You remind me of the babe...

That Which I Did Not Do

So I slide a little bit on friday. That was okay, I've given myself 2 days a week break. Lets be honest, the chances that i'll be productive on a friday night are pretty slim anyways. let's presume, then, that Fridays will mostly be an off night. We'll get it out of the way now.

Saturday was going to be the make up for it day. And laundry day. but with music practice and such (more later), I allowed my second break day. I got a couple loads of laundry done.

Sunday was supposed to be my get back on the horse day. And DC al Coda for the laundry. yeah. Neither one of those happened. I missed that repeat bar. But i did manage to take an afternoon nap that felt like someone had knocked me out with a 2x4. or at least what i'd imagine being knocked out by a 2x4 feels like, since i've never actually done it. That is an item not on my to-do list.

but, lest we get preoccupied by the negative space...

Those Things Which I Did Do

Despite completely slacking on my writing, I did not slack in any sort of way with my running. As was mentioned, i chose to 86 Thursday's run, sub haircut by Cheryl. I rescheduled for Friday (which is usually my 2nd rest day for the week), and despite getting off of work late I still got out there! Both Friday and Saturday I got out there and ran my 4 mile course. Ran them both good. Friday was a little slower than the time before that (by about 20 seconds, give or take), but Saturday was, again, my new PB for my 4 mile course!

I don't know what it is about the midwest and my running, but every time I come back from a trip to the midwest, I improve my average mile time. It happened last december when i went back for Christmas. I came back, and my times immediately improved by 45 seconds/mile. And now, after spending a couple of weeks in Dallas, Kansas City, and Nebo, Illinois, I come home and my times are about 45 seconds/mile faster. I can't explain it--I mean, I continue to train when I'm back east but I usually take it pretty easy and mellow when I do. Hmmm. One of life's great mysteries. I'm going back for a week in early september...

Sunday I knew I had to get out and do a long run. I've been running my 4 mile course regular enough, but I've been way behind on my longer runs for training. So I went out for a 6 mile run. I took it easy, slower than I'm planning to run for my race. But it felt good. I was worried how 6 miles was going to be, since it's been 5 or so months since i've gone that far. No need.

Those Things, Being Done, Were Louder than Other Things (Done or Not)

I was asked to lead worship at Newark Pres last weekend. They've hired their new worship leader, but he doesn't start until next week. Well, Nick & Justin were playing, drums and bass, respectively, so there was no way i was going to pass up that opportunity. Alyssa also joined me on vocals which put it over the top.

I've lead worship a couple of times at Newark Pres, always from my acoustic guitar. Once or twice by myself, and once with the band. it's a pretty common worship leader setup. I decided I didn't want to do that this time. Never one to be content with the same ol', I decided to be loud. I decided to break out the electric guitar.

I chose a couple of old staples that most people know, but I pulled out a little known arrangement for one of them (Luna Halo's version of "Humble Thyself"). The other three were pretty straightforward. Humble Thyself wasn't :)

It's a very spacey, tripped out quiet song. And then, in the middle of the song, everything drops out for a second, and this monster, metal guitar riff kicks in out of nowhere (Justin called it the Judas Priest riff). It is the musical equivalent of being kicked in the face. And just when you've recovered, it drops back out and the song resumes it's quiet droning.

It had the desired effect! I'm pretty sure when we played it at practice, Alyssa actually fell over. When we played it at the service, she was ready for it, and she got the congregation (who wasn't expecting anything) into it.

I had a ridiculous amount of fun playing. Nick & Justin are incredible--it's always a pleasure to play with great musicians. It's been a long time since I lead worship with the benefit of another vocalist (and i've learned a lot since then). It was great to compliment each other, and to be able to let Alyssa take lead on a couple of the songs. Really took a lot of pressure off of me.

Those Things, Which Were Done Loudly, But May Not Mean Anything Unless You Play Electric Guitar

the other reason I had fun is because i was able to pull out my "A -game" guitar rig. When I play regularly at Esperanza Viva, I usually use my "B-game" rig, because it was specifically set up for that church. I usually use Alejandra, my Fender anniversary standard telecaster, on which I replaced the neck pickup with a DeMarzio Vintage PAF humbucker. Anyways, I run that through my pedal board (if you must ask, Ibanez Tube Screamer->Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi->Danelectro Daddy-O->Danelectro Cool Cat->Ibanez PhaseTone TS909->Fulltone Supa-Trem->Guyatone MD3->Tech21 SansAmp Blonde->ART TubeMP preamp) directly into the mixing board.

But this weekend, I pulled out Isabelle, my turn-of-the-century Fender American Telecaster, my baby. And I fished out my real amp, my Fender Blues Jr. I used a delay pedal (because playing without delay may as well not be playing at all), but otherwise it was all amp and guitar (except for on Humble Thyself I used my Danelectro Daddy-O chorus and Danelectro Fab Tone for the Judas Priest riff). It sounded soooo good. The tone was beautiful, exactly like a telecaster was meant to sound.

Anyways, back to topics the rest of you might care about. Sorry about that. If you're not a guitar player, you don't understand. if you are, you're nodding along with me right now.

Those Things Which Were Meant to Be Done

Tonight though, i knew I had to get something done. I couldn't settle for less. I knew I had to finish Chapter 1. And so, tonight, I did. I put down 718 more words, for a total count to date of 2494 words. It's measuring in right at 3 pages on my word processor, kind of short. I'm pretty sure when I come back to rewrite, I'll lengthen it. But that's a long long ways away (I have to pretty much finish the whole thing!), and for now it will do! Chapter 1, v1 FINISHED.

Because you've been so good, for your reading pleasure, is a short paragraph from chapter 1...

"The blues is passionate music, and the lots of us out in Kaycee had been singin' the blues all of our lives. We were out there stewing in it, simmering all that jazz. Anyone who's spent much time at all about musicians knows that we're an emotional sort, carry it all out on our shirtsleeves. We've got to have it all there, ready to haul out every night and poured into all those notes. Whether she was aiming to start swinging at me, or she was just actin' like didn't matter all that much. I knew it was her or me, and she knew the same. One way or another, only one of us was going to be singing that night and the next. If we had to decide that ourselves, we sure would, but I didn't think it was comin to that..."

Those Things Which Appear Every Night (More or Less)

Activities for Today

• Finish Chapter 1!
• Blog about the weekend
• Ruminate

Music of the Day

• Songs of Faith and Devotion by Depeche Mode

Quotes of the Weekend

• "You know, the Jesus juice thing. With the crackers..." from Nick
  
• "That's what happens on Fridays. Superman starts to talk..." from Yours Truly
  

Goals for Tomorrow

• Play Madden 12 football
• Let's be honest. That's all I'm going to do while i'm awake at home tomorrow.
• Start Chapter 2 (Musician's Tale) Wednesday
  

Be Kind, Rewind

There will be no Jack Black in this post. Except in that sentence. No more Jack Black. At least after that sentence.

If you don't get that joke, then you're probably most people, and you're probably right that it isn't funny. And to that I say, neither is Jack Black (usually).

I didn't get out on my run tonight (boo), but it was because I got to hang out with Cheryl while she was cutting my hair. i love that gal. But i should be able to get a run in tomorrow, which I usually can't because of music practice. And could be a good thing, 'cuz my legs were really sore from Krav yesterday. Kicked my @$$.

Today I went back and rewound a little bit, inserting a section into the very beginning of chapter 1 that I had skimmed over way too quickly. It was way to important to the theme of the book. Good thing I caught it.

612 more words, and I'm now onto page 3. w00t! I still gather I have another page, page and a half for chapter 1. My soft goal was friday, i might bounce that to saturday. We'll see! I'm not worried.

I think i'll have to talk about something in my blog tomorrow, lets see, maybe I'll talk about TV and why i think it's one of the best and most under-used storytelling mediums? Maybe. maybe i'll save that for later.

As it is...

Activities for Today

• 612 words written in chapter 1 (as told by Open Office)
• Read some more Goin to Kansas City
• Maintain sanity until Friday
  

Paper Airplane Design of the Day

• F117a Stealth Fighter

Music of the Day

• Far, by Regina Spektor

Random Song Lyric of the Day, courtesy of Regina Spektor

• "I've got a perfect body, because my eyelashes catch my sweat, yes they do!"

Friday-tastic Activity Goals

• Finish Chapter 1 (we'll still be ambitious tonight)
• Dance the Happy Friday Dance (who's idea was this? Not gonna happen!)
• Invite Norah Jones out for coffee if she happens to drop by my store....
  

A Transfer of Momentum

Once again, i shifted back to the detailing of notes. Didn't get any words written in the novel proper, but i was expecting Dusty to stop by at any time and i didn't want to be knee deep in writing and have to stop. Transcribing notes is something you can stop pretty easily.

I did work on the notes for the Singer's Tale, and I made some good progress. I identified all (or at least most) of the major characters who will appear. Most importantly, I put together all (or most all) of the chapter themes and topics for the Singer's Tale. I'll admit, in the past few days i was getting a little bit worried about the Singer's Tale, that I wouldn't know what all I should include for it. But it all came together really well, and as I continue to read Goin to Kansas City (which contains a great deal of eyewitness accounts from exactly then) I feel like I will be better equipped to expound on these topics.

I also realized that I had skipped a very important part I was planning to include in the beginning of chapter 1 with Sadie, our singer. I'm going to have to go back and put in some more text in the first few paragraphs. This is sort of breaking one of the rules I set for myself, but i feel it's important to do for this. the rule i'm talking about, by the way, is that i vowed not to go back and tinker and rewrite the text that I'd already put down. When i'm finished with everything, then I'll be able to go back and do my tinkering and rewrites, but if I start to do that now it'll become way too easy to get bogged down and not make any forward progress.

I didn't get my run in today, but Krav Maga kicked my butt anyways. This whole week, at least the classes I went to Monday and today had a lot more intense warm-ups than usual. I'm not complaining--I'm all for ratcheting it up a notch. I think they're getting people ready for the belt testing in September, which i will not be able to take part of (since I will be out of town until the weeee hours of the night before). I'll have to wait for december to test for level 1. I'm perfectly okay with that.

Sooooooooooooooo..........(a needle pulling thread)

Activites for the Day:

• Transcribe notes for the Singer's Tale onto the computer
• Organize the themes/subjects for each chapter of the Singer's Tale
• Track down pictures of Fascination Street (or rather, the club of which I'm basing Fascination street)
• Continue reading Goin' to Kansas City

Music for the Day

• The Reluctant Graveyard by Jeremy Messersmith
• Tatooine by Jeremy Messersmith

TV Shows I Plan to Watch Tonight Because They're Awesome

• Warehouse 13 (Liz & Brad, I think you guys would love this one...)
• Eureka (Jesse & Melissa, I think you guys would love this one...)

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, Aug. 25, 2011

• Whirligig: noun, 1: a child's toy having a whirling motion; 2a : one that continuously whirls or changes b : a whirling or circling course (as of events)

616 Word Count Avenue

I know 616 words isn't much to be excited about for many writers, but that's what I put down tonight. I'm excited about it, because it's far and above my daily word counts so far. I'm okay with starting slow, working my way up. Not a sprint...

I'm having trouble writing this in my own voice, which is also pretty exciting. Chapter 1 is from the Singer's Tale, as I've mentioned many times, and the Singer's Tale is from the perspective of a much older singer (in modern times) looking back and writing her memoirs/autobiography. That means it's written in her voice. Why am I excited about having difficulty writing in my own voice? Well, that means i'm actually establishing her own voice, her cadence and vocabulary, and best of all! it's not my own default voicing! Sadie's character is starting to develop.

One of the difficulties I'm anticipating in this novel is that it will be written from three completely separate voices. In order to be successful in my vision, each story must have it's own unique style. It's part of the whole experiment, how three completely different stories and genre's and styles can weave together to compliment and build on each other.

So, yay.

So, then...

Activities for Today:

• Wrote 616 words in Chapter 1 (as counted by Open Office)
• Will read a few more pages of Goin' to Kansas City
• Read the article Mikey G posted on my facebook about Robert Heinlein's 5 Rules of Writing

Picture of the Day:

The facade for the DeLuxe Nightclub, down at the 18th & Vine Historical District in KC. This building face was constructed for the movie Kansas City, and remains just down the street from the American Jazz Museum. Although I'm pretty sure (and i might be wrong) that it's the historical location for such a club. The DeLuxe is the night club that Sadie, our singer, got her first break. There is a night club that will feature prominently in the story, but it's a fictional club (although it's modeled after a club from Detroit). I haven't named that club yet. If I knew I would have no copyright issues, i would call it Fascination Street





Music of the Day

• She & Him, Volume 2

Beverage of the Day

• Grapefruit Juice (Grapefruit is the new Orange!)

Goals for Tomorrow

• Write, as possible, in Chapter 1. The Plan is for Chapter 1 (before re-writes and add-writes) to come in about 3-5 pages, and I would like to be finished with that by Friday
• Transcribe handwritten notes onto files (this has been a goal for a few days without success, but it's a goal that can be put off safely)
• Read in Goin to Kansas City
  

Quick Like a Fox, or a very fast Turtle

So I'll make it quick, 'cuz Mikey's waiting to watch an episode of Supernatural. Musn't keep him waiting.

I was excited today to receive not one, but both of the books I had ordered in the mail. Both earlier than expected. Sweet.

I got my run in today. Mondays & Wednesdays are shorter runs, because I have to squeeze them in between work and Krav Maga (which is a workout by itself). That's a 40 minute window to get home from work, get changed, get out on the run, and back to the car so I can make it to Krav. So I do a hard 2 miles...I ran the 2 today faster than my recent 4 mile runs, which is good, but not my fastest 2 times. I was in a hurry and didn't stretch well enough today, and I had a lot of trouble concentrating on my stride. I kept landing wrong. But i did okay.

Anywhoseewhatsit...

Activities for Today:

• Wrote in Chapter 1 (188 words, by Open Office standards)
• Will read some pages in Goin' to Kansas City

Music of the Day:

• The XX, XX

Completely Unrelated Quote of the Day:

• "I've got two words for you: dumb!"

Impulse Buy of the Day

• Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey (it's freakin smooth like butter, er or at least honey...scary delicious)

Goals for Tomorrow:

• Continue to write in Chapter 1, as possible
• Read more Goin to Kansas City
• Continue to transcribe handwritten notes

What if I stumble? Completely irrelephant.

So i knew I was going to take a break on Friday, but I wasn't exactly expecting to take a break on Saturday. I made the decision late Saturday evening after spending most of the day at Jesse & Melissa's BBQ. I didn't get my run in either, and I'm allowing myself two days off each week. so long as I came back Sunday, today, which i did.

Tonight. Not glamorous. I didn't even get any writing done on the actual novel. BUT i did sit down at the computer and work on it for an hour-ish, little more (minus a few small interruptions). I decided to begin to transcribe my handwritten notes onto the computer, and begin detailing outlines and such. I had planned to try to write a few sentences in the novel itself, but I spent longer than expected putting down my notes for the Detective's Story. I'm actually really happy with what I got done--I put down some good quick bios for the important characters in the story, and wrote a plot synapses. I was even able to even out a few of the details I hadn't decided on yet. I have a very clear direction and ending to work towards with the Detective Story, and I think that will be the easiest of the three parts to write. I've still got a lot to write in the other two tales before I can even get into the Detective's Story though (The novel opens with chapter 1 in the Singer's Tale and Chapter 2 the Musician's Tale. Chapter three is the Detective's Story, but it's already written. Okay, that's because it's only one word. "Humphf!" then i've got anotehr chapter or two from the other two tales before I get into the real writing of the Detective).

The "What Does That Have to Do With Anything" Part that actually Has To Do with Novel Writing

I was going to talk about running and why running is important to this novel. I suppose I should add that last Thursday's run was a best for that route (although not my best 4 mile time). But I ran taht same route again tonight (it's my standard run, I usually get it in a few times a week), and I beat both my previous course and 4 mile personal best times. progress baby!

I have had plans to write novels and short stories for a long, long, long time. Since I was in gradeschool. i've even kind of started, once or twice. not really. I've gotten as far as one chapter before.

This is nothing new for me. I have a long history of starting projects and never finishing them. more often than not, i'll get a little bit into whatever, and then it'll fall by the wayside. usually it's because i jump in head first without being prepared, I'll reach a stumble point, and have no idea where to go from there. I'll get distracted, or move on to some other idea, and two years later I'll look back on it and say, "man, good ideas but bad follow-through." It's just the sort of person I am, having a lot to do with my ADD (less on that now, but maybe some other day I'll go into it in more detail).

Last summer, I got it in my head that I wanted to run a half marathon. i was inspired by my athletic family, and directly (running-wise) by my marathon-prolific brother-in-law, and my most excellent sister Elizabeth who had decided to run a half marathon of her own.

I downloaded a 3 month training program about 5 months before the race, and sort of half-hearted following it. After two months of half-assing the training, with just over 3 months until the race, I buckled down and began to follow it pretty religiously.

I knew that I had to hold myself accountable to the race, so i told everyone I knew that I was running it and training for it. When everyone knew I was going to do it, i couldn't very well back out. that's just my ego and stubbornness (which I intentionally used to my advantage and inspiration).

I did the training pretty well. I wasn't perfect, but I did enough that I was ready to run the race. And I did run the race, and while some of it was great, a lot of it sucked, but I finished it. I crossed that finish line after running 13.1 miles in just over 2 hours and twenty minutes. I didn't care how long it had taken me, though I am quite satisfied with the time. I cared that I finished it.

I had started something, something that required a lot of dedication and work, I saw it through to the end, and I finished it. I ran that race in large part because i needed to prove to myself that I could start something and finish it. I did.

Writing a novel is a daunting task, especially the first time. There's a lot of work, and it's going to take a long time. But I have a plan, and I know that I can finish. I haven't given myself a time-limit, but I have committed myself to a specific amount of weekly time until it's done.

And, coincidence? I'm also training for my second half marathon as I begin. What is the definition of insanity, you ask?

Activities for today:

• Get in a 4 mile run for my half training
• Transcribe my handwritten notes for the Detective's Story
• Finish a plot synapses for the Detective's Story (although more details will be added later)

Music for the Day:

• Bon Iver, Bon Iver
• The Civil Wars, Barton Hallow

Quote/Thought for the Day:

• How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. And always remember, anything that doesn't have to do with elephants is irrelephant.

Goals for Tomorrow:

• Write on chapter 1, as possible
• continue to compile notes, finishing up with the Detective's Story and beginning on The Singer's Tale

Sucker Lunch

Okay, so the title means nothing much at all. Sort of a play on words. But it's not completely irrelevant towards my novel. Maybe I'll talk more about why it's important later. And by later, i mean some other day that's not today.

First things first...i went running today. What does this have to do with all of what i'm talking about? Well, more on that tomorrow. I ran what I believe (i'd have to double-check) to be my best time on my normal 4-ish mile run (technically, it's a little short of 4). felt good. felt really good. It has been about a week since i went running, and I was itching to get out there. I lengthened my stride and it felt really smooth and natural. I've got a month to be ready for my next half, and tonight was a very encouraging run. More on why running is important tomorrow. i think i already said that.

But today is about why this blog is important.

I only wrote anothe 170-ish words (as recorded by Open Office) today, and that's not including this blog. it's a slow start; i haven't even written one full page of my novel yet. But for 2 days in a row i've added to it. you have to start somewhere, and this blog is practice.

I'm one of the best writers you know. believe it, and i'll go into more details about that someblog soon, but I'm out of practice. WAY out of practice. I don't write nearly as often. And this is where the blog comes into practice.

i'm training myself. I'm sitting in front of the keyboard and excersizing my brain. Writing, like anything else, is a learned skill. Certainly natural skill has it's advantages, but spending a little bit of time in the woodshed working on your chops is good for everyone. Why am I blogging this? Well, i'm training my brain to communicate it's thoughts clearly through my fingers. After i've been writing regularly for awhile, it could be that I don't blog much. I won't need it, then, because my brain will be in practice.

In the meantime, I'll sit here and ensure that I'm still working on it.

3 days down. I almost didn't do tonight. i'm glad I did. That's what it takes. I may not write tomorrow. Fridays will be a potential day off. My goal is 30-60 minutes a day, 5 days a week. At least to start. I've got a half marathon to train for on top of that (which will take another hour or so per day, 5 days a week) plus the rest of my life to live. Deal.

Anyways....activities for today...

• Writing 170 words on my novel
• Further on-line research about 1930's Kansas City, including bookmarking some good websites
• Ordering Blue Monday, a historical novel by Harper Barnes concerning prominent Kaycee jazz musicians
• Gather together the notes I've scribbled about the novel from my scrap notebooks
• Investigate purchasing a saxophone
  

Music of the Day

• Rockferry by Duffy

Picture of the Day

Goals for tomorrow (or Saturday, or when I return to working)

• Transcribe my notes into Open Office
• Detail and Outline the Singer's tale
• Continue to write in Chapter 1, The Singer's Tale, as possible
• Blog about why running is important to this novel
  

Building Up Steam

Wednesday down, so far so good. Okay, so it was a slow start. But I put down 160 words, at least according to Open Office. I'm more or less satsified with it, but it's clear i will need to drill down a little bit more specifics when i'm working on the Singer's story. It has less action and more reflection, so I'll need to be better prepared as i write it.

It was like so, but it wasn't...

I've heard it asked, often, "Oh, where to start, where to begin..."
Surely you must realize that this quite the silly question. There really is only one place to start: the beginning. You think it's obvious, but if it was, then why does everyone always ask that question before they start telling a story. How many times have you read a Bathtub Story? You know the kind...

"Jasmine slipped into the water of the bath she had prepared, looking back on all that had happened. She knew that she would never be the same again. It happened like this..."

Seriously. What the hell is that? You don't know Jasmine. You've never met her until now. You don't give one flying hootenany about what happened to her. Never be the same? The same as WHAT? Why should I care what she was like if she's not going to be that way again. I didn't know her before. I have to care about who she was before I can care about who she is. So start at the beginning, and let me get to know Jasmine.

That's starting at the end. Why would you do that? If you're planning to write a bathtub story, stop. Rewrite it. Or I'll punch you. Really, that's my favorite part of the bathtub story. punching you.

But Jasmine you're not supposed to like Jasmine before all of this, you say! She was a little bit of a bitch, you know. Bullspit. If I can't sympathize with her, I'm not going to care about her changing.

Start at the beginning.

There was a boy called Eustice Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it

I'll admit, i'm a little bit obsessed with opening lines to novels. Think I'm kidding? See that line, right there to your left? it's the one that is, more or less, my bio for the blog. What do you think that is?

The opening line is, perhaps, the most important single sentence in an entire story. It sets the entire tone, grabs you, shakes you and demands that you pay attention. PAY ATTENTION! Here are some of my favorites...

• "It was like so, but it wasn't..." from Galatea 2.2, Richard Powers
• "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel..." from Neuromancer by William Gibson
• "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice..." from 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new..." from Murphy by Samuel Beckett
• "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain, he fell madly in love with him..." from Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
• "In five years, the penis will be obsolete..." from Steel Beach by John Varley
• "Marley was dead, to begin with..." from The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..." from The Dark Tower, The Gunslinger by Stephen King
• "As Gregor Samsa awoke from a night of uneasy dreaming, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect..." from Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
• "The pebbled glass door panel is lettered in flaked black paint: 'Phillip Marlowe...Investigations.' It is a reasonably shabby door at the end of a reasonably shabby hallway in the sort of building that was new about the year the all-tile bathroom became the basis of civilization. The door is locked, but next to it with the same legend is another door which is not locked. Come on it--there's nobody here except for me and a big bluebottle fly. But not if you're from Manhattan, Kansas..." from The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler.
• "I first heard Personville called Poisonville by a red-haired mucker named Hickey Dewey in the Big Ship in Butte. He also called his shirt a shoit. I didn't think anything of what he had done to the city's name. Later I heard men who could manage their r's give it the same pronunciation. I still didn't see anything in it but the meaningless sort of humor that used to make richardsnary the thieves' word for dictionary. A few years later I went to Personville and learned better..." from Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett.
• "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth..." from THE BIBLE!

There's plenty more, I'm sure. Anyways...

Activities for the Day

• Begin writing chapter 1, from the Singer's story (160-ish words written)
• Blog about beginnings and opening lines (less briefly than expected)

Music of the Day

• The Best of Nina Simone by (you guessed it) Nina Simone

Current recreational reading

• The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño

Goal(s) for tomorrow

• Further outline & plan the Singer's Story
• Continue writing as possible in chapter 1
• Continue to blog (about why blogging is actually important to this novel-writing process)
  

A day 1, which may or may not be day 2

First Things First

It shall be my best attempt to use this blog largely as a daily (or semi-daily) report on the progress of writing my novel, which at this time has no name (although i think of it as either "Three-in-One" or "Trinity," neither of which will be the name).

When I was in Kansas City last week, i did a research trip to downtown and the 18th & vine district, the heart of jazz music in Kaycee in the 30's. It was invaluable to get a feel about the area and learn some facts and walk the same streets my characters will walk.

So, for this inaugural issue, i shall list a few of my resources, as well as my progress for the day.

Activity(ies) for the day:

• Blog day 1
• Run the network cable to my room so my ancient, malfunctioning laptop can once again have internet
  
• Order Goin' to Kansas City by Nathan Pearson
• Read a little bit of Good Morning Blues, The Autobiography of Count Basie as told to Albert Murray

Resource Report
Today, some of the (fiction) books I've read that will serve as research, reference, or inspiration

• The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler
• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• The G-String Murders by Gypsy Rose Lee
• Drood by Dan Simmons

This is by no means a definitive list. There will be more added later.


Picture for the day

This is a parking lot at 12th & Cherry in downtown Kansas City, currently used by the KCMO Police. We dont care about the parking lot, but this is the location where the Club Reno used to be, one of the most important of the dozens (over 50) nightclubs that defined Kansas City jazz in the 30's. The big draw of Club Reno? Count Basie & His Orchestra made their break here.









Music of the Day

• Ximena Sariñana Mediocre

Goal(s) For Tomorrow

• Begin writing chapter 1 (The Singer's Story)
• Blog (briefly) about Beginnings and "Where to Start"