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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Lost In the Flood

There are times we all try to do too much. I think since last fall, that’s been me―some sort of cross between Gumby and Elastic Man―stretching myself so thin it’s amazing that nothing broke. 

I’ve been trying to edit an improbably long sports treatise, a mere 217,000 words, nearly every other one of which has to be double checked. 

I’m trying to finish up an ebook that I started writing on a lark that turned into a wonderful labor of love. I just need those last, few, elusive interviews (two to be exact) to close the book out. 

I have my “main” project, the novel about the Amish and Baseball, The Fastnacht League, which is being rewritten. I’d say “rewritten” is too weak a word. I had to tear out 25,000 words of scenes that were probably unnecessary and reorder the time sequence. I am editing it now and the word total is growing because I am fleshing out more parts and making vague parts more understandable. It will probably take me the rest of the summer to finish the edit but I have an agent who wants to read it in September, so that’s my goal. 

I have a great idea for a next novel, but that is unthinkable until I finish this one. I am pretty happy that my brain is letting me alone, not pestering me with details it wants jotted down. My brain has been very patient and not bothering me, so I don’t want to rile it up with any more thoughts here. I do think my story line is as strong and unique as the story line of  The Fastnacht League. 

My moon rocks and cosmic impacts books are nicely mothballed and my publisher is very patient and said the magic words, “write them when you’re ready, the moon will still be there.” 

And, oh yeah, I have a day job, something I play at 40 hours a week―in between writing. 

I’ve been a bit AWOL with my blog but I’ll try not to let that happen again. I need to learn a little perspective and keep my sights on the worthwhile priorities. 

I wonder how I got off the track but, as usual, a line from Springsteen seems to sum it up: 

I wonder what he was thinking when he hit that storm, or was he just lost in the flood?”