I called to wake Carole at six this morning. She was already up and checking for messages on the computer. A google alert had come through with a mention of my name in a New York Times article. The story was on a friend of mine from another prison, Joe Reddick. The reporter had written a story about Joe’s publishing experience. He authored fiction from the urban genre, and his exposure in the New York Times ought to help his work. It was generous of Joe to have given credit to both Carole and me as an inspiration.
Writing is therapeutic for me, and I feel privileged to have helped a few others develop writing careers. Besides Joe, I’ve mentored many men who used the pen to share their stories with others. This book project that consumes me now will illuminate the work of several prison authors with whom I’ve worked over the past several years.
I began writing this morning at 3:15 and I feel pleased with the progress I’ve made. I ought to have a draft ready to send Carole for typing by the end of this week.
The rewrite will take a lot of time. I have written about 4,000 words, and I expect to conclude the sample chapter in less than 2,000 more words. Once I write a draft of that final section, I need to make more edits and rewrite the entire chapter to make it more legible for typing. At this stage of the process, the draft remains rough enough that it’s for my eyes only.
In the morning I enjoyed a wonderful exercise session. The sunshine allowed me to run without my shirt. I finished 10 miles, boosting my tally to 1,066 miles in 121 consecutive days. Then I followed the run with 430 pushups.
As I exercised, I thought about the possible transfer to Sheridan Camp. There will be drawbacks, as the Pacific Northwest weather does not appeal to me as much as Southern California. When it’s hot there, rules may prohibit me from exercising without a shirt. The potential access to e-mail and more visits with Carole trumps the weather, however. This manuscript would be a lot easier to work on if I could access that computer.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
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