It's good to be home and I already miss my wife (still in Budapest). My done, a 125 Bouvier de Flaners was funny. He misses me so much when I'm gone, he can't contain himself when I return. He runs around the house crying like a baby.

Now I have to deal with the jetlag.
 

The contest is underway. 15 days of stories in a row. There is a chance that I may miss one entry due to being where no internet connection is available. I will see.
 

I am working on my story for the Inspirational Quote contest. The story seems to be good but the writing is not so much so. I still have a week to get it ready.
 

Well, the 15 for 15 contest is on its way. I love this contest. The only problem that I will have is that I will be traveling overseas once during the contest. Those travel days, it's tough to get the prompt and post it is 24 hours. I was late with one story last year which meant only 14 stories counted in the contest. With all the great writers that enter, missing one can push you to the back of the pack quickly.

The best thing about the contest is the people in it. We read each others stories all the way through. A lot of fun.
 

I have to admit that most of my writing has been on my blog www.jimdillingham.blogspot.com. It's not the same as story telling but it does satisfy that need to write. I am still a Daily Flash Fiction guy and try to enter that contest 2-3 times a week. The competition has been very tough there lately.

Leger's 15 in 15 contest is starting up in June. That contest takes some dedication but it is worth it. I made some good friends on WDC last time Kim held this contest.

I am working on an entry for the Inspirational Quotation contest. I am resisting the temptation to write the story in the first person. I don't know why, but when I get serious about a contest, the first person pops out first.

I haven't been spending much time on my book but I think that will change soon as business is getting slow.

j
 

I am actually in Biatorbagy right now. It is a smallish village about 15km west of Budapest.

My wife just left for work and the dog has been walked so now I am left to my own devices. I have work to do (day job) and then I have my writing. Writing being my short stories, my novel and my blog (jimdillingham.blogspot.com).

My short stories and my blog are both about 300 or so words long and they both leave me with a good feeling after writing them. There is something about creating that which has not yet been created. What a gift.

j
 

I have noticed that the more I blog, the less short story writing I do. I am not sure why that is. Do I have a certain number of words in me every day? Does blog writing satisfy my writing need?

I am referring to jimdillingham.blogspot.com, not this particular WDC blog.

My blog is starting to get a lot of readership. I have been doing it for about 3 weeks and it is read about 30 times a day. That is about how many times a day my portfolio on WDC is read every day.

I like being read. I think we all like being read.

Anyway, I am still working on my novel. I don't see an end in sight but I'm not worried. I never know what is going to happen next anyway. I feel like I am just along for the ride.

I have a high school reunion this Saturday. Off to Kentucky on Monday. From Kentucky to Budapest on Wednesday. From Budapest to Kentucky on the 26th and then home on the 28th. I should have plenty of time for writing along the way.

j
 

It seems that I am finding more and more ways every day to write. When I first joined WDC (my 2nd anniversary is April 10th), I just wanted to write stories. I have done quite a bit of that. My portfolio now has 398 entries (most are Flash Fiction).

Now I am writing the blog for my company. I have a personal blog. I am working on a book. I have this blog. And I have my WDC contests. I am looking forward to the 15-in-15 contest this summer as well as the 14-7-1 contest.

I may enter the Short Shots contest this month. I have entered it 2 or 3 times in the past and never placed. However, I do need to write another 2,000 word story. Somehow, a novel and flash fiction leave a gap between them in story line-length that only a 2,000 word story can fill.


My Links:
work - www.shift-work.com
rant - www.jimdillingham.blogspot.com
personal - www.jamesdillingham.com
for everyone - www.worldgratitudelist.com
 

I think this blogging and internet stuff in general is finally getting ahold of me.

I have my rant and rave blog at jimdillingham.blogspot.com

I have my personal web site at jamesdillingham.com

I have just set up my business website so I can do online conferences with Webex.

I have just opened up a new site called The World Gratitude List. The idea if for people to go there and post their lists. They can also read the lists of other people. There are four categories: (1) Things I like... (2) Things I am grateful for... (3) I have a dream... and (4) Things I want to let go of...

To visit this site, go to www.worldgratitudelist.com. I would like to hear from you if you have any suggestions about it.

J
 

I have three blogs counting this one.

One is for business. This one is for writing. The last one is for Ranting and Raving in general (jimdillingham.blogspot.com)

I try to write in at least one of them every day.

I have been having a creative dry spell on my Flash Fiction. I have a story but I run out of words or and good ending. It's like I am suddenly realizing after more than 230 entries, that writing Flash Fiction is hard. What may have caused this is when two of my stories were chosen to be reviews by a WDC group about 3 months apart. I don't know if anyone else noticed but I saw, only then, that the two stories were very similar - a hillbilly shoots down a UFO.

This makes me think that I am a one-trick-pony. I need to be more creative and in trying to do so, I am getting stuck.

I won't give up. I am certain that "this too shall pass."

Cheers,

Jim