On the Necessity of Evil

Over the last two weeks, the most important discussion has been the monstrous attack against the congregation of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17th in Charleston, South Carolina. It shows just how deeply rooted and pervasive racism is, even today, and how far we still have yet to go as a country and as a society. We are not post racial, we are not healed. Racism is just as present and just as insidious as it has ever been and we can see its evil tendrils insinuating its influence in politics and media. Talking heads on Fox and in Congress time and time again spew forth assurances that ‘racism is over’, yet every action taken by these people further reinforces racial stereotypes and drives ever deeper the racial divides in this country.

From Plot A to Point B

Ok, back to some posts about writing on a blog about writing. Seems appropriate. Over the last month or so, I’ve taken a hiatus from adding to my novel and stepped back to flesh out the universe in which it occurs, specifically a sweeping history of the world of my novel and how it came to be.

I’ve done this because -at my core- I’m an outline writer, plotting my narrative from point to point. Sometimes I write more ‘seat of my pants’, but usually that’s only within an individual chapter or section. When you have a large narrative in mind, I can’t see any other way of handling it and keeping all of the threads in order and heading in the right direction.

Two Numbers

162.

117.

It’s odd how something so simple can be such a catalyst for change, to shift your perspective, to focus your vision, to reinforce your determination or resolve.  For some, it might be a single word or maybe two.  For others, it might be a sound or a smell.  Always something seemingly simple, yet that conveys a greater meaning, a depth that once the context can be seen, expands into a new universe of understanding.  For me, it’s these two numbers.

162.  117.

Reinvention

I’ve allowed my blog to flounder a bit over the past few months due to changes in my work life, lifestyle and simply focusing my attention elsewhere, but I’ve decided it’s time to reinvent it.  As such, I’ve removed some of my less worthwhile posts and am currently in the process of re-designing the site and restructuring things.  As such, things might look weird or different every once in awhile, so just be patient: I’ll have it all settled soon enough.