What an interesting concept ...

Word of the Day from ArcaMax:

blatherskite [BLATH-uhr-skyt] (noun) - 1. A person who babbles about inane matters. 2. Nonsense; foolish talk.
From Old Norse blathra (to chatter) + Scots dialect skate (a contemptible person).

Blather. Blathering. Blah, blah, blah ...

This is it! The proper explanation of why this blog is subtitled "Musings from the mind ..."

This is how my brain works. I go from one thing to the next without any apparent continuity. Most of the time, however, I can bring everything together and connect the beginning with the end, like a circle. A friend (I'm pretty sure it was the GP, if I remember correctly) once described my book plots as a series of storylines that went along, sort of twisting around one another like ribbons but not really connecting until the end of the book when I wrap everything up into a nice neat little package. The WMVR says I can twist a plot like a pretzel.

High compliments.

So, why can't I apply this strategy to the WIP? I feel like I'm almost there, but there are things missing that I can't quite get my head around.

Today the kids and I are having lunch with the WMVR, who after several years has finally moved "back home" - yay! - and then this afternoon, when all is quiet at my house (yeah, right) I am going to dive into this book. I'm going to do the rest of what I can do with it and not worry about things that I know J.T. will pick up on when she reads it. That's what critique partners are for, right? She's my twin, after all. She knows what I'm thinking, sometimes even before I do.

There will be a post in the not too distant future (yeah, I know, I keep saying this, but this time I feel like it's closer than ever) where I'll be able to say, this thing is finally ready to go. The draft is done, really - it's the second phase that I'm working on now, the comb-through. I have only four sessions' worth of notes from the BMWs left to read, and a few chapters after that to the end, and then I can let this baby go and get back to the random, incoherent blatherings that I'm so famous for.

Finally.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB