The novel begins...

So, that new book that I mentioned in my first post, the one I was about to start...is started. It's amazing how if you just let go, so many ideas come to you. Sure, they aren't all going to make the cut, but the flow sure feels good. Let them stack up, then take the good ones.
A vampire book this time around. I have read so many vampire books over the years. Whitely Strieber and Jemiah Jefferson being two of my favorite vampire authors. I have read many, many books over my lifetime. Hundreds, maybe even a thousand, though I have never counted them all. Think of all the stories in our heads. Some must even be in our DNA, residual stories that are carried inside us through the ages, just like the ability to learn a language. So, I just relax, and let them come.
When a book starts, you have a lot of expectations about how it might go. You might have some core idea that you try to stick to, but really, I think the surprises that your subconcious provides are the real joy of writing and the creative process. We wonder where these ideas come from. Some authors talk about their characters coming to life in their heads, having lives of their own, and they do to some degree, if you let them. But it's not magic. We are full of stories. Too many to tell in one lifetime. We tell stories every day. As we grow, our relatives remind us of the stories from our childhoods. To establish friendships and bonds, we tell stories. That exicited feeling we have when we really connect with another human being, that feeling that rivals sex, sex for your brain -- it's the telling and sharing of stories. Good conversation is one of the pure pleasures of life, and conversation is stories. Stories make us who we are.
The next time you sit down to write, just let it happen. You have everything you need already, inside of you.

The fastest year of my life

This has been the fastest year of my life. I have done so much, that sometimes, I don't have time to organize it all. Here is a list: Fell in love (this being the main catalyst to much of what follows). Went to Michigan twice. Went to Europe twice. Went to L.A. twice. Took two semesters of German language classes. Met my girlfriends parents (and they liked me!). Took ten business trips for my warehouse management system project. Had gum surgery, and a new crown. Got a motorcycle license. Cut my hair off. Had my grandmother and aunt visit me in SF. Moved into a new house. Started gardening. Went to a writer's conference in Atlanta. And still in the process of getting divorced. 37 was a hell of a ride.
As for this coming year...I have many dreams swirling in my head. Keep my relationship fresh and full of passion and freedom. Travel, travel, travel. Start and complete my second novel. Work toward getting a job that requires me to travel to Europe or Australia 3-4 times a year. Put all of the writing that I have in little books, stacked on my desk, into my computer. Finish editing a couple of the videos I created and give them to the people who are in them. Pay off most of my credit cards. Buy a motorcycle. Take a bicycle trip to Tuscany. Take surfing lessons in Mexico with my girlfriend. Spend a few days in Las Vegas.