So You Think You Can Write?

I'm supposed to be writing. Instead, I'm watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" Then I'm going to watch "Law and Order." Then I'm going to bed and promise myself to write in the morning.

The first of "The Last Noel"

I started this blog to get stuff out about my writing, namely the frustrations of trying to get a draft done of my third novel. It's tentatively called "Boy with Bleeding Hands." "Boy" is about a child blessed (or cursed) with the stigmata. Does he have this holy condition or does the child have hemophilia, a rare blood disorder. At this point, I don't know what the kcuf is going on with this story.

I have about 50 very rough pages. I don't want to look at the book right now. The only thing I'm writing is nonfiction. I recently wrote an article for Arts and Understanding Magazine, America's AIDS Magazine. The article is about efforts to remember writer Paul Monette, a man whose book "Becoming a Man" ripped me apart. Writers Terry Wolverton, Betty Berzon, and Mark Thompson weighed in on the event.

Last week, Bret Easton Ellis came to the Skylight bookstore. I host literary events there. The store was packed! There wasn't enough room in the store for all his fans. It was a mad house. Bret EE was just the nicest guy. I honestly was surprised. I thought he'd be a prick, but he was the complete opposite. I must confess that I sensed something was sad about him.

I googled Bret EE and discovered that his "friend" died last year at the age of thirty. Maybe that's why he seemed rather melancholy.