Sad

Hard day.

Terror in London, fear everywhere else.

Makes my little problems even punier. Makes me feel like a jerk.

Met with my writer’s group for the last time (officially) today. It’s not like I won’t see them ever again for the rest of my life. I know that. But I’ve been meeting with them for more than a decade and that is over because I am moving in 23 days, and the distance will be too far. I wrote about my group a couple months ago, if you’re interested.

We cried during group and shed a couple tears at lunch. Another member of our group is moving this month, too, and a third is moving homes, though she’ll still be able to attend meetings. The sense of change, of forever good-bye and overwhelming sadness darkened our lunch table. I am trying to hold on to the positive, to be grateful for the incredible friendships this group has offered me, the wisdom I’ve learned from all these women. It is hard to imagine what my life would be like without them.

I need to pack something. I’m off to New York City tomorrow.

Muttering and scribbling

Pay no attention to the part of me who is wearing her p.j.s all day and stumbling around the apartment, muttering to herself in the voices of several characters. Writer Laurie is in full Madwoman in the Forest mode, scribbling away 16 hours a day. Wrote out a couple action-packed scenes yesterday…. everything needs much, much revision, but that’s how this game works. I’m making progress and that’s all that counts at this point. Full speed ahead!

For your amusement we offer the following diversions:

Welcome YA Uber-Librarian kzookev (who has adorable kids and a great wife) to LJ Land! (Remember the fun I had in Kalamazoo? Kevin was behind all of it.)

The New York Times notices blogging authors. (go here first if you aren’t registered… grrr… hate this registration crap.)

Read about the life and times of Roald Dahl.

Summer vacation for authors. ( The registration thing again!)

And finally, the good people of Denmark are visited by the President and First Lady.

Jeg skal skrive – ha’ det godt, mine venner!

Author obsessed

All of the family drama (good drama) the last three weeks has made it hard to focus on my Work In Progress. That’s why yesterday was such a relief. Mer left around lunchtime for a well-deserved week at the beach with her dad. I fired up the computer and dove back into the novel. It was like diving into a deep, dark lake – scary, cold, and exciting.

It took until mid-afternoon to refamiliarize myself with all the threads of the story. That’s one of the things about novels that I find hard – holding on to all the different bits of info about characters, the order in which motivation unfolds, etc. By dinner, it was all familiar and I set about adding to the word count. Went to bed at 11 satisfied.

Today and tomorrow are writer’s dream days – just me and my characters, alone and ready to work. I have absurdly high word count goals. I have to take Thursday and Friday off, and two days next week are set aside for family things, too. Once I get to the end of the month, the family drama meter will be set back on High as I get ready to move and totally change my life. So if I have any hope of meeting my deadline, I had better set and meet absurdly high word counts on days like this.

To be honest, I’m pretty stoked. I like a challenge.

I have to make the coffee. I leave you with these pictures of my back porch kitties. I think they may have moved on already. Didn’t see them yesterday. Tempus fugit

Continue reading “Author obsessed”

Sacred Day

I love being an American.

Yes, my country messes up on a regular basis. Yes, there are things I would change, if given a magic wand.

But our experiment in democracy is going well, all things considered. I am a proud citizen, and I am very grateful for the courage of our ancestors 229 years ago. Listen to the words that changed the world.

Being American means having a responsibility to learn how our country started and what you can do to make it better.

Enjoy the fireworks!

“…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
from the Declaration of Independence