Paddy's Wanderings

Rambling Muse

For the past few days I have been battered pretty hard by allergies and haven't had much energy to do anything. So I have not blogged at all and I miss just rambling, or posting up new and unusual wanderings. Today I feel pretty crappy but I thought I would post up something of value, maybe.

The past few days I have been working on short stories, when I could breathe normally and not just sit and stare vacantly at the box. Which means, after watching two episodes of Home Improvement, which I like, and then finding myself halfway through an episode of Raymond, which for the record, NOT everyone loves, I am a case in point there, I discovered that I was bored out of my mind and I must be ill. Medication is the answer, but it makes me loopy, more then normal that is and it slows the fun stuff way down.

But I did work on the collection of short stories that I believe will see the light of day, slowly, inch by inch, they will appear for all to look upon. That is if I figure out to properly format them for digital consumption, which I will admit, is proving elusive to me at the moment. Ah well, I'll figure it out eventually.

Today though was to be a chat about muse, or the creative process. Some of the peeps I trail around on the 'net have talked a bit about it lately and I don't have a short answer, so here is a longer then tweet, less then a novel answer that probably won't make sense, but there it is.

I don't carry a muse in my pocket. If I ever find one of the wee beasties, I would probably have a chat then let it go. The glimpses I have caught paint a fickle picture of mostly frustration and anxiety, I can pass on that I think. I am not looking for consistency or to cage the inspiration, far from it. But to chase the will-o-wisp to the point of distraction seems a futile gesture that will lead to some serious, heavy drinking. In the end, it seems better to pass.

On occasion, I chat with the inspiration that comes along. Oh it comes from just about anywhere and at any given time, there is that consistency issue again.. For me it is all about taking that idea and running with it as far as it goes. Sometimes it is a hop, skip, and jump and others its a decades long diversion. Sometimes several ideas form together into something greater, sometimes not. It is a catch as catch can type of thing. Inspiration, the muse, is always welcomed, but at best it is a guest of indeterminate length. That's cool.

It is what you do with the idea left behind. It is all about the work involved, the realization of the idea. For me, it is do it, finish it, then move along. I have enough stuff floating around in various stages, that if I was to get to the move along stage and have nothing left I would be shocked. That is the key, the working until the end, to bring it all to fruition. In that, my fellow wanderers, I am severely lacking.

I believe I may have found an answer or more to the point, several answers. One of which is to blog, it keeps it all flowing. Another is to set dead lines on my self. That seems to work pretty well to keep motivated. And to lay it all out there, for all to see. By making public my desires to finish and accomplish stuff, I put the pressure on myself to not look the fool.

With that, I have a short story collection that I am desperately trying to run final edits on each story and to properly format the stuff. Plus all kinds of assorted tasks related to said project. I have a week to start the process, daylight is burning, time to just do it. That is creativity and inspiration in a nutshell right there. The desire to push it out and to do it well.

Until then.. stay tuned.

Into the Black

I did something pretty cool today, I joined a community.

I dragged outta bed, wandered to my chair in front of the 'puter, said yo to Elric, cracked open the remains of a bottle of Diet Coke and opened Facebook. Figured I would wake up, catch up with my friends on fb and start off the day. I had big plans for the day, mucho writing to be done!

First thing I see is a post by James Melzer, announcing the start up of The Creative Alliance. They started? Holy guacamole batman its ten o'clock and you sleep through the launch. WTF!? Holy crapazoid, they got it running and I was caught napping, as usual..

So I hit the link and launch twitter, and catch the buzz.. cool! So I joined the group. I even uploaded that grainy black and white photo and posted a bit on the forums, even played in the chat room. Kinda settled in, found a chair and checked out the scene.

Oh I'm sorry, you may be reading this, thinking I am a creative type person, whats it all about? Sorry.. here is the link.

Any who, where was I?? Oh yeah, the cool stuff over on the site. I'll grant you its only been up for a few hours, but there is already great forum action, some cool videos uploaded and its growing, growing fast. I believe, no wait a minute.. I know this will prove to be an excellent source for all creative people to get together and do some way cool stuff, together. Yes, I said all types. Writers and podcasters, painters and poets, new media, old media and all points on the compass.

That is way cool. I decided to take my own photos for a project I am doing. I suck at photography but I am learning and gonna keep plugging along. I know folks who rock at photography and to have a potential resource there, that I could just contact and say hey! I am looking for a photo for a project, got anything like what I am looking for? Can I buy a copy? Oh man.. that is a connection that is priceless. I am gonna try to do it on my own, but if I don't get something I feel I can use, then I am gonna hit up some folks who do photography, on the site.

See the potential? I need web design work, I want some music, how about some artwork or a photo.. It is a resource that can benefit each other. I can also tell my peeps about cool people I run into on the site, point em in that direction, spread the word. I do that now, but I can personally expand out and say, hey! go listen to this podcast it rawks! or hey check out this artwork, its cool.

That is why I joined, to be a part of a community helping each other out, networking, and having a few chucks along the way. Chucks being my saying of the day.. it is from IT by Stephen King if you missed the reference.. credit where credit is due.

So if I can stay out of the chat room, I may get some writing done. Everyone knows I talk too much and that is a siren call.. oh man is it ever. So my fellow wanderers, I am off to sharpen my wit, do some writing and later go hang in the chat room. I hope to see ya there, I'll buy you a virtual beer and we can talk about the death of kings..

A Box of Markers

I have been avoiding the novel for the past few days because I am stuck. It is a matter of getting passages to work well together, getting a certain flow, and the words and the self editing have become very hard indeed. In the past, I would shelved it and just not write, sometimes for weeks, it was depressing. But I don't do that anymore, now I just go write something else and that seems to help. I blog, or play with poetry or, as I have been doing recently, playing in the short story bin.

I was sitting here this morning and it dawned on me. Short stories are like photographs. That had never really occurred to me before, not consciously. For me at least, it was an oh yeah moment. Then I started thinking about that and tie that in with talk of self publishing and sending stuff around to collect rejection slips and it was a hard realization.

I got a box of short stories and they are very much like photos. I store em in a box in the closet haphazard and will nilly. I dig em out when I am feeling nostalgic or just feeling out of whack with the current stories or like today, when another one of the stories got a rejection slip. It is comforting, these old friends of mine.

Like old photos, some are clear, some are faded, a few have a thumb in the corner. A few are out of focus but you don't pitch those because they are expensive to develop and you can just make out what is in the picture. They are filled with memories of a day, or a trip. They are old friends, a tether to the past, a time machine to another time and place. Some are goofy and some are serious in their formality. A few panoramic vistas of a trip interspersed with a portrait of you and something spectacular, at least for the moment. It is all there, the good, the bad, and the -lets be honest- ugly.

Like pictures, when friends or family come over, you put on a slide show, start the conversation over coffee and cake with.. I should show you the latest pictures(stories) of.. and like the good folks they are, they nod, smile and say sure, ohhing and ahhing at the appropriate places. They politely listen to the argument over if that is when you were entering or leaving the state and nod appreciatively when you show a series of photos you took that have to be placed 'just so' so you could see just how big that mountain/lake/forest really was. Inside they cringe and promise to get even next time you come over to their house, just like you do when they do it to you. All very polite and civilized.

If your like me, at some point you decide to foist your box of stuff onto the rest of the world, you know, share the wealth. Sometimes its rejected out of hand, sometimes its accepted, and if your really lucky, you resonate with some one else. But I admit, I get the feeling some days that its like showing the family album of photos. Some days the demon in the corner whispers derision in your ears and points out just how silly it is to place the rest of the world into your own private purgatory.

Today I think I'll just send out some more stories, work on some stuff, maybe start a new story. Maybe I'll work on a poem or tickle the novel. I don't know. Maybe I'll self publish some stuff, still thinking that one over. Maybe I will invite you to my private purgatory. After all, in the carnival of chaos, down in the Verite, no one can hear you scream.

Out of the Blue

The first thing that pops into my head lately is a quote from Wild Palms ~ 'Wake up, your having a very important nightmare'

I don't know if it is so much a nightmare, as an awakening, but even that is not completely accurate. I have been wrestling with many thoughts about publishing and getting the stories out there, or for that matter, getting more poetry out. I have talked to a couple people, read a few blog posts and listened to a couple podcasts. I think I am still swimming in a sea of thoughts.

For many years I slogged along, sending out what I write, and for the most part, collecting rejection slips. I have published plenty of poetry in the small press, mostly for nothing in return or on occasion, for contributors copies. I have not published any fiction. Lately I have been really sending the fiction out to pro markets, those markets that pay a professional rate as determined by SFWA. Yep, mostly science fiction, a couple fantasy.. but all going to the bigger publications, and so far, I have not met with any success. I have been trying that for many years, so either the stories are bad, which they may be, or I get lost in the noise from the slush pile. Either way, the stories are sitting in a briefcase or on a drive.

I can live with that, I am nothing if not persistent. I am a traditionalist. I believe that you can indeed break through into the market going down that path. Almost everyone who is currently writing in the short story market, or for that matter in the novel market, have done just that, with a few notable exceptions. This beaten path is the road to publication, on a regular basis in a career that spans years, those writers follow that path. It works, just not for everyone.

I do know that a lot of good stuff falls through the cracks. I know because I have read these stories. Some recent stuff I have shouted out is a whole lot better then what is in the latest issues of some very prominent, very large, print magazines. What does that mean and how can I, as a writer trying to break into the market, do about it? First thing to do is write better, work on the stories, and for crying out loud, write. After that, there are other paths I could follow.

Should I publish, do an eBook of poetry or sell short stories for a buck? Should I keep slogging along, sending out shorts, trying to follow the beaten path? Should I polish that novel, get it the best I can and go find an agent? A year ago I would have said follow the path, stay the course, keep sending out the short stories, re-write the novel and try to get an agent. Now I am not so sure.

I want folks to read what I write. Getting paid for it would be nice. Making a few bucks selling short stories on smashwords would be fine, but I don't have any illusions about making big bucks selling short stories and that is not why I write them. The key is to get the stories out there. To be honest, I think that about the novel side of stuff as well.

I think I will keep pondering the opportunities and give it a try. Why not? I know no, we are old friends. I think it is time to make a push. I think it is time to self publish a bit and see what I can see. My skin is pretty thick and I will know right away if the stories are good or not, and that is what I need, feedback.

Allow me to open up the trench coat.. wanna buy a story?

By George I think I've got it

I really should make a logo or some such do-hickey for when I start rambling on about my writing process, kinda warn everyone that , here goes Paddy, musing on the muse again. Just a gentle hey, look out, the dude is off his rocker again and is explaining in painful detail, in almost diary form, the weird machinations of his mind. I think I will forgo that and sink right in.

Writing in the blog about the process helps the process, for me. This actually helps clarify things and well, once it is out there, it stays there, as ugly as it can be at times. I can live with that. Once I get these kind of things out of the way, I move on and that, my fellow wanderers, is freeing.

Any who.. Last night I had what I have been calling, an eureka moment. No, not a television show or cool band name, an epiphany if you will. Actually it was an oh my, oh really? oh yeah, then what about, and well then what about, quick where is the paper and pen. It was a panicky I need to get this down moment. Scribble, scribble, dab, cross out, slow down and write legibly moment. But when it comes fast and furious you can't slow down, bad hand writing or no.

The idea was a lightning bolt, too hot even for the keyboard, and I had no time to boot anything but a pen. Scribble scribble, that is good, but oh wait, about that part, and if I did this then that falls in to place, oh crap boot the novel outline you idiot! Start the notes section and get it running. Whatever you do, don't let the idea slip through your fingers, move move move.

Oh the agony.. the must get it down before it slips away. But as it formed out in notes of the pen, ramblings from the keyboard, it stuck, it cemented into the brain. Oh joy, it is worthy, it will work, its gonna fit and.. oh yeah. It came out and was saved. Then I went to bed and let it percolate over night. In the light of day, it is even better, phew.

All of this was very simple really, probably so simple you will laugh. I am laughing right now, thinking, silly boy, of course this is the answer, you didn't know that? It is all about point of view. Yep, I have a POV problem that has plagued me on the..Project from day one. So I ignored it as best I could and slogged around it, kept on, pushing ahead. I am at the point that I can't ignore it, and it slowed me down.. I have the draft sitting there, looking rather ugly, even if there are some bright spots. How distressing, disappointing and frankly depressing. I was feeling rather bummed, questioning everything.

Then I solved the problem in one quick moment of clarity. I now know what to do. That is the good news. The less then good news is it is time to start hacking away. Move this here, like so, re-write this, like so, what the?? pitch that, oh and add this bit I thought would never go anywhere, oooh but I need this, and, and..

I may have caught a glimpse of a light at the end of the long creepy tunnel, just maybe. I am off to tinker, today is a good day to write.

The end is just the beginning..

Notes from The Dark Side

Hi, my name is Paddy or Pat or whatever you wish to call me, and I have a problem, I am an idea guy. I have been thinking about this post for a couple hours, how to go about it. My forte is ideas, conversation, and just riffing on an idea or thought, not so much planning, but ya know when you have a good idea and ya gotta run with it? yeah I run. Seriously, I have a ton of ideas floating through all the time, tons, we are talking metric butt loads. My mind has a tendency to work in weird ways as well. 

Yesterday I was running with the idea of self publishing a book of poetry and trying to do some unique things with pics and back ground pages and the like. So I stuck that idea in better 1/2's head and we riffed on that for awhile, got some good ideas, and I think we will get something good on the page and in the design. All good stuff and its going to work well, I think.

I was also thinking about the poetry gals I used to hang with, and printing and small press(see yesterdays post here). Oh my, I just self linked! Well, one of things I did was a poetry book with eight folks in it, a collaborative effort that the gals published and it was a ton of fun and worked well. Mix in the latest conversations and blogs I have been reading about small, indie writers and the small press publishing and it just naturally leads to this.

Why not have a bunch of very creative people band together and do an anthology? You know, if enough folks get in on it, their circles would intersect and make a big circle. Honestly, it would help everyone get their stories out to new folks, to read em, try em out, and maybe get a few new fans. Widen the circle, get people together, rowing together, so to speak.

I happen to know folks who help each other, cheer each other on, and are very supportive. I like to do the same. So I ask a simple question of Jennifer Hudock. did you ever think of doing a project, a big project, a community effort? She has been writing rather eloquently about indie writers and the community sticking together, helping each other out. The cool thing is, they do. But how about even more I ask?..

Yep a big effort, putting the talents of many together to make a big project, to help each other out. She says yeah..I have thought about it, and its riff time.. So Jenny writes a pretty good blog post here and the way we go. I just had an idea.. she ran with it and I think its gonna be grand. Proceeds from the anthology go to help schools with writing projects for students. This makes it sweet. A chance for the community to get together and help each other out, whilst helping out kids? Oh yeah, thats cool.

It will be fun, creative, and supportive, all the way around. Those ideas are the good ones. So how can you, my fellow wanderers, help? Well, there are many ways. You can submit a story to the anthology. You could get in on the purchase when it goes live. You can spread the word. A note of cheer would not go amiss.

I appreciate the support I get from everyone, it means a lot. I believe this is an idea that will reap benefits far beyond the imagination of even us crazy creative peeps. I'm in, all the way.

Stay Tuned

A Matter of Halftone

There is nothing like the smell of a page, freshly grabbed from an off-set printer. I miss those days of helping out in ye olde print shop, I really do. My fingers would get ink stained, it was hotter then Hades and I so often would acquire a paper cut or two. All worth the price of admission. Most afternoons it was a labor of love and I never earned a paycheck, but I did earn so much more.

It started with me going to work for my Dad. I had been helping him off and on for a few years before that, just pitching in when he built a car wash, or delivering parts. It was the spring of '92 and jobs were hard to find, more or less, and I needed a job. The company was going to expand out, do more then just build car wash facilities. They needed a parts catalog and who better then the kid who went to college? I had no idea what I was doing, but they wanted me to do the catalog, use what I know, use my education.

As an important side note, I was spending time with the poetry gals, working on the mag and printing chapbooks and the like at the time. I was the junior assistant gopher guy. I was doing it to learn about poetry, printing, making books and the like, just to learn. I even did a chapbook for myself, a real labor of love but I am rather fond of it.

My Dad knew this guy, name of Frank, who had a small printing place down by the river. He did menus, business cards, floppy disk covers, the whole range of small print stuff. He also did catalogs for a few, select customers. Frank said he would do the catalog, but I had to do the work and help him in the shop, a trade of services to keep the catalog price reasonable. Seemed like a deal. We got a nice catalog and we did several more with Frank, all at a reasonable price with me learning to do the bulk of the work and helping out as a trade for better pricing. It worked rather well. It was a big time bonus for me.

I learned a lot helping Frank. He was a tough old guy, cranky and pretty rough around the edges, but smart as a whip. He knew his stuff, and the harder I worked, the more he taught. I learned a lot about the off-set press, how to use it, even helped fix it a few times. I also got to dig out the big printer trays and hunt for blocks and help set that up. Got a lot of ink on my hands, spent many a sweaty afternoon lugging boxes of paper and shipping out/delivering stuff. He also had a computer with all the bells and whistles for design that was the best of the best in 1992. He taught me how to use that as well.

Today, I am trying to lay out a small chapbook of my own poetry that I want to self publish. I got to thinking about Frank and the poetry gals and how they helped a kid learn something about it all. They were the pioneers twenty years ago, making little to no money. But what a wealth of creativity, hard work, and knowledge they possessed! I was thinking I better do something grand, use what I learned, do it right, not only for my self, but for them as well. Time to get back.

I wonder what they would have thought about electronic books?

Dancing on a Limb

I need a minute of your time, maybe two. I have an opinion and a few crumbs for thought. Let me back track for just bit, hang on to the sissy-bar, gonna do a 360 spin-o-rama.

Many years ago, in the dark confines of my bedroom I discovered the Hardy Boys, the first 'real' books I read on my own, not counting Dr. Seuss and the like. After the initial three books, I was hooked, so much so in fact that I started making up stories about Frank and Joe. Sounds familiar to many I am sure, its what kids do. Then I found SF and Fantasy and I did little half page stories about rocket ships and lasers, swords and hobbits. I got into music, into poetry and started doing that.

Then I started sending out poems after some encouragement in college. They got accepted, usually for a contributors copy at best, but soon enough for real cash. I helped edit a poetry mag, ran the contest section, all small press, all for the love of poetry. I started sending out more poems, more rejections with the occasional acceptance. Then I started with the short stories and got a couple in small press.

Then I wrote a lot of fan fiction because I got into Warhammer and gaming(even owned a game store) and still puttered with poetry and other stuff. Oh and during all of this, the Great American Novel was started, pitched, restarted and pitched into the closet, lot of false starts there, but still going strong. The dream ebbed and flowed until about a year ago, then I went out on a limb.

I started blogging, cause I read some good stuff and thought it would help break the block I was in currently. So far, that wretched beast is cowering in the corner, still there but not the big powerful demon it once was. Then I started the cycle again in earnest. Sending out poetry and short stories, even got a few poems accepted. The short stories have not made a dent. No big deal, carrying on. I got into NaNoWriMo to jump start the novel writing, it worked.

In all of that hectic past year I got a Facebook account, the kids conned me into it and I'll admit it has been fun, I dig it. I have made some good connections and reconnected with some old friends, all cool. I also got into Twitter(curse you Wil Wheaton!) and seriously, it is the coolest thing. The old guy who still pines for his Brother Electric Typewriter hit the modern age. Oh what an eye opener, and I can't say enough about the good it has done for me.

Which brings me to the point of the post. Sorry, I am long winded..

My thoughts on publishing are changing. My thoughts on what I want to do, the goals, everything is changing. At one time, my goal was to get a story in Asimov's, get my rocket story in the mag! It still is, but not as crazy I am going to break in if I have to camp out in NYC and hang at their offices until they buy a story just to make the crazy guy go away thing. Maybe another mag will buy a story, maybe I'll travel another path, who knows. It has left the 'end all be all' stage.

Same thing with the novel. I always wanted go find an agent, get them to take me and the novel and go sell it to a big publishing house and then I could go to Barnes & Noble and go drool at the shelf. Okay I would probably weep, but well.. you get the picture. That is kind of changing too.

I don't know if what I do is good enough. I don't know where I am going or the changes that may come. I do know I will not give up. The time for being a dilettante is gone. Time to get crackin and see what I can see. My mind, my thoughts are changing. My goals, my ideas, they are a changing. This is good.

I need to thank the tweeps I follow for inspiration and for waking me up, for helping me understand and giving me choices, showing the way. If you are reading this and you are of like mind, then by all means, go follow me on Twitter at @paddyfestus. Go see who I am following, join the discussion, see what you can see, wander. Go out on a limb, there is plenty of room for everyone. I did and now I am dancing.

Footnote time. The following is a partial list, a good starting point and they have my thanks.

@jennybeanses, @Melzer, @JeremyCShipp, @michbek, @chrisbowsman, @jchutchins, @KateSherrod, @sethharwood, @RonEarl, @MattFnWallace, @mightymur

Just a taste my friends, a few of the many, go forth and discover. Egads! It's like its follow Friday in here, but for all of that, it is true. Seriously, as I go forth, the list will grow, the coolness factor will go beyond the red line. Some where along the way, its gonna happen. Persistence. Choices.

New publishing models, new ideas, its all there. Welcome to the 'net. Time to go get measured for the new uniform, I hope they have boots in size 9 for very wide hobbit feet.. Oh and I want a green light saber to go with the green dragon.. I wonder if they have spiffy cards with the Rebel Alliance logo on em for junior members..

Under Pressure

Good day fellow wanders, welcome to the desk.

If you disregard the fact that I can't take pictures, even sitting at my desk, then you will notice what, or should I say who, is watching me, day in and day out. That my friends, is a very cool poster of a painting of Elric of Melnibone, Eternal Champion of the Elric novels by Micheal Morcock. You'll notice it was painted by Chris Achilleos. Very nice if I do say so myself. I am not only a big fan of the artwork of Mr. Achilleos, I am a big fan of Mr. Morcock and the Elric series. 

Elric watches over me.

The sun is sorta shining through the side window where as I write, I can hear the construction crew next door, torturing a jack hammer. To put it ever so bluntly and to coin a phrase from days working in a repair shop, put down the purse and hit it! And yes I know, women are fully capable of using jack hammers but they are smart enough not to do so. I wont go down the path of man purses, I don't care if they call it a European Shoulder Bag.

You may notice, if you care to look, a small knob of some sort, sticking out at the bottom of the picture. That would be the top of the post that at one time, supported a mirror. The desk was at one time, a lady's dressing table, or make up table, whatever you want to call it. It is a very old piece of furniture that works just fine for me. I have five junk drawers, what more could I need? I have an old computer chair(need to work on that) and a nice side cabinet. There is a printer, a scanner, the very old puter, an xbox and a Wii, all stationed next to the TV I use for a monitor. It is a veritable station of distraction.

But I am off topic again. We were talking about Elric and the fact that he has a large sword in hand and his eyes follow me across the room. I really should stop blogging and either go write an article, or short story, or better yet.. go work on the blasted novel. After all, that is what Elric is there for, to gently remind me to write the big story.

Before I forget, it was better 1/2 that acquired the poster, many many moons ago. Somehow, it has survived 15 yrs of our collective craziness. If that ain't inspiration enough, then there is always the sword..

Happy Wanderings!

A Tale of Voice

I got this germ of an idea for a story last summer and scribbled out the opening scene and dropped it in a file. Well it has been simmering in the old cooking pot for awhile until about two weeks ago. Then, like a sleeping volcano, it spewed forth into my awareness, grabbed a lobe or two, and will not release my brain until it is done. It has been a pretty wrenching two weeks.

Sometimes, that happens. This has been good and bad.

I have been writing away every day, sometimes just a painful couple of hundred words, but the story is almost done and I am tweaking and fixing spelling and a plethora of grammar boo boos. Did a wee bit of language change, got tense over the tense of the story, and basically have thought of nothing else or done anything else, writing wise, except that. That is the good part.

The bad part is the other projects are suffering and that.. irritates me. I have another short I want to finish and send out before the end of March, and it needs finishing and editing and, well a lot of work, but I think it is a fine story and worthy of the time and effort. But it just sits there. I also have a dozen or so sestina in various stages of completion that I want to finish. And lets not forget our old friend, the.. Project. Oh and sheeple stories and the blog in general.

My head has turned to mush. I get out some time on this story and boom, hit the wall and I am mentally tired. So I shift gears, or try to at least, and attempt some words in other stuff. Well call me a monkey's uncle cause I just can't switch voice that fast. The voice is important and I just have not learned, yet, how to shift into another tone.

My poetry has a voice all it's own. Different poems may have different accents, but it is the poets voice coming out. Two of the shorts are kinda like old school science fiction and are similar, again same voice, different accent. The third story, the one possessing me, is science fiction but of a totally different bent, for one thing, it is written in first person and it sounds totally different. Then the.. Project is fantasy and has it's own sound and voice, unique to itself. Then there is the Paddy voice of the blog, which is just me being me.

So I am starting today just being me, and complaining to boot. I really have no reason to at all. To be honest, it has been a long time since I have focused so intently on writing that I need to just go with the flow. The dreaded block has not appeared in about a year and it has been a fun ride. Of course, all other creative endeavors are poof! gone, but that is fine too. It helps to just ramble on here, get the focus back, and go on. The trick is to go with the voice and put in the effort, really not that easy some days. Sometimes, you just need to take that deep breath and take a peek around, then dive right back into it. I think that is true for most things..