Explanations and a Baring of Soul

I'm not sure how many people are still looking at this (or even care), but my few loyal readers have undoubtedly noticed my lack of posts since the spring. I've had almost no new posts since April, and the few I have had have been either uninspired or postings of previously written pieces. There's a reason for this.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I had a tragedy happen in my family this past Mother's Day. My uncle was suddenly and senselessly killed on a street corner in a suburb of my home town of Kansas City. You may have heard about it. Even with the limited grainy video from the local gas station security cameras there was hardly any evidence to work from. As of this writing there are no suspects and no significant progress has been made since that first month. (Anyone interested in learning more is welcome to visit http://www.helpharrystone.com/)

While that alone warrants an amount of time for mourning, my reasons for not writing for so long are a bit more complex. You see, one week before the tragedy, I had started working on the latest entry to the Harry Cleese series, which is my adaptation of the twelve labors of Heracles to a mafia crime drama (If you haven't checked it out yet, please do). That particular entry was to be an adaptation of the capturing of the Erymanthian Boar; a story better known for it's sub-plot then the primary events. In the original story Heracles seeks counsel from his mentor Chiron who is senselessly killed due to an unforeseen series of events. Due to the family tree of the Greek Pantheon and the fact that this is a mafia family story, I wrote Chiron as Harry's uncle.

I know it was impossible to know this would have such aching parallels, but I still feel a great deal of guilt for the story. As a result, I haven't been able post the entry, out of respect for my uncle's family's feelings as well as my own. Furthermore, I don't think I've been able to produce ANY decent pieces since stopping the Harry Cleese series. I need to change that.

I once had an amazing writing teacher who taught me that writing makes great therapy, but therapy doesn't always make great writing. I realize that's a little of what I'm doing right now, but I think this is necessary if I'm ever going to create any more decent pieces. I think it honors my uncle more to continue my work in spite of his passing rather than stopping it in mourning. Expect the next Harry Cleese soon.