Diary Excerpt

Brian went to the cabin with Malcolm. After a few days of no phone calls, I missed talking. Brian's got a great ear; he'll listen to anything and no matter how mundane, he'll respond as if it makes a difference to him. I love that, and take advantage of his goodwill as much as I can. Especially since I started writing the book and go days sometimes without leaving the house. I was beginning to tremble the way Buddy the Dog does whenever the cat crosses his path. The cat he can't chase or he'll get the $@*% kicked out of him. So I began a little diary that week. I didn't blog because I'm not kidding, this stuff was as interesting as chicken bouillon. But I needed a blog posting. I took an entry from one day in the diary in which I waxed on writing. (in my head, that came out "waxed on whiting"). I give you, July 10th:

July 10: No hike today. Lazy. Woke up to a crisis: no high test coffee beans and no cat food. (Actually, ran out of the cat food last night, but I just left her outside to fill up on moles and mice.) Zoom zoomed off in the Mini at 8 a.m. to avert the crisis, and an hour and a half later came home with an extra large Americano and Iams. Aaaaaaand a new skin care regime (adios, Mr. Franklin), eggs, zip lock bags, Burts Bees lip balm (not the kind that turns your lips white), cilantro, sun block, and seltzer water. I wish I had a dime for every hour I waste shopping for cheaper face products that will reverse the signs of aging. I wish someone had told us way back to invest in cosmetic companies. Sipping my luke warm Americano, the rest of the day, I updated my reverse outline. Can I tell you a secret? I don't have an outline for the book. I was too antsy to get going, and outlines only work if you know what you're doing. But to keep track of themes and conflicts and notes for revisions, I backfill an outline. I had three chapters to backfill, but as a result, I saw so many mistakes. I want to go back and fix them, but Sooz sez "Plow ahead. You can go back." I want to say, "but I've got ADD. I'll forget it all in 10 minutes." But she assures me that I could come up with a different edit for the same sentence each and every day. So, I could go back every day, or I can wait til the revision. She promises that no matter what, I'll have an edit for it, even if it's not the same one I had today. I will trust. But I did go through a bunch of chapters and write notes in margins. For the whole day. Except the hour I talked to Mary. I was so happy to see her name on my caller ID. She just got back from Bali (and a retreat before that.) Mary and I have an understanding: we rarely talk because we know we'll never get off the phone. And we both have our art to be selfish about. But as I said earlier, I was just backfilling the outline and it was MARY. Mary and I talk about great stuff. Inside stuff that can reinflate the soul. We did try to limit it. She started off by saying, "Can you talk or are you working?" I said, "I've got five minutes, but then I've got to get back." I don't ever have to explain to Mary. We might have stopped after, hmmm, 45 minutes? An hour? When we got going, my soul realized how thirsty it was, and it wanted to swim across the Bay in a conversation with Mary. By the way, I don't think chapter nine works. I think I have to rewrite it. I know. I know. Deadline. . .