I sit at the keyboard on a daily basis. Some days the words flow like honey; golden, sweet, 
tempting and sticky. Then there are the other days. I call them my writer’s wasteland. On these days, I sit in the middle of a desert. There are no words. They hide in the sand, giving a clear view to the horizon with nothing to interrupt. The haze from the heat of frustration creates mirages, faint images of words that might be. I struggle to advance the small paragraph that stares back at me from the computer screen. It’s no use, hours pass; I dig deeper making pits in the desolation. A rare word appears and sometimes a miracle, a full sentence. That’s it though, so eventually I start wandering the maze of the internet. Searching for, I don’t know what. Then, shut down, power off, maybe a walk will help; it usually does.
For now, this is the struggle with book #2. The sentences come slowly, the paragraphs 
seem to take forever and the full chapter is at the end of that long and winding road. I’m still stuck on the rewrite of my query letter and getting it out to more agents. I’ve come to realize that this part of writing is not enjoyable. I need an assistant. One piece of good (or bad) news happened today depending on how you look at it. I received my first rejection notice. I’m now a member of a group of very famous writers whose works were rejected many times before being accepted. The “form” letter used a sentence that gave me hope, whether intentional or not. “We strongly encourage you to seek out other agents who would be able to take your work.” It’s the strongly encourage you part that made me feel good about the letter despite the fact that they were rejecting me.
Since the last entry, I had breakfast with Tim. He’s still struggling to find a job with a school 
here. A nine to five with benefits is what he needs. On Sunday, I met up with Amanda for lunch and afterwards gave her a tour of Barranco. We also enjoyed a few glasses of wine and I had a Pisco Sour or two. The second scariest taxi ride home in Peru followed. I suffered greatly the next day. Not from a hangover, just that tired I don’t want to do anything laziness that follows a day of fun. On Tuesday I met 
with Kathy. She was in San Borja getting a MRI done. She met me in Das Frutas, a small coffee/juice place on the corner from my house. She’s doing great and having a lot of fun with some new friends. On Thursday it was Katrina’s turn. We met for lunch at a small sandwich stand, they have great milkshakes. Afterwards we went to Starbucks for coffee and talked about our writing, Huanchaco and other mutual interests. Today was Larry’s turn again, our usual Friday coffee where we talk about our writing, politics and his family. It’s always a good couple of hours. He gave me the first chapter of his new book to look over. It’s very exciting. If he can get it done, it will be a good read. Amanda, Katrina and Larry all have family visiting this fall. They may call on my expertise as a guide. I need to break out my notes and polish up my talk.
Last, I watched a couple of movies this week. The first was “The Immortals.” It was OK. I actually enjoyed watching it bu
t afterwards felt a little disappointed. It certainly wasn’t as good as “The 300.” I give it 3½ Llamas on my grading scale. Big screen would probably make it more enjoyable. I bought the DVD and watched it on TV. The next was “TinTin,” another good but not great movie. Big screen, not necessary as far as I’m concerned. I will give it 3½ Llamas also but simply for the great action scenes. Both of these were good for sitting at home, making your own popcorn and sipping a beer or nice cocktail.
That’s it, have a great weekend everyone. For those of you thinking about it, get creative. Write, paint, draw, quilt, arrange flowers, anything; exercise the brain and then go for a long walk.