I love Turkducken. Awesome, heavenly eating!
But for now, I'm gonna watch some Sunday night football and COLLAPSE.
More tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great, relaxing weekend.
On Friday, we did our usual Family Movie Night and, afer much debate, settled on "Knowing," a so-so sci-fi movie that the wife and child loved. Me? Not so much.
Next week, I'm starting an '80s theme. Maybe I'll kick it off with either "Adventures in Babysitting" or "Ferris Buehler's Day Off." Gotta love those 80s movies! Molly Ringwald, here we come.
We got up early on Saturday and drove to suburban Chicago to have an early Christmas dinner with Jennifer's Dad and his lovely wife, Cher. We had a really great time. Ev and Cher sure know how to host a holiday gathering!
Today, my family came over and we had a sirloin tip roast AND a 12-pound Butterball turkey! I had both in the oven at 6:30 this morning. Thank God for coffee. Again, we had a great time! There's really nothing better than kicking back with family and just talking, laughing and remembering old times. It's one of the best things about the holiday season.
We get a breather until Christmas Eve, when we're having the two older boys over for a full-fledged family dinner before candlelight services at our church. On Christmas morning, we'll head north again to Jennifer's brother's house, where he is serving Turducken! Wow. I love Turkducken. Awesome, heavenly eating!
But for now, I'm gonna watch some Sunday night football and COLLAPSE.
More tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great, relaxing weekend.
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