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Talked to Ronn via IM tonight after finding a really cool writing program for the Mac called Scrivener. Here are the results of tonight:

Scrivener

I think I'll give this writing software a try. It looks to allow me to keep my notes, my outline, and my synopses organized and in plain view; something that I liked about RoughDraft. This may be a piece of software that I actually buy rather than substitute with free versions.

Synopses

Writing a short, one-sentence synopsis of my story is proving difficult. Mainly, it's because I don't have the story fleshed out in my mind. This is actually helping me generate ideas, though.

Well, Ronn and I had our first call regarding the writing of our next novel (each writing his own). In this call, we discussed the stories we had in mind to write -- or at least the germ of ideas that we have that will need to be turned into a story.

For Ronn's part, his story about angels, nephilim, and their interaction with us mortals sounds to be very interesting. It has a lot of potential for conflict (both physical and interpersonal) as well as the examination of several emotions (such as love, longing, responsibility, and indecision).

I think talking about it helped the ideas gel a bit more in his mind. I tried to add some suggestions, and ideas from a reader's perspective -- what to conceal, when to reveal -- and how the characters might interact.

So, I was IM'ing with buddy Ronn the other night and he tells me he has the writing bug. As is usual with our friendship, once one of us has a bug, he wants to spread it. He's trying to infect me.

I've been interested in writing for a bit, likely inspired to fiction by Ronn, way back when. So we've decided to have a weekly chat via Skype to talk about writing; what to write, how to write, when to write ... characters, scenes, settings ... the whole shebang.

I realize I'm addressing this a bit late, but this is definitely a good read of how the Iowa Supreme Court made a fair, level-headed, and well thought out decision in regards to their constitutional definition of marriage:

Iowa's Gay Marriage Decision: What it Says and What it Means

I highly recommend you read how this decision "so clearly, cogently, and conscientiously dismantles and destroys each and every one of the arguments that the anti-gay forces have made — and continue to make — against sex same marriage."

Looking through the lens of my new secular viewpoint, I stopped to think about the meaning of the holidays -- why should I continue to celebrate them? What do they actually mean to me?
The winter holidays are a celebration of death and of life, of ending and of beginning, and ultimately, of hope.
Winter is a time when snow blankets the life of the land, when only pine and fir trees show the promise of spring in their enduring green. The end of the year is near, all is quiet. Winter is a time of waiting.
We wait for spring, for the earth to renew itself, for plants to bud, for the world to grow green with new life.