The End is in Sight

Well I officially finished my first draft with re-write and basic edits last Friday. I printed my first copy, which was a massive pain in the _ _ _ because I ran out of, not one, but two ink cartridges. No worries though. My final draft is just over 111,000 words and I have today begun making revisions based on my husband's feedback after he read the final copy. I will say that I am living in the most wonderful writers retreat ever encountered, well technically it is not a writers retreat, but it is for me. We're renting a gorgeous chalet style house on Lake Ann, it has lovely balconies, a stone fireplace that stretches two stories and is nestled between 12 windows that face the lake. Our kitties are running amok as usual and Will, my husband, is taking this time to read and catch the fleeting rays of sun before summer bids farewell. I have been reading a lot this summer as well and will include a short list of a few of my favorites; The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (absolutely phenomenal), Just After Sunset by Stephen King (some chilling short stories in the batch), The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett (quick enjoyable read), Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett (completely unforgettable true story), The Guy not Taken by Jennifer Weiner (for a mindless escape), and You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates (loved every second of it). Okay that will be all for now, but soon I'm sure I will be blogging about the stress of writing a decent synopsis.

June Has Arrived

Well it is June here in Michigan. Generally a time of warm weather, sunny skies and finally green, rather than brown, vegetation. This year, however, has not been so promising. We've had a lot of rain and wind and uncomfortably cold days. I've been living at our little island up north and my husband has spent most of his time collecting wood and building us fires to battle the bitter wind coming out of the north. Not very pleasant. I have made progress on the book. I've passed the 86,000 word mark and am forging my way through the end. I have not begun to edit or even re-read my manuscript, but luckily bad weather on an island leaves little else to do. My schedule for today includes a lot of article writing, picking up some new material at the library and brainstorming the next scene in my book. So I'll sign off and hopefully make it back a bit sooner than usual. 

Consistency is not my Forte

It has been two months since my last entry. I'd like to say that's outside of the norm, but nope, it is the norm. Not that I haven't been writing, I have. In fact, I've passed the 50,000 word mark in my book and I've done some articles and short stories, but I've been so busy elsewhere I've all, but forgotten about my blog. Will and I went to Arizona for two weeks, then I spent a week in Traverse, then we just got back from Chicago, so, in the very least, I've been gathering good material. Right now it's going on midnight and I hate to say I am still drinking coffee; however, the creative juices are currently drying up. So in about ten minutes I'm going to be extremely wired, but not have enough brain energy left to do anything useful. Truth be told, I'm not too worried about it. On another note, my husband and I saw Elizabeth Gilbert speak in Chicago. I just finished her book "Eat, Pray, Love," which was very enjoyable. What I really loved about this book was how it invoked so many feelings: humor, sadness, empathy, motivation, excitement, inspiration. One of those books that not only entertains, but also enlightens. And what's truly amazing is just how many people it touched in this way. It did not simply speak to a small group of readers, it touched masses. In addition to this book, I've been reading almost non-stop lately. In the last month I've read Valley of the Dolls, Eat Pray Love, A Density of Souls, Cigarette Girl, Bird by Bird and several others that I'd have to check my shelf to remember. Obviously I've been doing a bit more reading than writing, but hey, all in the name of honing the craft.

The Snow is Suffocating Me

It's 8:30 am. I just worked out and feel sufficiently exhausted. I would love to cool down with a walk outside. Just an easy stroll down the street, let the heart rate slow, breathe in some fresh air. The problem? There's two feet of snow on the ground. I'd have to shovel a path to even attempt to walk and that would not exactly slow my heart rate. So instead I'm inside. Now the snow is beautiful, it really is, but it's driving me insane. It has been a near constant for the last 7 weeks. I miss the sun, I miss warmth and grass and anything green other than pine trees. I'm sick of looking out to a sky that matches the ground exactly. But on a positive note, the snow can be good for writing because it's nearly impossible to get motivated to leave the house. I stretch the days between grocery shopping, I workout at home and incidentally I log a lot more computer time. Nevertheless I am ready for Spring or a vacation very soon.

To All That is New - Including the Year

It is 2009! I have given up waiting for such supposedly important things to sink in. Like birthdays, anniversaries, even deaths. Each so fraught with meaning and yet they never seem to fully penetrate the psyche. Instead we just trudge along, gushing about out daily nuisances and hardly aware that we have entered an entirely new year of our lives. Everything that happens for the next 360 days will be punctuated by "in 2009", not 2008 or 2001 or any of the other years that have come before. No this is the year of 2009. Wow - that was completely anticlimactic. I mean really, I said it like it was important, but I felt absolutely nothing. In fact, some days I feel as if I have not registered the changing of a year since high school, back when years actually felt like years and not like a series of stressful weeks tied to together with a fraying rubber band. I am generally not a fan of New Year's resolutions, I prefer to be a person who believes that I change when I choose to change, not simply because people are speeding to the store to stock up on recumbent bikes and protein powder. Despite, this denial of resolutions I often find myself making them. Not out loud really, just little sidelines to myself. Like I am absolutely publishing a book in 2009 or I vow to cook more this year and miscellaneous other plans that somehow feel do-able because I have an entirely new year in which to do them. So I guess that is what this post is all about. My New Years Non-Resolutions. 1). Publish a book - even if this means writing for a target audience of two year olds. 2). Cook food that does not have a layer of black on the bottom, does not stick to the pan like adhesive and someone other than I will eat. 3). Take vitamins - in so many areas I'm good, I'll workout, I get in the veggies and water, but the vitamins are an endless challenge. 4). Do Not Return to my Job- this is a big one, I left to write full time, which means me writing daily and actually making money, no writing at 7pm after I'm so stressed from rush hour traffic that I'm double fisting a bottle of Vodka and a can of whip cream. Okay that's it - 2009 here I come...