My Cardboard Balcony

So. Back in 2012 and 2014, I won at National Novel Writing Month. And what I mean by that is that I was able to write 50,000 words each time, though one of the novels was completed while the other remains unfinished. There have been a lot of reasons why I have waffled on doing NaNoWriMo this year. The reason why I didn't do NaNoWriMo last year, by contrast, was obvious: I was working two jobs and doing my student observation and teaching credential classes. There just wasn't enough time in the day to write more than just a OneWord or a poem or a short story here and there. Don't get me wrong: I'm still very busy with work, though I'm not doing as many things as last year. But let's just break down the list of why I haven't exactly been working on any long writing projects, let alone novels, shall we? - Too many ideas. Over the year, I've brainstormed a lot of ideas for novels. I have done nothing with any of them. And it's still going to be a hug...

We needed a drummer for our band, and I made the mistake of informing my father of that fact while we were sitting at the kitchen table, eating cold scrambled eggs and drinking really bad coffee. I saw his eyes light up beneath his jungle-like eyebrows, and instantly I expected the worst. "Well," he mused, "he hasn't performed in a while, but there is Larry." "Larry?" I blinked. "Your buddy with only a thumb on one hand?"