Seamus Bellamy

I was having a hella hard time trying to lock down an opening for a MacLife feature due tomorrow. I’ve never believed in writer’s block, but for some reason, pounding until it fit just wasn’t working today. There was nothing for it but a jaunt out to coffee up, iPad, pad of paper and my preferred pen tagging along for the ride.

While it tends to take me longer, there’s something about churning out pages in longhand that brings order to my cluttered hard. Letting me work through the thick brush of a literary rough-spot with a machete. What ever x-factor scribbling holds for me over pecking away at a keyboard might be, I’m thankful for it. The feature’s first draft is near complete, allowing me to turn my attention to other needful clients and, eventually, my damn novel.

I wrote to Walt Mossberg today to see if he’d mind offering up a few comments on a feature I’ve been pecking away. Did I get what I was after?

Hell no.

Was he good enough to write me back almost immiediately, sparing me hours of speculation over whether or not he’d be sitting down for a bit of a jaw-wag?

You bet.

I must say, there is nothing I appreciate more than common courtesy. Mossberg’s taking the time to politely turn me down as opposed to simply ignoring me shows a level of class that, in my opinion, the world of journalism, PR and general skullduggery could use more of.