Where did the muse go?

What do Advil, Mucinex, tea with honey, and cough drops all have in common? If you guessed things the Doctor said you have to start taking to get over that darn cold, you are correct. My kitchen counter looks like a pharmacy. I've had more tea in the last 24 hours than in the entire previous year. I really hope it all works. I'm sick of being sick.

Okay, that doesn't have a whole lot to do with my muse taking flight, except for the extent to which I've let it be my excuse not to write this week. As the New Year approaches, my goal is to get that voice back and start doing some good work again. I want to fix my mystery, which I haven't touched in two months, finish up the first book and set it free in the universe, and start something new. Is that too much to ask?

I've got a start. This week I recieved a belated birthday present from a writer friend, Joanne. It's Julia Cameron's The Sound of Paper. Cameron also wrote The Artist's Way, and many of her tools for releasing creativity are the same. I decided to read it, do all the exercises, and take her advice. Hopefully that will entice the muse to come back and hang out a while.

However, Ms. Muse should probably wait a few days...at least until the worst of the cold is over.

Happy Holidays

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. The tree is up, the lights are twinkling, and I have no need to go into any retail establishments until at least the 28th. Now all I need is a few overexcited children wantonly tearing paper off carefully wrapped gifts to make the season right. I'll get that on Sunday.

My favorite thing about the holidays is getting holiday letters from friends and finding out what is going on in their lives. This year I learned that two old friends had babies...and judging by the photos, some time ago. That probably explains why I didn't hear from either of them last year.


It's great. I love holiday letters.

I hope the next week is merry and bright for everyone.
Happy Holidays.

'Tis the Season

Ho, ho, ho. Happy Holidays. Is your shopping done? Is it going to be done in time for whatever holiday you and your family celebrate this time of year?

Mine neither.

Oh well. I'll just add that to the list of things that didn't get done by the end of the year, and then turn doing them into my goals for 2006. Like finishing the book(s). Yeah...that'll be number 1. I suppose I should actually do some work on the book(s) if I want to acheive that goal. Hmmm. I need to think on that over my next cup of coffee.

I have done some things to prepare for the season. I pulled out my fun snowman coffee mugs, which make me giggle. And I sent out my annual holiday card. I also added it to my collection of holiday letters, which you can find by clicking right here on this spot.

As we enter the holiday home stretch, may you experience nothing but joy, peace, and the spirit of the season.

How do U Spell Righter?

I have a deep, dark secret to share. One I've never shared in a job interview. No one can fault me for that...the interviewers never asked. So, it wasn't that I lied. It's more that I kept certain strategic details to myself.

The secret is this: I flunked nearly every spelling test I took in school.

It's true. My father used to tease me that my spelling was so awful I had to become a writer. Imagine my surprise (and my father's) when my first job out of college was as a proofreader. Ha!

In my defense, the Managing Editor knew what she was getting...I did very poorly on the proofreading test. She just really liked me and thought I'd fit in. That magazine folded a year later, but I'm pretty sure my lousy spelling was only 4% of the cause. (I suspect bad management decisions accounted for the remaining 96%.)

Here's another secret: Most writers I know don't spell well. Writers just, in general, know how to use a Dictionary.

The non-writers of the world tend to be shocked and appalled by this discovery. That's why I felt it was my duty to make this confession. Now the whole world (or at least the 50 or so people who read this) knows the truth. Writers can't spell. That's why proofreaders and copy editors exist. We love them. Usually. So, please ask one of them to proofread your resume because there is a very good chance I'll spell your name wrong.

Random Status Report

Good morning. It is 7:00 a.m. on a chilly December (yikes) day here in Reston, VA.

December. A word synonymous with Holiday Season.

No doubt many of you plan to spend this weekend knocking items off that really long gift list you've got. I'd love to tell you to shop no farther than Barnes & Noble.com. Well, I can still tell you to look no farther. You're just not going to find Confessions of a Frog Kisser.

Nope. My book won't be ready for this holiday shopping season. I submitted it to Booklocker.com and they rejected it for having to many errors (so, so, so humiliating). Since then, I've been slowly working on fixing those errors. My method has been to read the book backwards. It's slow going, but I've found a lot of typos (no mispelled words though...my eagle-eyed proofer got all of those). I re-learned a lesson I've known for years: proofing takes at least five, if not more, cycles. So, it's going to be a while before this baby is ready to resubmit.

In the meantime, Dad read the draft of my mystery and had good ideas. I've been pondering how to address them. On a business note, work is going well. By that I mean we are swamped. That's a good thing. It's just also an exhausting thing. My novel writing productivity has plummeted. I have faith that will change, so I'm not worried about it. Besides, I've got four Holiday parties this weekend to distract me.

Thanks for tuning in.