Winter is when I dig deep, get the most and best writing done. There's something about the cold and dark that narrows the focus, reduces distraction, makes me turn inward. But already I yearn for a warmer sun, some green to push through the snow.I have so many different projects in various phases of undress, yet when I come home from work, eat dinner, hang with the kids, I'm so exhausted I can only write in my head.
Just charted out this year's travel:
--February: Washington DC (AWP)
--April: Washington DC (Disparities in Behavioral Health conference)
--April: Boston (Muse and the Marketplace)
--April: North Carolina (see my mama!)
--June: Seattle (AcademyHealth)
--June: Charlotte, NC (General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association)
--June: West Virginia (cabin in the mountains for a week -- yee-haw!)
--July: Redwood, California (my BIL's tying the knot in a winery!)
--August: ????
--November: Boston (Gerontological Society of America and Thanksgiving with family)
--December: North Carolina (see my mama again!)
Travel exhausts and exhilarates, clears the clutter from my head.
The Writing... I love working on this latest revision of novel #1. Some heavy-lifting -- rewriting one voice from present to past tense -- but mostly it's all about the writing, the style, the right word. The best word. The last few weekly flashes have spilled on the page, almost effortless. Nice for a change. I'm getting itchy for a new novel, though. But then there is PURE to revise... sigh...
Still working on a chapbook of prose and poetry, a few contests to enter and conferences to apply to, and yes, pulling together a writing portfolio for graduate writing programs. Shoot me, please -- am I really contemplating going back to school at my age?
The Reading... Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout) left me homesick for New England, and with a twisty unease in my gut. Beautiful, lush book of connected stories. The underbelly of a quaint Maine town. Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult) kept me on edge for the two days it took to me read. I keep dreaming of the characters, they've stuck with me. Next up? A few anthos...
A tired post. But a happy one. Peace...
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Hi Linda. How are ya? Busy, I see. You're right, the ravel sounds exhilarating - what an exotic life you lead. And I don't know how you even think about writing after a long day of work, dinner, kids, homework ... ack.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about winter.. it does make you sink in. I used to love putting on my ski-doo suit and burying my body in a snowbank, just watching the blue sky and feeling all snug on my wintry couch .. that is, until the snow melted under my butt, then things got a little cool. Wonderful to hear you're pursuing your writing and your reading. And thinking of going back to school? Lordy.. wish I had an ounce of your energy. If school's what you want, of course go for it. Life is too short.. fill it with the things you love.
Writing, reading, travel - three of my favourite things. I often wonder how you do so much. Superwoman. Enjoy the travel time (especially visiting your mama), and the best of luck on your writing and revising.
ReplyDeleteAh girls, my life is way too busy and I would give much to slooooooow down. Mucy of my busyness is driven by the day job. Hence my 5 year plan, which is almost 1 year in. The school thang also is a necessary bit of The Plan.
ReplyDeleteSuperwoman? Hardly. Lots of stuff suffers, like the house, my friends, other pleasures. I am sure yout toilets are clean. Mine are not.
I am overwhelmed with the travel, to be frank. But I'll breathe through it.
Cathy, flopping backwards into snow sounds divine and centering. I will try it when the next decent batch comes through, which may be... tonight! Peace...
Wow Linda, but you are one busy lady! The only part of travel I enjoy is reaching the destination and reveling in it; the actual traveling part is horrible for me because of my fibro, and we always drive, never fly, so it takes forever to get wherever we're going because I have to take so many breaks.
ReplyDeleteI envy you the week in the mountains this summer! For some reason my husband and sons always feel we Have To go to the beach for summer vacation, and of course it's always right in the middle of July, the hottest time of year, and we are literally sweating the whole week - how I'd much rather be in a cabin in the woods! But, we do live in the mountains so I guess going to the beach is reasonable. Where in NC is your mama? We're on the tip of VA, bordering TN and about an hour from NC - Boone, about 3 hours from Asheville. I'm hoping, in fact, that I can talk the guys into going to Brevard, which I Love!
I've read both Olive Kitteridge and Nineteen Minutes. It's been a while since I read Nineteen Minutes, but I remember it giving me nightmares for weeks. It is exciting, you can't put it down, but oh how it made me scared to death for my kids! And I enjoyed Olive a lot, mainly for the language.
Gosh, I've written a whole post myself! Guess I'd better hush up. :)
Enjoy all these fabulous adventures in your life Linda!