Sponsored by the Letter 'F'

As I sat down to right this last blog for the month, my mind was inundated with alliteration. My mind was on the month of February, and all I could think about was words that begin with the letter ‘F’. Yes, that includes the ever versatile, never dull to say F-bomb.

So, in honor of the lovely month of February, here is a list of choice F-words that will hopefully recap the month that was, as well as set the tone for the month that will be.

Finish: I mentioned last night I would most likely not be posting blogs as routinely as I did in January. The 30-Day Writing Challenge was fun, and it was indeed a challenge. It allowed me to explore topics I had never considered, as well as find some cathartic moments to help me get over issues that still remained a bit unresolved. However, now that I’ve proven to myself that I can indeed block out time to write on a daily basis, I must be fair to myself and finish writing Volume IV of Lives. The short novel series I began writing in April of 2009 has been living in limbo for some time now. Part of it has been the deliberate hiatus of the project. Part of it has been deliberate avoidance on my part. With Volume III written (albeit unreleased), the story of Cate and Max needs its finality, and this is the month to do that.

Fortify: It’s important for me to review what Lee and I were able to accomplish with our 30-Day Writing Challenge and learn from it. In my case, not only were my eyes opened to new ideas and styles, I was also able to strengthen and reinforce some of the lessons I had learned in the six years I’ve been blogging. Mood has as much to do with writing as muse. It’s amazing how fickle my attitude can be, and what begins as a great plan to sit down and write gets tossed out the window because of a small incident that upsets me. This month reminded me that although it’s great to have a goal to write, you can’t be a slave to your writing. When it’s not there, it’s not there. And if you try to force it, you’re not being true to yourself as a writer or to your audience. Sometimes, it’s okay to just shrug your shoulders and say “fuck it”.

Foresee: One thing I truly enjoyed about the 30-Day Writing Challenge was having a list of topic ideas for each day. Mapping out about what it was I wanted to write resolved half the problems I used to have in terms of writing daily. Before, I’d sit down and think about what to write and I’d be stuck with nothing. With our ‘road map’, however, I would be able to think about the topic as I sat on conference calls. I’d be able to jot notes as I waited for Natalie’s soccer practice to finish. I’d be able to use my morning constitutional as productive time. (Over share?).

So, given the fine fellowship we were able to foster following our first listing of fascinating topics (I told you I had an alliteration avalanche), her is a list of topics and ideas for the month of February. I am not putting any dates to them and I am not listing them in any particular order. This is about looking at a topic and either being able to write about it or letting it steer your imagination in a direction that allows you to write about something else.

Since February is the month of love, several of the topics have love-themed qualities to them. Also, Lee received feedback on one of her posts suggesting the next set of topics be about what ‘we’ can do together. Finally, Lee and I both explored some dark and painful topics in our writing in January. We want this to month to be positive, light-hearted, and fun. Given all that, here’s the list (again, in no particular order).

Happy writing, everyone.

• First Kiss
• First Car
• First Love
• Childhood Crush
• Favorites (Pet, Food, Restaurant, Vacation, TV Show, Actor/Actress, Athlete, Sports Team (Pro), Sports Team (College), Day of the Week, Season of the Year, Shirt, Relative, Book*, Song*, Movie*)
• Describe Yourself as a Sixteen Years Old
• Proudest Professional Moment
• Guilty Pleasures
• Neighbors / Community
• Siblings or Cousin
• Tackling a Home Improvement Projects
• Hobbies
• Causes you love/support
• Common Courtesy
• Common Sense
• Misunderstood Song Lyrics
• Your Role Model
• Mission Work (i.e. could you leave it all to go serve/help others?)
• Tolerance/Understanding (i.e. seeing an argument from the perspective of your adversary)
• One Thing in the World You’d Like to Change

If you think of something you’d like to see added to the list, please feel free to leave a comment below of visit Lee’s site and leave a comment there. Thanks!

* I know these were covered in January, but there may be someone coming across this posting for the first time.

Q's House

I had the fantastic opportunity of being on Q's House earlier this week to discuss The Lives Project, working with John Taglieri on the effort, and just writing and blogging in general. The inteview is now available via podcast on iTunes (search for Q's House) as well as other online resources. The name of the download is 219_The Projects.

I hope you take a moment to listen in, if for no other reason than to listen to Fight Together by Sci-Fried. Funny song, but only if you're a geek like me.

The Lives Project

I love movies. I love the idea of how words on a piece of paper can be transformed into bright, magical images on a screen. And speaking of transformations, I can't help but think of the movie 'Transformers' and one of my all-time favorite movie lines.

Sam Witwicky: So what was that last night? What was that?
Bumblebee: [pointing skywards] "Message from Starfleet, Captain"..."Throughout the inanimate vastness of space"..."And angels will rain down like visitors from Heaven! Hallelujah!"
Mikaela: Visitors from heaven... so you're, like, an alien?
[Bumblebee points a finger at her and nods, and converts into a Camaro]
Bumblebee: "Any more questions you want to ask?"
Sam Witwicky: He wants us to get in the car.
Mikaela: [laughing nervously] And go where?
Sam Witwicky: Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?

And there it is; one of the most fundamental and commonly occurring themes in all our lives. Taking a chance, placing a bet, going out on a limb. Life is about making the most of the opportunities thrown your way and grabbing the proverbial bull by its horns.

Eight weeks ago, I was asked by my friend John Taglieri

if I'd be interested in working with him on a project. He had just finished recording six new songs for his soon-to-be released EP called 'Lives'. Upon listening to the songs again, he realized all six tracks together told a story. His idea was to expand the story told in the lyrics of the songs into a book, with each chapter in the book correlating to each track on the CD.

John was up front with me regarding the level of effort required should I be interested. In order to meet the scheduled release date for his CD, I'd have to work overtime with the writing and have everything ready to go to the publisher by the end of April. I thought about it and everything else I had going on at the time. I'm getting married in June, Lee and I are planning a big party to celebrate our marriage in July, and there's this little thing about submitting a bid to buy a house. As exciting as the project John was describing sounded, I just wasn't sure I wanted to commit to such an effort. After all, it wasn't just one book. JT's plan is for a four-volume series spanning the next eighteen months.

Then I thought about that line from 'Transformers'. "Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?" Eighteen months from now, I didn't want to look back and wonder what might have been had I said yes to John and his offer.

I sit here now, however, knowing that my book, Volume I of The Lives Project, has been submitted to our publisher. I should have a proof copy of the book in about five days and it will be available for purchase beginning June 2. Even though there were long nights writing and re-writing the story, and even longer nights editing the whole thing, it's still somewhat surreal that in about a month I will be able to go to Amazon.com and see my name listed in their catalog of authors. How many people you know can say they have their own ISBN?

I hope you take a minute to check out The Lives Project and consider buying a copy (or two) of both the book and the CD. I also want to thank all of you who have supported my writing efforts all these years. I like to think there's a little bit of everyone's feedback and positive reinforcement in each of the eighty-four pages of the book. Your continued support and encouragement means the world to me. Thanks again.