Summer and Shorts

Been dabbling in Novel #2 on and off for a couple weeks here. Kind of stalled on it for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being-- holy hell why don't I have any time any more?!?

Summer school started last week, and it's going rather smoothly. I'm overseeing the independent study courses (the kids get their material in books or on-line and have to sit in class to get the requisite number of hours. It allows us to offer more variety with less teachers in a small setting. Anyway.) It's been kind of freaky, like I stepped into the Twilight Zone last Monday. Complete with strange illness. The kids are... working. Really well. That doesn't happen often. These kids aren't in summer school because they're highly motivated, hard-working scholars. Generally.

The only "problem" I've been having is that kid who's taking Algebra 2 on the computer. It's been a long time since I did any Algebra 2. Dammit, Jim, I'm an English teacher, not a math teacher! He's only in my room because there are only two kids in Algebra 2 and the math teacher has the many, many Algebra 1 and Geometry kids. And pre-algebra kids. So, I'm relearning Algebra 2. But even that isn't so bad. Exercise the synapses.

And the schedule's decent. Aside from the whole getting up at 630 in the morning thing. I'm out by 230 get paid for 8 hours (best part). And I get to sit at a computer when I'm not circling the room like a hungry Great White looking for a prey.

So why the hell can't I get any writing done? The only thing I've really made any progress on is a short story I wrote. Took a couple days, but it was nice and short and easy to work on in between circling and breaks and learning/teaching Algebra.

Either I'm bullshitting myself-- which does happen-- or it's easier to hop in and out of a short story than a novel. There's less to recall about what's going on or what needs to happen. Less to scroll through. And it takes less time, overall, from start to finish. I don't know about the rest of you, but that finish line is a great enticement.

I should really get my writing in now... I know that the next five months will not be kind in the free-time department. Someone should really talk to management about working too many hours. But I don't want to get me in trouble.

• Currently Reading: Idiot's Guide to Private Investigators
• Novel and Query Status: both have stagnated and will soon start breeding mosquitoes
• Current Song: Superman by Bush

Don't forget to check out the links to my stories-- I've added a new page to organize and display my shorts. And hopefully my novel(s).