Because the Cards told me to...

As many people know, this year I made a commitment, a pledge, more or less, to write this goddamn novel, the one I've been working on since 2004, just get it out and get on with my life. The idea is that I'd have a finished draft by the end of the year, something I could finally have in hand, something I could workshop around, something a bit more real and intact than just a banker's box full of journals, files and newspaper clippings.

That sounded like a rant. Maybe it was. Moving on.

My first order of business was to take everything I had done before now, everything since 2004, all the journals, files, bits of wayward notes, put them in a box and shove them to the back of a closet. I was going to start fresh, start without an eight year old decaying albatross hanging around my neck.

Oh, it was going to still be a Travis Dare story, still TPIG and all the same characters. I just wanted to go back to the beginning, back to where things were fresh and see what could happen.

And, so, I started...another journal.

You see where this is going, my friends? Oh, yes.

And, as a person with my sort of delusional mindset tends to do, I consulted a higher power, a little oracle I keep in a green felt bag dotted with sparkly gold stars. My Tarot cards. I'm a pretty good reader as anyone I've ever read for will admit and many times I just feel a pull to...well, pull a card from the deck. It's always something very...interesting.

For instance: one morning as I was leaving for work, I saw a butterfly caught in the remnants of an old spider's web so I freed it. Afterwards, as I went to my car, I saw a caterpillar struggling to cross the driveway. Not wanting to squish it, I picked it up and put it in the grass. As I got into my car, my cat jumped over the fence and ran towards the house. Dammit! I got out of the car, opened the door and let the cat inside. That's when I got the pull. I figured, what the hell, I was already late for work so I pulled a card: the Empress. The Mother Goddess card. Ha, ha, Universe. Very funny.

See what I mean?

Anyway, tonight I pulled a few cards. My intent? Just guidance, nothing special, just a little nudge. I pulled 6 of Pentacles (squandering talents), Ace of Swords (gift of intellect and communication), Ace of Cups, (gift of spirit, a start of a new adventure).

In a nutshell: Get off your ass, princess, and just start writing the damn book.

And....there you have it.