As much as I have enjoyed working with The Oxbow Outfit and The Troupe, and meeting so many new and interesting people (and making some good friends along the way), I realize I have been neglecting my writing terribly. I am currently in the process of re-editing my Augustine Chacón manuscript for content in preparation for submitting it to a new publisher. This should have been done months ago. I can't help but wonder if my lack of diligence in this regard is why said manuscript has heretofore been refused by the publishers I did send it to. I was told my manuscript was "good" by several acquisition editors. Still, I cannot help but to wonder, if I had completed this second editing, if it would improved it enough that it would have been regarded as "great," and accepted for publication prior to this.
I know myself well enough to know that I often involve myself in too many projects at one time. I currently have a stack of books I intend to read upon my shelf. I also have several unfinished drawings on the table, and an idea for another manuscript rolling around in my brain. I have so many interests - writing, research, reading, theater, music, drawing, leather-crafting, shooting, etc. - and so very little time to dedicate to them. Having to both work and sleep (how I envy Voltaire his capacity to sleep only four hours at a time), and take care of all those mundane tasks which are necessary to our daily existence, it is impossible to devote proper energy to all these pursuits. I have also learned, if one does not devote reasonable time and energy to a chosen avocation, one never will master it. And I detest not becoming adept at a thing.
This being the case, I often find I must re-evaluate and re-consider what I am devoting my energies to. For the most part, I given up leather-crafting, not because I did not enjoy it, and not because I was not becoming proficient at it (can't make a western saddle, but I can construct a pretty good holster and cartridge belt rig), but because it was too time-consuming, and I wanted to devote my energies to other pursuits, namely writing and promoting my books. Writing is, after all, my abiding passion (with drawing running a close second), so it was necessary to put this occupation aside. The same is true of my venture into theater. This pursuit, though enjoyable, has taken too much time my writing, and so I am inclined to put it aside.
My friend Dave Holmes a.k.a. Professor Panacea (in the bowler in the picture below) has taken over The Troupe and continues to soldier on. I will continue to be involved with the group, but only in a peripheral role. I will be performing in his shows as one of his regular actors, and writing the occasional script, but this will be the limit of my involvement. There will be no more directing or producing or the like. Temporally, it is too costly. I can't afford it. I must devote my time, that which I have availel to me, to my writing and the continued promoting my books, as this will be my lasting legacy on this earth.
In spite of these good intentions, just yesterday, I picked up a Spanish textbook, and wondered if I could manage to learn the language.
Squirrel!
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