Tag: Life

Vacation Milestone

Leave a comment

Husband and I took a short vacation to the beach.  It was WONDERFUL!  I’ll tell you a secret…

The weekend after Labor Day is a really great time to go to commercial beaches.  There are so few people there, you could pretend the water is your front yard!

*I keep having to stop myself from using all caps on certain words.  Ever since I did it with “wonderful” up there, my fingers want to continue with other words I would normally emphasize in speech , like “great” and “your”.  STOP IT, Hands!*

I have a book idea in mind that is set in a beach community with a tourist season–commercial, but in an “I want to experience living on the water and then eat in a fancy restaurant” kinda way rather than a “I want to shop in an outlet and swim in the hotel pool with a view of the beach” type of touristy way.  Or maybe a mixture of both.  I’m not sure yet.  Anyway, the trip helped get a grip on the atmosphere I want to create.  I do think it will be my next project.

This was our last vacation with just the two of us.  We kept talking about what we would do when Clay gets here, what fun we would have, how while I sleep a bit later, Husband can take him to the early breakfast restaurant his dad (and Clay’s namesake) took him to when he was alive.  It was like a partial scouting trip for future adventures; the other part was nothing but relaxation and connecting with Husband even more.  The Baby is coming in 8 weeks, so every hour or so he would ask me if I was okay–sooner if I got a funny look on my face or if I dazed out in thought or exhaustion.  It was wonderful–I’m in such a peaceful place (she says as she scurries to make a phone call she forgot to make earlier in the day).

When we got home at 3:30pm, I began cleaning: laundry, sheets, vacuuming, baby’s room, unpacking, master bedroom, etc.  At midnight, I made myself get in the shower and prepare for work the next day.  Husband was preparing for his Western Civ class into the wee hours of night, so I just kept going on auto pilot until my feet told me, “NO MORE!”.  Is this nesting or nerves?  I don’t know.  Either way, I hope it happens again.  I could use a couple more days of it to get my house in tip-top shape before I get immobile. I am massive now, or at least I feel that way.

Now, I will stop procrastinating on writing Thank You cards and get to work.  Blah.

Also, I will leave you with this.  I hope you think it’s cute instead of creepy.  I think he looks like he is smiling…

 

To Husband:

Leave a comment

Happy anniversary, my Hunka Burning Love!  I wouldn’t change a second of the past 7 years with you.  And if I had to choose between life with you or never being able to thrift store shop again, I would walk away from GoodWill…to the Incredible Hulk TV show theme music (aka saddest music in the WORLD) but walk away I would.  I love you that much!

July 30, 2005

Reassignments and Birthdays

Leave a comment

Originally, I thought this Blog would be about strictly writing and/or how writing effects life.  Now, I’m realizing that the purpose of this blog has expanded.  I realize that life affects writing more so than writing affects life.  I don’t want to neglect the writing process or experience at all, nor will I as I discover new aspects and tricks of the trade; however, the question remains: how can one write about life if one is not living it?  So, maybe I created this Blog for writing–yes–but living is a huge part of that, so I see no reason not to document these experiences as well.  Which I have already begun to do…But now, I do it consciously.  Also, the name of the Blog extends nicely to the addition, so maybe it was meant to be all along.  I think it’s really neat to acknowledge growth as it happens, even if it is within ourselves.  I hope y’all don’t mind.  Maybe I’ll tag these types of post something like, oh I don’t know, “Life” so if you don’t want to read them, you can skip them.

*********

My birthday was at the end of July, and I had very low-key, sweet mini-celebrations which, I’ve come to learn, is the best way for me to celebrate my birthday–or any occasion for that matter.  I like being able to visit with groups of friends and family on different gatherings rather than rushing from one group to another at one large gathering.

So, Husband organized a gathering of some friends, he, and me to go to my favorite Irish Pub for dinner (mine food looked like this:)

And we had cookie brownies at our house after.  Great night!

The next weekend, I had a surprise dinner with my Mom and Dad.  My parents have 7 kids at their home, so to get just them for a few hours is a present within itself.

Dad cooked some amazing smoked chicken, okra, and rice and gravy.  I only have a picture of the chicken, though.

And mom made my all-time favorite sushi.  The kind I grew up on.

I love this picture because you can see her hands making it in the top right corner.  Completely unplanned but adored.

It’s so easy to convince yourself that you are under-appreciated, unloved, unspoken for.  Thanks to all my loved ones who took the time to tell me differently.

Living This Pregnancy

1 Comment

My writing partner had a baby!  Congratulations to Amy and Harry and her new addition, Harrison! He is absolutely beautiful, as we all knew he would be.  I had high expectations, when I found out I was pregnant, for my productivity level, and now I’ve discovered that I have fallen behind, which at first discovery made me sad.  But then, I realized…I absolutely LOVE being pregnant.  I love the look in Husband’s eyes when he sees/feels the baby move.  I love the conversations Husband and I have.  I love the conversations Baby Clay and I have when no one is around.  I love petting my belly as if he could feel it.  I love the way others get excited for our situation.  I love the preparations, though tiring, that we are making to our tiny, old house in anticipation.  I love the way I don’t care about petty things and how I don’t want material things.  I love transitioning into this new level of adulthood.  Yes, there are important things on the back burner currently, and I look forward to the day that I reposition them to the front.  But right now, I am LIVING this pregnancy.  And I don’t feel bad about that.  Who knows if I’ll get another chance?

And now… a photo montage:

Snuggly Pups

Love Him So

Stow Away in Front Door Wreath

Puppy Love

Apprentice

Preparations (No More Carpet/Hidden Surprise!)

At 20 Week Ultrasound (It’s a Boy!)

26 Weeks and Counting…

Write On Con and Other Things

Leave a comment

Last year I found a very inspirational and beneficial online writing conference while I was searching for an in-person writing conference.  I was planning on attending a writing conference this year, but priorities and goals altered a bit since baby making is now in process.

By the way,  our baby is a BOY and his name is Clay.

In 13-ish weeks, Baby Clay will be outside of my belly and motherhood will commence.  I’m very happy/scared witless about this.  I tell myself that it’s a good thing that I’m scared, that I wouldn’t be a good mom if I didn’t care enough about my child to be apprehensive.  I don’t know if this is true, but it’s currently how I get by.  I’ve read lots of books and advice online, and I am sure that instinct will take over.  Oh! And Husband and I have raised two dogs, so surely, combining these things will prepare me for…you know…not harming him.  Here’s the deal:  There will soon be this tiny, innocent, precious life whose survival will depend on me.  That’s a lot to take in.  And I love him so already, and if anything/one were to hurt him, most particularly if I were to hurt him, I would be beyond devastated.  Woah, that got heavy.  Let’s move on.

The conference is free and all you have to do is sit down at your computer and take in all the knowledge.  Professionals from all over contribute, and I learned a lot about writing and the industry, as this time last year I was just getting super serious about my book.   Everything is archived as well, so if you have to work (like I do) you can check it out after.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who put this online conference together and, without further ado, the link:

WriteOnCon

Enjoy, y’all!

Happy News

Leave a comment

I know it seemed like I dropped off the face of the earth for a little while there, but I promise I’m alive and kicking.  In fact, I’m doubly alive, if one can be, because I am now housing another living being.

See what I mean?  This also makes me doubly tired…and nauseated BUT SUPER HAPPY!  Husband and I have been married for 6 1/2 years, and now we’ll have three children.

Here are our first two, Winston and Gabby:

 

They’re going to be great siblings.

And thanks to ya’ll for letting me gush a bit.

On Writing–

So, my March 31st deadline for the rough draft is coming up quickly, but as I explained in a past post, I’m going to have to alter that. What better time than the present?  Answer: None that I know of.

I have about 19,920 words with which I am rough-draft happy, which means that I have approximately 70,080 words to go.  I think I could conceivably move the rough draft completion date (Goal #5) to August 1, 2012, leaving extra room for preparations and vomiting.  Yes, that’ll do.

This is going to move my yearly goals around a bit as well.

Goal #6-revised: Complete revisions by October 21st.

Goal #7-revised: Ready query letters and publisher packets by December 17th.

I hope these changes will stick, but I don’t know how Blue (what we call Baby because when we found out he/she was the size of a blueberry) and I will get along these next few months and beyond.  Hopefully, swimmingly.

How about you guys?  Are you on target?  Falling a bit behind?  Have some news to share?!

On Showers, House Elves, and Basements

Leave a comment

I thought with Husband away for the week, I would be able to pour words on paper.  HOWEVER, I’ve squandered my alone time catching up on all the Husband-unfriendly movies/shows that I’ve wanted to see.  I still have tonight, Thursday, and Friday to reinstate my self-control. Will I prevail or sink miserably in the lake of self-pity?  Tune in next week to find out…

On Writing—

I get really good ideas in the shower.  The problem is…I am in the shower, without pen and paper.  And even if had access writing utensils, I’m covered in water.  So I’ve pondered ways to solve this problem (none of them very good):

-A voice-activated recorder.

*The sound of the shower would initiate recording.  Also, I sing there.  Loudly.  Tonelessly.  Nobody wants to hear that, not even me.

-Have Husband or house guest accompany me to bathroom and jot down inspirations.

*Unfair and impractical.  Plus, what if Husband is unavailable or I don’t have company?  Back to square one…

-The best option I have so far is–duh, duh, duuummm–Employ a house elf.

*I think we all know the problem with this option, but just in case…  *whispers* They don’t spell well.  Besides, I’m a muggle.  I can’t hire one anyway.

Thankfully, I do remember the idea of an opening scene for another book idea.  It’s plot is developing.

Side Note:  I have folders dedicated to each book idea, so I can write it down and tuck it away until the appropriate time.  I have a feeling I would combine all my characters’ traits if I tried to write more than one novel at a time now. Maybe when I’m more practiced… I just imagined a nebulous, cloud-like character blob, a concentrated fog hovering in my fictional little town.  *Mea shutters* Definitely one book at a time for me.  My attention deficit tendencies writhe in agony, but I will not yield.

It’s really the poetry that suffers from lack of writing apparatus in the shower.  I speak the lines, feel the rightness of them in my bones, and then immediately forget them.  I can’t help but think that it was the most amazing thing I’d ever write, and that it’s gone.

Do ya’ll remember the episode of “That 70s Show” when the characters think that they come up with the most incredible ideas while they are, um, sitting in a circle in Topher Grace’s basement?  Then, they record their conversation, and it’s all so very stupid?

I just applied that to me and the poetry/shower paragraph… and laughed.  So. Hard.

Later, PenPals!  Too, cheesy?  Yeah, I’ll work on that…

Memorial

Leave a comment

I’m going to try to write a bit today, but I’m having a bit of conflict.  I want to write a short story concerning someone who has passed a year ago this month.  I don’t have regrets or guilt or spite, nothing but love and mourning, but knowing that he’s not around and believing it are two different things.

I talked to my mom yesterday.  She knows someone with the same terminal illness and was asking me questions about the signs of departure.  I was glad it was a phone call.  I thought she was being callous at first, but as I thought about it, I don’t think she knew how close this man and I were. In the eight years I knew him, I had adopted him as a paternal figure and loved him as unconditionally as he loved me.  Of course she didn’t know.  I couldn’t tell her that.  She is very close to her friend who will die soon, and she just wanted to know how to prepare herself, how to make the situation as peaceful as possible.  I’m not angry anymore.

As people who write, we know that writing makes us pry into ourselves, for good or ill.  Am I ready to face this?  It would be inevitable if I chose him as subject matter.  Do I want to stop knowing and believe?  Even now as I write this, just alluding to him…

I think I need to postpone my memorial story.

Another day, then.

Picture Window

Leave a comment

Here are the pictures I’m considering entering.

                                                 

When Crabs and Spiders Collide                                                       Train a Child

                                                  

Tennessee’s Hill – Vintage                                                                  Tennessee’s Hill

                                                 

Ringside Blues                                                                                     Welcome to Progreso

                                                

Facing a Phobia                                                                                   Crescent Clouds

      

Children’s Shoes                                                                        Brick and Metal

As Old as Coke

Learning Curve

1 Comment

Husband has been sick since last Wednesday, and yesterday, he started feeling better.  I’m a much more content person now that he is smiling and mobile.  I can do all the stuff that needs to be done at home, but it’s much more fun when we do it together.  When I got home last night, he was in the middle of cooking a batch of Caribbean Corn Chowder, looking all sumptuous with his cutting board and recipe and enameled cast iron pot.  I joined in, dissolving bouillon cubes and peeling sweet potatoes.  Our pups were running in and out of the open back door.  It was such a nice night.  We also cooked a batch of Sopa de Lima (Lime Soup), which I highly recommend.  Why so much food?  The soup goes in Ziploc bags, and we freeze them for handy meals during the week.  I love our little life.

On Writing—So, I’m discovering that I have learned so much since I’ve started writing a year and a half ago.  The writing from then to now on FirstBook is, gently put, unrecognizably the same person’s hand.  Unfortunately, that also means that as I am re-reading what I’ve written, I’m finding the plot is stable, but the delivery is poo.  I’m basically starting over.  Last week, I drastically rewrote and extended the main character’s introduction to her female counterpart and setting, developing their friendship in a truer-to-life way.  Also, I changed the scene setting and dialogue of the initial meeting between the female and male main characters.  What this means is that of the approximately 30,000 words of completion into the first draft I vainly announced in a past blog, I’m happy with 6,353 of them, give or take.

This is a hard realization.  Stranger still, I’m surprised at my reaction to this epiphany.  I am having a really difficult time being sad about this.  I think it’s because I REALLY, TRULY love what is happening in these scenes.  The result of the last few weeks’ writing has shown the most potential than anything I’ve written before.

So I’m not as far along as I thought (hoped)…  So I may have to rethink my deadline…

What I failed to insert into my formula when I created my deadline was the learning curve.  I am LEARNING how to write a proper novel while in the midst of writing.  I have online authors whose blogs I follow because they are so generous and kind to share HOW they write.  I’ve learned and continue to learn so much from a (paid) course developed by an author that helped with my organizing my ideas, developing good plot, and understanding my creative self. My writing partner is amazing and offers encouragement and comfort.  I’m finding my voice and my style as an author.  I’m BECOMING an author.  The transformation is in process, people.  I’ve hit novelist puberty with this project.  By the time the revisions are through, I’ll bet a nickel I’ll be in novelist early-adulthood.  Any takers?