Thursday, September 1, 2011

Part of Me

Well, it's that time of life again--I've finished writing a novel.  It's the second time I've finished this book, which happens to be the second book I've ever written.  It's an interesting sensation.  Things have changed since I last finished a book--I've changed.

Ragged Edge made all the difference.  I've been more positive and had a better outlook on life ever since Tennessee.  People now know the truth:  I am a writer.  It has changed the way some of them talk to me, and for the better.  Now, there is a better chance for certain people to touch on topics they know I would find interesting.  There have also been moments where silly things have happened (with my encouragement) that I can plead "writer's insanity" for.

    Ex.  The other day I was having a discussion with a friend of mine named Molli.  A gentleman friend of ours walked by, and Molli shook her head with a smile, asking "Oh Ryan, what do we do with him?"
My response, which will surprise no one who knows me, was to say "We could always kick him."

Had I been speaking to anyone else, this remark would have been chuckled at and we would've moved on.  Molli, however, is the type of friend who is a writer's dream.  Her big blue eyes lit up and she sat straighter in her chair.  "Can we?" She asked me, grinning from ear to ear.  "Would he get mad?  How would he react?"
These are the type of questions that every writer jumps at the chance to answer.  With Molli plucking the chords of my interest, I urged her forward, telling her if she kicked him I would observe the process.

We approached Ryan, beginning a benign and casual conversation in which he asked us if we would join him in an endeavor he was going to undertake.  With our responses being light and positive, he turned slightly, his attention diverted.  Molli amped herself up and kicked him in the shin--not hard, but still enough to bring his attention back around to us.  I can honestly tell you that his reaction was NOT one I had ever expected.
 "Huh?  Did I do something wrong?"  He wasn't angry, wasn't off put, but instead had believed HE had wronged US and so been attacked.

We had a right laugh about it, Molli and I.  People fascinate me.  I love to see them react to strange occurrences.  I love my friends for putting up with my oddities.  Most of all, I love the support I receive from both writer and non-writer friends.

I finished a book.  That's where I started this rant.  The book is done, and maybe one day it will be published for the world to read--that is my goal, after all.
As I also said, things have changed.  Before when I finished a book, I would fall into some sort of haze.  I didn't want to write, I didn't have any more story.  I just wanted to recharge. Now, though, it's killing me that I've finished and I haven't written anything else in the last 24 hours SINCE I finished.  I can't wait to get back to it.  I love it.  It's part of who I am.

That being said...I'm going to go write now.  I don't have the time to be blogging.  I need to do what I love.

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