I’m a little late on the whole year-in-review
and 2014 goal-setting, but then there are a lot of responsibilities to eclipse
reflection and forward-thinking time around here. Who knows how long this will
stay in ‘draft mode’ until I can get it all put together? Ah well, let’s not
waste time whining about how little time I have.
2013. Not as bad as 2012, but then
not a whole lot better either.
Concerning reading, I read 33 books
in 2013—seven below my Goodreads goal—not counting books I reread. Twelve were
made of ink on bound paper, three were ebooks, and eighteen were audiobooks. The best
book I read last year was Russell Banks’ Cloudsplitter.
Concerning writing, I had two short
stories published, one of which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. My short
story writing count for the year is 2,896 words.
I dabbled for a little while with
screenplay writing, but have lost ambition with it for now.
On my novel writing I added an
additional 4,445 words to finish my revision of Alexander Murphy’s Home for
Wayward Celebrities. So far this newest version of the novel has received
two reviews, both of which made me blush.
Having finished this revision, I
tried to decide which of my novels-in-progress to focus on next. The first, The
Great Northsouthern Cock-Block, is an expansion of an earlier unpublished
short story to novelic length. The story concerns a fictional generic college
where a professor convinces the entire female student body to refrain from
having sex. My intention for the story is for it to be a satiric, and
outrageous examination of higher education, society, and sex. While considering
this novel I read Neal Stephenson’s The Big U, which blew me away, and
though it follows a different trajectory than what I had in mind for my novel,
I think it intimidated me, and I only worked on the novel through the first
months of the year, writing 3498 words altogether, putting the total unrevised
word count at 17,851.
The other novel I had previously
begun was originally titled Adventures in the Sub Trade, but I have
changed the name since to Diary of a Sadman. This novel is an attempt to
take frustrating, disappointing, and curious things that have happened in my
life and give them usefulness in novel form. I would say it is
quasi-autobiographical, in that while many of the things the narrator
encounters in the novel have happened to me, or I have observed firsthand, I
have translated their meaning to fit the main character: so that while he works
at some of the places I have worked, and experiences some of the things I have
experienced, his opinions and outcomes vary greatly from my own. For example,
the plot involves a man whose girlfriend leaves him in Boston (didn’t happen to
me) while he is studying architecture in Boston (which I did), and for economic
reasons he has to move back to California (also did), and has to find a new
career path, deciding to become a teacher while at the same time finally
committing himself to becoming a writer (me too). I know this novel will be an
exercise in editing, as the structure largely involves diary entries,
dream-diaries, writing exercises, and educational materials—and it is also an
exercise in my personal craft process, as it is the first major writing I have done directly into a
computer, instead of my usual freehand process. Last year I only added 1,880
words, totaling the first draft manuscript at 12,915 words.
So, through the Winter I was
vacillating between these two potentialities, rereading drafts, organizing and collecting
notes on each, and trying to be more proactive about my reading. I got a
long-term subbing assignment teaching Middle School science which gave me very
little time to write, and then switched to another long-term assignment in high
school Special Ed when a curious convergence of ideas ignited a new novel idea, and since I love hearing about the fate and circumstance that come together to form a story idea, I'll share mine.
It began with my wife and my anniversary trip to Hearst Castle in 2012, where
we joked about how awesome the castle would be during an apocalypse, and my mind
began creating scenarios and characters of its own volition. Due, I think, to
my love of The Walking Dead graphic novels, and then the TV series, my
end-of-the-world thought exercises began to include zombies, and then more
representations of how I suspect many Americans would act if suddenly there was
no police or military force providing a consequence to your darkest desires and
actions, and the idea of how societal ideas of morality come into question when
that society is gone. These ideas fermented in the cellar of my mind, next to
other experiments quietly bubbling away, amid my work on other projects. I received the catalyst sometime in Spring.
I was subbing for an Art Class—I
don’t even think I was assigned, I think I was just on loan from Special Ed
during STAR testing, so this would be early April. By then I had thought of a
post-apocalyptic character named Ugly Doug, who considers the zombie outbreak
to be the best thing that ever happened to him, because it takes away all of the other humans that have made his life miserable. I was thinking about ways the
world would be different for Doug while the art students were working, when it
happened. It was nothing more than seeing a pair of beautiful girls at their
desk, doing more talking that artwork, both surreptitiously playing with their
phones, but it was enough to ignite that fermenting idea, and instantly it was
an explosion of:
How
would these girls handle a zombie-apocalyptic world?
When
society goes, rules concerning “age of consent” would go to.
Doug
would fall in love with both of these girls at first sight.
Kaboom! I had my plot, I had my
characters, and more, I had an overwhelming desire to see what would happen in
this story. By the end of class I had written three pages of notes; by the end
of the day, I had written the first scene; by the end of the year, I had 39,893
words in the manuscript, which I have titled The Two Loves of Ugly Doug.
On other forms of entertainment: I
only watched a handful of films last year, and it’s killing me. But there has
been a lot of excellent television (since we don't have cable, we're a little slow on catching shows, because we have to wait for Netflix to stream it or for our library to carry them). besides rewatching the entire series of Lost
and Entourage, I have enjoyed discovering/catching up with Boardwalk Empire,
Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead, Burn Notice, Mad Men, Shameless, Mr. Selfridge, Homeland;
I adore Warehouse 13 – the most joy I’ve had watching a show in I don’t how
long, probably since watching Firefly. I am conflicted with Girls: sometimes I am impressed by its fearlessness,
but mostly the characters frustrate me, and it has gotten to the point where I
barely register when Lena Dunham is naked anymore I’m so used to it (and really, they capped off Season 2 by doing a When Harry Met Sally?). Finally, I
enjoyed the last couple seasons of Dexter, but didn’t feel the ending (really?
a lumberjack?).
I’ve had little time for video
games, playing only Infamous, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario 3DLand, and
Mirror’s Edge; though I enjoyed them all, with my scattered playtime I didn’t feel
like I ever had the ability to master their controls, especially with Mirror’s
Edge.
And let me wrap up 2013 with a
little discussion about work. I continue only substitute teaching—good for
reading and writing, terrible economically. In September I abandoned all notions
that I should only seek jobs commensurate with my education and interests, and began
a second job at Pier 1 as a sales associate; my coworkers there are fabulous,
and the job would be perfect if it paid about 10 times more, and if it didn’t
have the pesky problem of customers.
Then in the Fall I partnered with
my wife and her parents to begin a candymaking company, Chastity Chocolates. My
father-in-law was a candy chef for many years, developing recipes, and has
always had the desire to open his own candy/dessert shop one day.
Since none of us are trained in business, and
are doing this on the side after other full-time jobs, it has taken a while to
figure out all the steps required for having a legitimate business. But we have
had a successful open house, begun an online store, and the hope is that this
Spring we will start participating in some local farmer’s markets, with the
eventual dream of having a brick and mortar shop serving a variety of sweet
decadence that will be all of our only full time jobs. Already we have awesome
chocolate, caramel, cheesecake, and other treats; currently I am working
towards ricotta mastery, with ricotta pie, and canolli—both of which I came to
adore living in Boston, but have not been able to find equivalent examples of
in California. Let me just say that research and development for a candy and
dessert company is a particular luxury.
But still you may be thinking, from
a career in education to candy? You see what really drives my wife and I to be
involved in developing this business is simply happiness. Happiness, in getting
to work together (for my wife and I really are best friends who wish they could
be around each other more); happiness, in playing with the best ingredients we
can find, combining them with inspiration and skill into splendid products; and
the happy dream of having a place where customers can come to be happy. A good
dessert or treat is a piece of tangible happiness, and the thought of creating
a place full of such happiness seems like a worthy endeavor in our often cold
and dreadful world. So if any of you would enjoy having some happiness
delivered to your doorstep instead of just the usual bills and junk, come to www.chastitychocolates.com.
On Goals, and Plans to achieve them
My goals for 2014 are fairly
simple:
- I want to be better about submitting
short stories, so one plan is to have every short story I hope to get published
out under consideration.
- I want to finish and publish at
least 1 novel. To do this I am hoping to write a minimum of a page a day/250
words. Really this means 350 words during the week, because I rarely write on
the weekends.
- I would like to read at least 40
books, and have more of them be the ink-on-bound-paper ones from my collection.
And lastly, I’d like to be better
about socializing online: more consistent with blogs, and social media besides Likeing what others have posted.
So, good luck to me, and good luck to you.
