Ghoulish Night

My stylist will be wearing this fashionable vampire costume tonight. Garrett will be a ninja...again. He saves us lots of money in the costume department. Andrew, well, he will likely be a some college party. Or studying for an exam. Or both.



Thought for Today:

“There are three rules for writing the novel.
Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

—Somerset Maugham

Rest in Peace

My electric pencil sharpener has died. I don't think my family realizes how serious a loss this is. They don't appreciate the beauty of a finely turned pencil point. Only a writer or editor could do that. I tried my trusty Target for a new one, but their selection did not match the quality I was used to. So I will head to Office Depot or a similar spot.

Touching Sharks and Other Pursuits of Happiness

As part of our mad dash to Philadelphia this weekend to see Aunt Noreen and the rest of the clan, we went to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, right over the bridge. Who knew this place existed?

I can't believe we haven't gone before. We literally closed the place. Garrett (Mr. Short Arms) made three runs at the sand sharks that they let you pet. He still says he didn't touch Jake, the younger shark, but we are pretty sure he did. The best thing was the shark tunnel in which you are surrounded by water and sharks on this one walkway. Garrett did not want to go to the haunted prison. We are still holding that against him.

More Than Halfway

Yes, we are more than halfway through the novel. As of Tuesday night, we were at 24,208 words. At 40,000 words, we must type the words The End and duplicate it for the professor and the lucky people in our noveling group.

We have also found that noveling or writing in general for large amounts of time can make you feel insane. When you figure out something about your novel or the characters in your novel, you become very excited and want to share the news--which you really can't...because novels are not about REAL PEOPLE so even if you discover that he was secretly in love with her and has been for all this time, NO ONE CARES because he is not a real person. He is an imaginary person who ONLY YOU KNOW. So go back to your room and write.