Waldorf to your Astoria

Just four more days in 2012... Hard to believe how quickly --

Who the hell am I kidding?

This was the slowest year in the history of man. I don't mean that in a bad way. It just went slowly. To me, last December seems like years ago.

It was a great, slow year:

1.

Tomorrow is the first day of NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. Every November, all sorts of writers take on the challenge of trying to write a draft of a novel in a month.

I'll tell you what, people who plan to vote for Mitt Romney:

I disagree with you, and not just a little. Your support of the Romney/Ryan ticket feels like a kick to the stomach, because as a gay man, this stuff is personal to me.

But you know what? Don't de-friend me.

What would happen at an all-boys boarding school in Massachusetts if an athlete came out as gay?

This is NOT the subject of my upcoming novel, Openly Straight. In fact, it is the setting for that novel, but it is the plot of my first novel, Out of the Pocket.

Today I've decided to be one of those helpful authors and let you know what happens when you attempt to use copywritten song lyrics in your novel.

I have been a highly effective person at times in my life. You don't become successful in a creative field without working diligently. It simply doesn't happen. Likewise, it's about impossible to succeed in any endeavor without concerted effort. I don't mean to brag, but when I'm on, I'm really on.

I woke up this morning thinking about the novel I am working on, BEST OF BIPOLAR DISORDER. There is a fantasy element in the novel. It's the first time I am working with an element of the fantastic in a novel.

This makes me nervous.

So I had a HUGE treat yesterday... I got to have lunch with the former student who served as the inspiration for the character "Carrie" in OUT OF THE POCKET!

I hadn't seen her in nine years.

I have a new book deal!

I've wanted to scream it from the top of a mountain for the entire world to hear for the past couple months, but I couldn't -- not until the deal was signed and official. Well, it is now signed and official.

Chuck said something yesterday that really struck me. It was a comment about how things have changed in his lifetime, especially for gay people.

The novel I am currently working on involves a journey taken by two best friends: Duffy and Aisha.

Duffy is 17, straight-but-different, and bipolar. He has lived his entire life in Billings, Montana.

Aisha is 19, a lesbian, and black.

Contrary to the title, this posting is not about how I used to trudge four miles to school through the snow, and how "The Kids These Days" don't know how good they have it.

Instead, I want to focus on something that I feel "The Kids These Days" don't have.

Sometimes when I start a new novel, I feel like I'm the laziest person on earth.

I'll get an idea and I'll get the urge to start writing. I'll hurry over to my computer and sit down and start typing, and a bunch of crap will come out. Within a page, I'm lost.

My stepfather -- may he rest in peace -- had a saying. Usually he said it in regard to violent "R" rated movies I wanted to see as a kid. He'd say, "Naw, that's bad for your unconscious."

Jim had a way with words.