Writer's Blah-ck

I had been feeling pretty good about my writing progress. My goal is to complete a historically accurate novel about the first quarter century of my dad's life. My family is so lucky that Dad took time several years before his death to write many little stories about his childhood. Not only are they an insight into his personality and family, they are a treasure of information about early 20th century rural American life. My job is to weave the little scenes Dad left into a coherent story that covers the period from 1920 to 1945 or '46 when he completed his tour of duty with the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. I'm not finding it too difficult to tie the stories together, but I'm not at all happy with the quality of my writing. Hopefully I'm just being hard on myself. I am early in the process and have a number of rewrites ahead. At this stage I should be satisfied to gather historical information to intertwine with the sketches to give the story authenticity. I should be satisfied.

Today I mailed away to the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. to get the visa necessary to enter the country in January. It's so weird to have to mail your passport, but that's what's required. I used Express Mail, so hopefully all will work out.

During my walk through town today I noticed that more and more businesses are closing for the season. I understand from talking to locals that between January 1st and the middle of April, the town is very, very quiet. I hope I don't get cabin fever! I will have to make sure and shift my focus to include more exercise in order to chase away winter blues.

Random photo: Sunset in Vineyard Haven this evening from my front yard