The Shape of Today

Chilling

A wet period this week has given way to the sort of raw, damp weather one associates with November...meals from the slow cooker, night falling by 6 PM (ugh, I dread the commute home from work this evening!), and much time spent reading and writing. See? Everything has its perks if one cares to look hard enough.

Perched on my nightstand at the moment are a couple of books devoted to the writing craft...On Writing Science Fiction by Messrs. Scithers, Schweitzer, and Ford. It's been on my "to be read" shelf forever, high time I perused it. I also ran across Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life edited by Monte Schulz. This is a collection of classic "Peanuts" strips chronicling Snoopy's literary adventures from atop his doghouse. I loved Snoopy as a child and am delighted to revisit these old strips as I join him in the struggle to create. Some would-be critics dismiss the advice by the many contributors to the book (people like Danielle Steel and Fannie Flagg) as "lame and obvious". However, I'm ready to listen to anybody give a few pointers. Every little bit helps, as the old lady said when she peed in the sea.

Now it's time to head to work and discover another dozen or so books I ought to be reading...