Editing and Art Festivals

I printed out my first novel the other day. All 271 double-spaced pages. These pages include all that I have written over the past years on Panhistoria that wonderful site that got me started writing about Nefertiti and my male counterpart Nakht-Set. I have since put aside Nakht-Set's story and have been devoting my time to Nefertiti and her brood. My only problem with that is that I can't seem to get beyond the first draft.

You see, I get so far then go back and start to read what I have written and make corrections. So my first dozen pages are killer but the rest... well, let's just say that there are serious gaps in the narrative.

So that is why I took the time to print it all out. I wanted to have those awful gaps stare me in the face so that I could devote the time and energy to them and leave well enough alone. At least until I have the full first draft complete. Good luck you are probably saying. You see I have the word procrastination tattooed on my forehead. In fact I catch myself talking myself into just forgetting about the whole thing! I think it's a Gemini thing. One side of my brain says "write, write, write," and the other side (the evil twin) says "ah, just go watch TV or play that cool new app on your iPhone!" Even at this very moment I am trying to put down the laptop to go outside and check on my horse... not that I need to, noooo, I just have this problem with sitting and working for more than 10 minutes at a time... attention span of a fruit fly.

The horse is fine. Yeah, I went out and checked on him. It's f'ing hot out there! Las Vegas in May is like any place else in the dog days of summer.

This weekend I have the honor of competing in a Chalk Art Festival. It is here in Henderson which is kinda like a suburb of Las Vegas. This is the third year that they are having it but my first competing. I have been lead to understand that the Rotary Club, which had been the hosts in subsequent years, is not hosting this year. And because of that fact a person that has never put on one of these chalk art thingies is running it. I shudder to think about it. Oh, and I haven't decided on the artwork that I will be drawing. Sigh... Here are my choices:

1. F. Schommer's painting of Alexander Taming Bucephalus. Wonderful BLACK and WHITE (did I say black and white?) copy of Alexander the Great and his big black horse Bucephalus. I want to do this but like I said, it's in black and white and I can't find the original painting anywhere. Nowhere. Nada.

2. William Bouguereau's painting entitled Charity. It's absolutely lovely. Ethereal. Stunning. A glowing woman holding to infants against her breast. Sigh... boring.

3. Sebatiano Ricci's The Fall of Phaeton. Dramatic colorful rendition of Icarus in the sun god's chariot plummeting to earth. It's number 2 on my list but I am afraid that there is too much going on and I would have a difficult time completing it.

Well that is the line up. I'll let you know on Monday what I chose and how I did... Oh, I almost forgot, there will be a People's Choice award. That's where the public votes for the drawing they liked best. But the rub is that it costs one dollar ($1) to vote!!!

See you Monday.

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