Feb 15, 2009
True confession. The writing—it’s not going so well. Well, that’s an exaggeration. It’s not going so fast. I’ve been in the middle of Edward and Caroline’s book for almost a month. I love them—it’s an ‘Opposites Attract’ story. Caroline is frisky and feisty and Edward is proud and prickly and there are sparks galore. They are the last book of a trilogy, and I’ve been analyzing why it seems so difficult to finish. Mistress by Midnight was done in 6 months, Mistress by Mistake in 4. Am I experiencing separation anxiety? I do have something to look forward to—I actually know what I’m going to write next and am relatively enthusiastic about it even though it’s all very amorphous.
I didn’t start Mistress by Marriage until the beginning of December, so it’s not like Edward and Caroline are withering on the vine, their edges curled, their skin fragile. They’re still plump and juicy. But I spend many of my waking hours wondering just how to get them to their HEA. So far I haven’t a clue.
So I’ve done something shocking. I took Stephen King’s On Writing out of the library. I love this book so much I might have to break down and buy it. Now, I’m the original bumble-around-in-the-dark girl. No helpful hints about craft for me, which explains why I didn’t know about GMC and POV for the first three years I wrote. The book, in King’s words, is ‘snapshots out of focus,’ vignettes of his development as a writer. I stopped reading King’s fiction somewhere during his alcohol and cocaine-fueled years—the books were becoming progressively darker for me and I do hate waking up in the middle of the night wondering if something is under the bed (besides my first three manuscripts). But he is a brilliant writer (my favorite is The Stand) and still married to his college sweetheart, which I love. He includes a poem his wife wrote in one of the chapters, and to me it was a truly romantic gesture. It is obvious he respects her words and her consistent support. Without her partnership, the first few pages of Carrie would have stayed crumpled up in the trash can.
I’ve been thinking a lot about support systems. Everyone who visits here (especially the
Vixens) is part of mine. My husband is convinced without ever having read one word of my stuff that it’s absolutely great (poor sap). My heroine Caroline is a writer, and she’s blocked, too. I believe it’s time for Edward to overcome his prejudices and help her out. So by writing this blog, I may have uncrumpled a page or two. And major, major public thanks to
Elyssa Papa, critiquer extraordinnaire, for reading the first 50,000 words and giving me so much insight into my own characters. I’m bringing her notes with me on vacation this week, where I shall sit by the pool with a drink or two and think about what she wrote. Become inspired. Or drunk. (But that won’t be Ely’s fault.)
How ‘crafty’ are you? Do you know what you’re writing/reading next?
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth
Feb 13, 2009
Come slowly, Eden
Lips unused to thee.
Bashful, sip thy jasmines,
As the fainting bee,
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums,
Counts his nectars -alights,
And is lost in balms! ~Emily Dickinson
May your Valentine’s Day be filled with nectar, kisses and humming chambers.
I generally hate Valentine’s Day, though. I keep having flashbacks to grade school, where the number of Valentine cards you got was such a big deal. It didn’t get much better as an adult. Once my husband gave me a metal table for the basement so I could fold laundry. He has been since warned that practical presents are prohibited. What’s the best/worst gift you’ve ever gotten?
Feb 6, 2009
I woke up the other day—just another morning in Maine. Daughter #2 got us the handy-dandy L.L. Bean weather station which is perched on an old-fashioned oak icebox (very fitting) in the hallway. Without stepping outside and squinting, I could see it was minus 13 F. Daughter #1 got me ice creepers to put on my shoes for Christmas, because one morning I slipped under the car as I was brushing snow off it in my driveway. Daughter #3 put a pumice stone in my Christmas stocking for my dry wintry feet.
Enough. These feet are going barefoot during my school’s February break. All the schools in Maine shut down for a week for the state basketball tournament. Yes, it’s true. And the games are televised. For this old New Yorker, I couldn’t quite comprehend it when my husband told me he’d been on television playing high school basketball a thousand years ago. But I’ve got videotape of Daughter #3 shooting baskets when she captained her high school team, and last year I got to watch my husband make announcements on TV when he served on the Maine Principals’ Association tournament committee. Weird or what?
This year, no one’s playing or announcing, so we’re going to Key West to see Son #1 and Only, and all three girls (and one son-in-law) are sharing a condo with us at the
Parrot Key Resort. I’m more than ready to be stunned by the paradisiacal gorgeousness. It will be the first time in over two years that the siblings will all be together. I can’t wait.
Of course, the last time we went to Florida, there was an ice storm which completely screwed up our travel plans. I need you all to keep your fingers and toes crossed for me that Mother Nature behaves herself on the 16th. I don’t care if we get trapped in some airport on the 20th, so you only have to pray for me once.
How do you feel about winter? Where’s your ideal vacation spot? What should I order to drink?
A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking. ~Earl Wilson
Jan 30, 2009
I hit Wal*Mart the day after Christmas 2008, looking for presents for Christmas 2009. I found a cute Santa mug, a Santa plate, some scented candles and ornaments, and a bamboo tray loaded with bath and body products reduced to $7.50. The tray itself was worth that, I reasoned, and I needed a body polisher bad, not to mention bath crystals and a rubber massage thingy. Yes, I bought it for myself, but when I got home and opened it, there was a curious sticker on all the potions and lotions: Do not apply around eyes or lips. Keep out of reach of children. Hmm. So now I’m freaked out, wondering if I’ll go blind or kissless…or if the poison will go directly into my bloodstream when I nick myself shaving.
There’s been so much talk of dangerous products coming out of China, yet so many items are made there. My Wet n Wild lipstick? Fabrique` en Chine. The wide-mouth thermos my husband got for his lunch? Made in China. My black velour sweater? You guessed it. I read an amusing article about one family who tried to go without buying Chinese products for a year, how difficult it was not only because of prevalence but pocketbook. Things cost a whole lot more when they don’t have those three magic words on the label.
And even if what you buy is made/assembled in the U.S., there’s this: almost 80 percent of the world’s wheat gluten (found in most breads, cakes and cookies) comes from China, and 80 percent of all sorbic acid (a preservative in almost everything) is made there too. I’ll never look at a Twinkie quite the same way again.
In these tough economic times, many people want to buy American, shop locally, shop green, concepts which should be easy but aren’t. Most of us are being conservative with our money. As someone who used to easily spend $25 a week on books, I spend much less than that a month now. I haven’t been to the movies in ages, or out to dinner anywhere fancier than our local Chinese restaurant, LOL. Yum to chicken lo mein and crab rangoon.
Has the economic downturn affected your entertainment choices? Are you buying fewer books/reading less? Got any tips for stretching my allowance? I’m working on a display for the library and looking for ideas teens can use to consume less and conserve more.
And just because I’m hungry, what do you order when you go out to eat?
