Delinquent!

I've been quite delinquent on blog entries lately. Jeesh. Well, I've been reading a lot, writing less, which is a trend I need to change (I want to read AND write a lot, but I'm not sure time stretches that way...). I just finished "Marley and Me", and am currently reading Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild".

I did begin to jot down some fragments for a future memoir - about this past year in Iraq and about my father's time in the Marine Corps, too - but I realize I need to do some research to talk about Daddy. I have a short written account of his experience in the battle of Ban Lan II - from a letter he wrote to a friend - and my vague memories of the stories he told me as a child, but that's hardly enough to write from. Luckily I am sure the Alfred Grey library in Quantico will have more background for me on Viet Nam in general and Ban Lan in particular (one time when Google failed me), and Daddy has a twin brother I can bug for stories as well.

There are so many little things to write about from this year, but I don't see how it will really string into a coherent narative. That's all right; SHARDS actually began as a short story and a couple of scenes I wrote, all based around my dad's death. It seems that for me, at least, a novel needs some time to develop. It's like a compost heap - lots of random crap thrown together, and the next thing you know, you have great fertilizer for the real work!

Well, now you know that, while I have snappy dialogue and strong characterization, my analogies suck. :p