Today is another sad day in the writing world. First, Ray Bradbury, now Nora Ephron. Seems god needs some new material up there and decided to get some new writers to liven things up.

Nora Ephron's writing defined most of my younger years. Films like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail bring back memories of what it was like being young and idealistic. Shame she is gone.

While it is sad, and many will mourn, what she left for me and people like me is the love for the written word. Her words, smart and humorous, made me the writer I am today. One day I would love to be the kind of writer she was.

That is the great thing about writing. When it is your turn, your time to kick it in the clouds, leaving behind your words is your legacy. Memories fade, families splinter, and time eventually takes all the physical remains of what you left, but the words on a page, in a film, or on a blog somewhere in cyberspace are etched, like a long lost friend waiting to find you again.

In the words of Nora Ephron:

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." (Nora Ephron to Wellesley's c/o 1996)

picture from CNN.com

Today was a decent day. Not a "wow, you made such an impact on the youth of America" kind of day, but decent enough. I did want to share an old school video that one of my students shared with me. I laughed. It was a big deal because I usually find that the things 14 year olds show me while they swear it's so funny are usually plain old dumb. But this...was kind of funny.

Well, anyway, that is what is in the mind of our 14 year olds...be warned.

Ok...well sleep is calling. Now I get why writers are so tired all the time. And why they need their own offices. And why they are mostly alone. I hear ya, Sylvia Plath, I hear ya.

Launching...Hooray!

So, I did it. I started a blog. I feel like an official writer now. I am all...writerly and stuff. Cool. Now I too can invade your Google search as you look for things like puppies and cupcakes, except you will find this. Hopefully it gives you a laugh. Maybe you'll gain some new knowledge. Maybe you will just click the back button. Who knows? It is all a great experimental and beautiful thing.

So, on to what matters to me most right now. My book. Ahem...my manuscript (I say in a snarky I am a real writer and that is what real writers call it tone) So, instead of revising Ch 2 (which is what I should be doing since I am typing for goodness sake) I am creating this blog. Don't really know why, except that I am scared as hell to start messing around with the perfection of my draft. Cough cough. See what I did there? I really have no belief my manuscript is perfect, so why am I not doing it? I am not sure. I think I fear that when I start changing one part, it is totally going to mess with the other parts. Then I am in for some big time revising.

And here I am worrying about the query...all this time. Pish posh.

I guess what I learned is that writing the @#%& query has made me focus more on a) the plot and conflicts of my book and b) forced me to focus on what might be some weaknesses or at least I am flushing out my important ideas and c) made me realize I need to go back and revise. Sigh. I thought I was done. Nope. Not yet. Which makes me happy as pie that my first 5 queries that were craptastic was just that...5 and no more. Had I sent them all out...I would be writing a new book right now. (which incidentally and coincidentally I am) But I digress...those queries were so fantastically horrible, that I am only now realizing it.

Thank god for sites like Agent Query Connect and Query Tracker. They set me straight quick-like. Yay them. If you are a serious writer and want to get your feet wet and see what the whole writing world is about...start there. Wow. I will never look at a published book in the same way. Ever.

It is astounding that anything gets published these days.

Ok...that is good for a launch. Gotta go. Ch 2 awaits. Again. But this time, it is gonna be funny as hell. Maniacal laugh...maniacal laugh.