Creative pursuits

      I'm disappointed that more people didn't comment on Joshua's poem. I like to encourage young people in creative pursuits. Thank you, Gloria and ER, for your comments. I passed your comments on to him. He was pleased.
      Speaking of creative pursuits, I've been working on Darkness, Oklahoma. I've been reading and editing what I have as well as plotting out more scenes. The book is currently at little over 51,000 words. I like it to come in at 100,000. That seems to be a common requested length for books these days. I should begin adding more words to it next week, if my editing goes as planned.
      This Friday night and Saturday during the day, little Mikey is going to come and visit! I'm excited about seeing him. It's been nearly two months, and I have missed him terribly. Naturally the Easter Bunny is going to come early here, and I have a feeling that the Bunny is going to bring lots of loot.
      Woohoo! Carolyn Hart's latest book Dead Days of Summer arrived today. But I won't be able to read it until after Mikey leaves Saturday night. I'll post a review. I'm looking forward to reading it. Carolyn is one of the best cozy mystery writers around. Period. This is another entry into her Death On Demand series. You need to get started reading them. If you like mysteries, you'll love what she does with them.
      I've been reading James Clemens' Wi'tch series. Clemens is the pen name for James Rollins. Or maybe vice versa. I don't know. I always wonder why authors end up using pen names. As Rollins, he writes thriller-suspense, along the line of Cussler. As Clemens, he writes fantasy. I'm a big fan of his work as Rollins, not so much so as Clemens. As Rollins, he delivers an exciting adventure with plenty of explosions, secret gadgets, beautiful and deadly spies, and usually a huge payoff at the end. As Clemens, he writes well, but so far his Wi'tch series hasn't shown me anything that I haven't read in a hundred other books. Don't get me wrong. He's an excellent writer, and the Wi'tch series isn't bad. It's just not as inventive as I'd expect from someone that I enjoy as much as I do when he's writing as Rollins. Did that sentence make sense?
      Anyway, should I ever be published, I hope that I'm not forced into using a pen name. I understand that people who write in two genres often are. And since I want to write fantasy, mystery and humor, it's a possibility. Paperback Writer writes under five different names. (PW is an interesting case. She's had 32 novels published in five genres since her professional debut in 2000. Her output is why a lot of people think she's an alien or a sentient computer. I think she must type like a hurricane. Probably the keys on her computer melt, and people rush in and use a fire extinguisher on her fingers. And the muscles in her hands must be strong enough to crush golf balls -- should crushing them be something she'd like to do.)
      I don't want to use a pen name because I want to claim all my little darlings. Misshapen and strange as they may be, they're mine. This reminds me of a story that involves my mother and genealogy. My mother was into genealogy and quite good at it. When she began researching my family, one of my aunts told her, "You shouldn't do that. You might find all sorts of the wrong type of people in the woodpile." My mother replied, "If I find them, whatever they are, they're ours. And I'm going to claim them." My aunt took herself off in a huff, but unfortunately she came back.
      My mother was a funny person. I get my sense of humor from her as well as my creative impulses. (I get my sense of timing from my dad.) My mom was clever, observant, quick-witted and intelligent. I've always regretted that being poor kept her and my dad from being able to go college. I think they both would have done amazing well. I get asked sometimes where my writing skill comes from, and I can tell them that my mother gave it to me. She didn't write much herself -- she was too busy working trying to keep her family fed, clothed and in school -- but what she did showed a sly wit. She knew how to read people better than anyone I've ever known. And she encouraged my writing. Admittedly, she had definite ideas about what I should write about, but she had an unerring sense of what was funny and/or interesting and what wasn't. Among many things, I miss that intelligent and to-the-point feedback that she provided.
      I'm not sure what she would think of Darkness, Oklahoma. I suspect she would correct some plot points, point out errors in the structure, and tell me to write it better. And I'm trying, Mama, I'm trying.