I started reading Nicholas Sparks' "Message in a Bottle" this morning. Yes, I know, the man is a like such a sappy happy writer, but I love his books. They are easy to read on the train, very engaging, and reading it is like watching a soap opera. The guy is like a male Danielle Steel, and I used to have such a thing for her books.

I read "A Walk to Remember" and I was surprised how good the book was compared to the very boring movie. I never fall asleep during a movie, but I fell asleep several times to the movie version of the this book. I liked the book and how he wrote it in first person so much, that I bought it used at a bookstore so I could use it for reference as I write my novels in first person.

And no, I will not rent the movie but instead wait for it to come on TV. I don't want to be disappointed by another bad Nicholas Sparks movie adaptation.

I have screenwriting seminar tomorrow and I haven't done a bit of writing. Breakups are bad for my writing muse. All she wants to do is moon about and long the lost of her love. Still it must have that been that bad of a breakup because my kineseologist whom I saw today, said that he noted that my immune system was working quite well which meant to him that I was not experiencing much stress or emotional trauma. So much for the trauma of a breakup with a man I was prepared to move to Lala land for.

So I am comforting myself by watching A&E's "Pride and Prejudice" on DVD which I just purchased today at Costco for $16.99. It was such a good deal that I had to purchase it. I videotaped it but the DVD unlike my videotapes have no commercials.

I am also being quite domestic and cooking some corned beef and cabbage in honour of St. Patrick's Day. I had the dish for lunch at Max's yesterday which I thoroughly enjoyed and since I love the dish, I decided to make it myself so I could eat it my fill. There is something very yummy about salty boiled meat and veggies. It's such a hardy dish.

But I supposed I should write something to take into my seminar, even though I am so over screenwriting and want to concentrate on writing novels instead. I think this is the last class and I will not be renewing. I really like this screenwriting group; they are such nice people. Two people in my group have their screenplays circulating around Hollywood right now.

One of the screenplays is a horror movie and the other one is I believe the female version of "Brokeback Mountain, which I understand Hollywood producers are hot on the trail of.

I did make notes to rewrite the beginning of my screenplay, and I suppose I could write a few pages to take to my seminar tomorrow.

I'm not a very good writer I dare say right now, even though I have been doing freewrites.

I love having money! I know that sound awful, but it's true! I just paid off my trip to Hawaii and a store credit card that I used to purchase my whole new wardrboe last year, and YES, it feels so good!

Of course, my fantasy is that one day I'll be able to pay cash for stuff like a vacation and that cash will come from the money I earn from publishing and selling my stories. That day will come soon, but until then I'll pay my bills over time like everyone else in America.

I am happy with myself. This is my third day of doing timed freewrites. I have not written three days in a row in a long time. I even have the goal of finishing the last chapter of my Texas novel this week so I can say "I completed a novel, yeah me!"

Tonight's freewrite started with "I remember" but this time a character came through. Some kind of science fiction character talking about meeting alien invaders for the first time as a young girl in her father's court. The alien invaders were all beautiful men, strong and dressed in white jumpsuits with silver capes. They had silver hair, and they had the power to read thoughts. Once an alien invader reads the thoughts of a human, they are then able to tune into the mind of that particular person and once they tune in they can control their body reactions and functions. It's not quite mind control, but the aliens are able to manipulate body reactions. It's kind of cool because the manipulation of body reactions can make a person think they are experiencing a certain emotion, when in fact they might not be. I like it because it's creepy and interesting at the same time.

Think about it. If you see a person and have an excited reaction, wouldn't you kind of think you were attracted and lusting after the person. What if that weren't true? What if the body reactions you were experiencing were being manipulated by an outside force? It's not exactly mind control because they're not taking over your mind They're just manipulating your body's response to stimulus to suit their own ends. And how would you catch them? How many people know their own mind and body well enough to know when the two are not feeling and thinking the same thing? Very few I think. Of course, someone will catch on eventually. But by then it will be too late.