This and that

Back again.  I didn't mean to be offline for so long.  Maybe my difficulty in holding a conversation carries over into writing a blog.  I was a teacher with great difficulty, every sentence a leap off a cliff.  It's been a lot easier to be a writer whose works speak for me -- except that I publish at such long intervals.  I seem to get quieter and quieter as I age.  Only a few people can engage me in discourse any more.  On the other hand, some of my oldest friends have waxed loquious.  They talk for an hour, non-stop, and I only for five mintues.  It's frustrating.  On the other hand, my silence may put pressure on them.  As a rule, though, I don't talk unless I'm encouraged.  To do otherwise seems egotistical.  Perhaps that was my father's point when he created his "words, words, words" lino-images.  His art spoke for him.  Mine, I hope, does for me.

I'm about three quarters done with the next novel.  The point is to find Jame a home, at last, but also to advance the plot toward the end, which I see in 1-2 more novels.  Reading over what I've got, I worry that there's too much action and too little circumspection.  Extended conversations make me uneasy, though.  I want to get on with things.  There's a lot, of course, to get on with -- more with every novel.  If it's a gift to be simple, I don't have it.  But I continue.

Had a weird experience the other day.  Someone from the Wisconsin Dept of Public Instruction came by to video-tape me as I wrote.  There I was with a camera pointed at my face and someone taking notes, expected both to write and to comment on the writing process.  Nightmare.  Mostly I babbled.  I was told there was enough for a 10-15 minute segment in the Wisconsin Writes website.  When it comes out (if it does), I'll let you know.