Blog #2, in which we discover uncomfortable things about ourselves and link some junk.

So, I am turning into one of those people. I will try to keep the self referential "what have I become" posts to a minimum here, but I cannot escape the fact that I am sitting in a Hollywood coffee shop, next to a guy carrying around a stand-up bass and a skateboard, a 50 year old woman with a yoga mat and a yogurt cup, and copiously tattooed barristas who could not try harder to remind you that they DO NOT like boys. I am sitting with this tragically chic ensemble, and I am blogging. The film of self loathing will eventually wear off, but one wonders if that is a good thing...

I could not be happier that I see Coraline stuff everywhere. I am a bit nervous, as Stardust ads also dominated the cityscape when it was coming out. The difference here, I think, is that the Coraline ads actually seem to represent the story very well, whereas if you went solely off the Stardust billboards, you probably were expecting a story about a girl, a witch, and a Robert DeNiro in some sort of sky-drama that unfolded to reveal a young, dashing hero coming in to save the day. Which, you know, may have been an interesting story but had very little to do with either the book or the movie. It was almost its own permutation, this odd little movie in posters and 30 second clips. At any rate, they are doing a much better job with Coraline. Here's a great trailer, and another fun little thingummy to whet the appetite, should you not be excited enough.

I have set next week as my first submission week. I will be taking the first short story, Ranchero, and packing into little envelopes with little cover letters and sending it off to various publications, hoping that they will in turn ask to pay me to be the only people allowed to show it off. Chances are slim on this first run, and I am terrified. I am currently reading everything I can about how to get things published and how to navigate that world. I have no idea what I am doing and can only hope that it isn't nearly as complicated as I am making it out to be. I have, by accident, become one of those people who is trying to do something completely outside the realm of their expertise. I equate it to people who decide they want to become actors without going through any of the proper channels of learning technique, business sense, or skill building exercises. I am ignorant in this new world and, as such, feel like I should educate myself as quickly and thoroughly as possible. So, if you know of a good "Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing and Being a Legitimate Contributor to the World of Literature" book, let me know about it. I can't afford go back to school yet, so self education will have to suffice. A workshop would possibly do, but I think one needs to build a little body of work before they allow admission into one of those. At any rate, fun times. Scary. Let me know if you would like to read it. I am always looking for criticism.

I have also decided to keep most of my personal life stuff out of the blog. This is not because I am uncomfortable sharing, nor is it for fear of saying something that will later be referenced in the most inopportune moment to say , "Ha! See? This was said here and so you are now beholden to your idiotic admission." (Although the latter is a bone-chilling thought). I think the truth of it is, some of you reading the blog know what is going on anyway, which would then be redundant and boring, and some of you may be involved with said personal life stuff, and reading about yourself on a blog can be cruel and impersonal. Blech. No, not somewhere I wish to tread. So, unless there are major developments, don't expect to see a lot of that stuff.

So then, goals for next week:

Finally, FINALLY finish the business plan for LFM and get back to being excited about it.

Continue to blog Mon. and Fri., despite overwhelming urge to feel ridiculous about it.

Send out 5 submissions to Short Story publications.

Sleep like a regular person.

More on that last bit later, I think. I have rambled on here enough for one day. Maybe I will do a little sharing next week. I have to talk to another involved party, but it may be fun to show off a bit, and it may rekindle a little fire I had going. In fact, let's go ahead and say that one way or another, there will be a surprise on Monday's blog. So, point your friends this way. Unless your friends are my friends, in which case they may already be here. Either way, it'll be nice to see you.

Inspired or Insipid: You be the Judge.

So, I have a handful of various issues with blogging. Mostly, I refuse to believe that anything I say is interesting enough that someone will want to take the time to read it. As thrilling as my day to day is (and believe me, it is damn near impossible to keep up with me. I sometimes drink coffee in THREE different coffee-serving-establishments. In one day.), the practice of sharing it with the world seems largely to be an exercise in vanity. I prefer to be vain in private, as it draws less attention and I can always deny it later, given that I am the only witness and I have absolutely no problem lying to myself about myself. Also, I tend to ramble, which does not really make for good reading.

Having said all that, I woke up this morning to begin my normal routine. I slid the unlock slide on my iPhone (still one of the most satisfying tactile experiences of my life. I know, get a girlfriend...) and went though the usual checklist. Email: check. Myspace: check. Twitter: check. And there, on my Twitteriffic feed, I read the series of posts in which Neil Gaiman discovered he had won the Newbery Award this morning (they began with "who is trying to call me at 5:45 am, and WHY?", and ended with "FUCK!!! I WON THE FUCKING NEWBERY THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!!!"). I was thrilled for him. I know, I kind of idolize this guy, but for good reason.

I have been a huge fan of his for years. I think he is one of the most important writers of our generation, and he has inspired me to get back into shape (as it were) and try writing myself. He has won every major comics award there is, a shelf load of sci-fi awards (Hugo, Nebula, Locus, etc...), blogging awards (yeah, they have them), his movie Coraline is premiering in two weeks and is really a groundbreaking piece of film for the stop motion animation set, and now he has won the Newbery for a book that has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 16 weeks and counting. What do you think that feels like? He has proven capable of writing award winning material in ANY given medium (Comics, Film, TV, Poetry, YA literature, Fiction, Non-Fiction, onandonandon...). He has made a living as a storyteller, regardless of the structure and form, he just tells stories. Well. Very, very well.

At any rate, I realized that I want that. That is why I loved acting. That is why I love movies, and books, and friends, and video games. Everything I enjoy in life I plug into through the story of the thing. I want to tell stories. However I can. So, I went to my little cafe across the street, I bought a cup of coffee and a burrito, and I decided that I needed to set up a regimen of writing. I have one short story nearly polished and one that is just being written. I have a children's poem that I am getting illustrated and I will be sending it and the first story out for publications this next month. I am writing an online comic strip that is going to be really brilliant and likely fall flat on its face, but I am still really excited about it (even though it has stunted a bit in the last couple months. But we are fixing that. ). And, I have decided, I am going to blog. Twice a week. About whatever. Because in order to be a writer, you have to write. And, I figure, if you want to be a writer of many various things, you should write a number of various ways.

So, if you don't have anything else to do, I'd like to invite you to take this little ride with me. I can't promise it will be interesting all the time, but I can guarantee that when it is, it will be worth it. And maybe you will get a sneak peak of new things as they are happening. Or maybe you can help out because you know someone who takes young writers under their wing and grooms them to be actual Writers, with big capital Ws. Or maybe you can just make fun of me for being 27 and just now trying to direct my life in some sort of proactive way. However you look at it, I will be here; and I would love the company.