"Onward and upward," said the Cork.

Writing ain't easy. Every January starts off the same way--slow, as in molasses.  I spend several days before the end of the year crafting well thought out daily, weekly and monthly goals. Then nada. My synapses do not fire. Ideas dry up. My head is corked.
A lot of it is due to work being mad crazy for the last six weeks of the year. I get out of my writing routine. Get out of my idea casting routine. Lose my will to write. But that's all whiny excuses in the long run.  I need to stick to the axiom of putting the most important things first in my day.  Give my strongest energy to writing in the morning. Yeah.
So I bought this book for writing practice.

http://nowwrite.net/screenwriting/
Basketball players practice. Saxophone players practice. Why shouldn't I? I don't screen write but the writing exercises are good for developing stories and characters.  "Onward and upward," said the Cork.

PS: Go read Vicki Hendricks new blog on writing. http://vickihendrickscrime-noir.blogspot.com/

Reading:
   http://www.gregrucka.com/wp/the-last-run-2010/
Listening:

Vertigo Crime Gave Me The Good Heebies.

Vertigo Crime from DC gave me the highest entertainment per dollar spent in 2010. Hands down the coolest and creepiest books I read last year.  Writers such as Jason Starr,Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Peter Milligan and more.  A few of the artists were Chris Samnee,Victor Santos, Antonio Fuso and James Romberger.  I have not heard if they are continuing the line but I’m hoping they keep assaulting my sensibilities with excellent crime fiction authors and stellar noir artists. Crime and comics are my literary Reeses Cup.

http://www.dccomics.com/vertigo/

WRITING GOALS FOR 2011

My dayjob ran me ragged for two weeks. I believe Santa outsources his deliveries to us. But the busy, bad times are WAY back there. I've been noodling around with my goals for the upcoming year. Last years goals were ephemeral so this year specificity is needed.

2011 WRITING GOALS

DAILY

Write one hour minimum every morning.

Spend one hour minimum every night on writing related work-editing, rewriting, market search, submission tracking/issues, organization, etc…

WEEKLY

Track word counts and evaluate writing progress.

Update social media. Tweak when necessary.

MONTHLY

Every three weeks have a rough draft done and have a finished draft by the fourth week.

Have finished stories in continuous submission rotation.

YEARLY

Three short stories published in paying markets.

Akron Zips are number one!

Enjoy this Cathi.  The Akron Zips are the best college soccer team in the nation. They beat the University of Louisville today. Barely. And really who cares about a communist sport like soccer. Right? So huzzah for now Akron. Your time will come.

FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2010

In no particular order.

Victor Gischler has written the hard-boiled slacker novel.   And what is the worst thing you can do to a slacker? Never give him time to slack.  Part-time, or should we say half-ass, deputy Toby Sawyer gets plopped down into the middle of the worst night of his young life in an isolated Oklahoma town.  Victor also writes comics or as he calls them “funnybooks”.

http://www.victorgischler.blogspot.com/

Ian Tregellis wrote of British warlocks versus Nazi supermen. Who wouldn't love that?  Set in the World War 2, Tregellis spins a complex and well-paced story. There are two more books in this series. Next up the Cold War.

http://www.iantregillis.com/

Paul Tremblay plugs his narcoleptic detective, Mark Genevich, into a place wrought with peril-companionship.  He sucks at his job, his mom slash landlord is at his heels and he's lonely.  Enter his new BFF or is that Best Enemy Forever. 
http://www.paulgtremblay.com/paulgtremblay/



Walter Mosley has hung up the Easy Rawlin crime tales for now but that doesn't mean he's given up on the iconic leading man.  Leonid McGill may not stand out in a crowd but you won't be able to forget this powerful but conflicted husband, father, boyfriend and finally man. Mosley does an outstanding job writing about acts that may not be legal but sure are moral.
http://www.waltermosley.com/books/


Steve Hamilton departs from his detective series to write a stand alone crime novel about a young Boxman or safe cracker.  A childhood tragedy has led Michael to not utter a word for 10 years. That's right the 1st POV character is mute. And it works seamlessly. Almost as seamless as Michaels ability to open locks of all kinds. This special ability comes to the attention of some ne'er do wells. This interferes with Michael's pursuit of the only lock he wants to open-the lock to a girl's heart.  Good stuff, yo.

I could go on forever but I'll leave my favorite books at a reasonable five for now.  Next up will be my favorite comic book writers of 2010.

TICK TOCK, YOU DON'T STOP.

One hectic day at work, my boss said to me. "Don't build me the watch, just tell me the time." And he was right. He didn't need all the facts and steps that lead to my problem, he just needed the problem.  I try to apply this approach to my writing. It's my version of "Show, Don't Tell".  Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I leave too much off the page that it isn't clear to my reader what the hell I'm talking about. 

I remember reading some epic space opera when I was too young to attempt such a thunderous tome. Did I grasp everything they were talking about? No, I did not. But I knew that when the characters bought a drink with a 'cruple' that was a unit of money to them.  I didn't need a footnote or back info on the creation of the monetary system for this universe. You bought things with a 'cruple'.

'nuff said.  I'm putting together a Top Ten Books I Read In 2010 list. Not necessarily all published in 2010, just the ones I read.  I might try other Top Ten categories such as music and comics. Only saw enough movies for a Top Five list and don't get me talking about television because I can only think of 3 to 4 shows worth mentioning.

I'm reading Lori Armstrong's new book "No Mercy" right now. I met the author briefly at the KY Bookfair( and yes we read books in Kentucky). She told me she writes "a tough as nails character".  Mercy Gunderson does indeed seem tough as a keg of nails. Check out her book.
http://www.loriarmstrong.com/

Paul Pope- A Bizarre Anomaly

Paul Pope is a comic book artist with the combined flavors of European style and manga tradition. His comics are hard-boiled sci-fi crime tales smoothly inked over the page.  The panels are well designed, the characters are fashionable outsiders but throughout this mythic pop imagery, the world is grounded in grit and neon shadows.

 I found Pope through his dystopian future Batman Year 100 graphic novel.  In the back of the book are early design sketches for his Batman.  Pope focused on the boots Batman would wear-military combat boots with steel toes used for jumping out of airplanes.  A pet peeve of Pope is the way footwear and clothing is handled by artists. He wants to see the seams, the wrinkles, the sweat and dirt. And he treats Batman the same way. He sweats, he bleeds and he eats.  Doesn't sound exciting?  Well, read it and see.
http://pulphope.blogspot.com/