Day 148 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

ANNOUNCEMENT

 

1. I am a believer in the never ending process of learning. In that cause I would like to put out an invitation to poets living in the Ventura, California area. Wednesday nights, for the next four weeks, at 7 PM in Ventura at the Vita Art Center, 432 North Ventura Avenue, there will be an ongoing poetry workshop. This is a great opportunity to sharpen your craft and gather with other writers in the pursuit of excellence.

 

 

THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING

OR

Screw Three's, Bad News Decides Its Own Multiples.

 

So, last night was one of those ones where I seemed to wake up every hour on the hour with some vagrant thought or other. What else besides sleep deprivation could conspire to jerk me around a bit? How about adding three rejection slips, on three different stories, in four days? Oh, for good measure, my house needs to be re-tented for termites because the  original fumigation apparently missed some of the little wood gnawing bastards (thank god for warranties). This, of course, entails packing away food items, dishes, etc. trying to trim back plant beds to preserve as much as possible, and booking a motel room for two days. To say I'm not the happiest of campers would probably be an easy candidate for understatement status!

 

What did I do when ill fortune insisted on throwing a party in MY life? I got up and went to my day job for starters. During my breaks I got down the first drafts of two new poems and worked on a preface for an entirely new piece of fiction. I'm not sure yet if it it will be more of the short stuff I've been writing, only because that market is just so frigging tight, it squeaks every time I approach it. I could go off on another longer work, but I've got to get through the Book Country Summer Challenge first. I guess that doesn't mean I can't work on some background or outlining, just that I have to make sure I keep my priorities straight. Ducks in a row and all that. Anyone seen the duck tape?

 

Not the least of my commitments, and something that has become more of a pleasure with each day, I sat down in front of the monitor, put my fingers on the keys, and began typing this entry. There's one of those redundant and obvious truisms that keeps cropping up. Short of your own demise, there is rarely a reason not to write. Writing is what you do if you expect to ever succeed in this craft, and something that should be a refuge from the shitty realities lurking around every corner. Even the fact that I will be posting this blog from a remote location isn't a reason not make my entries. I've done it before, under less stressful circumstances I'll admit, but don't even think you're getting a reprieve!

 

As for the three rejected short stories? As soon as we get the tent off the house, and things headed towards what passes for normal around here, I'll review them, correct any deficiencies or make any obvious changes and find someone else to antagonize. After all, it is what I do, even in the spare moments of my daily grind. I WRITE. What are you doing?

 

 

Meanwhile...live, love, write.

 

 

Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.

 

 

Tomorrow,

 

Dane F. Baylis

Author.