Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

I've begun this year's Nanowrimo novel and am off to a slow start. Is this a surprise. Happened last year, too. So far, after a week, I'm hovering at just over 4,000 words. The target number to stay on track is 10,000 words right now. The upside is that after making some notes in church Sunday (instead of paying attention to the sermon) I've got the start of a roadmap, and some of my characters are starting to develop a bit of a life of their own. That's a good thing. Ed was good about egging me on to hit word count goals this weekend. Thanks, Ed. We are, by the way, re-watching season 3 of Alias as a prelude to getting the 4th season on DVD. The new novel's working title is "Purple Haze."

Saw Good Night, And Good Luck this weekend. Great film about the "Golden Days" of television and the rampant fear and paranoia of that time. The film is largely an indictment against the news media for refusing to take on controversial stories. Sound current? George Clooney, who directed, is turning into an outstanding character actor. More power to him. I've even forgiven him for the Batman film... Shot in exquisite black and white.

National Novel Writing Month has officially arrived: 50,000 words in 30 days. I got home from my Trinity Writers' Workshop meeting around 9:00 last night and did some fine-tuning to a short story I'd read, then started The Second Novel (working title: Purple Haze). I'm a little behind schedule already; to keep up I need to grind out about 1,600 words a day. Last night I managed a paltry 300. Ouch. When I mentioned last month that Nanowrimo took place in November, my loving, supportive, long-suffering wife gave me a pained look and said "You aren't going to do that again, are you?" Did I mention that Nanowrimo can be hard on families?