A couple weeks before Christmas, my side of the family blew apart.
Without going into details, the fact is the whole family dynamic shifted. The drama was a long time in coming, but unexpected in it’s method of arrival, and certainly didn’t end in a satisfying way for much of the family. Really, when do these things ever?
Over the holidays, the family and I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and all agreed (even the teenager who isn’t a Lord of the Rings fan) it was an excellent movie.
I was excited F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was a novel my daughter’s English class was reading this semester. Last year, when her class read my all-time favorite, To Kill a Mockingbird, she and I had wonderful discussions.
I wanted to repeat the experience.
Now, it’s been many years since I read Gatsby. I decided this time I’d read along at the same pace as the class and get the benefit of their discussions in talking with my daughter later.
We skipped the party this year but we did the yard haunt.
I just wish the weather would cooperate. It was cold and snowed – yes, SNOWED – though, happily, it didn’t stick.
Well, sort of. The kids are back at school and I have all kinds of time to write. But I’m not. Or, at least, not as much as I could.
This summer is going by in a flash! At least that’s the way it seems to me.
Pffftttt. Gone. See-ya.
I apologize for being AWOL here, folks. So much has been happening I’ve found it difficult to get on the internet. I haven’t been here, on Twitter (much), or reading other blogs (so sorry to the folks whose blogs I used to comment on regularly). I joined a writers’ social network and didn’t get past: “Hi, I’m E.K. Carmel and I write epic fantasy fiction…”
I’ve been reading, though, and managed to write a couple book reviews on Goodreads.
Oh, and I’ve been watching the Olympics, jumping up and down and cheering for my favorites and sometimes for athletes I’ve never heard of before, but whose personal stories are so incredible. Gotta say, it’s quite the vicarious energy boost.
And, as expected, my family has been keeping me on my toes – or at least on the roads.
Despite all that, I’ve made progress on my novel. I’m learning to grab whatever time I can early in the morning and throughout the day. Honestly, I have to because I’m fried by the time the sun goes down.
I’ve completed most of my revision course and am finally at the “cutting” stage. Yeah!!! But I have so many new scenes to write, it’s disorienting when I speed through ones that only need minor touch ups, then slow down to write new material – speed up – slow down – speed up – slow down.
I now consider it a good writing day when I emerge from my room and have to shake my head and focus before I understand what language the natives are speaking.
Anyway, I hope you all are productive and successful in whatever endeavors you are striving toward.
My mind has been breaking off into different directions this week and I couldn’t settle down into one specific subject to post. So this will be a mashup of thoughts and links.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved listening to people tell life stories. Sometimes it’s just one-on-one and other times it’s gathered around the dinner table, living room, bonfire, whatever.
For many people, exposure to life stories first begins in their own families.
Growing up, I had two very different exposures to this.
My husband lovingly calls it “vomiting on Mom.”
My mother used to call it “telling about your day.”
I call it “necessary evil.”
I’m in the middle of writing the last quarter of my novel and things aren’t going so well.
