Drinking Ron Carlson's Kool-Aid

While at Squaw Valley Writers Workshop in August, Ron Carlson, one of our fiction workshop leaders, encouraged us to lay off the email until after 4:00 p.m., and to forgo blogging altogether. He's no Luddite, but he's got a point: all things technology are time suckers -- and he never even mentioned Facebook, which I confess is an all-out addiction.

The point is that there are too many distractions for writers, most having to do with eating, coffee drinking, and excuse-making in general, and if we're "working" on anything other than fiction, we're simply goofing off.

So I'm taking a sabbatical from blogging, and limiting myself to two Facebook visits per day -- before 9:00 a.m., and after 4:00 p.m., when I'll also check email.

Can I do it? Heck if I know, but I'm gonna try. I gotta try. I've got a deadline for the first draft of my new novel, and if I'm going to nail it, I've got to drink Ron's Kool-Aid.

See you April 1?

Dusty Checkin Us Out

Dusty is a four-year-old Morgan gelding owned by Toni Deery. I met with Toni on Saturday to get a better understanding of horses and their habits, hoping to incorporate this knowledge into my new novel. Dusty was a kick, no pun intended. Steve took the photo.

New Wildlife Pics

Off to Squaw Valley Writers Workshop, but before I go, I wanted to post a couple of photos that Steve took in/around Grover Hot Springs during our 3-day camping excursion earlier this week. (Top photo is of a mule deer buck; he stood outside our tent in early evening and browsed on a plant that looked a lot like a wild rose; second photo is of a cinnamon-colored black bear with her two cubs. She appeared on the outskirts of Markleeville, around 12:00 p.m.)

First afternoon we were rained out, but timing was perfect: we'd just set up the tent when the first drops hit, and not having eaten yet, ate our sandwiches in the tent, then sacked out for a nap. That evening, we took a nice soak in the hot springs, and by 6:30 the next morning, the coffee was on the camp stove and Steve was off to do a little fishing in the creek. I stayed behind, finalizing my manuscript for Squaw, sipping coffee near the fire. Ah, glorious Sierra. How we love to visit.

Little Bit Buried

Finalizing the additions to BRIDGE AT VALENTINE, due from Tres Picos Press in Summer 2010, and wrapping up the short story for Squaw Valley Writers Workshops Aug. 1-8.

Also received a nice invitation yesterday to write a book review for Larry McMurtry's LEAVING CHEYENNE, which I'll post here as soon as it's live.

Happy writing, all!

Crushes on McCourt and McMurtry

I've always had a little crush on Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes. I read yesterday that he's in a New York hospice and not expected to live. This is distressing news, as he's one of my favorite writers (Larry McMurtry is another, and I've got a crush on him too). A few years ago, I had a chance to hear Frank McCourt speak in Sacramento (he was 76 at the time). Afterward, I waited in a long line to have my book signed, and when my turn came, I said, "Thank you for coming to Sacramento to speak to us, Mr. McCourt."

Pen in hand, he paused, glanced up, and grinned. "What choice did I have?"

Even now I laugh, thinking of it.

Catcher in the Rye

It was on this day in 1951 that J.D. Salinger's first and only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was published. It has gone on to sell more than 65 million copies. (Tidbit courtesy of The Writer's Almanac.)