I took a longer-than-usual hiatus during the past two weeks, because I went on vacation. I haven't been out of San Diego (day trips to Los Angeles for work don't count) in two years.
My husband, son and I traveled to Iowa to visit my in-laws and my stepfather's side of the family. We were gone for 10 days and were busy during the week leading up to our vacation shopping, packing and washing clothes in preparation for our trip. All of the stress and anxiety of gearing up to get out of town was worth it for a much-needed break from work and our regular routine.
But while I took a break from my blog, I didn't take a break from reading or writing. I finished reading Stephenie Meyer's "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner," a novella based on one of the newborn vampires who makes a very brief appearance in "Eclipse," Meyer's third book in the four-part "Twilight" series. It gave me a little insight into what was going on behind the scenes while Bella, Edward and Jacob focused on their love triangle and the vampire who was stalking Bella during "Eclipse." I'm sure a lot of writers would love the chance to go back and revisit characters who don't get a lot of play in their novels.
I also made it halfway through "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. After reading good things for a while about Larsson's recent novels, I was curious, so I picked up his first book. It was a long, slow start, but it got to a point where I had to know where the story was headed. About a third of the way in, the pace finally picked up. I'm more than halfway through now and anxious to get back to reading it tonight.
And while I didn't work during my vacation on the book for which I've written 106 double-spaced pages, I did start writing another story inspired by some of the scenery in Iowa. I've got a chapter and a half written in the journal I carry in my purse. I'm anxious to write more of that story (though I'm not looking forward to typing up my handwritten pages), but I'm also looking forward to getting back to the project I started a month or two ago. With a three-day weekend starting in just two days, I'm hoping to get a lot of writing in this weekend.
So, in addition to catching up with family in Iowa, holding my three new baby nephews, and finding lots of time to relax and hang out with my husband and son, I had a pretty fruitful vacation. I read some good books (and some OK magazines) and I wrote furiously in my journal whenever I had a chance. Life is good.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Ack! A Week!
How did this happen? It's been a week since I wrote anything on my blog. Well, I've got excuses ... I always do.
I finished reading "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen last week. I loved, loved, loved ... looovvved this book. Really vivid characters and imagery without being overly descriptive. It is the kind of novel that makes you laugh out loud at the ridiculous circumstances that the wonderful main character finds himself in and keeps you riveted to find out how his story ends.
I looked at this book at Barnes & Noble a couple of times without buying it before I knew it was going to be made into a movie. I finally broke down and bought it once Robert Pattinson from the "Twilight" movies was cast in the lead role. I can't wait to see the movie. I can picture the circus scenes in rich jewel tones alongside gritty, dirty treatments depicting the rough life of down-and-out circus workers during the Depression years.
But the biggest issue taking up my time during the past week was my son's 4th birthday party, which we hosted at our house with my stepsister's family, since her son was born a year after Jack on the same day. The party was Sunday and it seemed like everyone had fun despite the heat and our crowded back yard, where space was even tighter than usual because of the gigantic jumpy that took up most of the space.
I can't believe my baby is four years old. It wasn't that long ago that I was complaining in this space that I couldn't get him potty trained. Now he's going to the bathroom, mostly on his own, and enrolled in preschool. Before you know it, he'll be in kindergarten then college. Everyone always tells you your children grow up fast, but you don't believe it until you experience it for yourself. It's a whirlwind, but we're enjoying every minute of it.
I finished reading "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen last week. I loved, loved, loved ... looovvved this book. Really vivid characters and imagery without being overly descriptive. It is the kind of novel that makes you laugh out loud at the ridiculous circumstances that the wonderful main character finds himself in and keeps you riveted to find out how his story ends.
I looked at this book at Barnes & Noble a couple of times without buying it before I knew it was going to be made into a movie. I finally broke down and bought it once Robert Pattinson from the "Twilight" movies was cast in the lead role. I can't wait to see the movie. I can picture the circus scenes in rich jewel tones alongside gritty, dirty treatments depicting the rough life of down-and-out circus workers during the Depression years.
But the biggest issue taking up my time during the past week was my son's 4th birthday party, which we hosted at our house with my stepsister's family, since her son was born a year after Jack on the same day. The party was Sunday and it seemed like everyone had fun despite the heat and our crowded back yard, where space was even tighter than usual because of the gigantic jumpy that took up most of the space.
I can't believe my baby is four years old. It wasn't that long ago that I was complaining in this space that I couldn't get him potty trained. Now he's going to the bathroom, mostly on his own, and enrolled in preschool. Before you know it, he'll be in kindergarten then college. Everyone always tells you your children grow up fast, but you don't believe it until you experience it for yourself. It's a whirlwind, but we're enjoying every minute of it.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Trial and Error
I'm constantly telling my friends and relatives who are new parents: Parenting is all about trial and error. Whether you're testing bottles or feeding schedules or potty training strategies, you try something and if it doesn't work you try something else.
I had one of those defining parenting moments last night. My 4-year-old son said, "'Holy smokes' isn't a bad word, but 'Oh, shit' is." True words indeed. But what was my response? I laughed. Heartily. And so did my husband, by the way.
In retrospect, this probably would've been an opportune time to explain that it's never OK for him to say, "Oh, shit," no matter the context. But, it really was funny, the way he said it. And, he clearly understood that "shit" was a bad word.
My hope is that Miss Tracy, or whoever it was at school that explained this fact to him, taught him this lesson, not because he used the s-word, but because someone else did. I won't lie and say that I don't swear around my son, because sometimes the s-word does slip out, but I try to keep the cussing to a minimum in his presence.
The parenting lesson in this is that sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong and sometimes it's just so effing funny that you don't care (but you vow to keep a straight face next time).
I had one of those defining parenting moments last night. My 4-year-old son said, "'Holy smokes' isn't a bad word, but 'Oh, shit' is." True words indeed. But what was my response? I laughed. Heartily. And so did my husband, by the way.
In retrospect, this probably would've been an opportune time to explain that it's never OK for him to say, "Oh, shit," no matter the context. But, it really was funny, the way he said it. And, he clearly understood that "shit" was a bad word.
My hope is that Miss Tracy, or whoever it was at school that explained this fact to him, taught him this lesson, not because he used the s-word, but because someone else did. I won't lie and say that I don't swear around my son, because sometimes the s-word does slip out, but I try to keep the cussing to a minimum in his presence.
The parenting lesson in this is that sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong and sometimes it's just so effing funny that you don't care (but you vow to keep a straight face next time).
Monday, June 7, 2010
Mondays
I don't know about rainy days, because here in Southern California we can use the rain, but Mondays always get me down.
Mondays mean back to waking at 4:30 a.m. to go to the gym, back to work, back to wrestling with complicated business stories then back home to the nightly grind of cooking dinner, feeding myself and my husband and kid, reading to my son before bed, packing my lunch and readying my clothes for the next day ... and somehow squeezing in a little writing before I collapse from exhaustion.
Today was no different, but here I sit attempting to type out a blog post before Jack gets out of his bath and he's ready for story time. As much as I love cuddling with him at night, it's one of those nights where I'll be itching to get back to my computer and keep working on my latest story.
All of this is the long way of saying the writing is still going well. It feels good. I need to go back and rework the last couple of paragraphs I ended with last night, but it's not a matter of major edits, just cleaning up a few last thoughts. At least some writing somewhere is going well!
Mondays mean back to waking at 4:30 a.m. to go to the gym, back to work, back to wrestling with complicated business stories then back home to the nightly grind of cooking dinner, feeding myself and my husband and kid, reading to my son before bed, packing my lunch and readying my clothes for the next day ... and somehow squeezing in a little writing before I collapse from exhaustion.
Today was no different, but here I sit attempting to type out a blog post before Jack gets out of his bath and he's ready for story time. As much as I love cuddling with him at night, it's one of those nights where I'll be itching to get back to my computer and keep working on my latest story.
All of this is the long way of saying the writing is still going well. It feels good. I need to go back and rework the last couple of paragraphs I ended with last night, but it's not a matter of major edits, just cleaning up a few last thoughts. At least some writing somewhere is going well!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Picking Up Where I Left Off
Five days after I took a break from writing to concentrate on reading for a little while, I got back to writing today and was able to pick up right where I left off.
This new story is coming to me so easily at this point I wonder if a) I should just give up on that other story that was so hard and frustrating for me to write, b) I should go back to that other story after a long break and try again or c) the story I'm writing must not be very good if it's not a big struggle.
I've read that for many writers each of their stories is a major struggle and every book is a torturous, but ultimately rewarding, experience. Then I read about writers who are extremely prolific, like Stephen King, who really don't struggle that much. The stories just come to them as they go, though they do read and rewrite several times once the major elements of the book are written.
The first book I completed wasn't the first book I started. It was the third. I gave up on the first one about 150 pages or so into it when the main character's voice wasn't ringing true. The second one is the one I went back to after finishing the third book and have once again put on hold to work on what is actually my fifth attempt at a book.
The fourth one I started is on hold, because I've had other stories I've chosen to focus on. I have the first chapter or two written and a detailed outline for the rest. It's semi-autobiographical, so it's much easier to picture the story and characters. It's a story I started based on a writing exercise in Writer's Digest and I want to see if I can finish it someday, but the fifth book is the story that's most interesting to me at the moment.
So, it's almost 10:30 on a Saturday night after I've been running around with my almost 4-year-old-son all day, so I better get back to working on book no. 5 before I start to fall asleep. Good night!
This new story is coming to me so easily at this point I wonder if a) I should just give up on that other story that was so hard and frustrating for me to write, b) I should go back to that other story after a long break and try again or c) the story I'm writing must not be very good if it's not a big struggle.
I've read that for many writers each of their stories is a major struggle and every book is a torturous, but ultimately rewarding, experience. Then I read about writers who are extremely prolific, like Stephen King, who really don't struggle that much. The stories just come to them as they go, though they do read and rewrite several times once the major elements of the book are written.
The first book I completed wasn't the first book I started. It was the third. I gave up on the first one about 150 pages or so into it when the main character's voice wasn't ringing true. The second one is the one I went back to after finishing the third book and have once again put on hold to work on what is actually my fifth attempt at a book.
The fourth one I started is on hold, because I've had other stories I've chosen to focus on. I have the first chapter or two written and a detailed outline for the rest. It's semi-autobiographical, so it's much easier to picture the story and characters. It's a story I started based on a writing exercise in Writer's Digest and I want to see if I can finish it someday, but the fifth book is the story that's most interesting to me at the moment.
So, it's almost 10:30 on a Saturday night after I've been running around with my almost 4-year-old-son all day, so I better get back to working on book no. 5 before I start to fall asleep. Good night!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Time's Flying By
How did it get to be Wednesday already? And how has it been three days again since I wrote on my blog?
OK, I have excuses and some are pretty good. On Monday, I spent a couple of hours writing my latest story and then the rest of the day relaxing with my family for Memorial Day and my niece's 9th birthday.
Yesterday, I had a crazy Tuesday and decided to relax and console myself by reading "Eclipse" again. I've read it three or four times, I think. I've lost count. It's my favorite out of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series. Also, the movie is coming out at the end of this month, so I want to read it again before I see the film. Yes, I know how pathetic that sounds. What's even more pathetic is that I'm listening to a sneak peek at the "Eclipse" soundtrack while I write this, but I digress.
So, tonight's dilemma is read me some more "Eclipse" or write. I'm at a good point in writing my story, but I'm also at a good part in reading Meyer's book. Hmm ... I'll feel guilty if I don't write, but my soul will feel good if I read. Decisions, decisions ...
OK, I have excuses and some are pretty good. On Monday, I spent a couple of hours writing my latest story and then the rest of the day relaxing with my family for Memorial Day and my niece's 9th birthday.
Yesterday, I had a crazy Tuesday and decided to relax and console myself by reading "Eclipse" again. I've read it three or four times, I think. I've lost count. It's my favorite out of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series. Also, the movie is coming out at the end of this month, so I want to read it again before I see the film. Yes, I know how pathetic that sounds. What's even more pathetic is that I'm listening to a sneak peek at the "Eclipse" soundtrack while I write this, but I digress.
So, tonight's dilemma is read me some more "Eclipse" or write. I'm at a good point in writing my story, but I'm also at a good part in reading Meyer's book. Hmm ... I'll feel guilty if I don't write, but my soul will feel good if I read. Decisions, decisions ...
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