How I started writing fiction on a semi-regular basis, while trying to practice law.
Contemporaneous notes from a journal I kept while taking a writing class.
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Tuesday, April 23, 1996
My work is not finished. I have got to receive the signed consents from my divorce clients, which I sent last week. Okay, it's too soon to panic, but the sooner I get 'em, the better.
Meanwhile, tonight I find out that the HIDTA program [a program for drug addicts in the criminal system], which I'm considering for a client, will cost too much money, unless he's incarcerated for at least a year. I don't think he'll be too wild about that. I need to get the information from Judge G.
Meanwhile, also, I'm waiting for more info on one client's health insurance. Do they or do they not have a lien, equitable or otherwise, on her PIP [personal injury protection]? That is the question, and sometimes, I feel like I'll never get a straight answer.
I haven't written for days and I feel terrible about that.
Rick was in a shit mood when I came home. The O's have lost six straight. What else can go wrong? Don't ask!
Thursday, April 25, 1996
Rick told me he was depressed today. Why? He says he's tired. I'm tired. I could hardly move when I woke up this morning.
I'm writing at the office now. Why not? I'm not doing it at home. I have a lot to do. It doesn't feel like it, but I do. Can it really be the end of April?
The past week has seen the demise of the daffodils and flowers on the Bradford pear trees, the shriveling of the tulips (at least the early ones), the decline of the forsythia, and the blooming of leaves in various trees. Last week, some of the maples got that red look. The Bradford pears are in full leaf. Our maples (front yard) have new leaves. Same with the oak, with even less developed leaves. The green on the trees just sneak up on you. It's hard to pin point. Now you don't see it, now you do.
What else? There was a weeping tree of some sort (cherry?) that bloomed in early April. Those blossoms are gone now. Now, you see those puffy pink blossoms on those trees with the dark bark and with branches that have kind of an upside-down conical shape. So to speak. Also, this week the dogwoods started to bloom. Today, I saw some with flower petals fully extended. Love those dogwoods. I think the pink ones (puffy) bloomed maybe last weekend. Another blooming time—the ones with the purple flowers that are small and outline the shape of the tree's bare branches. Plum, maybe?
Before you know, they'll all be gone. I love this time of year. The smell of growing grass and leaves invigorates me. That's the difference. It can be in the sixties in the fall, but you don't get that new growth smell. That must be it. (But I digress ...)
So what's new? I'm tired. That's not new. I wrote my vampire piece today. The first draft never takes long. I'm surprised at my ability to write short when I want to.
I wrote letters to my two "favorite" clients—Ms. Y and Mr. X. Please give me your consents by May 6. Please, please, please let's get this over with. Okay?
Yesterday, I got someone at CMP to acknowledge that there's no PIP subrogation clause in my client's policy with them. Good.
I'm still trying to work things out for that client in jail (prison, actually), if he'll cooperate.
I had a list of things to do. Where is it? It's somewhere.
I hope to change addresses on subscriptions. I have to change addresses with the CSTF [Client Security Trust Fund] and MSBA [Maryland State Bar Association]. I have to buy file cabinets, clean the basement, move furniture, move files, books, contents of desk and credenza, move knickknacks, (clock? curtains?) stop ads, stop malpractice insurance, get a PO Box, get a new computer, download files, get a new phone line at home, get a small fax—I'll hold off for now on the Xerox.
