I went to a Learning Annex class last Thursday given by a New York publishing agent. I went with my new friend from work, who I found out is also a writer. The seminar was so informative. The agent said that at publishing house grades a writer on how well they execute the idea of what they wanted to write about. I never thought about writing this way before, but it makes so much sense.

You have an idea for a story, and the story is the written form of making the idea come to life with characters and a plot. It's like problem solving. How do you get from point to A to point B in the most entertaining and logical way possible. Problem solving is what I do for a living because it comes easily and naturally to me. If I think about writing my stories this way, I think the process will become easier. I was thinking I could ask myself at the end of each chapter, did I execute well the idea I wanted to get across in the chapter or at this point in the story. If the answer is yes, then the chapter is finished. If the answer is no, then I know the chapter needs work. Each chapter and even the plot can be run through the same process. Does the plot and each chapter execute the story I want to tell. I think I could even think about my characters using this process as well. Does my description and the actions I have the character take execute the idea I have for the character and type of person the character is.

I am excited by this new idea of story writing. It makes sense to me and it gives me confidence in my story writing, because I know I'm a good problem solver. I've been told I'm very good at problem solving at all my jobs, and if I can just transfer this business/job skill into my writing, I think I will be in good shape.

Alright, I know it's been a long, long time since I've posted but I'm still around. It's been an exhaustive February.

Work was crazy! I had 100 emails to deal with when I got back to work on that first Monday. This last week was the first week at work that I think I finally got all caught up.

M-Square and I are on the rocks. I think we will always be friends but our future is pretty non-existent at this point. He has so many problems, most of them having to do with work I think. It's hard to have a relationship when your work life is so precarious. I've been there and know what he's going through. You can't really think about being in a relationship when you're not sure if you're going to get paid from week to week. Financial issues are the death of most relationships I think. Ah well!

The best part of February is I have been doing a ton of reading, and even wrote a little bit.

House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende - what an amazing book! I loved Clara and the magical realism of the whole book. What an amazing story! She is definitely one of my new writing muses. I will have to read all of her books.

Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon - this was his first novel and I hated it, really hated it! It was so darn boring. I had to force myself to finish it. My guy, from screenwriting class whom I had a serious crush on, recommended the book. Maybe it's a guy book, meaning it's something a guy would enjoy, but I sure did not. I hate when people recommend books that I end up reading and then conclude at the end that the book majorily sucked! A really good friend of mine recommended I read "The English Patient", and was even quoting passages out of the book with her sister. What a sleeper! There's another book I had to force myself to finish. The movie was definitely way better than the book, although I heard in a lecture that Robert McKee thought the movie totally sucked and didn't but the story at all.

Blue Lattitudes by Tony Horowitz - I bought this book to read in Hawaii, but never finished it on my trip. Tony Horowitz is an amazing writer. I loved "Confederates in the Attic" and just knew I would love this book on Captain Cook. There is a Captain Cook monument in the town where my highschool is located on Kauai. Back when I was in highschool at Waimea, there was even some huge celebration on some anniversary of his landing and there were representatives from his birthplace in England there. It was such a big deal on my island that year.

2nd Chances by James Patterson - the man is an amazing storyteller. I couldn't put the book down and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love books that I can't put down. I don't normally like crime fiction, but I can see why his books sell very well.

The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne - this was an amazing book. I loved the way it was written and I loved the characters. The storyteller in the book had such a sense of humor. And much to my surprise, it was quite the romance! I was expecting more of a gothic horror novel, and I suppose it was, but it was also such a cute love story.

The Alchemist by Paul Coelho - J and M from my writing group recommended this book and they were so right - this is an amazing book. It is so spiritual and I am so relating to Santiago right now especially with regard to my writing, since I sincerely believe being a paid writer is my "personal legend". In the beginning of my writing journey, writing every day came so easily. It's called "beginner's luck" in the book. But these last two years have been pretty hard and I've had to struggle daily to have any enthusiasm to write. I know I lost my focus on my personal legend, having been consumed with my new job in 2003 and then trying to have a relationship. But I have been at my new job for two years now, and although I still do not have the relationships of my dreams, I found out in these last two years that my heart is still open and that if I balance my life I can still pursue my writing and still have a relationship.

I watched "The Corpse Bride" on my flight back. Talk about a weak story! I started getting so annoyed with Johnny Depp's character, which is a not a good thing for a movie audience. You couldn't root for this character at all. I kept thinking if they only flushed out his character better, then the movie might have been decent. I was very disappointed with this Tim Burton movie, very disappointed.

It's becoming increasingly hard to read the business news. GM and Ford are laying off tens of thousands of people. Kraft is laying off people as well. How many more layoffs can the country take? People keep saying that how well General Motors is doing is an indicator of the rest of the economy. Well, GM is not doing so well are they?

The scuttlebutt is that Ford or GM will merge with a japanese automaker. Boy, that will interesting won't it?