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This blog keeps me in touch with WDC. Jamesdillingham.com keeps me in touch elsewhere. |
| I like to stay in touch with WDC, even when I'm not contributing on a daily basis. My main blog is at jamesdillingham.blogspot.com |
| Here I sit in a hotel in Virginia, checking out the prompts for today's contests on WDC. I live in California but I have only spent weekends there lately. I get home on Friday and then leave on Thursday, Christmas Day, to go visit my wife who lives and works in Budapest. Maybe this is why I write so much, too fill in the spaces between times I am with her. I get there for about 2 weeks out of every 8. My job takes me all over the country and my wife takes me all over Europe. This is quite the life but there are plenty of times when I like to just sit home with my dog. I just went over 8,000 for the number of times my stories have been viewed. It took 8 months to get there. That feels fast to me but I could be the least read person on WDC for all I know. I wrote a story for Flash Fiction a couple of days ago called An Unfair Advantage. It was read about 35 times in the first day! This is such a thrill, to write something that people enjoy reading. My book AWARE was posted a few months ago and did not get a lot of views. After practicing on WDC for a few months, I started the book over, same story just a slightly more polished style. It is getting a lot of reads; reads that I really appreciate. My chapters are short for book chapters, about 2,500 words each, but this still takes a commitment of time by a reader. A few have taken the time to give me detailed edits. I try to return the favors when I can. Off to work. J |
| I am in Texas right now. I will be heading home to California a little later today. This weekend I am home and then I am off to a week in Virginia next week. My plan is to grab the Flash Fiction prompt before my flight and then work on it while flying. I am now working on Chapter 5 of my book. I may finish it today. It is getting a lot of reads. A couple of people in WDC have given me very detailed edits. I always let them know how much I appreciate it. My son is a freshman in High School. He is on the wrestling team and I couldn't be more proud. As a beginner, he loses a lot but he gets back up and says he will get the next one for sure. I love this sport and he does as well. His first varsity tournament is this weekend. He is looking forward to taking on some of the more experienced guys in the county. At the rate he is improving, he just may surprise some of them. Yep ... proud Papa here. |
| There are those that believe emotions are your soul's way of guiding you to what it wants from life. I find myself leaning this way more and more as time goes by. There is something very positive that I feel whenever I write. Sure, I love all of the positive feedback but it is more than that. When I sit back after writing something, I reread it and feel good. Could this be my soul sending me a signal ... write! I am in Texas this week, Richmond, VA next week. I will then be home until Christmas. On the 25th I head out to Budapest to spend the holidays with my wife, who lives and works there. Jim |
| I logged on this morning to find that Octobersun had read several of my stories as well as the prologue and first three chapters to my book. Not only did Octobersun read these but also gave detailed reviews and edits. This effort was completely over the top and I strongly encourage everyone to stop by this generous person's port and read something. This type of participation by Octobersun represents the best of WDC and should be, not only recognized, but actively encouraged. Jim |
| Today I am undercover. I am at DFW airport in Dallas and I have sat in an empty information booth to do some writing. I have everything I need, a plug, a computer a chair and a desk. Unfortunately a giant "Information" sign is hanging over my head. I have yet to go more than a minute without someone asking me a question. I started out saying "I don't work here." It turns out that, as a frequent flier, I can help nearly everyone so now I just act like this is my job. I am having a lot of fun. I have helped three people just while writing this. I will have to wait to get on the plane to do my Daily Flash Fiction. Jim |
| I am traveling a lot this week. California to Texas to Richmond, VA back to Texas and back to California. I need to live in the moment. I notice a lot of people write to come to terms with something such as grief. I think it must work. Wouldn't it be cool if doctors prescribed short story writing to help with healing? I need to focus on my book or it will never get done. I want to see what happens. |
| I am having fun with my personal web site. Yesterday I posted two Flash Fiction stories and two more chapters to my book. I wrote a Flash Fiction story last night called Dance of the Dark Angel. For some reason, I really liked this one. |
| I am learning how to design web pages as a sort of hobby. I have created JamesDillingham.com as a place to post my stories outside of Writing.com. I plan to add a story a day until all 200 or so are on there. |
| I am building a web site for my stories. I will have sections for Flash Fiction, Short Stories and my novel. I hope to put downloadable files where someone can download a story to their e-reader or Kindle. The idea will be to add a story or two a week, hopefully building a small amount of return traffic. I wrote a story for the final Dialogue 500 as administered by Bill Wilcox. His prompt was to write about talking with a child that had died before the parent. While this has never happened to me, I had to envision it as I wrote. I cried the whole time. J |
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