I’m cranky today. The news from around the country on shooters in malls and schools makes me want to cry. And I echo many, many people wondering just exactly what is going on in our world today.

Since I’m not one of those who believe the end of the world is approaching with the end of the Mayan calendar, I have to just keep one foot in front of the other. And so of course, I am here, writing and trying to learn more about writing. It is grounding.

When I was a kid, the nuns told our class a story about St. Francis. He was sitting under a tree reading a book, when someone came up and asked him what he would do if he knew he had only a few hours to live. His answer? “I would finish the book.”

Frankly, as a kid I thought this was proof that saints could get annoyed too. The guy sounded like he didn’t want to be interrupted to me. But the nuns, being the teachers they were, drove the point home. What you do should matter. It should matter enough that you would do it even if you thought you would die soon.

So with that in mind, I’m writing today, even though I know there are more horrible things happening somewhere. It’s just not the post I was going to write.

That post, was an outgrowth of this article from bestselling mystery writer, Lee Child which I think has applications to all genres of writing.

But today, I think it’s enough to just tell you about it. Then you can get more grounded in writing too. You are here, so it must be important to you too.