Privacy? A little joke, since this is out for everyone to see!
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September 14, 2007: This is NOT my blog. This soooo pre-dates blogging. I was keeping a journal of my painful experiences trying to finish my novel. I decided to post some of it on my website in case I never finished it (the novel.) Now I find that when people Google me, this is the first thing that turns up. What a trip! This page is older than dirt, so I updated it. But, it begs the question, why are we blogging anyway -- putting our personal thoughts and information on the web for all to see? I think I should revise all this stuff so it's totally anonymous. I just want to rant anonymously. Hence, Crypto-cranium. aka Hidden Head.
But since you're here, I would like to update some of the facts below. I'm editing AKS again and determined to publish in 2008. The poker journal (refuse to release the name here) is over 100K words now (and so is AKS!) But, I hope AKS will be exactly 82,000 words on publication for phildickian reasons. Finally, there's a lot of drivel below, so Move ON! Try the blogs... only someone totally insane would post the stuff below May 27, 2006: Spring of 2005: I didn't post this here before, although there are posts in the Zen Blog, but Angela and Tom died on the same day -- New year's Day 2005. Two friends gone. Angela apparently took her own life, hard as that is to say, and Tom Manship died doing his favorite thing -- sky diving. He was a professional with over 2500 jumps. It's kind of like going "all in" in hold'em -- it's either a successful rush, or you're out. Well, they've joined Phil in the Great Beyond. With so much help on "the other side" you'd think I could whip this story into shape. hmmmm. Whatcha all doin' over there? Nov 14, 2004: Writing Goals for 2005: Blog! it's so much easier than creating html by hand as I write. Continue with the poker journal (I refuse to say the name here, but it's GREAT!) and I'm going to collaborate with a group to write a biography of former Albuquerque Mayor Harry Kinney. Dec 30, 2003: June, 2003: I understand people are reading this. I realize that if you put your journal on-line, you're; 1) a FOOL or <2) having a dissociative fugue. Apparently I qualify for both. I put this on-line to document the writing efforts - the novels. Then I got carried away "in love" and put up a lot of personal pics and stuff. I've taken them OFF now. The rest of this will deal with my various writing.August 25, 2002: (intentionally left blank.) I deleted all the old BS about being engaged - what a CROCK that was!May 20, 2001: As this on-line journal grows, the links about writing my book -- "A Kindred Spirit" move further and further down. I should probably change the format so each date is a link, or better yet, use the web log technology to create this. But, for now it is what it is. So, if you're looking for info about my book, just scroll down OR use this link to see the proposed LAYOUT of AKS. Essays about the writing are down there somewhere. I've been writing other essays -- they're linked on this page also. And, for Father's Day I wrote one called "A Drop of Cream" for Pa. Inspired by a story he once told me. May 13, 2001: It's Mothers Day and I just became a new mom. Isadora found me at a grocery store, of all places. Izzy is just 6 weeks old and believe me Isadora is adorable! She's a Blue Heeler mix. She's a handful! I guess it was time to accept a new life force -- in more ways than one. May 11, 2001: The first full moon of Taurus, May, is considered the Wesak -- a very special, sacred time for Buddhists. They believe it is a time when we can realize our true Buddha nature and a time when the historic Buddha is in contact with the physical realm. The Wesak Festival was celebrated May 8 this year. I did my Tai Chi Chih in the reflective light of that beautiful, auspicious full moon. Finally, I was inspired to write my article -- Embracing the Moon . Enjoy!! March 2, 2001: It's Phil's Rebirth Day! He merged with VALIS on this day in 1982 -- 19 years ago. This year, I understand the documentary "The Gospel According to Philip K Dick" was released in selected theaters. My novel could be the companion piece to this, since it also deals with Phil's afterlife. The film is getting bad reviews, but at least they finished and released it... something that looms in the future for me. Hard as I try, I'm not making the progress I want. I've written SEVERAL essays about this problem and posted some of them here on the site. I can only hope that my book will be done by this time next year in honor of the 20th Anniversary of Phil's Rebirth. Wondering what the hell I'm talking about? Read on. Eventually, it might make sense. ------ February 10, 2001: My friend Tom just left. His visits are so good for me. He makes me laugh and always reminds me not to take things so seriously. A man with true Buddha nature , Tom practices and lives a calm, serene life. (of course, HE is retired now and doesn't have to face work-day stress.) Honestly, he was balanced and centered even when serving in the military, so it's no excuse for me. Anyway, after all the trouble I've had trying to reduce the concept of my novel to one sentence, he did it perfectly; It's about a young journalist's psychic relationship with a dead science fiction author. Isn't that simple and elegant -- just like the Tao or T'ai Chi! So, finally, here is a one page Synopsis of my book "A Kindred Spirit."
February 3, 2001: Today is my Mom's birthday. Since she's no longer in this realm, it's now the anniversary of her birth. (She died in 1979 -- she was born in 1917 on this day.) Anyway, I was inspired to write something called "The Door is Open" . It's also posted at the end under my Cosmic Consciousness Section.And, I've revised the Prologue (again.) I'm going through the first draft of my novel, chapter by chapter. You know, revision work. In the first draft I used a technique called "More Here." When you get stuck, you don't stop writing. You just type (more here) and keep moving. That's the secret to getting from start to finish instead of stalling out and endlessly rewriting your first chapter. January 1, 2001: WELCOME TO THE NEW MILLENNIUM!I changed the on-line journal format. You know, anything to actually keep from working on the book! What book? You'll see. Just keep reading and clicking and hopefully it will all make sense. Nov 26, 2000: Today I decided to put some of my writing on-line. Worrying, as I do, that I may NEVER finish the actual novel, then I'll at least have a record of my ramblings and rationalizations for all to see.I just spent several hours going through my hand written journals and realize I can't possibly enter all that here or I'll go completely insane doing it. In fact, as I sit here creating this page I have extreme GUILT that I'm not working on the novel now. Why should I waste the last few precious hours of this long Thanksgiving weekend goofing off with this project, instead of actually writing??? Well, now we're at the heart of this issue -- if I COULD finish the book I would! If I stop doing this I can guarantee you that I would either;
Put down the book and take a nap. Wake up and play a video game. Get mad (cause I can't win), punch off the Playstation and log on to the WEB (an incredible time waster. After all look what YOU'RE doing now -- reading my ramblings!!) But, I believe this will help all of us -- me, anyone trying to write and anyone who wants to A Kindred SpiritBy e jamelle morgan I've decided to put a few sections of the book on-line now. For a more orderly look at the contents and layout of the book -- plus sections I've posted -- click here on AKS Layout .But, this is my on-line journal and it's also about the writing process. OK, OK, What book am I talking about? What's it about? Why did I decide to write a novel in the first place? This is probably the best place to start... The actual Introduction to A KINDRED SPIRIT -- the book.
Oh, yeah... you don't even know about Phil or Valis, much less "A Kindred Spirit". Philip K Dick , a sci-fi author. That's essential. You can learn about him at a link to his work, or Reversing the Flow of Time (this is the sequence of events involved in writing the book.) For a more elaborate discussion of how the book came about, here's something I wrote one night -- a couple of years ago -- when I was approaching a critical milestone. The THREE year anniversary of when I first started writing the novel. The Birth of A Kindred Spirit (also called "the Spark" or "In Search of Valis") Still here? Well, here's how I got...
Day by day Phil was gaining in popularity and I was losing ground. Steven Speilberg was planning to make a movie of one of Philip K Dick's short stories. I felt tremendous pressure to get my book finished. So much time was passing that all my research and familiarity with Phil's story was fading. I was still writing in the journal -- my Morning Pages -- a few short stories and poems and an occasional dissertation like these. I just wasn’t working on the book. I changed jobs, changed computers, bought and sold lots of shares of stock (a lucrative but major distraction to my writing) but hadn’t made any real progress on the novel. I dreaded the approach of September 9, 1999 (9-9-99) with the big red circle on my calendar. It marked three years of work on the still unfinished novel. Snip... More Thoughts on Writing a Novel
February 19, 2000: Guess What... Paul Williams came through! He called me late this afternoon. I'm going -- really going to California and HE is going to be my personal, private tour guide of several of the places Phil lived!!! We're even going to Fullerton Library where Phil's papers are kept. Paul, in his capacity as Philip K Dick's literary executor, assisted with the creation of the official PKD library. There's a lot of this diary-type drivel. If you really must read it, then you'll need to go to the Journal EntriesMy Cosmic Consciousness Zone -- In addition to "A Kindred Spirit", I produced a booklet in 1991 called "Beyond the GodForce." It's just about "out of print" as I'm down to less than ten copies. I need to reprint it, since I'm not ready to put it on-line. But here's some other writing on Higher Consciousness; So, the book is "in progress." (heavy sigh) And, the writing continues! By creating this on-line journal and putting my intention here for all the world to see, I am literally putting myself "on line" -- forcing the issue. What is stopping me? I know enough about the process of writing a novel to write a book on that. I know what I SHOULD do -- write every day, even if I don't feel inspired. Sometimes when you least expect it, something really good manifests. (boy, isn't that true of life in general!) And, through all this writing I continue to gain insight. Coming next, a story about Tai Chi. (That one's done and next up is the essay for Pa.) I promise to update this journal periodically, and continue working on the book. How can I give up after investing so much sweat equity into it? Remember, this is just one woman's humble attempt to record the agony and ecstasy of writing. |
HELP!