I know…I’m pretty bad at this whole blogging thing (with social networking/media in general), but I always begin with good intentions. This is pretty much just a musing entry because I feel like writing to an actual audience however big or (most likely) small I have here.

My last post was a short memoir about The Shining. I wrote it on my birthday and began the book shortly afterward. Reading The Shining at 33 is different than reading it at 23 and definitely different than reading it at 13. I’m actually older than King was when he wrote it (a fact not lost on me when I look at the 760+ manuscript pages of Echoes on the Pond laying at my feet, and the amount of short story drafts I have waiting for my critical eye and editing pen, both of which I will get to here). I saw some flaws in the writing this time around. Minor ones, but ones that would plague a young writer. I also saw (as I did when I reread Carrie and ‘Salem’s Lot in recent years) the raw talent and storytelling chomps that would later be refined. The Shining still enthralled me and entertained me. I’d forgotten some key plot points over the years. It’ll be interesting to see what I think about the book in ten another ten years.

As I wrote here previously, I’ve been somewhat disturbed by my lack of publishing credits, even my writing schedule. I’ve been reading the first draft of Echoes on the Pond (which goes by the horrendous working title Night Daughters) and don’t have much more of the book to read, then I’ll be editing/rewriting the book. I have a novella in the works, too. And then there are two more novellas I wish to write, one is a rewrite/overhaul of an abandoned novel that grew from a short story that James Beach wanted to include in Catalysts (mysterious, no?). These two novellas are sort of thematic sequels (actually, a thematic prequel and thematic sequel) to Echoes on the Pond. The first novella of which I spoke is secret and may never see the light of day.

I recently went looking at my writing files and realized I have almost a book-worth of  unpublished, in-need-of-editing short stories. This discovery was horrific. I knew I was picky about my own short work, but this is silly. And since most of them were written between 2003 and this year, there might just be some salvageable tales in them. So I’m planning to begin going through them one at a time. Reading them, have my wife read them, and then edit them and submit them to fiction markets. It’s high time I got out of this funk I’ve been in. And with Alice on the Shelf due out anytime, I guess striking while the iron is hot is the best thing to do.

I’ll try to post more here in the future with thoughts, anecdotes, etc. And, of course, I’ll always let you know when there’s news.

Later.