As I dictate this I am wandering through the ranch house. I stop at my writing desk. Despite my best efforts it has now become just as cluttered as the other flat surfaces on various levels. There is an array of blogs, new web pages, contributions to four websites, Land for Love and Money, coming out June 26, 2012 (www.landforloveandmoney.com) the evolving manuscript of Book Three of the Threads West series—Uncompahgre—where water turns rock red.
I stare at pages and wonder, “Let’s see, did I do those re-writes?” My eyes glaze over at the scribbled edits on this and that manuscript for both fiction and non-fictional.
My writing desk has become a storage place for outlines, blogs and revisions. The breakfast bar in the kitchen is now home to the amended copies of the Land for Love and Money and the third book of the Historical Western series. My office remains hopeless. I believe that somewhere under the piles of papers there’s a short story or two. I’ve run out of floor space to pile papers and documents. I have to move papers to sit on the couch.
My new mantra has become, “I’m enjoying this creative process.” I gaze cross-eyed at a pile of paper with so many red-line edits that it’s difficult to see the original print.
“I think I will work on Uncompahgre,” I argue with myself. “No I really need to get those blogs done.” (sigh). Nope need to put the final touches on the Green for Green Workbook for Land for Love and Money.”
And finally, “I think I will just go fishing for a couple of hours!”
Hi, you probably don’t remember me but I was behind the counter at Ralph’s Exxon in Lima Mt. You gave me your card and told me about your book. I told you then that I was working on a book of my own “Montana Dawn”. My office remains hopeless struck a cord with me because this is a familiar scene to me but in a little different context. Could perhaps give me so pointers on how you keep track of what you have already written, some organizational skills you might say. You must have it figured out pretty well on a book as long as Threads West how do keep track of that many characters without repeating something or forgetting a fact about what happened earlier. I always did well in English in school and won almost every writing contest I was ever entered in, but I am just puttering with writing this book, and I’m finding that it’s a little overwhelming. Any pointers that you could give me would be greatly appreciated, given that I am sure that you don’t have time for this sort of thing.