An unfinished novel is like an interrupted dream. I come to the end of this journey designated specifically for completing a second draft of Helena the Muse and see so much more work than I could have imagined in any waking state. I am still groggy, half asleep, and feel unsated, the vision incomplete, as [...]

The third campsite required 10 miles of driving down a dirt road to locate. And caretaker “Bob” was a flirt (despite grandfatherly age) so I spent a lot of time nodding at his endless stories and looking on longingly as my laptop battery slowly ebbed. He took the picture. The book has undergone the re-org [...]

So, I think I’m going to escape the world and work on this book! Ha! Between driving, being chased by scary jaws-looking trucks (check out my side mirror–this guy drove beside me for 100 miles!), finding a campsite and surviving frightening nights alone in the dark, who has freaking time to write? I’m better off [...]

It’s pushing midnight on the first night I have deserted everyone and everything in order to try to get a hold on this novel–reorganize it and form it and cut away anything non-essential. It ain’t working. Maybe it’s the traffic droning by in an unrelenting stream on the interstate. It makes me think of the [...]

Okay. So the day began with mom’s doctor visit going poorly and long. Actually, scratch that, the day began with putting in my contacts, one of which hurt awfully and upon inspection, had somehow become square-ish, so was no longer usable. I had to toss it and get a new one. Then a shower proved [...]

The book draft is done I completed the first draft to Helena the Muse at 10:08 a.m. this morning. It finished out at 84,497 words. And ended exactly the way it should have. Thanks to Nietzsche. And the song from Notting Hill. And my writing friends. All were instrumental in my figuring out what the story was [...]

First I found this bit from The Gay Science, an aphorism that would change how I saw myself and others I admired: Whoever knows he is deep, strives for clarity; whoever would like to appear deep to the crowd, strives for obscurity. For the crowd considers anything deep if only it cannot see to the [...]

Today I’ve been researching the history of Zilker park, and in particular, Zilker Botanical Gardens. Yesterday, while waiting for some clients to arrive, I spoke with one of the garden old-timers, an elderly man who is both an employee and a volunteer for the gardens. I have met him dozens of times over the seven [...]

Time to support the locals. My friend Jane Parsons, a photographer on the artsy end of the scale, got a rather unusual photograph published in Farfelu, a newish Austin literary magazine. If you’re an artist, photographer, poet, or writer, you should submit to them. They are off to a good start and the ‘zine is [...]

Thanks to my friend Henry for pointing out this cute little item–you can map out where you’ve been in the U.S. or the world. Here is my US Map (red states visited–18 states, 35% of them): And my world map (red countries visited–13 countries, 5%): So many places left to explore!