Book intensive care

I skipped a post last night. I really wanted my 2015 plans to stay at the top for a little longer. I’ve gathered some good comments, a few more via email, and a few victims volunteers who asked to read Will ‘O the Wisp. Thank you, everyone.

I must have gathered up over a hundred new blog followers during December. I had a lot going on, and was hosted by quite a few nice people. My stats show a lot of traffic flowing between my blog and In a Small Compass. With the new followers in mind, I’m including this link to the Entertaining Stories Primer.

I used yesterday to finish reading a book and posted a review for a fellow indie author. With today all to myself, I headed for the writing cabin.

I wound up buzzing the runway to scare off a wooly rhino. I didn’t want to run him too hard, because winter is tough on wildlife. The skis on my gyro-copter made the landing much smoother. The elevator carried the ‘copter to the basement, and I trudged upstairs.

Lisa* was washing the little alien shotglass she brought me, along with the enchanted beer horns. She had her hair pulled back between combs and wore her calf length jeans and high heels. She topped it of with a baggy pink sweatshirt.

“That green glass looks custom made for some absynth,” I said.

Lisa scowled at me. “You have a visitor. One who gets jealous when you hang out with the green fairy.”

My back stiffened, and I knew I was in trouble. It had been months since I’d added new words to my work in progress. I grabbed coffee and headed for my main office to face the music.

Lorelei** was hunched over the couch, crying. She wore medical scrubs, and had her hair tucked under a matching cap. She tucked a tiny blanket around something and waved over her shoulder toward the fireplace, which immediately burst into flames. “There, there, baby. It’ll be alright. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Um, what is that? Is it sick?”

“No, it’s dying of neglect.”

“Is there anything we can do for it?”

“Do you really care?”

“Yeah, what is it? How can I help?”

She stood, turned, and placed her hands on her hips. “It’s your manuscript, if you still care.”

I slid into my recliner and sipped my coffee. “What do I have to do?”

She cradled the little manuscript and tucked it into the crook of my arm. “Even though it isn’t finished, it’s still a book. Just read it. The more you enjoy it, the healthier it will get. Books thrive when they get read.”

I read the first page, and the manuscript wiggled. “It likes it. Would it like us to read aloud to each other?”

“It would adore that. I’ll stay for an hour, then you and Lisa will have to carry on.”

I cupped my hand around my mouth and yelled down the hall. “Lisa, get in here. We have a long afternoon project.”

* Lisa is the main character in Wild Concept. She is a robot and helps me around the writing cabin these days.

** Lorelei is my Muse. She gets cranky, but maybe she’s justified this time.