Erin Go Bragh!

Ah, St. Paddy's day! Being 100% Irish I always enjoy this day, though being an old married man I no longer enjoy it in quite the same manner I used to! (Or the wife would hand me my head!) Even so, I've cobbled together a few pleasant traditions that make the day fun for us about the house. Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner (followed by an evening of mellow methane music, compliments of the males of the house! Big Fun!). Celtic tunes at work and in the car (much to the annoyance of co-workers, but they can all kiss my Blarney Stone!). Best of all, the wife already laid out my DVD of "The Quiet Man" for us to watch as a family tonight. One of my all time favorite films! John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara - what more could you ask for?

The wife left me a surprise greeting card for St. Paddy's in my car this morning. It was really nice and had some great hand-written mushy stuff in it. Fifteen years and the woman still loves me. Who'da thunk it? Sometimes we're luckier than we deserve, ya know?

Got 2200 words in on "Clans" today, and another 5 pages of editing on GS last night. Busy night, but I wedged them in there anyway. I really need to get that done so I can begin actually trying to become the published author I'm trying to be. (Did you not read the top of this blog??) Funny, I've tried the 'serious' writing thing before with very little success but this time it seems to be going much differently. I'm doing the work and I'm not being crippled by the fear that my writing sucks. (If you are asking: "what fear?" you're either not a writer and I pity you, or you are a writer and I hate you!) I think the difference is that I am working with folks on the Net and visiting a lot of sites/blogs done by people who are doing the same thing I am. It helps. A lot. I also spend time on professional writer's sites getting a much better idea of what I need to do and how. I've linked to all my favorites on the sidebar of this page, but I have to say that Holly Lisle's site has been my biggest aid. I've been writing alongside her as she's been doing her latest novel (Like a literary stalker!) trying to keep pace with her word counts and getting some great info on what it takes to be a pro. If there's a better site for writers than hers, I'm not aware of it!

Lastly, in honor of the day, here's one of my favorite Irish jokes:

An Engilshman, a Scotsman and an Irishman went into a pub for a pint of Guinness. After being served, a fly landed in each of their pints and stuck in the creamy heads. The Englishman pushed his pint away from him in disgust and proceeded to order another pint. The Scotsman simply fished the offending fly out with his finger and proceeded to drink his pint as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, eyes wide with anger grabbed the fly and held it over his pint shouting "SPIT IT OUT!!! SPIT IT OUT YOU BASTARD!!!"

Erin Go Bragh!