Month: January 2019

Am I lazy? Or, am I too easily distracted? Perhaps, I am prone to procrastination?

As my Uncle Tom Pelkington said when reviewing his hand while playing poker or pinochle, “Let’s check the books.”

The dictionary defines laziness as a ‘disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to act or to exert oneself.’

To this, I plead innocent. Even when I’m resting, I’m planning what, how, and where and when.  Hell’s bells, during chemo at the infusion center, I was always looking for something to do – write, read, mingle with the other patients, learn by irritating the caregivers with a barrage of questions – while dragging a metal tree decorated with bags of heavy metal poisons dripping into my veins (btw, magnesium hurts like hell).

Google ‘too easily distracted’ and you’re presented with 40,100,000 results. My favorite is this one: “Easily distracted people may have too much brain.”

Stop laughing. It’s the opposite of what you think.

Still, what would distract a writer from working on his current work-in-progress (WIP in the jargon)?

Here, I’m guilty of two things – real life and additional WIPs.

OK, real life. As some of you know, to me, politics and economics are like fresh-baked red raspberry pies on a window sill. I can’t resist their aroma and taste. After all, I did spend an inordinate amount of time studying both at university. Especially intriguing is the current popular American sitcom – ‘The Donald J. Trump Show.’

Then, there’s hockey. And movies. And books. And Terri. And Pepper.

Second, additional WIPs. Two projects steal attention from Book 3, The Gathering Fails. They are Book 4, The White Lily, and a story that has no title but is labeled ‘horror.’ Its only page contains 372 words. Here are the first two paragraphs:

“The first time I saw her was from the second floor balcony where I usually write.

“I didn’t see all of her. Just the tips of her long nailed fingers, her nose, her deep-set dark eyes, and a shock of black tousled hair. And all of that for just a heartbeat or two.”

But we haven’t finished checking the books! Back to the dictionary.

Procrastination is defined as ‘the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. It could be further stated as a habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite its negative consequences.’

This is where I am most guilty. However, I do plead an extenuating circumstance.

As claimed by many writers, novelists, authors, I too have developed a relationship with this WIP, Book 3, The Gathering Fails. Nurtured during the past year, some parts with roots grown deep for months prior, this book holds a special place in my heart. It’s the longest I have ever attempted. It contains a host of characters I love and respect, all fighting for attention and a larger word count. I cannot deny them. I cannot let them go.

Esoteric as this may be, I find it painful to bring Book 3 to an end.

I must, and I will.

But first, there’s this trip to the eye doctor and Pepper wants to play fetch and I just spotted a possum strolling through the woods beyond the fence.

Yes, I am prone to procrastination. This time. With a heavy heart.

One of my favorite authors in the ‘70s and ‘80s was Lawrence Sanders. You may remember him from the Edward X. Delaney series, the first two (The Anderson Tapes, The First Deadly Sin) of which were made into movies featuring, respectively, Sean Connery and Frank Sinatra. He also authored the Commandment series, the Archie McNally series, and a couple other series, as well as several stand-alone novels and stories, beginning his career as a novelist at the age of 50.

Though I enjoyed reading his more than two dozen titles (mostly in the criminal genre), the one that has stuck with me through all these years is The Tomorrow File, a tale of ‘social-science fiction’. Akin to Orwell’s 1984, Sanders’ story predicts the future in a surprisingly accurate way.

In this story, a patent officer periodically comes across applications which he steals and places in a manila folder labeled The Tomorrow File. His plan is simple: hold the patents until his retirement whereupon he will reap the future rewards of his thefts.

Having read this, I created my own ‘tomorrow file’ of ‘bucket list’ and story ideas upon which I recently stumbled. (Don’t ask how or where). Though the list is full of a young man’s aspirations, some were viable and have subsequently appeared in print or on film though not written by me. (The industrious early bird does indeed get the worm!)

Three fledgling concepts in the file still pique my interest: a horror story involving a stalked writer, a tale about an international serial killer, and a concept based on the book and subsequent movie titled The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. With a more mature eye, and the realization that these untold tales of mine may now be considered derivative, I spent some time over the last several weeks fleshing out plot-lines and characters. Odd how the timing to do this has coincided with the government shutdown.

Yes, it took time away from The Last Elf Series. Yes, I apologize to those who are waiting for Book 3 The Gathering Fails. And finally, yes, I am committed not to pull a ‘Martin’ or a ‘Jordan’, though I have no control over the latter.

Having satisfied my writer’s desire (for the moment) to explore all the stories which insist be told, I am back at work on Book 3. I wish I could say the same for our government.

That t-shirt in the photo was a Christmas present from my bestie and his wife.