A hundred trillion years ago, when I was an impressionable young man, someone older and wiser told me that if I didn’t have a regular quiet time every morning, I might as well invite Satan over for breakfast. Since I was Someone Who Always Wanted to Do the Right Thing, I decided I had no choice but to comply (besides, everyone knows Satan eats all the crispy bacon and only leaves you the floppy pieces). Here’s what my journal would have looked like if I’d kept one in the days that followed: Day 1: During my quiet time, I prayed. Mostly that I would have a good quiet time. Then…

So, yeah. About the roaring silence. Sometimes the best-laid plans…etc. Life has sent a few (significant) unanticipated challenges and changes my way recently. And these things aren’t about to go away. So… I’ve had to make the difficult decision to re-direct my energies from this site to the Real Life Stuff. I’m well aware that the way to build an online audience/platform is through regular, uninterrupted blog posts. And that just isn’t going to happen here. Not for a while. But rather than shutter everything and write it off as a fun three-month experiment, I’ve decided to leave the blog right here. When I have a writing window, I’ll finish…

Since you’re super busy writing your entry for the “First and Last” contest I announced on Friday, I won’t fill this space will heady writing wisdom that might otherwise distract you from the task at hand. I will offer a question for you to ponder. Which would you choose to tell your real life story: a non-fiction memoir, or a novel based (loosely or tightly) on your life? And why? That’s all for today. Don’t forget to write… your entry for the contest.

Yes. There will be a new post on Friday. Expect it to be only slightly brilliant. The project that has been stealing my time has also been stealing brain cells, so I don’t know what will spark when I finally rub two meaningful synapses together. You have been using your time wisely, though, haven’t you? I mean, that novel is at least 2000 pages longer now, yes? Good. See you tomorrow. Or really late tonight if you consider “after midnight” tonight instead of tomorrow. Back to the brainsuck…

…but I hope to be back soon. Sorry for the silence. Lots of entertaining posts in the queue, I promise. Until then, go write a book.

It’s been a long week. My brain is scrambled, my heart more than a little broken. But I didn’t want to leave this page blank, so here’s the “One Friday Thing” promised in the title: All novels are love stories. Discuss. I’ll tell you why I think it’s true next week. Thanks for stopping by. Now go tell your significant others “I love you” and have a good weekend.