Wildly Uneventful Period Ends

I haven’t posted in a while.  Not because I don’t care about democracy or genocide or climate or race or sexuality or the position of our national elbows. I do. And so does everyone else.  I don’t feel like adding my voice to the clamor.

But I’m the only one with much to say about my own writing journey. Which has been wildly uneventful (is that a phrase?) for the last few weeks. Recently I came up against an interesting speculation, so I’ll talk about that.

Nothing about the Camp FUNdament book that Melanie and I are writing. I should contact Erin to find out its status. If you can divide authors into over-worriers and under-worriers, (like plotters and pantsers) I know where I’d hang my hat - if I wore one.

My bit of news involves a project I undertook for a publishing house that specializes in topical inspirational books.  You know the kind of thing. If you are interested in dealing with guilt, facing adversity, achieving success, or making it in high heels, you may have read one.

The company asked me to improve a manuscript by one of their authors, a hot-shot Texas litigator named Tony.  They wanted more than a substantive edit, less than a ghost write. I don’t read inspirational books (unless you count Frog and Toad) but I like to try new things and claim to know the difference between readable prose and sludge, so I said yes. Tony’s manuscript hit my Inbox a minute later.

War Stories. Not a bad title for legal reminiscences. I scooted through it and went, ‘Hmmm.’  The writing was clunky, but I didn’t mind. I wasn’t expecting John Grisham. My hmm came from Tony’s politics.  He’s a hard-core Texas Republican and his stories reflect his views.  I indulged in a certain amount of soul searching.  What causes do I stand for or against?  Is there a line I won’t cross?  Can I in good conscience help Tony write a better book?

The quick answer is, “Sure,” but my speculation went a little broader. I’ll have more to say on that soon.