story first, rules second

Whew, it's been a big week here in Sexland and it's only Monday. First up, which means nothing to anyone but me, is that I found out today that my foot was broken in two places HOWEVER everything is healing just right, my self-discharge from the Black Boot was right on, and I'm starting PT on Friday. The dr assures me I should be back on my board in time for snow. WOOT! (He also kept calling me "young" and "sweetie." Nice guy, but dude, our kids go to school together and we're pretty well the same age.)

Gaiman won the Novel Hugo for The Graveyard Book. I think it's highly deserved. First up, it's a kids' book. Go Neil. And he's my fave author if I had to pick just one. And it's damned creative. The whole premise is awesome, especially that Family comes in all shapes and sizes. I haven't read Anathem, which he recommended for the win, so I should check it, yo.

Late Friday night I was out at the bar behind my house in Grand Lake with a friend, a place filled with characters that @neilhimself couldn't come up with in his wildest dreams. We actually got to stay after-hours, being neighbors and all. (Where else, seriously, does the owner of a bar offer to walk you home with his Glock because there's been a bear hanging in the alley? I love that crazy town.) And, having had the proper lubrication, I had a collision of ideas and inspirations. Pretty sure by this time next year I'll be putting the finishing touches on my first noir / thriller or mystery novel. I have a lot to learn between now and then, but the characters are already talking in my head. It's going to be different, quite different, than anything you've read before. Graveyard Book Different, I hope.

Last week I'd suffered from a similar collision for a novella for an anthology about angels I heard about. I'm interested in angels--not the fluffy cherubic sort but the kind who do God's dirty work, whatever that may be. But I've just written one set in present day. So I started styling the whole thing up influenced by a new show coming out and I realized no one else could style this thing the way I am. No one has the same collision of conflicting interests. I have a ton of research to do, but I think I can whip something up by the sub deadline.

Once I sobered up, you know, this morning, (jk) I realized what "Write What You Know" and "Only YOU Can Write YOUR Story" means--no, dude, what it really means. I realized I've been spending some time worrying over what will sell, how to build my career, that no one sells their first book (I'm still seeking rep for mine, and damn it, I like the book and I've had too many critical readers love it to just throw it aside) and all the fucking rules, when what I should have been focused on are My Stories. I need to advocate for my own Stories, my own art. Whenever I do that, I sell the damn things. I've always sat on the fence in so many ways, torn between different worlds. Why should my fiction be any different? So, from now on, Story First, Rules Second.

They're filming again tonight for the last time. If the crew will let me, I'll take a couple of action shots and post them here. I've had a couple folks ask.