Cheesy Smile

Jimmy. My grandson with the cheesy smile, at least that's what his mother says he inherited from her, who am I to argue . . . Gotta love it!!!

What can I say? I've come down with the flu/cold/jungle-rot or something less exotic. Still, Chapter 7 awaits no man and I will be getting into it today. I will be working on it later on in the day. I hate to keep belaboring the fact that I don't know what the hell I am doing with the writing of this memoir of mine. It is taking me some time to make peace with myself for not using dialogue to help carry the book. But I have looked at other memoirs and they pretty much stay with the narrative. It's just that it is so very difficult to break old habits. I am hoping, and will try to work towards that end, that when I finish the second draft I will be able to have someone edit it for me who knows what the hell they are doing. I want this book to be my crowning achievement in my writing life.

No, it is not ego which has me saying this, it is just that I want to record, faithfully, the days of my life (sounds like a soap opera, huh?). Or rather the high and low points of it. The so-called experts say there is one big no-no in the craft of memoir writing. That no-no is do not start at the your earliest memory and write everything you can remember down. I understand the point, but in my case, as in a lot of others I imagine, you have to speak of your childhood, because that is part and parcel of who you are. My take on it is this, although I am beginning my story at a very young age, I am telling it in my voice of old age. Also, I am trying to interject some well-learned wisdom here and there as I go along. Or even stopping the flow of the story to dwell on something which needs to be dealt with.

Misdemeanors & Felonies is going to be, as I mentioned earlier, my crowing moment in my writing career. Whether or not it will be written well, that remains to be seen. One thing it will be is straightforward, cutting through the bullshit to tell it like it was. My reason for writing the book is, as I have also said, for Patricia, Candence/Paula and Nick, plus Jimmy, my grandson because my actions reached out to touch him, however slightly for the simple reason that Patricia is his mother. Sure, I hope other people will want to read it and I imagine there will be some, you know, the people I know either personally or through the Internet.

A preachy book Misdemeanors & Felonies will not be, but if one reads it they may come away with some life's lessons learned. At least I hope so. When writing anything so personal as Misdemeanors & Felonies there must be moments of awareness of life's problems and maybe even ways to avoid the pitfalls our psyche leads us toward. If written correctly this story of mine will not be just that . . . A story . . . Rather it can be a road map with all of the hazards on that road plainly marked, life's land mines identified for the reader to absorb and understand and maybe it will help him in his journey. I'm thinking of Jimmy here.

Is that ego talking? That I am so self-centered that I think my pitiful words will make an impact on my grandson? I don't think so. I think it may be wishful thinking, because I know that life rises up and begins to slap us around when we start easing into our teenage years. So if there is one line in this book that will save Jimmy (and others) pain and suffering the book will have been a success. So you see, Misdemeanors & Felonies, in my opinion, and if I can write it correctly, will be much more than only the addled ramblings of an old man about his checkered and sometimes shameful life . . . Absolutely . . . See you tomorrow . . .

MY NOVELS:

Write To Murder . . . http://www.lulu.com/content/956621

Margaret and David: A Love Story . . . http://www.lulu.com/content/1072842

My Mother's Revenge . . . http://www.lulu.com/content/1132742