Back in the Saddle

It's been a while since I last blogged.  Indeed, I thought I was not going to do so, because Typepad wouldn't let me in, even though I typed in the correct username and password.  Oh well, life goes on as usual!

During the time I haven't been blogging, I've been busy.  I had to give up on CompUSA and cancel my order for the computer.  They couldn't even come up with a tracking number or give me any idea when my computer would be delivered to the store.  They told me the only computer in the area was at the Redondo Beach store, and that I could drive down there and pick it up.  I live on the North side of L.A. and Redondo Beach is on the other side of town.  No way was I going to drive there in the middle of the week.  I therefore returned everything, including the plastic bag my software came in, and went to Office Depot, where I had talked to an associate who actually knew what he was talking about.  I found another associate, a trainee, who knew almost as much and about twice as much as all the associates in CompUSA put together.  I bought an HP and went home with it and a monitor within an hour.  I had already bought a Brothers printer/fax/copier/answering machine at Office Max the previous week, because CompUSA didn't have anything comparable in price or value.

My next step involved setting up said computer.  I had to take my VAIO out of the office.  That wasn't a problem, but the old monitor almost gave me a back injury.  (Thank goodness for those newer flat screens, or I'd have been in the hospital if I'd had to lift something similar back into the office!)  The old system now resides in my hallway, until I decide what to do with it.  I then started setting up the new system.  Two days later, I called "Uncle" and got a Geek Squad tech in within 24 hours of calling them.  What a blessing.  He gave me a discount for getting half the set-up work accomplished, and then took care of the rest.  I got into my email accounts for the first time in 2 weeks.  Horrors--so many contacts and so little time.  I finally cleaned things out last week.

Then there was ROSE TATTOO.  Coinciding with the fact  that I had no working computer for a couple of weeks, came the realization that my original ending wasn't going to work and I had to rethink everything.  I drove around seeing patients while hatching and discarding one scenario after another.  None of them would work for one reason or another.  I had reached the final 2 chapters and I had some weird version of writer's block.  What didn't help was the fact that I could hear the editor who rejected the first version telling me that the end didn't match the caliber of the beginning.  Of course, I didn't want to send the manuscript to her in the first place.  My agent was the instigator, and I really believe I may have been unable to give her what she wanted because ROSE TATTOO wasn't meant for that market in the first place.

So, I moved on with life and let the ideas percolate, threw out the whole pot of coffee and brewed more.  As with any writing project, the solution came to me at an unexpected moment--when my head was under the steering wheel of my car as I vacuumed the carpet prior to my pending trip up to Mammoth last weekend.  I walked into the house after the car was clean, booted up and wrote both chapters from scratch.  They're a little raw, but they're completed and waiting for me to spruce them up.  The first draft is done, and I'm happy with the outcome.  The chapters will go through the critique group and I'll see what they think, too.

I feel bereaved.  My characters have miles to go before they sleep.  They have issues that still need to be resolved, their relationship has taken its first steps, but is far from cemented.  Then there is the subject of the money the male protagonist's brother left behind...

The book can stand alone, or there's a series in the making, peopled with interesting, multi-dimensional primary and secondary characters. 

I need to get started on the second draft of ROSE TATTOO and complete the synopsis.