Happy

I am pretty damn happy at the moment. It is a beautiful sunny day outside after weeks of terrible days, and the clichéd symbolism couldn’t be more spot on than that. Caitlin had a great first week of school. Now that I’m keeping her from having naps, the seizures are back to being under control. I have no idea why it’s working, but it is. She has been happy to see all of her friends, teachers, and therapists. We even have another assistive communication device for her to use. This makes us all happy.

Professionally, I really feel like I turned a corner. I only have a few more hours of clean-up work left for the MNP project. It has taken hundreds of hours over 10 months, but it is ready. I am very pleased.

I have always wanted to be a writer. I have been in and out of it for over 15 years. It took me a long time to shake off the “artist” myth. It also took me a while to work out my own anxieties and problems. The one real plus of having a medically complicated special child is that everything gains real perspective. Perfection and accolades mean nothing when all you want is your baby to live. Today I finished the rough draft of the first third of a novel. This is a huge accomplishment for me. I also started a new short story. I am not sure where this will all go, but I feel good that I am at least trying.

I really need to thank a bunch of authors who have helped inspire me and who have demystified the process. Thanks to my wife’s work, I’ve been spending a lot of time at SF conventions. Through panels and blogs, I’ve picked up tons of good information about the writing process. So I want to thank Jack McDevitt, E. E. Knight, Lois McMaster Bujold, Sarah Monette, Patrick Rothfuss, Lyda Morehouse, and Kelly McCullough. They are all wonderful people, and they have all had very poignant things to say about the process. It has made it all much easier. I hope that one day I’ll join their ranks.

This should be a good weekend to geek out. We have a big pile of DVDs to work through. We’re still finishing up the new Doctor Who releases (Survival and Robot). We’re also working on The Muppet Show Season 2, and Lynne just picked up Season 1 of Heroes today. It should be a nice relaxing time with plenty of family cuddles.