sent again

There has to be something in persistence--I remember, years ago, reading something by Robert Dana in Poets & Writers about not giving up on writing, on sending one's work out, etc., that if you learn to persist, you will achieve as a writer. I have to remind myself of this as I send more work out to agents--I sent to a group of four this time. I am getting less afraid of simultanous submissions, especially with prose--it seems to take longer to publish prose than poetry. I think my queries are getting a bit better and more streamlined these days. I really appreciate all those who comment on the blog, even though lately I have not been able to get back and respond to the comments as much as I want to.

On the home front, our dog, Faustus (who is half golden retriever and half Chow, and looks like a big golden bear) ended up chasing a coyote through our neighborhood last night, into creeks and out. Mr. Strega was stacking up firewood when Faustus just took off like lightning down the street. Our neighbor Billy (who works night and day on cars in his open garage) told us that there was a coyote trotting down the street and Faustus just took off after him. Mr. Strega finally found Faustus and brought him home, full of burrs and mud. I commented that it's probably time to keep Faustus on the lead every time he's outside--it's amazing how dogs are like teenage kids, grabbing as much freedom as they can unless they're reigned in.
I saw the film Capote the other night (I love the Nickelodeon theater in Santa Cruz--small theaters seem so rare and special to me). Aside from a stunning performance by the lead actor, it really showed the work of a writer's life--the observancy, and the sheer laboriousness of it (one of my favorite scenes is one of Capote slowly and carefully writing in a spiral notebook, sitting up in bed, surrounded by cardboard cartons of paper, which are his notes. His lover, Jack Dunphy, comes in and quietly puts a cup of coffee down on his nightstand (a gesture I really like--Mr. Strega does this for me once in awhile). I think one has to be okay with solitude to be a writer--at least, I've had to get used to it. Besides, being with the work isn't really solitude.

Gotta go drive kids!