Asking for a very tired friend...

 What is the metric for recovery time from a vacation? Two days for every day gone maybe??? 

So This is Happening...

Coming in September. Date tbd (waiting for my author proof).  If you are the "like on Facebook" kind of person, would you please like Elaina's page. 

A discontented priest, searching for change.

A high-end call girl looking for a way out.

What could go wrong?

A Happy Place

I am in a 98 year old cottage in Nowhere Michigan. The cottage was built in stages, with the original building erected as a two-room hunting cottage. From there, someone thought to take the main bedroom and make it two bedrooms, add a kitchen and indoor bathroom. In the 1950s--I'm not making this up--the basement was added. I should also mention, one of the basement walls is caving in, but I try not to think about it. Also, and I try not to think about this too much either, Marty Sunshine and Bonus Dad once had to seal part of the basement to keep the bats from coming back inside. The sunporch was added in the 1960s. The first of two upstairs bedrooms was added a couple years later. In the 1970s, the dining room and a bedroom above it (making two bedrooms upstairs) were added. In the 1980s, a half-bathroom was added to the upstairs. If you aren't big into the idea of a Higher Power, the construction of this house might just make you reconsider. 

Polly is with me--her first time here. She's in sensory overload, taking in the environment and the people. Of note, she hadn't really gotten to know David, Bonus Dad's son before today (he lives in Chicago) and was quite nervous. However, David has loved on her like she's a long-lost niece and taken her under his wing, promising her a fishing trip, a chance to drive the boat and all sorts of yummy foods. They've bonded over recipes and their mutual appreciation for water. Tonight she gets ribs.

As for me, I'm sitting in the sun porch, next to Bonus Dad on one side of me and the window overlooking the lake on the other. I could stay like this for the next month and be perfectly happy. 

Here are a few water pictures this trip. 

My current view

Lake Huron

Lake Michigan

Road Trip

Polly won, by the way.
She's laughing. I swear. 

Polly and I are on Day 3 of an approximate two week road trip. We rolled into Traverse City, Michigan today, with Polly belting out--in her classically trained operatic soprano voice--Air Supply. We ate lunch, played at Lake Michigan and then checked into the Great Wolf Lodge, where we are spending her 24th birthday.

Somewhere in there we played mini-golf. We got to laughing so hard, the poor girl fell. The picture is being held for ransom, as I threaten to send it to the latest Fella of Interest (Not that I have his phone number. But if he turns into something more than "of interest," I know people). 

Tomorrow we leave for the other side of Michigan where we will go love on Bonus Dad, find quilt shops and eat ice cream.  

A Name Bestowed

In a decision of 6 to 1, and in less than three minutes, a name for our writing group came to be. Our first meeting is next month. I have a list of two hundred local writers to invite, but there is another master list coming later. We are already lining up speakers and talking about conferences. 

I brought up the idea last night that we should not be the officers of this group after, say, January? Let's have a real election then and ask some of the new folks (who will presumably come) if they will serve as leaders for this writing group. My reasoning was that I hate cliques and we could be perceived as a clique if we didn't open this up. That vote was unanimous. 

The Name Game

The Name Game is going into Day 5, with back and forth "reply all" e-mails from steering committee members, all giving their two cents on subtle variations of the names and logos a member provided. 

One sane and reasonable person asked me point-blank what I thought. 

I replied privately with, "I think we are spending too much time on this. Nobody will care what we name our group, just that we have a group. Perhaps an executive decision could be made and we could move on?" 

Now I'm remembering why I hate committees.  

What's In A Name

So, the writing group is being held up by a teensy little issue. We don't have a name. And because of this, we cannot: open a bank account (we will be under the umbrella of another 501c3--The North East Texas Writer's Association), start a Facebook Page, send out invitations to our first meeting, make a web site, and the list goes on and on. 

Last week we met to iron out the details of our upcoming first meeting. We all brought in our name ideas. This time we had a new member, Penny, in our steering committee. In our name discussion, Penny suggested the "Four Corners Writing Group." As in, the "four corners" of a writer's mind. 

The other name which garnered the most interest was one I suggested (for now we will call it the Writing Writer Guild*). 

As we were discussing, I pointed out that the Four Corners is a geographic destination and potential members who live where we do might not realize this group is for them. Penny, who was becoming increasingly agitated her name suggestion was being picked apart by the person whose name suggestion was also on the table, pointed out she lived in Arizona for a few years, nobody would think that. 

Someone piped up and said I lived in Arizona at one time too. Penny demanded to know how long I lived there. 

"50 years," I replied, sorry I brought up the whole discussion to begin with.  

At this point, I said, I was sure "Four Corners" was perfectly fine and I'd be happy with whatever we picked. After all, this is a minor issue which just needs to be resolved to move on and not a hill I wish to die on. I would also like to point out right here, that this was the last time I spoke up in this meeting. 

However, my take on the geographic location had gained traction by other committee members and it was decided Four Corners should be turned into Four States Writing Group. 

And honestly The Four States Writing Group is a great name for our part of the world. The change seemed to appease our new member. 

But wait! Remember, there were two names still in discussion? Committee members began voicing their opinions, only to find out half of the group liked "Writing Writer Guild" better. Though I said nothing, Penny became pissy at me all over again.  

It was decided, a logo of both name ideas would be made and e-mailed to the members. We would then vote (essentially in secret ballot) on which name we liked best. Personally, I think this was done to appease Penny's blood pressure, because she again was losing her mind that her idea wasn't instantly loved. As far as I'm concerned, let's just pick a name and move on. 

*I promise, it is not The Writing Writer Guild