Unbagging the Cats 1

Unbagging the Cats 1

Friday, June 8, 2012

Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, I'm on Fire

No, that's not Springsteen you hear. It's me. Val. And I'm not engulfed in trouser flames from being a liar, liar. The fact that I finished the second Hunger Games book, Catching Fire, on Wednesday night has nothing to do with it.

I'm on fire.

I'm in the groove. I've got the itch, and it's not something that needs scratching with a neighbor's spatula after the long-fingernailed coffee shop waitress breaks up with me.

I sat down to write a submission yesterday, and it was like a long-awaited spark in the dry tinder of a Survivor contestant's fire-making challenge. One idea led to another. Even a six-hour chair nap last night did not extinguish the flame. I went to actual bed at 4:00 a.m., and could not sleep. Perhaps it wasn't so much the ideas bouncing around in my noggin as the fact that I'd already had a full (for me) night's sleep in the recliner.

This morning I arose at 5:30, all fired up. I have another submission ready to go. It's all over but the proofreadin'. Now three more stories are licking at the straw stuffing of my brain. An out-of-control gambling bus, a crazed chipmunk, and a doorstop scandal are shoving the severed skeleton and the devil with no dress on to the back burner.

Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

8 comments:

knancy said...

This is your "teaser trailer" isn't it? Now I see you are learning how to promote your literature to us - just like the big commercial authors. Still glad to be one of your building block fans. Bring on the stories - can hardly wait!

Sioux Roslawski said...

And just like those insects that only live for a matter of hours or days before dying, teachers must beat their wings as fast as possible during their summer break, so as much fun and frivolity and creativity can be packed into the two months.

So, keep fanning those flames.

stephen Hayes said...

Burning with creativity is a better feeling than any drug can provide. Unleash your muse.

Joanne Noragon said...

It just happens like this, doesn't it. Stuck, and then you're making notes like crazy.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Wish I had the energy! 12 and 14 hour days are wreaking havoc with my creativity. Or, maybe it is the people I deal with ........

Good for you! You have earned your summer time fun.

Chickadee said...

Woot! Hope you plan to share those stories. What a teaser!

Chickadee said...

Annnd now I have Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on fire" song stuck in my head.

Val said...

knancy,
Yeah, that's it. I'll get you hooked, then reel you in.

*************
Sioux,
Dang. Now I'm depressed. It's like that summer my mom kept saying, "You only have six weeks left until school starts. Only five weeks left. Four weeks to go." After a while, I started screening her calls.

*************
Stephen,
I've got the fever, and I don't need an aspirin. I need a show like MTV Unplugged. Muse Unleashed.

*************
Joanne,
Yeah, like that. I feel like Abby's bipolar mom, Maggie, on ER, when she went off her meds.

*************
Kathy,
Pet the kitten. Roll your eyes. Brandish your flyswatter at the worst offenders.

*************
Chick,
I may share. I may not. Depends on my contrariness level.

I give your head permission to switch over to Glory Days.