It's really Monday already? And practically April? How is this possible? I have been having the most disturbing dreams lately - all of that annoying sort where you are trying to do something (get to class, get to work, add up sums, clean up a yard) and you can't get the job done. It's all very Sisyphean and to say that I am sick of it is an understatement. If I knew what what was driving my subconscious up the walls then I would do it but I have no clue - could be writing (which is progressing slowly), could be cleaning or doing photo albums or....heck. I don't know. I have stuff I want to get done but being haunted each night by the not doneness of it all is really not helping.

Seriously.

I'm flummoxed as to what to mention here. I have sent the interview questions off for one of my SBBT interviews in May. I will send the second this week and possibly a third. I'm not sure about doing the third (although I likely will as I think the author would be fun.) So that seems to be adequately under control.

I'm writing about Jack Kerouac who was French Canadian and from Massachusetts - just like my family. Although I am still not a huge fan of On the Road, I understand the book better after reading about him; I understand where he was coming from and that explains why he wrote what he did (and did what he did) a lot more. And, well, that's really all I can say about that right now.

I'm finishing up a book on the Colorado River and water shortages in the west for Booklist. It's very well done and impressing me a great deal - this will be an easy one to review (more later). Just finished Carrier by Bonnie Rough and will be reviewing that (hopefully for Bookslut). It has given me a lot to think about but in a good way (although also a bit heart wrenching.)

I'm also reading Beth Kephart's The Heart Is Not a Size and Gayle Brandeis' My Life With the Lincolns. Both likely for the June column (May is SFF). Beth in particular continues to impress me with how seriously she addresses the difficulties of teen life. It's so annoying how you are treated like a child on the one hand but constantly bombarded with the pressure of not screwing up the rest of your life on the other hand. It's a crazy paradox when you think about it - and no way to deal adequately with both. I think this is the area Beth navigates so well with all of her YA titles. She has really carved out an interesting niche for herself that I don't think anyone else handles so well, or so completely. Looking forward to writing about her book for sure.

I guess I feel poised on the edge of getting things done, if that makes any sense. And maybe that explains the dreams? I'm about to dive thoroughly into the writing project, about to give myself over to this new idea (the western book) completely and thoroughly. Odd how the more you get a handle on where a project is going and what it will entail, the more nervous you become. (You would think working it out -and I've never worked out a book so much ahead of time as this one - would relieve the pressure. But alas, no. Nothing relieves the pressure.) Nothing to do but work through it. And the photo albums too. Really no excuse for not having those done.

Oh - look at what Jenny D. got in the mail the other day! Can't wait to read this one!