I spent the last three weeks or so getting another book proposal finished and in the mail. It’s an illustrated journal, a spin-off of Pen on Fire. After Pen on Fire was published in late ’04, I began receiving emails from readers who wondered if a journal was in the works. No, I’d say. And then more letters arrived and I started thinking, Hmm…..Maybe there should be.

So I teamed up with Andy Mitchell, a longtime student and illustrator (www.ajmitchellart.com), and put together a proposal. Of course it took longer than I would have liked. Doesn’t everything?

But I got it into the mail last week and Delivery Confirmation confirms that the proposal was delivered.

It’s a longshot. (Everything’s a longshot, when it comes to publishing.) So we’re waiting. Crossing fingers and waiting.

And tomorrow I will return to Starletta’s Kitchen. In the hours before my son wakes up, that is. (I let him stay up late so he’ll sleep in and I can use those early morning hours for writing.)

I feel so far away from the book now, having been away from it since June.

Have y’all read Mosley’s This Year You Write Your Novel? I love that book. I should read it again.

How’re your projects progressing? Do things slow down for you in the summer?

Every so often you receive an email from someone who was affected by your writing, and it serves to remind you of why you do what you do. Emails like the one below are one of the perks of slogging through and seeing your work get published. It brought tears to my eyes.

“After our correspondence last week I clicked over to your blog and finally (finally!) decided to read Pen on Fire. I’ve been resisting for a few years now, sort of like how you should go to the doctor and solve your health issue, but knowing that when you bite the bullet and do it you’ll have to make lifestyle changes that you’re not quite willing to make yet? Yep, that’s why I didn’t read it for a long time, but finally I was ready and I just could not put it down. Every chapter touched on something important that either reassured me or taught me something new. You’re a terrific teacher and a talented, honest writer, and I appreciate it so much. Good luck with your novel.” – Gretchen Roberts, www.smartsimplewoman.com

Nice, huh?

Emails can go either way, of course. You can receive something that can dent your day, too.

Any recent emails in your life that simply made you glad?

Susan’s comment on my last post got me thinking.

Every so often you still hear the cliche: Those who can’t, teach.

Not true.

I know so many accomplished writers who teach not because they need the money but because they enjoy teaching or they feel teaching allows them to give something back.

Sure, teaching can be a drag. But after an all-day class like the one I taught today at UC-Irvine, I remember how much fun teaching can be. I have such respect for my students who could have been doing so many other things on this beautiful summer day but they chose to be sitting under florescent lights progressing their writing. There was gobs of talent in the classroom today, so much so that I felt invigorated.

This goes for all of my students. I’m lucky I get to help them along their path.

We’re in the desert for our annual end-of-school vacation. Yesterday, as we left the Blue Coyote in Palm Springs, the car’s thermostat said 120 degrees. Or was it 122? I can’t remember; I was delerious.

Actually, it’s not that bad. It’s balmy at night in the pool.

Here are Brian’s glasses. Well, his old glasses. Because the sun and the heat cracked them like marbles dropped in a kettle of boiling water.

My first summer vacation book: Sideways by Rex Pickett. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Laugh out loud funny and a tearjerker at the end. Enjoyed the movie and have been curious about how the book was. Some of the writing wasn’t great but overall I loved it. A guy’s book. Very enjoyable. Anyone else read it?

What are you reading and recommend?

Today, Reuters has an interview with Amy Tan.

At the end of the interview, she says, “I never talk about what a new book is about as it will leave me. There is a story in Chinese where a man goes to a magical place and is overwhelmed by the beauty and the peace. He has to leave and they tell him that if he tells anyone where this place is he will never find it again. That is the metaphor for writing. You are in a secret place and discovering it but once you tell people it is gone.”

I write about this very thing in Pen on Fire, how talking about a work can cause it to evaporate. I used to talk about my works-in-progress so very much. Dangerous stuff.

Hence, shhhhhh……..

Real quick…..

Have you donated to Darfur yet? I just did. I’ve been meaning to, but you know how it goes.

So my class just ended, Trav is at a friend’s, Bry is at a gig, and I turned on the TV–wishfully hoping for Angels baseball snippets? Instead, my attention is captured by images of a refugee camp accompanied by a Tony Bennett soundtrack and then Tony comes on and urges the viewer–me!–to donate to the cause, and I got right up and marched to the laptop and did it. TV rarely moves me to do a thing. I was moved.

Only $100, but it’s something.

It’s serious over there. I can’t even imagine.