THE FLY IN THE BUTTERMILK

Writer's block is like a shooting slump in basketball. The only way out of a slump is to shoot your way out, or write your way out. That's what I used to say. Shooting my way out worked in my basketball days, and until about a year ago, writing my way out worked with the book biz.

I've been stuck on the last chapter of my third book for over a year. The slump began when I left teaching, and the fly in the buttermilk is I left teaching to focus on writing. You know, I think this is the first time I've ever used the term "the fly in the buttermilk is..." in a sentence. Richard Boone used the term in the "The Alamo." The 1960 version of the Alamo is one of my favorite movies and Richard Boone was one cool cat as Sam Houston. So there it is, I've used "the fly in the buttermilk is..." in a sentence. Hah, this is a fine example of what's been going on between my ears since I left teaching. I just can't seem to get any semblance of focus going.  I'vebeen bouncing around between pest control, contract writing, tutoring, and adjunct teaching. Right now I'm working three jobs and it seems like I'm spending the bulk of my time, working, driving from one job to the next, preparing for the next day's work, looking for better jobs, or sprawled out on the floor staring at the ceiling. So there it is: I left teaching to write, but the fly in the buttermilk is I'm too darned scattered to write. 

You know I haven't had buttermilk since I was kid. Come to think of it, I really hated buttermilk. 

Heck, I might as well go back to full time teaching.