ON WAKING UP AT 4:30
What’s it like to wake up a 4:30 in the morning? It sucks like a Chinese Algae Eater; that’s what it feels like to wake up at 4:30 in the morning! The alarm goes off and I immediately sit up. I do this out of necessity, knowing darned good and well I’ll fall back to sleep if I don't. Convincing myself to stand up at 4:30 in the morning is the hardest thing I do each day. I guess the bright side of this situation is the hardest task of the day is over with before I’ve had my first sip of coffee. Last year I told the principal I’d rather cut off my toes than teach zero hour again. Looking back, that was a creepy thing to say. Who says they’d rather cut off their toes? In Terms of Endearment, Jack Nicholson said, “I’d rather stick pins in my eye balls”. Where am I going with this? I don’t know. Jack Nicholson is a quite an actor. Of course he’s no Steve McQueen, but he’s a good actor. I wonder if McQueen or Nicholson ever had to get up at 4:30.
WRITING REPORT
The agent search is on hold. 300 query emails is enough.
For now, the focus is on the new book. The two week writing push resulted in 114 pages, most of which is exposition. At this point I’m working out several plot lines. This new book is far and away more intricate than anything I’ve attempted to write. I’ve been thinking of changing the working title from The Really Weird Science Guys to Time Specter. Since returning to the classroom, I’ve been putting about an hour a day into the book. I’ll be ecstatic if I can keep up this pace.
It might not be a bad idea to start approaching some magazines with one of my stories from The Eight Fingered Criminal’s Son. I’m also posting a story on the blog every six weeks.
