Thoughts and Books

Five days into the new year and I've done to too little writing. I got off to a rocky start this month. For weeks, severe back and leg pain have kept me tethered to a chair which only makes it worse. Getting out of bed was difficult. The recent shift in weather from rainy to less rainy improved this. I‘ve been better for two days now although my hips keep catching, forcing me to pause before going forward.

I sound like an old jalopy. The fenders rattle, the paint is flaking, and I’m held together with duct tape and bailing wire.

For a few days I’ve been considering my WIP: All That’s Holy. I want to find the problems with the story line and get the plot back on track. I lost my way on it and each time I try to get back on target I become frustrated with it. What I want to do this week is to write a summary of the story. I don’t know if I can do it but I’ll try, barring some kind of chaos, that is. One must always plan for chaos.

This will be a short post but I want to mention a book I’m reading. I checked it out of the library when I saw it online somewhere. Steering the Craft - A 21st Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of the Story by Ursula Le Guin.

I’ve not read Le Guin before this but 13% in and I like what I’m reading. She continues to carry the nautical theme throughout the text. This is like a mini writing workshop and she has exercises at the end of each chapter. According to the introduction, she based the book on a workshop she held and the students who attended, even using her notes from the event.

Another novel I‘m reading is The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn. Ms. Raybourn has two other series I’ve been reading and they’re outstanding. The first one, the Lady Julia Grey Series is great and clean. No sex scenes. Why is that notable? The amount of erotica floating around these days almost makes it necessary to wear waders to the bookstore. If you’re into that, OK. I'm not. I need not enrich my sex life and if I did, it wouldn’t be from someone else’s imagination.

The second set is The Veronica Speedwell, and this one is more…  risque. No sex but the main character admits to regular affairs and is open-minded about such things. Again, the mystery carries the story and there are no lurid scenes with a blow by blow account. There’s not even any swearing.

Raybourn’s works are great. The Dead Travel Fast differs from the others because it is about vampires. Is there a vampire? I don’t know. I'm not halfway through it yet.  All the novels take place during the Victorian period and Raybourn carries the settings off well.

If you’re looking for a good mystery, with an interesting setting, and amusing characters you can’t miss with any of these.

I’m ready to call it a night. I’ve swept floors, made beds, cleaned the kitchen, and washed two loads of laundry. We’re so happy that was all there was to wash. My back hurts from sweeping. I also helped Sarah with homework and that is a chore. I'm thankful that the house is spotless tonight.

I'll wish you all a good night and hope you have a great writing week.

Finding Time

I know they say travel broadens the mind but it also rips a hole in your soul. The first trip I took was a vacation with my Aunt and Uncle. I read 5 books on that trip and it was awesome. I swam a little and was able to just site on a quiet patio and read. I do not require lots of entertainment on vacation.

I was home only three weeks when my brother died and I had to leave and go home for the funeral. I was gone only three days but let's face it, it was not a pleasant trip. My whole family is still reeling from this death and I don't know why we'll ever feel that it has really happened.

The next trip was exactly one week later. We went to Arkansas to pick up my granddaughter. She's been visiting her dad for the last six weeks. I'm glad she's home. I'm glad I'm home! This is the longest trip I take. It takes 12 hours. The map says 9 but if you really have to go to the bathroom and eat, you can just add more. If there is construction or car accidents... and there are... you can add even more. We experienced it all. We left both times at 6 a.m. and arrived home at 5 p.m. We limited out stops to the shortest possible time. This helped. Leaving extremely early also seemed to make a difference is how we felt. The fact that I didn't have to do the driving certainly helped me. I'm much less tired than I was after that first trip.

Somewhere in all that I managed to scrounge up 1354 thus far in July in one of my WIP. I'd hoped for more but unfortunately, travel got in the way. Now, despite all that, I don't think 1354 is anything to sneeze at. I'm amazed that I got that much writing done. Admittedly, that's only over the course of two days but I consider myself lucky to have had two days where I could function. I will thank God for small favors.

School starts on the 7th so things will be busy the next few weeks but I've pretty excited that I don't have anywhere I have to go and I might just get some more writing accomplished.

I'm going to set up my calendar in the next few days with my writing times and I'm trying to make sure I get enough rest factored in. That seems to be my biggest need. I am always tired due to the RA and the fibromyalgia. Factoring in rest when you have an autoimmune disease is so important, particularly if you want to write. In the past, I've always neglected it and this last year has really revealed that to me. Once I started making rest a priority, above everything else, and setting aside days for specific chores I found that I functioned better and actually felt like I could do other things like writing or working on a home improvement project.

I'm going to try to hang on to the optimism and structure my time more stringently. Pray for me. I need it.