Slowing Down . . . Revving Up

November is one of those odd months for me. On the one hand, things are slowing down - the year is coming to a close, projects are wrapping up, and I begin looking back over those challenges and goals I set waaaay back in January. On the other hand, things are revving up - it’s lighter earlier, the weather around here tends to be brisk and cool, and I usually get a burst of mental and physical energy. As an optimistic realist, I try to be - and stay! - hopeful, approaching the upcoming year like a new planner, one full of blank pages waiting to be filled with as many positive activities and plans as possible.

 

Writing

I wrote a drabble then subbed it to a contest. Crafting stories of 100 words exactly is always a fun challenge for me!

 

Reading

I’m closing in on my 2024 Reading Challenge (52 books) over on Goodreads. I’ve mostly been ahead, which is good since I’ve hit some sort of reading slump. It’s not the books; it’s me and my focus. 

 

Watching

For Halloween, we re-watched The Silence of the Lambs. That movie never disappoints!

 

Tortoises

The tortoises took their annual trip to the vet. They’re healthy and solid - Larry is about 12 pounds and Mrs. Larry is about 9. And my back attests to these new numbers every time I bend over to pick one of them up! 

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Are you looking back at 2024 yet? Looking ahead? Both? Ever hit a reading slump? How did you fix it? Are you a fan of the movie, The Silence of the Lambs? If you have pets, how’re they doing? 

Baked Goods and Goals

October is my birthday month (and my husband's!), and while baked goods are always involved, we sometimes use this, not January, as the start of our new year. We make plans and set goals but keep it loose, see what’s working and what isn’t so we can tweak things before the actual new year. 

I’m considering two bigger goals for myself - one weight loss/health-related and one writing-related. We’ll see how it goes!

 

WRITING

A flash fiction story is out to an anthology – fingers crossed! And the first draft of my longer story/novella is moving forward. Slower than a tortoise full of banana, but forward is forward. 

 

WATCHING

Movies – We enjoyed The Trap (by M. Night Shyamalan) and AfrAId (starring John Cho).  

 

TV – We’re still having fun re-watching L.A. Law! We get a big kick out of seeing how many guest stars we recognize in their younger days.

 

READING

I’ve used the words dark and twisty here before when describing other books, but A. R. Torre’s, The Last Party, takes those words to a whole other level in the best way possible. Whoa. Just whoa.

 

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Do you use your birthday to look back over the year and/or look ahead? How do you celebrate your birthday? Any TV shows or movies to recommend? Read anything lately that blew you away?

 

Paging Through the Past

One of my recent projects was to go through our bookshelves.  

Some books went off to new adventures in the hands of others.

 

Everything came off the shelves, including my Go Away, I’m Reading sign, and the two small stone tortoises Mrs. Larry likes to check in with when she’s walking around the house.

 

I dusted everything. Sneezed. Dusted some more. 

 

I put most things back, reorganizing the books as I went. My previous system of loosely shelving by genre no longer worked - mystery/suspense/thrillers spread like sinister shadows onto other shelves, and some favorite authors write in different genres so it was like their books lived in different apartments in the same building. My brain did not care for that – it much prefers alphabetically by author’s last name. 

 

As I held each book, I was reminded how a book can be so much more than the story within its pages. There’s often a story outside its pages, too . . . 

 

Books with garage sale stickers when that was the only way my husband and I could afford to buy books. 

 

Back before anyone had heard of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, my husband and I were in our favorite independent bookstore and one of the people there literally pushed it into my hesitant hands – it wasn’t my usual kind of thing - telling me I had to read it, I would love it. I don’t know why I doubted her. She was right. As usual. 

 

Books where I wrote my name inside the cover, that younger version of my scrawl actually legible.

 

Many years ago, author Chris Bohjalian gave a talk/reading/signing of one of his early novels. I went to get my book signed and somehow the subject of my writing came up (it was probably my husband, he’s always telling people I write.) Even though a line was forming behind me, Mr. Bohjalian took the time to ask me about my work. He was so encouraging and nice, I remember that feeling to this day.

 

Books with pages gone yellow, that slip from spines as if too tired to hold on. Some with print too small for me to read now. Others with ties to people – family, friends, authors - who are no longer with us.

 

Books hold stories in their words, in their pages. We hold stories in our hearts, in our memories. And sometimes all those stories turn and twist and tangle and become a whole other story, one uniquely its own. 

 

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Have any favorite book memories? How do you organize your books – or do you? What else lives on your bookshelves – plants, photos, etc? Any summer projects you’re particularly proud of completing? 

Feeling the Heat

Well, I kind of hit the wall last month. Writing wilted. House projects petered out. I blame the heat. Key Lime Pie ice cream can only do so much.  

READING – 

Five stars for Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House! It’s been a long time since I was so freaked out by a book. I am still thinking about that ending…. 

 

WRITING – 

I subbed a longer short story of mine to a market I thought might be a good fit. Apparently, a lot of people thought the same thing about their stories since the market received over 700 submissions. That’s a lot of crossed fingers, including my own! Unfortunately, my story was not accepted, but a hearty congrats to all those that were! 

 

An older idea from years ago keeps popping up. I ignore it, but that doesn’t work. I jot down thoughts in a notebook in an effort to contain them then put the notebook in a drawer to keep them out of sight. That doesn’t work either. So, I’ve been noodling with the idea off and on. It’s like it was asleep for a while, then decided to stick its head out as if reminding me it’s still there and would like some attention now, please. Like the tortoises coming out of their shells, looking for more arugula to eat or for a nice shell rub. 

 

TORTOISES – 

The other day, Mrs. Larry was all smushed into a corner, but with her head poked out just enough to keep an eye on things – as usual. While Mrs. L was watchful, Larry was all chill. Head resting on the edge of the water dish, face tilted toward the window, he snoozed under the warm light. He looked so content, it made me smile. 

 

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Are there any endings – from books, TV shows, movies - that haunt you? (Please no spoilers! Don’t give away the actual ending to anything!) What do you do when an idea keeps returning? Any animal/pet antics that made you smile lately?

July, Here We Come!

Just a quick post to say the writing is going well. I’ve got one flash story done, one in progress, and another slowly revealing itself to be something longer. 

I’m also getting some house projects done – cleaning out, cleaning up and decluttering. (I’m coming for you soon, bookshelves!)

I’ll take a break for our annual rewatch of Jaws around July 4^th but if I stop too long, I’ll melt like a cup of Key Lime Pie ice cream left in the sun. (Sure, like ice cream would ever make it past my mouth, let alone make it outside.) 

 

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How’s your summer going so far? Working hard, hardly working or something in between? Any summery movies or snacks you love? 

Halfway There

The title of this post is not only because the year is almost half over but also because my husband and I started watching Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story on Hulu. (Let’s see who’s old enough to now have a certain song’s refrain in their heads. . . .)  

Checking in on my 24 in 2024 Trifecta goals/plans:

 

One Word 

My word for the year is Unapologetic. I’m to stop apologizing endlessly and needlessly, externally and internally. This is not going well. I’m still dithering, doubting, second guessing. 

 

The 24 in 24 List

This is also not going the way I’d hoped, and I’m not sure why. I’ve been struggling a lot with energy – emotional, mental, physical - and focus, so that might have something to do with it. 

 

The Write 24 in 24 Challenge

Yes! This is actually working. So far, I haven’t missed a day – knock wood! – and I’m keeping myself accountable, including setting loose monthly goals to give myself some direction. The best part is that it feels like I’ve found my creative joy again. I’m working on all sorts of things. I even wrote a 2500-word short story, something I haven’t done in a long time, if ever. 

 

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Something I thought was absolutely hilarious from Austin Kleon’s free newsletter [5/17/24] – “Frederik Backman on Creative Anxiety and Procrastination.” Just make sure you’re not drinking coffee or anything because it’ll be all over your keyboard by the end of the 4 minute video. 

 

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How’s your year going so far? Accomplished any goals? Made some progress? Decided to revise or scrap altogether? Any suggestions for getting back to my One Word and my 24 List? Have you laughed out loud recently? I hope so, since we’re all just livin’ on a prayer . . . .

With Gratitude

WRITING

In April 2024, literary agent Janet Reid passed away.

Her blog was a place for learning and growing in the craft, for encouragement and support, for humor and snark, for cats and sharks. Ms. Reid gave her “Reiders” room to stretch those creative muscles by holding many, many flash fiction contests. I actually won the first one I entered, in May 2012. The moment I saw her comment – Holy Smokes! – is still one of the best of my writing journey.  

Whenever self-doubt looms – and it does, large and often - I return to that moment, and to her many comments over the years. I tell myself that if the Janet Reid saw something in my weird words and my creepy stories then maybe I can do this writing thing after all, that I should keep going. 

 

My gratitude, unlike those flash fiction contest rules, will never have a word count limit. 

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READING

A couple of unique reads for you – 

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden is tagged as historical fiction/fantasy/paranormal, and I would say it’s all that . . . and more.

 

The Deadly Daylight (Alice England Mysteries #1) by Ash Harrier is a Middle Grade mystery, and one I can’t stop raving about. I love the writing, but I adore the main character of Alice and the dynamics of her relationships with others, especially her father. 

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WATCHING

My husband and I finally finished our re-watch of the original series, “24”. Even the seasons that were kind of clunkers had great scenes and episodes. Overall, we had a blast!

 

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Were you familiar with Janet Reid, her blog, Query Shark? Are there words you return to when you doubt yourself, in your writing or in your life? Have any books/movies/shows to recommend?