This is it.

I'm standing on the threshold of the end of my summer semester. It's been a long time coming. I've finished typing the second draft of my personal essay. I've sweated through the compiling of my 32 page Instance collection (a mere whiff when compared to the 60-100 page collections turned in by some of my classmates). I've cussed, swore, sweated, bled (proverbially), and have made it to the finish line. A week ago I was at the point where I didn't care if I ever wrote again. Now, with the light at the end of the tunnel actually showing the blue of open sky and no longer just a pinprick on the horizon, I feel refreshed. Ready to tackle an adaptation of my short story, Interlude, into a screenplay. Ready to see where the rider is going to take me next (so far it sounds like he is going to have a conversation with the Buddha, and the unexpected boyfriend of one of his victims is yelling at me to let him get his own taste of revenge (another rider perhaps?)). Ready to see what other short stories I have in store.

There are a plethora of contests that are stacking up. Time is starting to run a little short on a few. And I, wanting to be a real author, am preparing what short stories I can to send out. The first is one that is judged by my mentor and friend, Mort Castle. It's a short story contest interested in Magical Realism and it's being put on by the literary magazine, Rosebud. You can look up the details on the Rosebud Mary Shelley contest here

While I'm at it, Mort gave me a link to a blog that he is a member of. You can catch him and 29 other writers who each toss a daily entry over at Storytellers Unplugged.

It's been about a week since my last entry.

The Bike trip was great. That makes the fifth time that I've done it. We had some mechanical difficulties the first day with one of the boy's bikes. Once we reached basecamp at Henderson Park we were able to get the bike fixed, and he rode strong the next two days. So now I've done the ride, legs are sore, butt is VERY sore, and I have an awesome bike tan. That consists of a nice brown/red ending at the sock line and also my arms up to the shoulder. Oh well.