this is my journal ... i write it as i go ... it has typos ... it's not perfect ... but then ... neither am i February 1, 1998 1:43 p.m.           NASA image archive      I sat down yesterday morning with every intention of putting the finishing touches on a short story I've been writing all week. Instead, however, I pulled up a blank file and started writing. "The jumper rode low over the terrain. Ghostly ridges of ages old craters rose and fell below, black shadows cloaking areas hundreds of meters across."      It's an image that's been bugging me for the past couple days. Maybe because I've been reading about space and moon travel for the past few weeks. Maybe because I'm just a romantic engineer at heart. Regardless, by the time midnight arrived I had a complete short story of roughly 6,200 words tentatively titled "A Force of Four".      It was essentially a gift story.      I love it when that happens.      It still has some technical issues that I need to wrap up, and who knows, maybe I missed a bit with character interactions or basic foundation (it happens sometimes with one-sitting stories). But it's always great fun to ride the process when it reaches up and grabs you. Like body surfing in choppy ocean.      Have a great February, everyone. E-Mail Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins

MORE ENTRIES "blue, blue windows behind the stars, yellow moon on the rise, big birds flying across the sky, throwing shadows on our eyes, leaves us, helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless" Neil Young BACK TO