Put a leash on that writing bug

On my 26th birthday, I sat in my kitchen with Emma on my lap and shared a heaping bowl of Play Doh ice cream. I freakin' love that stuff. Emma took turns with the spoon, giving me bites more often than she took her own, the sweetheart. I was staring at a blank page and momentarily burnt out with the heavy burden of writing about real life.

Earlier that week, I had been walking the Lazy River at Cherry Hill with my little sister Boston. We were talking about school and boys and I said, without thinking, "It sure is a shame they tore down the old Davis High." I wasn't sure why I said that at first. High School wasn't a bad era but wasn't golden either. I didn't keep in touch with many of the people I'd met during that portion of life or have any desire to attend their reunions.

But physically, the school... yes, the school was a magical place. The orginal Davis High was built in 1914. For those of us not concerned with honors classes or citizenship grades, it was a playground. I spent the majority of my senior year exploring hidden catacombs under the school, climbing in between the old and new walls, finding abandoned rooms and getting my school clothes much dirtier than normal students.

Honestly, the school was a death trap. During my three years, two of the three fires had been started by faulty wiring in the fire alarms.

Reminiscing with Boston, I suddenly realized that I had just given myself the perfect setting for my first novel. I wanted a side project I could work on when plowing through the memoir-induced mental build-up.

With my two-year-old in charge of ice cream duty, Iplunged into the world of fiction. After our third bowl, I had hand-written the conclusion of a book I hadn't started. Later that day, I wrote the intro chapter. I have since taken qualities of friends and acquaintances and blended them into a handful of characters.

Lately, I have allowed myself to get distracted by the pure freedom of blogging. I am sure I will continue to help my self to dollops of blog guacamole to add flavor to the meatier project. However, I wrote this today more for myself than for anyone else. I just read the 14,000 words I'd written to provide the rough frame of a bridge. The supports are in place but construction is behind schedule. It is time to get back to work and start laying down the planks. I will finish this book by Christmas.