Dog Eat Dog Review and Edit, and start a new novel Living In Flames

¦ dialling in from Sky Bunker ¦

18:30 GMT, Saturday 17th July 2010.  Sunlight flooding the room through the glass canopy behind me.  High winds ruffle the house.  The sky alternates from bright blue to moody grey in swift changes.  I’m listening to the album “Count Three & Pray” by Berlin.

My brain hurts.

I’m close to burn out.

I finished Dog Eat Dog just over two weeks ago, and have managed to review / edit about 17 chapters. Slow progress but I’m enjoying the relaxed pace; gives me a chance to read and savour the thing.  The day after I finished writing the first draft I started writing another novel.  Living in Flames.  This is a story I first came up with 13 years ago, back in 1997.  I thought I could pick up all the existing scamps and just push it out as a novel.  Not so.  The original idea is flawed.  So, I have to exert major brain juice to fix it.  I’m bloody hating this bit.  Had hoped it would be easy.  Ugh.  *pulls a face like a bulldog chewing on a thistle*   On top of still handling Dog Eat Dog, and an insanely busy period at work (Project Echo going into overdrive; Project Sonar; Gekko; Wedge and all the commercial stuff that slots in between), I’m suffering.

Exhausted.

Have to battle on though.

Also have to research and plan my upcoming road trip around California.  More brain exertion.  More brain pain, it feels like.

Meanwhile, I’m failing to ring people, I’m failing to reply to E-mails, I’m sinking into a self-crafted hole of isolation.  Not playing Yellow Dawn (too busy).  Not meeting up with friends for drinks (too busy).  Too busy, bullshit, I say.  Just me failing to juggle writing with reality.  So, need to ease back onto a social groove before I do burn out.

You can read a sample of Living in Flames (PDF) here.