Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Interested. Voraciously Interested.

I just fired up my laptop for the first time in about month. I went on hiatus to pen and paper and book consumption. Trudging through my last ghostwriting assignment nearly sent me to an asylum. I swore off any writing projects for one month. I contributed several chapters to a For Dummies book. If I'm luck, I'll get a thanks in the forward to up the ante of the ten free copies I'll receive. For the last year, I remained pretty grateful that I was a paid, professional writer. That assignment soured that attitude coupled with the fact that I took it on just as I started a full-time marketing gig. So I licked my wounds for a few weeks and caught my breath.

Last week I stepped onto Butler University's campus and huffed my way up three flights of Jordan Hall stairs to commence my next writing adventure, a 12-week community fiction workshop. I am terrified! I haven't written fiction since my 400-level workshop my senior at IU. My "professor" for this workshop said we need to be voraciously interested in things. (I write "professor" like he's not a real professor, which he is in fact a real professor. I, however, am not a real university student, just a workshopper.) I like a lot of things. I love a lot people. I am very intrigued and beguiled by Moose. I dig music. I enjoy good food. Not sure that I am voraciously interested in anything or any one particular something.

In high school, I participated in everything I could--softball, yearbook, drama, student government, boys, part-time jobs, friends, and more boys. I was never totally super awesome at one particular activity. I maintained good grades and stayed out of trouble, mostly. But I can't pin one thing that piqued my interest so much that I couldn't get enough of it all of the time. I've posed the "what's my niche" question to this blog's audience. Lots of you enjoyed my cheeseburger blog, but I don't dine enough or cook enough to be a super foodie. So, I am back to wondering about this niche business and voraciously interested proposition.

I do want to give a shout out to some sites I've had the groovy opportunity to chime in some music reviews. Great sites for music fans with photography and content contributed by music fans. I reviewed Old Crow Medicine Show and Alabama Shakes for JamsPlus and PhierceMusic.

***MOOSE UPDATE***
His citronella bark collar arrived last week. Moose barked at the UPS delivery man. I have put the collar on him without the juice. Kind of nervous about the whole thing. I've been urged by some folks who live within earshot of his barks. I'll report back. In the meantime, Moose says, "What's up?! My mom let's me do whatever I want."