Ed’s Casual Friday: An Indie Prayer

Dearest Digital Gawd, now available as gif, jpeg, or bit map,

Give me this day a couple uninterrupted hours,

As I swore to myself I would have this chapter done Tuesday, and now it is Thursday.

No wait, it’s Friday. How did I lose a whole day and this thing still isn’t done?

 

Grant me the serenity to just let that idiotic comment on facebook pass by,

Lo, though it is the stupidest thing anyone has ever said, ever, and it vexes me sorely,

And though I have typed a long, witty rejoinder that no one with half a brain could possibly argue,

Just let me hit delete instead of post this one time, and return to my labors.

 

Cyber Gawd, grant me the courage to write with honesty,

Even though technically I’m making all this stuff up.

If that’s what the story wants, that’s what the story gets,

And let not me pull my punches.

 

Oh, Editor Above, please for to make with the grammars and such,

Even when I’m typing really fast, and my verbiage may seem most strange,

And the colons begin to lie down with the semicolons,

Let me sort all that out later, as this is a draft.

 

Great Reviewer on high, grant me the patience to not check sales every four minutes,

Or look for a new review every seven minutes,

Or see if somebody commented on my blog in the last eleven minutes,

Or, in any other way, to Google myself.

 

And, Sweet Redeemer, if it’s not too much trouble,

If you could put something edible in my fridge today, apart from ketchup and cocktail olives,

As I’ve been meaning, but only meaning, to get to the store,

That would be swell. But no more beer, thanks. I’m set.

 

Heavenly Plotter, please touch my characters’ hearts with mercy,

So that they will do what I want them to do just this one time,

Instead of complicating the plot so I’m going to need like two more chapters here…

Actually, strike that, that’s the best part of the book.

 

Most wholly holy of holies, let me not look haughtily askance at any of your creations,

Even if they end in –ly, or are otherwise misshapen.

For to everything there is a season, and a purpose under heaven,

Even adverbs.

 

Big Space Pooba, grant me the wisdom to distinguish

The bits I just happen to love, from the bits that actually move the story forward,

And give me the strength to ix-nay the loved bits sometimes,

But not every time, as this is not Paint By Numbers.

 

Let me write one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking the world outside as it is,

While having the world in my head and heart as I would have it,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy in the next.

 

Amen.

 

———————–

As always in closing, an excerpt from a real one-star review, of a real book, by a real reader. Though actually, this was an entire one-star review.

“I hate historical novels.”

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

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M. Edward McNally is the author of the Norothian Cycle books: The Sable City, Death of a Kingdom, and The Wind from Miilark, and multiple free short story volumes titled Eddie’s Shorts. He has been writing for twenty of the last thirty years and does not recommend the ten year spell of writer’s block in the middle. Ed is a contributor at Indies Unlimited (IU Bio Page) and tilts at his own windmills over at http://sablecity.wordpress.com/

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Author: M. Edward McNally

Epic fantasy author M. Edward McNally is a North Carolinian of Irish/Mexican extraction. He has a Masters in English Lit from ISU and Russian/East European History from ASU. He grew up mostly in the Midwest along I-35 northbound (KS, IA, MN), and now resides in the scrub brush surrounding Phoenix AZ, where the scorpions and javelinas play. Learn more about Ed at his blog, and his Amazon author page.

30 thoughts on “Ed’s Casual Friday: An Indie Prayer”

  3. Amen and Hallelujah!

    p.s. I'm still sniggering at the cocktail olives coz my fridge has a big pot of chicken soup. Want some?

    2. Good to know I'm not the only one with a wall of inspiration! I like the idea of adding this to it. 🙂

  13. For to everything there is a season, and a purpose under heaven,

    Even adverbs.

    McNally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Great post. Now, stop checking you IU comments and get to work.

  16. Pingback: Ed’s Casual Friday, An Indie Prayer « sablecity

  21. Awesome, McNally,

    Are you trying to compete with Mader??

    I too, would love to know your favorite beer.

    Thanks for keeping it fresh.

  22. The beer facts:

    Every time I'm in Ireland, they mock me for drinking Harp, which the locals refer to as "Harpic" – the name of a toilet-bowl cleaner.

    Can't help it though, nice clean lager. Guinness is just too heavy, like drinking wet cement.

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