...and on some days...

And on some days the words flow freely…tumbling unabashedly one upon the other until pages and chapters are given life at an almost breakneck pace.

After a few days of not being in touch with my muse because of yet another family emergency…the preceding generation of my family always seemed invulnerable and immortal to me but, of course, they are not…I returned to my desk…to my novel of family interaction…and the words seem so anxious to get out that they often threatened to outpace my fingers on the keyboard.

Watching the end…and yes, the end is definitely in sight…come into focus…coming to grips with the fact that being true to the story means that one of my favorite characters has to die despite the fact that I dread writing that scene…feeling the words flow from my fevered psyche through my fingers and onto the screen…I am filled with bursts of excitement, trepidation, and fulfillment. And ain’t it grand.

I’ve written for the better part of 9 hours…with the dog (Autumn) and two of the cats (Bart and Mr. Gambino) taking turns being quiet company on the floor near my desk…with Emmylou Harris, Cassandra Wilson, Julieta Venegas, Nellie McKay, Elvis Costello, and Allen Toussaint serving as the inspirational soundtrack for the day…with a scant few minutes taken out to make lunch out of some leftover tuna salad from the refrigerator…and I’m done.

For now anyway (one never knows what’s going to happen after supper :-)