Quirks in the Night

I’m not particularly adept at using my phone – bad eyesight and fumble fingers - so when a character or a line of dialogue or a story idea strikes in the night, I don’t bother reaching for my glasses or my phone. (Besides, there’s a very good chance I’ll knock one or both of them off the nightstand anyway.) 

Instead, I nudge my husband and he’s got his phone in his hand, email open, ready to take dictation in the middle of the night. The next day, I open my email and voila! There are my thoughts, all nicely typed out and legible. (Of course, that doesn’t mean it makes sense, but that’s on me not my husband.) 

It's just one of the many, many . . . um, let’s call them, quirks . . . of mine that my husband puts up with. This month, we’ll be married 26 years, and while he is now, apparently, my personal assistant/secretary, he still is and always will be, my rock and my wings.  

WRITING

I’m playing with ideas for some upcoming themed submission opportunities, one for a drabble and one for a short story. Another short story idea is waiting patiently for its turn. 

 

Progress is being made on a longer story/novella. It’s slow going because I’m still fleshing out backstory and foundational stuff, trying to fill in as many plot holes as I can now so I don’t fall into them later. I’m considering doing my own version of NaNo later this summer to get down a first draft. 

READING

Loved the delightful and heartwarming middle grade novel Old School by Gordon Korman. Five stars and easily one of my favorite books of the year! And I also really liked Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins. It took me back to when I first read The Hunger Games.

 

WATCHING

TV – Thoroughly enjoyed A Man on the Inside (with Ted Danson, on Netflix)! Fun and funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Looking forward to Season Two! And, at pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum, is the dark but absolutely compelling, Adolescence (Netflix.) The acting blew my mind. 

 

Movie – My hopes for The Companion were that it would be solid, a pleasant enough way to be entertained for a couple of hours. Turned out to be way better than I thought! Dark and creepy, yes, but also a whole lot of fun in a weird twisted way. 

 

*****

Are you handy with your phone? Any tips for old Fumble Fingers here? Do you have someone in your life who encourages and supports your creativity? If you’ve done your own version of NaNo, how did you set it up and how did it go? Read or watched anything good lately?

Maybe More Than a Little

Last week, a local theater ran the original Psycho. In honor of Halloween and the start of another NaNoWriMo, my husband and I went. We'd seen Psycho before but not on a big screen, not in a roomful of people with their own reasons for going. Soon, we were all lost in another time, another place. 

That's pretty much what happens to me during November - I get lost in a world of my own making. I look up from my keyboard and have to blink a few times to situate myself. I walk out of my office and catch a glimpse of a character running down the hall, darting into another room. I have to ask my poor husband to repeat his question a third time because I'm busy trying to figure out how - or if! - my protagonist will manage to kill the creature lurking in the shadows.

I am not easy to live with during the best of times, but November brings its own special kind of Hell for my long-suffering, patient husband. So, while we were watching Psycho, a particular scene made me laugh out loud because I'm pretty sure it sums up what my husband thinks of me during NaNoWriMo. (Okay, maybe he feels this way all the time, but he's too nice to say it.) 

"IT'S NOT LIKE [SHE'S] A MANIAC 

OR A RAVING THING.

SHE JUST GOES A LITTLE MAD SOMETIMES.

WE ALL GO A LITTLE MAD SOMETIMES.

HAVEN'T YOU?"

(Norman Bates)

*****

Do you wig out (pun intended!) during NaNoWriMo? Or when you're deep into a creative project? How does your spouse/significant other/support team handle you? Do you do anything to thank them when - if?! - sanity returns?

Introverts Unite! *

* But, don't worry, we only have to unite in spirit. We don't actually have to go outside or talk to people or anything. 

I am an introvert. My husband not only accepts this but also celebrates it. He wants me to appreciate myself and all my eccentricities the way he does. Because, for a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me and the way I moved in this world. So, when my husband recently presented me with Introvert Doodles by Maureen "Marzi" Wilson, it was with the best of intentions and a heart full of love. 

Here are a few favorites from her book:

I don't know Marzi, and the only thing I get from promoting her here is the knowledge that by sharing her work, we'll all get a laugh or two, along with the realization that we're not the only ones curled up in yoga pants, binge-watching Big Little Lies and eating chocolate chip cookies. Right? Right? Oh, come on, I can't be the only one . . . .

Available on Amazon

*****

Are you an introvert? Do you know one? Married to one? Did these cartoons make you chuckle and nod your head in recognition? Plan on checking out Marzi's website and book?  

The Horror! The Horror!

Even though the title of this post is from Joseph Conrad's story The Heart of Darkness, we're not going to talk about books today. (Shocking, I know.) No, I need help with something else - movies. 

I am banned from picking the next, um, five to ten movies my husband and I will watch. Why? Because the last handful I chose pretty much stunk. Now, to be fair, my husband is a good sport. He knows how much I like a good horror movie and he indulges me in my (occasionally) odd choices . . . to a point. So, I know it's gotten bad when he says enough is enough. 

What I need from you all is help redeeming myself. Plus, I just want to watch some good scary movies for a change. Here's an idea of what I like (and my husband likes/tolerates):

Jaws

Psycho

Misery

the Scream movies 

the Paranormal Activity movies

Joy Ride

Jeepers Creepers

Quarantine

28 Days Later 

The Woman in Black

Dream House

Please share your picks for horror, scary, creepy, suspenseful stuff. Nothing too gross or gory or freaky, please. Older, newer, independent, black-and-white, all fine. If you're not sure it's horror - like, I don't think Jaws technically is but it scared me! - mention it anyway. 

And please, hurry. My husband is talking about us watching some sports documentary DVDs he's got hanging around. Help!

When "Love Bugs" Attack

I participated in my second organized bike ride for charity the other day. My husband and I rode the 15 mile route. (He could've done one of the longer ones - 35 or 65 miles - but, good man that he is, he stuck with me.)

We rode through quiet streets and down near the water. We stopped and drank Gatorade and nibbled small triangles of peanut butter sandwiches. I was doing great - if I do say so myself. And I did say so, more than once, to my husband. And, see, this is where I should've kept my big mouth shut because I jinxed myself. I hit the wall. (Not literally, although if there was one nearby, I probably would have.)

It was my own fault really. I had kept my mouth closed for most of the ride - much to my husband's surprise and delight - but only because I didn't want any love bugs* to enter my mouth and get caught in my teeth. I don't ride that fast but those bugs were everywhere. Until they weren't. And that's when I opened my mouth and instead of swallowing a love bug, I swallowed my pride.

My legs all of a sudden went as heavy as two cement casts. The nice breeze turned into a head wind. An 80 year old man rode by me. And waved. I wanted to stop and walk my bike the last couple of miles. I wanted to give up. Why do I do this to myself? Why do I do things that are hard for me? Bike riding. Writing. Etc.

Because that's how we learn and grow and change. Because that's how we get better and be better. I could've just written a check to the charity but then I would've missed out on hearing my husband cheer me on and tell me how proud he was of me. I would've missed joining the other riders as we turned the corner and saw the finish line. I would've missed out on standing with my husband, our feet in the cool water lapping at the sand, basking in the sun and in a sense of a challenge set and conquered.     

The same is true with writing. My husband encourages me, I'm part of a group of wonderful writers from all over who are "turning the corner and seeing the finish line", and every one of my published stories brings me a sense of accomplishment.

So, when obstacles or rejections hit us in the face those like love bugs, when they get stuck in our teeth and we can't seem to spit them out fast enough, remember this:  every time we hit a wall, it means we're doing something, we're trying, we're challenging ourselves. And I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be hitting that wall than just sitting there, staring at it.

[*For those of you who don't know what love bugs are, here's a link for you. Pictures and everything.]

To Ride and To Write

The other day, my husband and I went bike riding. He has a light, thin racing bike that's about twenty years old. He's also ridden in organized bike rides, including one that went from Philadelphia, PA to Atlantic City, NJ (that's 62 miles!) He can practically fly if he wants to...as long as I'm not riding with him. My bike is much like me - heavy and squat. It's a cruiser and that's exactly what I like to do on it - I like to look at the blue sky and the palm trees and the cranes with their new hatchlings. I also like to keep from getting crushed by passing motorists and I figure they can't miss me toodling along on my copper colored bicycle.

But I also need to keep from getting crushed by The Competition. You know who I mean - those roving packs of cyclists who cheerfully call good morning as they zip past in their coordinated outfits and their well-developed muscled legs. And those solitary senior citizens who give me a friendly wave and a crinkled grin as they glide past, their tennis racket bumping along in the basket behind them.

Okay, now, to be fair, The Competition only really exists in my mind. They're just out there exercising and having a good time. Bike riding, like writing, isn't about Them. It's about Me. It's about me making myself ride that extra mile, write that next scene. It's about me pushing harder, farther even when my legs are shaking, even when it feels like my spirit can't take one more rejection. It's about me digging deep and finding just a little more...oomph to keep going whether on the pavement or on the page.   

So, as others pass me by - in both bike riding and writing - I wave and wish them well, and I use their strength and their success as inspiration to beat the real, the only, competition - myself.

Liquid Inspiration

I think my husband is trying to tell me something with one of my Christmas gifts.  At first, when I slid the two bottles of water out of the fancy wine tube, I thought he was just trying to keep me healthy and hydrated.  But then I took a good look at one of the bottles.  The label read - Inspiration - Monroeville Writers Water.  Hmm, okaaaay...   

But I kept reading and learned that Monroeville, Alabama has been home to some of the South's great writers, including Harper Lee.  Rick Bragg called it "the cradle of Southern literature."  How could so many amazing writers come from one small town?  The proposed answer is there must be something in the water. 

And now I have two bottles of it in my hot little hands.  "Find your muse with a drink from the fountain of literary inspiration" the labels says.  "It's refreshing, inspiring and 100% Southern."  Hmm, I wonder if it will work for a transplanted Northerner like me?  And when should I drink it?  Before I'm stuck, keep the juices flowing?  When I'm stuck, give me a sudden burst of creativity?  Decisions, decisions. 

So, while those holiday TV commercials show husbands giving their wives expensive cars as gifts, my husband knew what I needed.  He knew I needed something way more valuable than wheels.  Encouragement and inspiration and support are priceless.  His encouragement and inspiration and support are priceless. 

Hmm, maybe he's getting a little worn down, a little tried, of keeping me going.  (I can be exhausting.)  Maybe he needs to drink more water.  Hey, maybe he needs some liquid inspiration.  Good thing I have two bottles...

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

The other day, C. Hope Clark wrote a post called "Why Bother?" and it was about the doubt a lot of writers often experience.  My favorite part was where she talked about readers taking the time to let writers know how much the writers' words meant, how that one comment could be the thing to keep that writer going.

I experienced this myself just the other day - in two different ways.  I'm in between writing projects, feeling a little lost and unsure and uncertain (big surprise!) when my husband tells me I better get a pen and my signing hand ready.  Someone he used to work with made a special trip to his new office to drop off three (yes, three!) copies of Hint Fiction: An Anthology in 25 Words or Fewer for me to sign for gifts she was giving to some big readers in her life.  In that one moment she managed to make my day - probably the rest of my year, too.

Over the last few evenings, my husband had barricaded himself in his home office, working on a secret Christmas gift for me.  All I knew was that scissors and tape were involved.  (This worried me because neither my husband nor I are very artsy-craftsy but since no blood was shed, I figured it was okay.)  Well, he couldn't wait until Christmas so I got one of my gifts - one of the best gifts! - early.  My husband had made me a Hint Fiction collage!  It had quotes from some of the reviews, pictures of the book's cover and of my story and of where we saw it on the shelves in two bookstores.  It also had a picture of Larry and Mrs. Larry reading/eating it.  Now, every time I look at it, I not only see my husband's love and pride, but I'm also reminded of something I am truly proud of accomplishing. 

This holiday season, I wish all my fellow readers the joy of great stories and the knowledge that you too have the power, the gift, of using your own words to make the day/week/month/year of a writer whose work you enjoy. For all my fellow writers, I wish you the joy of acknowledgment and encouragement and support. 

Happy Festivus, everyone!

Motivational Monday Quote

WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT 

AS LONG AS WE STICK TO IT

LONG ENOUGH.

(Helen Keller) 

One of the (many, many) things I worry about is getting to the end of my life and feeling like I didn't achieve my goal of being a "real" writer, of having written novels, of having a loyal and wonderful readership.  But my husband reminds me over and over again that even if those things don't happen, if I can look back on my life and know I spent it pursuing a dream, following a passion, then I will have achieved more than most people ever do.  

Keep at it, everyone.  Whatever your "it" is, keep going.  

 

A Writer's Best Friend

Well, this writer's best friend is her husband.  Here's a bit from the About Me section of my website -   

"...Sometimes my speech is like my handwriting - indecipherable. But my husband is both interpreter and translator. No one encourages me and believes in me like he does. Even when I want to stop believing in myself, he won’t let me. He listens to me moan, watches me mope, and cooks me lots of pasta but then he gently guides me back to my desk and sits me down, knowing strongly enough for both of us that the characters will speak, the scenes will set, and the words will come." 

The thing is, he not only supports and encourages my creativity, but he's also creative in his own right.  He's quick with the one liners, and he comes up with puns that make me groan with laughter.  When I'm stuck searching for a title, he usually saves the day.  He's my first reader - he tells me when something works for him and when it doesn't.  He's tough and honest.  He won't tell me something is good if it isn't.  He wants me to be the best writer I can be, the best me I can be.  Isn't that what a best friend is for?

I know it's only a small post on a small blog but the words and the feelings behind them are huge.  Today I celebrate my husband's creativity and his role in mine.  I couldn't do any of this without him.