Best Laid Plans
Posted on | July 29, 2009 | No Comments
Probably the only good thing about this drought we are in is the fact that I don’t have to mow the lawn. I think I’ve had the mower out once in the past six weeks. The grass is growing a little, but it seems an insult to lop it off when it’s struggling. Besides, I’ve seen other lawns around here burn to a crisp after they’ve been cropped short. We’re still on water rationing, so we only get to water it twice a week.
As predicted, I spent this morning revising the first 2000 words of the short story in progress rather than writing the ending. I like the story much better now than I did when I was revising it a few months ago. I’d gotten really tired of it, and other projects came along that made me push it aside. I’m working from the notes provided by a very helpful editor who saw potential in the original version of the story and took the time to offer me his thoughts about how to improve it in his rejection letter. I haven’t taken all of his suggestions–he didn’t expect me to–but I have taken the overall gist of his message to heart, even though he’ll probably never see the story again. I think it will come in at about 3000 words total, and I have a sketchy outline of the final thousand words, but it’s going to take some work to get them into as good a shape as the rest of the story.
I’ve been assigned to write 1000 words about a 1000-page novel that I haven’t yet read. By August 9th. Oh, my. I haven’t even received the book yet, though I hope to by the end of the week. Looks like my plans to re-tackle my own novel might just have gotten pushed back by a couple of weeks.
I found a really good airfare to Atlanta for mid-November, so I’ll be attending Stephen King’s signing event at the Barnes & Noble there on Friday the 13th. How apropos.
I liked how Raising the Bar played out this week. The defendant was clearly as guilty as they come, but he was quick-witted enough to come up with marginally plausible explanations that might have played well to a jury. He tried his best, I’ll grant him that. If it had been Boston Legal, the jury might have acquitted him, but on this show they didn’t. Rightfully so. He got the best public defense he might have expected, and the system worked, even though his lawyer was probably disappointed not to win. The DA is still acting goofy, complimenting his lawyers on their successes. It’s so unlike him. And even if I were as altruistic as the trust-fund lawyer, I probably would have kept at least half a million aside for myself.
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About
Bev Vincent is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated companion to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award.
His short fiction has appeared in places like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, From the Borderlands and The Blue Religion. He is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine and a member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community. He also writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews.
