Sometimes you dig in, give it all you got, and still come up short. The Killer Bees, my Fantasy Football team in its sixth year, lost the second game in a row – despite recording the second highest point total in the league.  The upside is I gained a spot in the rankings even with the loss, the downside is I’ve got to find a way to stop the slide if I plan to get to the playoffs.

The Carolina Panthers, my favorite professional football team, also finds themselves in a 0-2 situation. I’ve noticed that when I have a good season, they have a good season, and when I have a bad season so do they. Maybe we mimic each other due to the fact that I own one of their players (Steve Smith), or maybe it’s some weird coincidence. Even so, last year I had a dominating regular season (like them) and lost in the first round of the playoffs (again, like them). It’s a little freaky.

In other news, I’m reading Shutter Island after the recommendation of a friend I consider an apt literary influence. By literary influence I mean a friend who provides sound recommendations and is available for good, in-depth discussion. Back to Shutter Island, though, and its author Dennis Lehane. May I say for the record that the man is a fantastic writer. Until picking up this volume I had never heard of him (despite his NYT Bestseller Mystic River) but I can promise you he’s now on my envy list. The prose is crisp, concise and descriptive. I’ve flown most of the way through the book and plan to read Mystic River next. Well done Mr. Lehane.

I’ve found an joined a local writer’s group, and although I’ve only been to one meeting so far I can venture to say I enjoy it and look forward to the next meeting. Now I just have to get to the critiques due for that meeting… oh yeah…

As far as writing goes, I’m working on the sci-fi novel I started during NaNoWriMo last year, and editing several other previous projects. The writers in my group will be the first eyes to see the opening chapter of this novel beside my own.