Progress on my WIP

 'Petes Rocket' is progressing nicely! 

I'm at 50K words and I have 10 more chapters defined. There may be more or fewer depending on how much my Muse smacks me around. ;-)

I've been surprised at the twists and turns that pour out of my imagination in this story. I'm trying to stay out of the way as I write. I put whatever seems like a plausible plot line down until I have about a chapter or 500 words. 

Then I go back and review the existing story and see if this new scene really fits and moves the story in the right direction.

So far, this has worked pretty well. I've had to ditch a whole day's works a couple of times, but in general I'm keeping the new stuff. 

It seems I write best when I get out of my Muse's way and just write. The scenes seems to unfold in my mind with the character voices bouncing around in my head.

I'm hoping to finish this story soon. I have a dozen others raising their hands for my attention.

I'm a lucky writer! ;-)

Writing and other stuff...

 I'm knee deep in 'fleshing out' the chapters of my latest novel, tentively called 'Pete's Rocket'.

Once again I'm adding a chapter and then writing a quick synopsis of what might happen in this chapter.

It's working well. I'm creating the 'arcs' of the story as I flesh out this chapters from beginning to end.

Looking at the work so far, this method has made it obvious that I need more characters, interaction, background, etc.

I just added a girlfriend for Peter, my main character. He needed more emotional envolvement to explain some of the issues he is going through He has a best friend, Brett, about the same age as Peter who lives close by and shares his excitement for model rocketry.

The setting so far is in my hometown of Levelland Texas, which sits in the middle of cotton fields and dust just west of Lubbock. And I do mean dust.

The environment and atmosphere atmosphere for this story comes directly out of my childhood memories. I was born there in '52 and spent most of my childhood there. My family moved to Boulder, Colorado when I was 14. 

I remember it being hot. Hot and dusty. Hot, dusty and dry.

The most fun I remember having as boy was stripping down to just my skivies and cut-off jeans and then running back and forth through the backyard lawn sprinkler until I dropped. By the end of summer I was brown as a walnut. 

If you don't know what Estes Rockets are, then you are missing some awsome fun, both for kids and yourself. Look 'em up and consider getting a starter kits. Lots of fun and educational as well.

Have a great week, my fiends. Never miss an opportunity to make someone smile.

Happy Birthday to Us! And pass the soothing after shave...

 250 years!

Oh, my gosh, it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating our 200th! ;-)

Yes, time does speed up as you get older! Especially time spent in naps.

I love my naps. I look forward to taking my nap as soon as I lift my sorry butt off the bed in the morning. But no sooner do I strap on my CPAP mask and lie down, than the buzzer goes off and it's time to rise and face the evening.

It used to take me less than 5 minutes to do my morning toilet (always thought that was a weird way to put that... ), now it takes me at least 15. Of course just getting all my pills swallowed takes minutes now.

Then there is shaving. At one time, I could put on shaving lather, shave my face, rinse with a Aqua Velva lotion and shine like the sun without thinking about it. Took me less than 2 minutes. Now I have to put on an alcohol 'Lectic Shave to make my hair stand out, run the electric shaver over my face a dozen times to get all the lazy fuzz and then splash on some 'soothing after shave'. Soothing my butt. It stings like hell!

I won't talk about my morning constitutionals. Nope. Not going to scare you off.

Throw on yesterday's t-shirt and my lounge shorts and head for the kitchen. Big decision for the morning is a bow of granola with sliced banana or a bowl of oatmeal with a tablespoon of peanut butter and a splash of maple syrup.

Oh. And a cup of heart starter. No sugar. Splash of almond milk. Best part of the morning. I drink half of the mug before I start on breakfast. Gets the old intestinal tract revved up and ready to process whatever I shove down my gullet.

Oh well, I'm still vertical, most of the time and able to enjoy the company of family and friends, so it's all good.

To celebrate American's birthday, we're looking forward to spending some time with some friends on Saturday. He's got a nice grill and has promised brats, corn on the cob and baked beans! There may be a mug of ice cold Fat Tire or Shiner. Or two. May even go wild and have a third! ... No, maybe not.

And then home for a nap.

Happy Birthday, everyone!

Be Good.

Be Happy.

Just be.