New Beginnings

I started a new book today. Why are beginnings so hard? Truth is, you should just plunge in. Anywhere. Just vomit up whatever you can and not worry about how it looks or how it sounds. You can always fix it in post.

But saying that and doing it is so hard. Taking that first step. Committing yourself. That’s when I wish I was a salesgirl at Macy’s. A job that requires no emotional commitment and no creative energy. And no deadlines. No editors to impress, no readers to disappoint.

That’s the crux of it, now that I think about it. The knowledge that whatever you do, you’ll be judged. Getting that knowledge out of your head, or at least sublimating it is vital to taking that first step. And the second.

Some people are better at it than others. I always admire those who have confidence in their own abilities. Rosie O’Donnell once told a story about Barbara Streisand that I’ll always remember. Streisand isn’t a typical beauty. Her voice, though powerful, has it’s issues. And let’s face it, she’s something of a character. So when she started out, she got a lot of rejections. So Rosie asked her how she managed to keep going when over and over people told her she wouldn’t make it. Streisand said she simply didn’t believe them.


Don’t you wish Ms. Barbra could bottle that confidence and sell it? I’d buy a caseload. Then before I start a new book, I'd drink it all up.

It's All About Me

I intend this to be a place where I can rant or rave about my various complaints and obsessions. Expect long-winded tomes on Farscape, why Ben Browder isn’t a household name, people who leave their shopping carts stranded in the parking lot, and text messaging. And maybe, now and again, I’ll touch on less important stuff, like writing.

I want to start off by saying I’m composing this in St. Louis, where I’m visiting my daughter, who is in grad school. I’m sitting in her beat up leather chair, listening to Pandora radio. Do you know about Pandora? It’s the coolest idea. It’s an internet radio station that allows you to create your own “stations” by selecting the type of music or artist you like. My stations range from Vivaldi (what I’m hearing now as I click away) to Amy Winehouse (great for Freecell or Mah Jong Solitaire) with some Nightnoise in between. They also have a great instrumental folk station already put together. If you like Leo Kotke you’ll like this.

I listen to Pandora when I’m writing. Usually because I’m in Panera’s (hmm, Panera’s, Pandora’s. Is there something in that alliteration?) and some goofball’s making sales calls on his cell phone at the top of his lungs (Deep, booming voice: “I can have the A-22s there by tomorrow. The 24s by the day after.” What the hell is an A- 22 and why should I care? Take it outside, buddy). Pandora drowns it all out. And as long as there are no lyrics the music doesn’t interfere with my words.

I never used to listen to music when I wrote. Then again, I used to write at home, in my office. My teeny tiny, very small, two-people-can’t-fit-inside-at-the-same-time office. Then something happened to my back and I couldn’t sit in the fancy chair I’d spent a small fortune on and my office started to seem cramped and closed off (maybe it was all the junk scattered around?) and suddenly I couldn’t write at all.

Weird, huh?

Panera’s saved me, and Pandora’s saved Panera’s. So, for my first blog, I’m passing the word to you. Pandora.com.

(Oh, and by the by, speaking of passing the word, pass the word on this new addition to my site.)

So...do you write? Do you listen to music when you do? Do you listen to music when you don't? If you could set up your own private radio station, what would be on it?