Thinking about restarting a writing group up here in Nor Cal. Had a good run of it down in L.A. for the better part of ten years. Now that I’m up here for what possibly could be a long haul, I think it would be pretty cool to run a group locally that would be a source of support and comfort for fellow writers like me. 

Then again, misery loves company, right?

Ever feel as if you are met with heavy resistance on a daily if not hourly basis to do what you love so much, in this case, writing? Do you have it easy, having a high paying nine to fiver, while moonlighting as a writer as a hobby? Or do you struggle like me, working for rent and food, only to write whenever time (and want) allows? Maybe it’s the nature of the beast in writing the bestseller. Maybe it needs to be that difficult. 

Not to wax narcissistic, but I know I am onto something here. I’ve struggled too long for this. I’ve put my family through so much for this. And now, I’m still encountering obstacle after obstacle after obstacle?

Oy vey…

In writing my own story, I took great pains to be as truthful as possible, obviously only changing names to protect the innocent — and my pocketbook. In my case, everything can be verified, and once my memoir is published, I will welcome any and all scrutiny.

In the case of memoirs that were later revealed to be factually inaccurate, I found this article…

http://www.livescience.com/culture/090112-faked-memoirs.html

Ironically, at least one of these continued to sell extremely well AFTER discovery.

Can you guess which one?

Although I have been rather complacent in my research, I wonder if anyone who has undertaken the not-so-envious task of writing his or her memoir has been faced with opposition while writing it. I realize that writing something down with the intention (and hope) that the world will have access to it is a bit difficult for the average person to stomach. 

Regardless of obstacles — both real and imagined — that continue to get in the way of the work, I will not stop until I have completed work on it. 

There is nothing worse than a dream not realized.

I have resumed work on my memoir. Despite numerous projects either on the proverbial back burner or actively engaged, I need and want to get my own project(s) done. The subject matter is difficult to address, let alone write it as narrative. But I have to get it done. I have to have it published. There’s no turning back. I’ve sacrificed so much already. I feel I would be doing a disservice to myself and to my loved ones if I do nothing. On the other hand, I don’t necessarily see the writing of my memoir as particularly healing or therapeutic. I see it simply as something I need to complete. 

For close to two years I’ve entertained working on this project. I wrote pages and pages of it initially, only to find it had a lack of cohesiveness. Eventually, I was able to come up with a unifying theme, some chapter headings, and last but not least, a working title. But I kept sputtering, stalling, and spinning my wheels. It was always about the subject matter. I felt so ashamed. I had to deal with the reality and the scope and the impact of what my life was, and what it had become.

It took quite a while to get back on track. Now, I write as if my life depends on it.

It does.

It’s been quite a while since I last visited this place. After carefully dusting off months of accumulated cobwebs, lint, and dead insects, I am back. 

Has it really been a year?

Needless to say, I’ve spent my time searching and obtaining work, in leaps and bounds. I’ve suffered losses great and small, both personal and professional. But like the Frankenstein monster burning at the end of the (first) James Whale classic, I’ve come back fighting. And with a vengeance.

This past Fall, I saw the fruits of my ghostwriting labor result in a published book! Of course, being a true ghost, I was only thanked in the acknowledgements. Ah, well. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. It was a book that I probably wouldn’t have written in my own name… At least not in this lifetime.

I am presently in the preplanning stages of writing another nonfiction book that I may ghost, as well as editing a feature length screenplay for an up and coming director. I’m also courting a couple other screenwriting possibilities. 

More to come…

To not let this year be anything like 2007. Although the past year had its moments, I am truly looking forward to making 2008 a better one.

…and we’ll leave it at that!

I guess this is unbecoming a blogger, but I decided to take a couple months off to focus on work and my own writing, rather than my writers’ support group. Needless to say, besides working part time and not really writing much at all, things have not entirely paid off. Regardless, I hope by getting back into the business of this blog will help me get back into the business of my life…

Blog discipline, anyone?

As a writer in the Central Valley region of California, I feel lost. Originally from SoCal, I seem to be in a Twilight Zonesque world where writers are anomalies and not the norm as it is in Los Angeles. Where the Bible Belt of the South has somehow relocated to this most inhospitable climate and invaded the minds and souls of its inhabitants. Nothing against the real Bible Belt, though.

I can’t wait to be back home. Whenever that will be.

I am without a mentor to guide me most of the time, a writing group to ‘facilitate’ anymore, among other things.

In short, I am up the creek without a paddle… and that’s putting it politely.