Coffee With David

First, I would like to share an update: I have just submitted a new short story, “The Last Friend,” for publication. Let us see what happens.

Why do I get out of bed after so few hours of sleep to write? Why leave the warmth of my blankets and comforter, disturb my cat who has claimed my legs or stomach to be his bed? Why start the coffee and working when others are sleeping or barely managing to open the morning paper? Why do I rush every meal to finish so I can run to my laptop and await the pain of carpal tunnel to set in one day? Why bother to wrestle with my SLD in written expression?

Obviously, it is not to be rich or famous, so few of us writers ever see that level of success. To be rich or successful, to spend less hours working so hard, I could have been a lawyer, a doctor, or pursued some other profession. Let me be clear—doctors and lawyers (the good ones anyway) work themselves hard and suffer long hours—writers just work longer for less money. Most lawyers and doctors are lacking one thing that writers must wrestle with: that flaky, unreliable, task master known as our muse.

I do not get out of bed because the alarm clock goes off. I get out of bed because my muse has put on a military uniform with three chevrons and three rockers, wearing a “Smokey the Bear” hat and is screaming in my ear to get out of my rack or hit the floor and give him fifty pushups. It is the story my muse is pouring through my mind that creates that annoying itch that can not be scratched until the ink is on paper.

Let me not kid you, if this sounds so harsh and so cruel, there is a pleasure that flows from it as well. I may push myself to hard at times, but the results bring a satisfaction I cannot feel in other things. It is the words I hear from people I know or strangers I met who have read my blogs, heard my stories, or have seen me write “that touched me,” or “ you inspire me to reach for my goals” that truly keeps me pouring ink on paper.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more information on what I am writing and other news.