vck

  I've truly been blessed to meet, get to know, and even become friends with hundreds —possibly thousands— of writers over the last three decades. Many of those contacts have come through the Oklahoma Writers' Federation Inc ., SoonerCon , Yard Dog Press , and a score of other writing groups, writing conferences, and Sci-Fi conventions I've attended. Once upon a time, I was envious of how much more talent some of those writers possessed. I felt insignificant. I was a tiny drop of water in a giant sea. I was always struggling to keep my head above water, and always sinking farther and farther below more talented and more successful authors. When I retired from the theatre, nearly 35 years ago, I retired at a time when I was completely confident in my talent and abilities as an actor. I retired at a time when I was at my peak and knew I could have been a professional actor if I had pursued that career. Because of that confidence, I had the ability to walk away from...

  I've been missing in action for the last two weeks. Not actually missing. Just not productive. Haven't written a word in two weeks. Haven't updated the website, or blog. Haven't really done much around the house. I did clean the coat closet in the front hall yesterday. Tossed 25 years of junk. I have a hard time letting go of things. The older something is, the tighter I hold onto it. I've still got emails from 2009 in my inbox. Well, most of those are in folders not actually cluttering up my inbox. Most of them could be trashed.   Along with a huge collection of half written—never will be finished—stories on my computer, in notebooks scattered all around my house, and rambling around inside my head. I can't seem to let go of old stories, or old story ideas. I may find a home for them somewhere. Someday. The problem is, I'm lousy at keeping track of where and when I've released them into the wild. I can't enter any of my old s...