Random Abstract

It's a beautiful day here in Maryland this morning -- 70 degrees, lightly overcast, and one of those days where you'd really like to spend the morning in bed with the window open, enjoying the breeze and listening to the birds chatter.

But I can't.

Some random bits today:

The HVAC crew is back at it again today, working hard to bring us into the 20th century, and maybe even a bit into the 21st.

I read this piece over on WendyC's Writes in the City blog -- providing some pointers she learned at the Southampton Writer's Conference on how to present your work -- and thought they were all dead on. For my part, speed is my enemy. I can talk at about 30 words per second, and slowing down takes a conscious effort on my part. I was on a radio show in Santa Fe earlier this year, and after asking me the first question, the deejay looked up at the clock in the studio to check the time. As soon as I saw that glance at the clock and became aware of the time, I was finished -- I talked a mile a minute for the next 26 minutes (that would be 26 miles, if you do the math -- a verbal marathon on my part). When we were finished and the deejay went to commercial, he flicked the red light off, looked up at me over the top of his glasses, and said simply, "Wow."

Oh, and I started poking at a proposal for book two this week, too.