Setting up a wiki

Most of my time the last day or two has been devoted to setting up my new AIDS Lifecycle Wiki, which I expect will mostly be a community effort by one person (that would be me)--I mostly want to play with Mediawiki! It's been pretty complex setting up the antispam guards and configuring the wiki--would be child's play except that I don't know the first thing about php or Mediawiki, and the documentation (what there is of it) mostly assumes that you're a competent sysadmin already. I've been learning a lot as I go.

So far I've managed to export most of the Help system from wikimedia.org, set up a basic antispam guard, and put together the basic outline for the structure. I need to think a bit more about what information would be helpful/interesting to riders, and structure it accordingly.

I don't know if this wiki will ever see the light of day (I'm not giving out the URL because there's nothing there yet), but it's an interesting possibility.

I have also sent a draft of my sample chapter off to the director of AIDS Lifecycle, with a request for help in contacting several people/organizations. Hope to hear back from him in a week or two.

Some more interviews

So, I've got interviews with Tilmin (a 300-lb, 5'0" woman who lost 75 pounds while training) on Thursday and Ginger the drag queen on Saturday. Scott the Cheerleader I'm going to ring up on Wednesday to arrange an interview; I've also emailed Ken and Warren to ask them if they have any "stories from the road" from their time as sweeps. All in all, I should have quite a few interviews in the next few weeks. So I'm happy with that.

What I am less happy with is this intestinal bug I've had for the last few days. While not nearly as unpleasant as it could be, it's still no fun at all, and it's interfering with my training (such as it is) for the Death Ride. I'd be more upset about this if I weren't seriously reconsidering whether I want to do the Death Ride next year. The net of it is that the amount of time and mental energy I spend prepping for the Death Ride is exactly that much less time and energy to devote to writing my book, so I'm not sure I want to do it. On the other hand, it's not apt to be any worse than training for AIDS Lifecycle, which I'm already committed to do, so, well... *shrug*. We'll see.

Meanwhile, today I picked up eight sewing patterns that might be useful for AIDS Ride costuming, and a book on embellishing fabrics. I read three-quarters of the book on embellishing fabric on the way home--I got stuck in God's own traffic jam--and have set it aside for later, like, say, around December, when I get serious about the costuming. It does sound exciting, though.

Off to work some more on that outline--

Quote from my writing coach

Finally heard back from my writing coach, who thinks my sample chapter is a "damn fine chapter". I responded by asking how I could strengthen the first and last stories, and mentioned I was considering taking out one of the stories entirely because I didn't think it was as strong as the others. Here's what he said:

No. No. No. It's working fine. That first scene is good, not because it's a big dramatic fight but because it brings out a story that is touching, frustrating, maddening and ultimately almost noble as these two struggle through their stuff. And it brings us into the whole scene--a place where people are, on one hand fighting for their very survival, and on the other finding some deeper place in themselves that is ennobling, compassionate, etc. Dave is a wonderful mirror, of course, of the whole scene, as you saw it, a guy in recovery from a very dark, dark existence, and who's making the most of whatever life he has left--and making a difference in the world.

Focus on what your message is. As I see it, the message you convey in this chapter is quite dramatic, from the start--and the whole chapter lets us see the potential for goodness in everyone. William Faulker said that it is a writer's duty to remind us of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which are the pillars of humanity's existence. I think that may be the sort of thing you experienced on the ride and which has inspired you to write this book--and you captured it in this chapter. Don't mess with it. And I think if you can see what it is that touched you about this experience and see your mission as being the expression of what you experienced, you will see that this chapter works extremely well.

We often get bored with our own writing. That's just part of becoming a writer. But when you can see your very individualized mission, and then ask yourself if you are meeting that sense of mission, you'll let all the rules of the craft fade away.

I like this idea of keeping in touch with the "mission" for the book; I've been focusing so hard on the left-brain publishing/business side of things that it's been hard to keep track of why I'm writing it. (I'm not going to make a cent off this thing, and I've put several thousand dollars into it to date; this is not about the money, at least not for me.)

I've also started gathering more material. I'm getting in touch with a number of people who've been on the "remember to interview" list for awhile: Ginger the drag queen, Cookie Woman, Scott the Cheerleader, and so on. I should be doing a couple interviews next week.

I've started doing more writing on my ultralight. Unlike the main computer, it doesn't have games on it, nor does it have bookmarks to interesting Websites. The net of it is that it's easier to concentrate on writing using the ultralight than it is using my desktop computer. The only downside is that the battery sucks: about forty-five minutes total without electricity, even with the screen at the darkest setting. That's common with old laptop batteries; I've ordered a brand-new one.

I have now completed the outlines for the first three or four introductory chapter and Days 1-4, and am working on outlines for Days 5-7. The later days are harder because there isn't as much new stuff to introduce--but I think with this next round of interviews I should have more material, so I'll have more to say.

This is really just the first draft of the outline--it's going to have twenty or thirty lines per chapter, so it's significantly longer than outlines I've done in the past. The challenge is that I'm still missing much of the material--I haven't done all the research yet--so I'm having to guess at the content for some of the chapters. Then, of course, I'll have to revise the first draft to make it more attractive to publishers.

I forget if I mentioned that I sent my sample chapter off to River Walk Journal a day or two ago--the publisher, the fiction editor, and the editor-in-chief are all going to review it and get back to me. I'm waiting eagerly to hear back from them as well.

Whew! It's been a busy couple of days.

Temptation.

Bloody creative mind.

I seem to have latched onto the idea of fabric embellishment for my AIDS Lifecycle costumes. So many possibilities! I could do a crazy-quilt, embroider with ribbon, bead, use multicolored yarns...I could dye my own fabrics, make a fused fabric from silk or angelina sparklies, explore shibori, try kumihomo again...

...You'll note that none of these have anything to do with writing. I should never have gone to that fiber festival!

Well, I've ordered some 4" squares from a quilting shop, and some silk swatches from an online store. I am sternly trying to resist the urge to order some on-sale burnout silk velvet, silk jacquards, etc.--I have GOT to write this proposal!

Bloody creative mind.

(To answer Cat's question: the spindle I just bought is a Bosworth Maxi, which is nonetheless extremely light and extremely fast. Spins as fast as I can draft a lightweight yarn...I *really* like the Bosworths. The only thing nicer than a Bosworth is a Golding spindle...if you can find one and if you can afford it. I have a mini Golding spindle and absolutely love it.)

I have now completed my draft sample chapter and shipped it off to both my writing coach and the kind folks at River Walk Journal. I'm having a lot of trouble with the proposal, mostly because I can't offer stats on how many million people are going to read it, but I'm doing the best I can. I've definitely decided to take Larsen's book as a guideline rather than something to take literally--I'm going to use his structure but not worry about the bits I can't fill in. I imagine my writing coach will correct me if I absolutely need a section...that's what I'm paying him for. (And he's helped over 200 people get their books published, so I suspect he knows something about the topic.)

I *will* finish this stupid thing. Someday.

Back from LA, How to Write a Book Proposal

Mike and I drove down to LA this weekend to go to the Fabulous Fiber Fest and admire my shawl (which won the Founder's Award, as you may recall). It was fun--I took a class on boucle and other novelty yarns, and then spent some time walking around the festival with Mike. With my prize I bought two packets of brightly-colored yarn snippets for my AIDS Ride costumes next year, a Bosworth spindle for spinning sock yarns, and 7 ounces of 150's merino (ultrafine merino) roving. I almost bought a table loom, but Mike helped rescue me from it. I also fell in love with the Baby Wolf loom sitting out at Custom Handweavers, but, not wanting to spend $1800 on a new toy that would only distract me from writing, I skipped it.

I'm pretty satisfied with my purchases. Costuming is of course de rigeur for the AIDS Ride (and I have gotten some very good ideas for costuming next year--the quilting section was most inspirational), and I've wanted a spindle for spinning sock yarns for some time. I don't think it'll be that distracting from writing, as it's nothing new and exciting--it's good, solid, plain-jane materials that I can work with when I'm feeling burned-out from writing.

I have also read through most of How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen. It's intimidating. This is not about "how to write your book", this is about how to write a business proposition to the editor of your book. It's brilliant (I think) but also the kind of book to send me into complete despair over my lack of credentials, cover quotes from famous people, and other stuff the book suggests you include. It also means I have to do substantially more research, and what I call left-brain writing (as opposed to right-brain writing, which is the bulk of writing my book)--this is a business proposition, not a creative piece. I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to get this done.

On the other hand, plenty of people have published before, and I have the feeling that this particular book is on how to write the perfect book proposal--one that will really wow editors. So I'll do my best to follow it, but if I don't have every piece (e.g. fourteen years of expertise in the AIDS Ride, rave reviews for published portions, etc.) I won't worry too much. I'll talk to my writing coach about it, too.

It is clear to me, though, that writing a proposal will be substantially more work than I expected it to be.

Oh well.

Off to LA

Heading down to LA, to pick up my award at the Fabulous Fiber Fest! We're driving down tonight and will come back up on Sunday.

Got back in touch with my writing coach, and he's agreed to coach me through my proposal. I sent him a copy of my sample chapter and asked for help in improving a few weaker sections--he should get back to me sometime in the next few days. Looking forward to it!

Also bought a copy of How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen--recommended by my writing coach. Going to read through that this weekend and see what I think.

O joy! I get to take my ultralight traveling with me!

a very quick update

Finished the rough draft of my sample chapter!

I shouldn't really say "rough draft"--some portions of it are quite polished--but I have finally got all the content in there. And it's going to be fantastic. I have three strong stories already, and once I finish polishing the two new stories, it should be a good piece overall. I think I have several more drafts to go before it's ready for a publisher, but it's a good start.

I have also backed up all my book files to my Web server (password-protected so nobody but me can get at them). This way, if my house burns down, I don't lose everything. I'm also thinking about getting my audiotapes duplicated--same thing. (I have been hunting for microcassette duplicators and have been unable to find any. Dang.)

I've also sent off an email to the writing coach who helped me about six months ago, inquiring how I can start back up with him. I figure it's worth a shot--we'll see how he does at doing detailed critiques of drafts. If it doesn't work out, I'll try someone else. Meanwhile, i will continue on with the folks at River Walk Journal, because I think they're better for detailed critiques of fiction-like work. Hal Bennett is likely to be more helpful with the process, I think, and more patient with getting multiple drafts (he's getting paid for the process, after all).

I've also gotten copies of the Opening Ceremonies videotapes from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. I'm sending them off to a place that will transfer the tapes to DVD for me, and then I'll finally be able to start Day One properly. I've been having a tremendous amount of trouble starting Day One, partly because openings are difficult, partly because I wasn't sure what happened when.

A few more mundane updates

Almost done writing up Dave's story--former methamphetamine addict who contracted AIDS from a dirty needle and/or unsafe sex (could be either). Also, the ultralight laptop arrived today, and Mike has been busy setting it up for me (bless his heart :-) ). I'm hoping it allows me to make my work portable, and in particular let me work on it in bed, at cafes, and on this upcoming trip to LA.

Had lunch with Lena, my friend the translator for a Tibetan lama, and it seems likely that Mike and I will go visit her in India during the Tibetan New Year (Feb 18-20). We plan to take three weeks in India, and hopefully sit in on some of the Dalai Lama's Losar teachings. Neither of us is Buddhist but we both lean in that direction, and when I was sitting in on the Losar teachings during my travels, I was seriously impressed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama's wisdom. I think if anyone is truly the incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, he is probably it. I want to see the Losar teachings again before this incarnation dies.

Been reading up on international travel, and am really getting excited about this upcoming trip to India. We plan to travel on the whim of the moment (instead of taking a packaged tour); both of us are adamant that we'd rather wander around and poke into odd corners than race around from monument to monument without ever getting under the skin of the country. We're hoping Lena and Joy are able to travel with us, as Lena speaks fluent Tibetan and passable Hindi.

Had an irritating moment this morning when I discovered a bulging sidewall on my left front tire. Went to get it replaced, and discovered that the tire place where I got my tires had screwed up the installation and torn the bead on the tires, resulting in the sidewall damage. It subsequently transpired that they had also screwed up the installation on the left rear tire (nearly new!), meaning I wound up replacing all four tires, to the tune of $380 or so. (The back tires were still under warranty, but like hell I was going back there again.) Not the best start to a Monday morning.

I've also started work on (re)learning the Dvorak keyboard. I keep trying to learn it, because it's reputedly faster and easier than the standard QWERTY layout, but always get frustrated and quit around the time I finish my typing lessons. The reason is pretty simple: at that point, I type at 95 wpm on QWERTY and about 20 wpm on Dvorak, and the inefficiency frustrates me. One of these days, I'll stick with it long enough to learn it properly.

Survival Research Labs

Mike and I went to see a rare show by Survival Research Labs on Friday. They seem to specialize in building outre machines that belch fire and plasma--we were warned to bring earplugs--and they had a giant Tesla machine going for most of the show. Here are some pix:

Taking Action

I've now researched writing coaches and other forms of help--the kind people at http://www.riverwalkjournal.org have offered to help me put together my book proposal, so I'm probably going to go with them. This all has helped me focus my work wonderfully--instead of being intimidated by it, I'm now working on completing specific pieces. I'm confident, now that I know I'll be able to get the guidance I need.

I have completed David van Brunt's story on Day Two--he's a cyclist who lost both feet (and half his left leg) in a motorcycle crash and now rides with a handcycle. I'm going back to Day 3 and the introduction, now, as those are the sample chapters I intend to include with the book proposal. I'm encouraged by the fact that I've gone back over Day Three and it doesn't seem half bad. I still need to finish the end, and tighten up the early part some--but what there is, is good. I will also need to go back and finish my introduction, and figure out what to do about the jarring shift in tone halfway through. I need to do it quickly as I've promised them (River Walk Journal) a draft proposal in 2-3 weeks. Time for some serious work.

Also, I got notice that my laptop had entered the U.S. (I bought it from a Canadian eBay seller) on the 9th, so I'm hoping it arrives today. That would be nice!

A bit more...

Finished reading Creative Nonfiction by Lee Gutkind last night--it is indeed a fantastic book--and am now about halfway through Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life by Philip Gerard.

I wasn't sure what to make of the Gerard book originally--the reviewers on Amazon either loved it or hated it--but I really really like it now that I've read some more. It's targeted at people who want to write detailed, well-researched nonfiction books on particular subjects (as opposed to essays, autobiographies, etc.). As such, it has exactly the information I needed on researching the subject, interviewing subjects, etc. that a less focused book wouldn't have had. I'm on page 74 right now and I wish I'd read it years ago.

I can't say that much has changed in the less-than-24-hours since the time I wrote the first blog entry on becoming a writer, but a great deal in my attitude has shifted: more serious, more determined to be semi-pro, more interested in the overall craft and less focused on my current project. Instead of whining about the amount of time it's going to take to do the book, I'm focused on finishing it.

(This all got started, by the way, by my thought a few days ago that, if I was having trouble writing on the book, that I approach it the same way I'd approach (serious) training on the bike: with set hours and specific goals, and a commitment not to flake on them. That started shifting the way I look at things.)

I've actually started a second new blog, as Gutkind suggests: one a writer's journal, to keep my thoughts about the book, attempts at doing new chapters, etc., and the other a personal journal in which to keep freewrites and othersuch. We'll see how that goes.

In the interests of mobility, I've also bought a used laptop (on eBay)--a 1.2 MHz Dell ultralight that weighs just over 2 lbs and can be taken anywhere. (Despite being used, it comes with a 9-month warranty from Dell, which is one of the reasons I bought this particular one.) It was $470, which sure as hell beats $1500 for a new one, and it's not a whole lot slower than the low-end newer models. I like the idea of an ultralight because they're so portable--my old laptop (the one I dragged through half of SE Asia) was an ultralight, and I absolutely loved it. I'll probably have to buy a new battery for it, but that's easily obtained.

short update

I've deleted the bookmarks to most of my fiber arts mailing lists (I'm remaining subscribed, but not checking them) and have subscribed to two mailing lists for creative nonfiction writers. I've read through about 1/2 of Creative Fiction: How to Live it and Write It by Lee Gutkind, and I'm rapidly getting excited about this writing stuff.

Plan: write at least 1-2 hours per day, with a minimum of 10 minutes working on a "free write", and most of the rest focused on the book. Remember to play with writing and not get bogged down in the seriousness of it all.

I think I'm really going to love this, now that I'm approaching writing as a craft, not as an individual project.

From fiber artist to writer

I suppose it’s time for me to say it: I’m no longer an active fiber artist, I’m a writer. The spinning wheel has sat untouched for over a month now, and I’m only stitching on this cross-stitch piece in the mornings when Mike is asleep and I can’t work on the computer without disturbing him. I haven’t had much urge to play with new fibers, and the pair of socks I started is sitting there half-finished on the computer, and may never get done. I find that I resent the time I spend on fiber arts, because it just doesn't feel expressive to me anymore. Fiber arts is officially done with, until further notice.

In a way, I’m happy that I’ve become disenchanted with fiber arts of late. I think it was fun, but there’s a very high ratio of fingerwork to creativity in fiber arts, and writing is a bit more expressive. But it seems odd, since I’ve identified as a fiber artist for such a long time, and most of my mailing lists still center around fiber arts. So it's strange to remove myself (mentally speaking) from that community, and reorient how I see myself.

I’m not saying I’ll never go back to fiber arts (it's been one of my long-term loves), but in a way I feel like that phase is over for awhile—my focus has clearly turned to writing, and to spending time around Mike. And cycling, of course—which is not at all creative but which is challenging in its own way.

All of which seems particularly ironic considering I just won a $200 credit for a fiber arts festival, and am going down to LA in two weeks to pick up my prize. I have no idea what I’ll buy there with my credits—it depends on what I see. But spending ten hours a week on writing will leave me with relatively little time to play with my new toys.

I’ve started a new blog, this one a private writing diary in which I plan to put free writes and thoughts/notes/observations while writing. (Sorry, no link to this one—it’s private, just my random scribblings!)

I’ve also ordered (and just received) several books on creative nonfiction writing from Amazon.com—hoping that will help jumpstart me into my new craft, writing.

Time

Mike and I made bread-and-butter pickles and strawberry jam today, which was fun, but it took longer than expected and so I didn't make it down to the Peninsula for my long ride. I'm thinking it's going to be nearly impossible to get two rides a week in, and still get anything else done. I'm also worried about the amount of time I'm spending writing; I don't seem to be making much progress.

I'm planning to do a time inventory this week and see if I can get a handle on the things I actually spend time on, and figure out how to reallocate. I would like to work on the book a minimum of 10 hours a week. We'll see if that's do-able.

Meeting up with my personal trainer tomorrow for another gym workout...

Food frenzy

I'm sad to say that peach season is over. Fitz, my peach guy, is gone for the year, and when he goes, I stop eating peaches, because other places' peaches are never quite as good as his. So as far as I'm concerned, peach season is over.

Which means I will just have to eke it out with strawberries, figs, melons, Sungold cherry tomatoes, and so on. Oh, how I suffer. :-)

Dry farmed tomatoes are also in at the farmer's market! If you're not acquainted with dry-farmed tomatoes, they're done with tomatoes grown in a heavy clay soil that holds lots of water. They're not irrigated at all during the growing season, which stresses the tomato plants, so they produce very small, intensely sweet and flavorful tomatoes. "Early Girl" seems to be the only variety people use for dry-farming, but they are incredible tomatoes. I fed some to Mike today and he said, "They taste like tomatoes should taste like." So I'm happy they've finally arrived.

But the true feeding frenzy came today at Made in France, my favorite food wholesaler. They had one of their periodic warehouse sales, and Mike and I went. I love Made in France because they wholesale Valrhona chocolate--that's the whole point of going there--and I'm afraid I went a little bit overboard with the chocolate-buying. They had packages of Valrhona with minor packaging damage to one side, in a box--I grabbed the guy in charge to inquire about the price, and wound up walking away with nine kilograms for about $100, which is less than half the going rate for Valrhona. (1 3-kg bag of Manjari, 1 3-kg package of Equatoriale, and 3 kg of unsweetened chocolate.)

I also bought one (undamaged) 3-kg package of Extra Bitter, 1 3-kg package of Pur Caraibe, and one 1-kg package of ORGANIC(!) Valrhona, just to try it. Then, just for variety, we bought some duck salami, a smoked duck breast, duck rillettes and duck mousse pate, and Mike got a bottle of cherry syrup and some capers.

I thought about getting a package of Ivoire (Valrhona's white chocolate, which I adore), but since I wasn't sure whether I had some already, I wound up skipping it. Maybe I'll get some next month...

Anyway, that brings my chocolate stock back up to something reasonable, like 40-45 lbs. I'll use a lot of that up at Thanksgiving, of course, if not sooner. Mike reminded me today that he's never gotten a chance to try any of my candies, so of course that requires correcting. :-)

In other news, I conquered Page Mill Road again today, quite decisively--I managed to go all the way up it without having to take a single break! and even shaved 5 minutes off my climbing time. My overall speed's increased a lot too--over 10% from a couple weeks ago--so I'm very happy. More details in my Markleeville Death Ride training diary, should you be interested. I'm already thinking of ways to make the challenge more difficult. I can't believe that just over a month ago I was wondering if I could make it up Page Mill at all.

The book's cranking along. I think I really needed the insight that the first draft is like the underpainting of the painting--that it will be gone over and reshaped and reshaped over and over again, so the quality of the first draft really isn't anything to be concerned with. Now I'm cranking on the writing. I think I probably will take a day or two off work to write on it, once my project finishes up.

And now, off to bed. Tomorrow morning Mike and I will make strawberry jam and pickles, then after that I have (hopefully) another long, hilly ride tomorrow afternoon.

Thoughts on writing

As I reflect back on this task of writing the book, a couple things are coming clearer to me:

First, you cannot learn to write by reading books; or rather, you can, but in the end it’s the practice of writing that teaches you—looking at what works and what doesn’t, trying new things, throwing away much of the work as it evolves.It’s intensely frustrating to me because there are no shortcuts—I’m used to reading up on stuff, learning the rules, and then rapidly coming up to speed. Here I have to learn as I work, and it’s a slow process. I get frustrated with my own inability.

Second, as I write and learn, much of the previous work becomes outdated. I’d like to think that this is just a temporary phenomenon, but according to Annie Dillard, it’s not. Writing evolves and you have to be willing to let it evolve, redo, rework as it happens. This is also intensely frustrating because I’m used to fiber arts, where you plan out a work, let it evolve a bit, but you never have to go back over and over and over something you thought was done. Fiber arts is a much more linear process than writing is.

Third, I really need to stay close to the subject. It’s hard for me to keep the experience “fresh” in my mind—I need to look at photos and read through people’s blogs and remember the enthusiasm people bring to the Ride. Right now, I’m mostly writing about the challenge—I need to remember to write about the fun parts, as well. I’m not quite sure how to do that, but I figure that, like everything, it’s going to be a matter of practice.

Mostly I’m frustrated because I know so little! I thought I understood writing—I’ve been writing all my life—and it’s terribly discouraging to find out that I don’t. Or rather, that I know how to write, but writing a book demands more skill and more understanding than I’ve ever had to develop before—and it’s a much slower process than I was hoping for. It’s really too bad that you can’t just read a book and instantly be able to write.

But writing is really rewarding. It addresses a frustration I’ve had with fiber arts, which is that it really is a limited medium of expression—especially with handspinning, 90% of it is execution and only about 10% of it is creativity. With writing, every word is creative, every word involves a decision about what to use in that one sentence, it’s a totally free expression. I love that, and it’s that which is really keeping me going. Huge challenge, huge reward, much interest.

Is it possible to be exhilarated and frustrated at the same time???

I'm continuing to write my book, and my view of it is continuing to evolve. As I write it, the weak points become more obvious and the symphony of what I want to write becomes clearer in my mind....I'm understanding the structural flaws and figuring out how to get around them. It's both intensely exhilarating and extremely frustrating...frustrating because it takes me two hours to write one page (if that) and exhilarating because I'm finally getting through the writer's block and writing down enough to get a sense of what needs to be done with my material.

I'm also getting a sense for just how gargantuan this task really is. I feel roughly like I'm in the first thirty miles of AIDS Lifecycle--only 555 miles to go...

I'm seriously considering taking a week or so off work in order to write. I have the extra vacation time....I'm thinking about it. Seriously.

Met with my new personal trainer today and am MUCH more impressed with her (thank goodness). She knows at least as much as I do about cycling, and I trust her to know more about training than I do, so we're going to start work with free weights tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. More detail on that in my Markleeville Death Ride training diary.

Meanwhile, Mike brought me roses a couple days ago to celebrate our six-month anniversary (yay!), and they are gorgeous. Big, deep red, with a real rose fragrance--I have them in a vase on my living-room dresser (so the cats don't get at them) and I stop by and smell them whenever I'm going in and out. I love roses.

(Back to the book) The difficulty, and the temptation, of this book is that there are SO many good stories from AIDS Lifecycle that it's tempting to write the book of nothing more than short vignettes. But that would be a mistake--it's the human story unfolding over seven days that's of interest, so somehow I need to find a way to find characters to follow. I need to pare my thirty or forty interviews down to just a few riders that I follow through the seven days, and show how they grow. I need to wade through this tangled mess, write a lot, and do even more pruning. I thought I was making a decent attempt, and I am, but even after the draft is written there'll still be about 2/3 of the writing to go.

Well, better get back to it. This is intense and slow work, but it's fascinating.