Back on the writing wagon and with drive!

"I LOVE DOGS!"

About a month ago my father called me up and wanted to know if I would be interested in flying home for a visit while Amanda Lafantasie (a.k.a Skoora), was in Boston for her MFA Residency. I was more than interested, I was down right giddy and more than ready to brave flying alone. So we decided on three weeks in which I would relax and visit a few friends and some family and two days later I was home bound.

That trip seems to have been just what I needed. I didn't do too much, just had a few mostly quiet visits with friends and family, and played with my parent's dog, Kali. But somehow whether it was the comfort of being home and truly relaxing, the quiet of my parent's house, or both, my brain settled down, stopped running a million miles a minute and complete thoughts of stories and ideas started happening.

One night I got up to let the dog out to do her bathroom business and for some reason when I laid back down, I just couldn't sleep. I started thinking about a movie I'd seen that evening and, like with most movies, anime, TV shows, or books, I started plotting a fan fic. I'm not sure how I got from Narnia to a dragon story I only have notes for or even how I got from that to a vampire story, but an hour later I had some little notes written and I could finally sleep.

I can say that I didn't get to writing the next day, I was still in the middle of my trip and wanted to wait until I got home. When I arrived home, I was excited and really wanted to write but I was kind of scared. It took getting settled in, some venting time, and a serious brainstorming session along with some helpful plotting notes from Amanda's MFA homework to get me on the right track. Not only am I as excited as Roy Mustang is about dogs, but I actually have some confidence and the first chapter arc plotted out and ready to be worked on today!

Also, while I was away I got a letter from the Long Ridge Writer's Group. A couple of years ago I was doing their short stories for magazines program, almost finished it but moved and life happened. Their letter was basically stating that I only had one assignment left and I could still do it, for a fee of course. I would like to finish it and get the diploma. But I have to wait until I have the money and contact them to find out if I can get the material sent to me for the last assignment simply because half my things are still in Kansas and what I did bring up here, well, I haven't seen it in the garage.