Now that I’ve said as much as I care to say about the 2010 season, it’s time to start looking forward. This is subject to change according to life and what not, but here’s the general idea at least through the end of the year:
- Mon: I Almost Prayed in Albuquerque — When I drove from San Diego to Cooperstown for Tony Gwynn’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, I chronicled my trip in the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual. I had it in my head to turn this into a book-length manuscript, but writing books (ones that are worth reading, anyway) is hard work and I set the project aside after a couple of chapters. This is the first chapter, which covers the first day of my trip. It runs about 4500 words, which I’ll spread out over the course of 8-10 weeks. I’ve gone back and forth on whether to publish this, but I think it holds up and I’m pretty sure I’ll never finish the book, so what the hey.
- Tue: I’m keeping this spot open. I may use it, I may not.
- Wed: Me, Elsewhere — This will continue to be my regular spot at Hardball Times. I’ve got some fun (well, I think they’re fun) articles in the works.
- Thu: One-Hit Wonders — Sixty-five men have collected exactly one hit as a member of the Padres. We’ll look at every one of them, five at a time, starting with Ed Acosta and ending with Jaret Wright.
- Fri: Friday Links — You know ‘em, you love ‘em. They’ll be here like they always are.
I’ve committed, so now I have to deliver. I tell you these things because otherwise I’ll spend the next few months sitting on the couch, staring into space. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (and not that I won’t do some of that anyway), but life is short and the off-season is long.
As always, I look forward to what you bring to the plate, Geoff!
Obviously, writing is your forte, so never give up on writing books, Geoff. I know it’s hard, I tried to write a sci-fi novel once, but after agonizing over the outline, the title, and the first paragraph, I gave up. It turns out my limited talent is best suited to writing three-paragraph comments on blogs.
But you’re a professional writer, and you never know when one of your books makes it on Oprah, and her audiences tend to look for other books written by the same author. Even if it doesn’t sell initially, that tendency to go back and look over previously published work could lead to additional revenue later.
My advice is to judiciously limit time-wasting things like work, finances, home life, and those little details of everyday life that get in the way of writing. That’s what all the great writers did, minimize the distractions and concentrate on putting one word inevitably after another. You have to do what writers do – write!