Something New

Okay, I admit it. My blogging has been erratic, at best. I have lots of ideas but they never make it to the blog. But summer is almost here and I’ve been planning for the long days. I hope to take a writing class on structuring the novel–something I am still struggling with, and I’ve also dedicated the summer to taking better photographs. I have a 35mm film camera that’s been collecting dust and a digital that I just do know how to turn on. So, this is the summer to learn everything there is to know about pictures. And for the second time on a blog I am challenging myself to take pictures every day and post one for the world to see. I’ve even set up a photoblog at aminus3. Click here to take a look.

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Mr. President

It’s a new day!

Inauguration Day In America

“Shut Eye” On-Line

Santa Fe Writers’ Project in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has chosen The Meroe Stories as a finalist for their 2008 Literary Awards.  Chapter Two:  “Shut Eye” has been published on-line at sfwp.org.

Queen Eva-Marie always did say every good-bye ain’t gone and every shut-eye ain’t sleep. Nightfall brings a hush over even the nosiest places and that includes the Quarters. A late spring breeze circulates air already too warm and kicks up limerock dust on the edges of Palmer Road. A slice of silver moon illuminates the sky and the spirit of the family’s matriarch looks over the inhabitants of 26 Palmer. There is a young married woman not even twenty-five yet sleeping in a twin bed with her four-year-old daughter, intertwined tightly as if the warm breeze is threatening their embrace. Their sleep is secure and deep, unlike the sleep of the six-year-old on the sofa in the front room. He is fitful. Twisting, turning, fighting the sheet and others, seen and unseen.

[Read full story . . .]

Take the Flash Fiction Challenge

I’m challenging myself, during these busy days of winter, to 28-Days of Flash Fiction. I pledge to write and post a piece of flash fiction (200 words or less) everyday for four weeks.

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That Monkey Grows

With the election over, I’m back to watching basketball, Celtics basketball. It’s either Celtics or Pistons. No other team will do. Last night it was the Cs on ESPN. A so-called rivalry game with the upstart Atlanta Hawks. I’ll just say I agree with Kevin Garnett when he says, it’s not a rivalry until the other team wins a few. The Hawks haven’t yet won one when it counts. No rivalry here.

Celtics-Pistons: That’s a rivalry. Just ask my six-year-old nephew. He’s a Pistons fan (actually he’s a Tayshaun fan) and when Detroit and Boston square off he and I usually end up in an argument. I still love the Pistons and it goes without saying that I love my nephew, but when the Celts won the most recent showdown (November 20) in Beantown, I could hardly wait until the next morning to inform him that his Bad Boys lost! (His bedtime came nearing the end of the first quarter with the outcome still in doubt and the Iverson Added Pistons still with a chance).

Celtics-Lakers: Some say that’s a rivalry or at least Kobe Bean thinks so. All I know it that it was once a rivalry. We’ll see what happens on Christmas Day.

Rivalries aside, the Celtics are on a serious streak. Sixteen straight wins in the NBA is no small feat, especially when you’re the reigning World Champions and you have a target bigger than the Target Center on your back. KG, Ray, Paul and Rondo all had something to prove last year. KG said it best as the confetti rained down in them in the Garden “What can you say now?” But it seems that others have had plenty to say this year as they give all praise the the Cavs and Lakers, leaving the Celtics success as an afterthought.

But they’re still winning. It won’t last always. As a Celtic said earlier this week, they don’t expect to go 80-2, but they want to get better as a team and position themselves to hang banner #18. Last night was win #16, a hard fought W against a confident Atlanta team. The Celtics showed why they’re still the team to beat. And yes, winning itself can be a heavy load. But if you talk to any player or even a fan of the game, winning always feels a lot lighter than losing. Ask Ray Allen. When questioned about the Celtics’ winning streak last night he said,

“Sometimes it seems as though it’s a burden. That monkey grows. It’s a good monkey though.”

Wouldn’t trade it for the world, (unless that included another World Championship, of course.)

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Yes We Can

Nothing
can stand in the way
of the power of millions of voices
calling for change . . .

-Barack Obama, New Hampshire, January 2008

Wordle(ing) My Day Away

Here’s Chapter 2:

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Wordle

While surfing the net today, wasting time–something I haven’t had much time to do lately–I came across this on Tayari’s blog.

It’s a graphic representation of my word usage in Chapter 1.

Happy writing!
Q

Book Notes: Eat, Pray, Love

I finally sat down and read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. After hearing all the praise in the media, and more importantly on the recommendation of many readers and writers (Michele, Leslie, Daniel) I pulled the copy from my bookshelf and started to read. I’ll just add that I bought the book back in December.

It took about three days to read it (one section per day) and I must admit that I enjoyed the “Eat”/Italy section the most. I think that says more about me than anything about Elizabeth Gilbert or her writing. More than anything else, I could relate to her decision to not have children and her analysis of the predicament that puts women in, even in 2008, even in America–”the land of the free”. As a woman who has chosen that path I am all to familiar with the odd looks, the accusations of selfishness, and the very real fear and feelings of displacement/out-of-placeness that comes with what is still an uncommon choice. She articulates the difficulty of the situation better than anyone I’ve known or read on this point. I often find myself trying to describe it to friends or even put it to words in my writing and I almost never get it right or am able to get to the heart of it. Elizabeth does get to the heart of it in the first section of the book and returns to it again when she meets the young girl at the Ashram and again when she meets Wayan and Tutti in Bali.

Overall, it’s a touching, well-rendered story, and a well-written memoir.

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The Ever-Expanding Library

While browsing this morning, I came across this wonderful article about the love of books by Alberto Manguel. I’m always amazed to find others who love books as much as I do, and amused that others have storage issues greater than mine.

I’ve spent the last six months trying to create a managable space for my books. More than half of my collection remains in storage, but even the decisions about what goes to storage and what gets to stay is agonizing. Every week I end up going back to storage for that one book I need right now. It’s insane.

I found Manguel’s piece on his ever growing library to be both entertaining and imspiring.

Happy reading and writing,

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Summertime

When the year started, I had one thing on my mind–finish this draft of the novel. Well, I accomplished that last month and so I began wondering about my summer. I’d applied to a few places earlier this year. No residencies (that’s a project for next summer or a summer to come), just a few workshops that will allow me to commune with other writers. So I applied to one or two along with my submissions to literary magazines and a handful of contests. I hadn’t heard from any and so I was getting a little anxious. Then I checked my mail late last night and there it was–a message from my new best friend, Dorothy, informing me that I have been awarded a scholarship for a week at the Fine Arts Work Center! I was pleasantly surprised, mostly because I applied on a whim after my friend Nadine told me about a great class being offered by one of my favorite writers. So, I’m going back to Mass. after all these years. I may even hang out in Boston for a few days before–just for fun. I haven’t been to Beantown in sixteen years! Time really does fly.

I have one other one that I’m waiting on. You know, the usual, watching the mailboxes, but I’m also trying to think through my approach to what I hope will be the final draft of this novel. I want to begin June 1.

I do have a few distractions . . . a cute futbol player and the NBA playoffs (some loves are forever). As long as Tayshaun and KG are still in it, I’m watching. And as much as I like Joe Smith I can’t cheer for him while he’s wearing a Cavs uni. Go Celts! I don’t know what I’m going to do when Boston and Detroit meet in the East Finals.

Happy Writing,

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Emory Goes Novel

I finished the 3rd draft of the novel at 5:12 PM. I’m not 100% satisfied with it as a complete novel, but it is closer to the story I’m trying to tell than ever before. I got the length down from 459 pages to a more manageable 345. I will take a break from it for a week or two and then begin draft number 4.

May 1 was the deadline for this draft because it was the deadline for my full submission to Emory Goes Novel, Emory University’s novel writing contest. I submitted the opening chapters in February and learned in March that I made the short list and was named a top ten finalist. That pushed the final draft deadline to May 1. It was a lot of work and a lot of stress to get it done, but I made it!

My challenge now is to regroup and take on what I hope will be the final draft. I’m excited about where I want to take it. It’s still a great story and I hope that one day soon I will have the opportunity to share it with the world.

Reading: Charles Baxter’s The Art of Subtext

Happy reading!

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Almost Lost

Last night, while talking on the phone with my friend, Alicia, I decided to shut down my computer for the night and I closed the most recent draft of the re-vision (the draft I’d been working on every waking moment for the past three days). Because I’m paranoid about computers, and out of sheer habit, I immediately went to the desktop to re-open it–something I just do, I can’t explain why. It wasn’t there. I did a search for it and found nothing. Alicia said goodbye so she could go give her daughter a bath and I hung up almost before she finished her last sentence. I had changed the name to EGNDraft two days before but I hadn’t emailed it to myself (which is what I most often do as back up).

I did the search again, hoping that I’d just overlooked it. It had to be there. I knew this because while typing the last few chapters I was clicking save at the end of every paragraph even though the autosave was working just fine. Nothing, no where. I got that sinking feeling and began to wonder what in the world I was going to do if the last three days of work were gone. The only draft I could find was the draft from last Thursday night (before I’d changed the document name).

I grabbed my notebook and went next door to ask my mother and sister to look for it. Another set of eyes is always good. They couldn’t find it. I’m sure my sister could see the look of panic on my face. I’d been buried in this rewrite for the past month. I had nothing in longhand, only a few sparse notes about some Coltrane dates and basic plot changes. Which wouldn’t be much help since I had changed much of the ending and written most of the last three days off the top of my head. And I hadn’t done line editing since Thursday and so nothing had been printed out.

She took one look at what had to be look of absolute helplessness and called her friend Julius. Julius is the king of computers. It’s his job somehow. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what he does exactly, but he is my family’s Geek Squad. Up until now, my requests have been simple, “Will you help me add a memory card?” or “Which system is better for this or that?” He is always helpful, always gracious–even when he’s probably thinking “You’ve got to be kidding?” It’s my former sister-in-law and my mother who have the more demanding calls to Julius when their harddrive has crashed or been infected by spyware. But last night, I was happy to hear Julius on the other end of the phone. “Relax. We’ll find it,” he said, and we did. After searching places I didn’t know existed on my computer, he walked me through a search that brought up a string of temporary files. I opened a folder and there it was. I have never in my life been so happy to see that little Word document icon–EGNDraft. I could have cried. All I managed was an emphatic “Thank you” and an offer to buy dinner (I don’t cook). He was as gracious as ever.

Honestly, as I write this and consider that I could have lost it, I’m still a little shaky. I don’t think I would have made it out of bed this morning if I hadn’t found that draft. Thank God for Julius!

Happy writing!
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Novel Update

It’s only been forever since I’ve written a blog, but the good news is that I’ve been writing. I spent all of Spring Break writing the revision. It’s coming along.

I spent a few hours on Chapter 16 yesterday and I had one of those gifts from the muse. I was adding a new scene to the chapter and I knew where Tia and Turo were, but honestly, I didn’t have a clue as to what they were supposed to do next to get them where they need to be in Chapter 17. But I began typing anyway. They made their way to a storage closet and although I had no idea that they were going there or even what they might find, I went with it. Surprise, suddenly I knew exactly why they were there and what it would mean to the rest of the story. In a matter of minutes I had them out of the closet and on their way to the next critical scene. I read it again this morning and I’m still amazed at how the scene unfolded. I guess all the writers, teachers and writing teachers are right. Writers write and there are no real tricks. You just sit your butt in the chair and write or die trying.

Happy Wednesday and happy writing! I have one week until my deadline (May 1) to finish this draft (number 4). I’m trying to focus, no basketball playoffs, no baseball, and no cutie soccer (oops, I mean) “futbol” players. It’s novel time.

Au revoir,
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More of Page 123

Okay, so I was working diligently on the revision at five a.m. and I started to wonder what was on page 123 of the two previous drafts of this novel-in-flux (because change is not always progress).  Out of sheer curiosity I pulled up the other drafts. 

Page 123 in the 400+ page draft that I workshopped in Paris and forced four unsuspecting writers to read, goes like this:   

“Did I like it?  Of course I did.”⁴  “What did you like about it?”⁵  And that was where she was lost.⁶  She always wanted to say it was pretty but the truth was that it wasn’t always pretty.⁷  Sometimes the intensity and forcefulness of the sound was anything but pretty but it was her son and she loved every note that fell from his horn because she was his mother and she was proud of him, and besides, everyone loved Turo’s music.⁸

In the scene Cassie Maxwell is musing over a conversation she once had with her husband about a song her youngest son had composed and shared with them. 

Page 123 in the first complete draft that I wrote in six weeks of morning pages that only my sister and my first reader Michele suffered through, goes like this:

“Mark my words.⁵  Lena will rue the day.⁶  That man has evil eyes.”⁷  Then Me-Ma took the only picture showing Alistair Drake’s dark blue eyes and stuffed it in the pocket of her blue gingham house dress.⁸  

In the scene Taffy Brown remembers her grandmother’s first impression of Alistair Drake from a photo Taffy’s sister, Selena, sent home informing them of her impromptu marriage. It’s amazing how so much is contained in a few lines. 

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Page 123

It has been much too long, but in order to get back into the swing of things, I pick up an interesting tag from Erika over at Practicing Writing.

The directions are as follows:  Go to page 123 of a work of fiction closest to you (within reach).  Locate the fifth sentence on the page.  Post that sentence and the three that follow.  Explain.

I chose the Re-Vision since that’s what my world revolves around and because of my urgent need to finish this, it is always within reach.  Strangely enough, at this particular moment there isn’t a published piece of fiction on my desk.  So, I’ll use mine.  Page 123 is the beginning of the second section in Chapter 8.  Turo has a work address for a woman called Tia, whom he’s almost sure is his childhood friend, Starletta Drake, and he has decided to go see for himself.

Here are the sentences:

He had not yet called her, telling himself instead to wait until he was in the building.⁵  It was just after noon when he locked his car and walked back down seventeenth to the front of the glass-paneled high-rise.⁶ Inside, the red, brown, and golden hues of the patterned granite and marble brought to mind seventh grade math manipulatives.⁷  He searched the lobby for a courtesy phone or an information desk.⁸   

Not the most interesting four sentences found in the novel, but four sentences that in the end turn out to be central to the novel.  Since I’m still in revision mode everything is tentative and these sentences are no exception.  I hope to keep them but some plot changes may find them on the cutting floor. 

And in the tradition I tag Nadine, Glenna and Jada, if they happen to check in.

Happy Writing,  Q

Accepting the Challenge

As if I didn’t have enough to do already, I’m attempting the 2008 PhotoChallenge.  Photographer, Trevor Carpenter is running a year long challenge to photographers (amateur and professional, I assume) to stop and take a weekly snapshot of your community for the entire year.  Being that my new digital camera has been collecting more dust than pictures, I decided to give it a try.  I hope to share at least one picture a week on my new WordPress photoblog, view from the queue.  Take a peek when you have the time.

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Eighteen Days of Writing: Final Assessment

My 18 days have passed.  I am back at work and trying to work out a manageable schedule to finish this draft. Overall, I feel good about how I used my time and I am pleased with the amount of the rewrite I got done.  Since December 20 I have rewritten Chapters 9, 10, 11 & 12, plus three short pieces for separate submission.  Considering my track record, that’s very good.  It also gets me off to a great start for the New Year.  I’ve declared it the Year of the Writer, and that writer is me. 

IN THE QUEUE:  Section 12.5 

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OBAMA in ‘08!

Writing Day 18

Today I finished the closing to Chapter 11.  Unlike the bulk of this rewrite, it was new material.  I had to build the scene from scratch and it remains very rough.  But at least 11 is done.  I also rewrote most of 12.  There’s a section remaining near the end of 12 that I hope to work out tomorrow.  Then it’s on to 13 which will begin the real work because I have to fit in all my plot changes.

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OBAMA in ‘08!

Writing Day 17

I’m still working on Chapter 11.  I want to finish it tonight and get to 12 and 13 tomorrow.

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Writing Day 16

Kudos!  All for me.  I managed to stick with it today.  I put in about four hours, four difficult hours on Chapter 11 and still didn’t finish it.  Two days left.

IN THE QUEUE:  Finish Chapter 11, begin Chapter 12

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OBAMA in ‘08!

Writing Day 15

I completed Chapter 10 today.  Yes, a full chapter in one day.  It was a 36 page chapter that I cut down to 20.  Cutting is always easier than adding, and more fun, too.

IN THE QUEUE:  Chapter 11:  Turo goes home, Tia and Free argue

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Writing Day 14

I went back and reworked Chapter 9 today.  After reading it, I realized it was choppy and disjointed.  I spent some time weaving all the different points together and updated some things that have changed since the last full draft of the novel.

IN THE QUEUE:  Chapter 10:  Free’s visit.

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Writing Day 13

Happy New Year!

I have a hangover, not from New Year’s celebrations, but from the medication I was taking.  I will never take anything that strong again–only extra strength Tylenol from here on.  My system can’t handle the hard stuff.

And incase you’re wondering, I actually got some writing done today.  The rest of Chapter 9!  I even wrote resolutions for 08 and reflections from 07.  I’m on a roll.

Happy 2008! 

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