How to Get Back to Writing

I have written over 300,000 words since April and I haven't written a thing.

Colon Cleansing
Dermatological TV
Puppy Training
Escort Services in London
Automating Your Home
More Colon Cleansing
Snake Oil of Many Types
Domestic Violence
Prostitution

Sigh - all those words wasted on things, excepting the occasional bright spot, that have no meaning.

I think free-lance writing is not so good for a novelist!

Bad Dreams of Unfair Justice

I dreamed bad dreams all night.

Of standing before a disapproving judge.

Of getting the evil eye from an unforgiving former friend.

Of trying to bear up under the unrelenting hatred of a hostile DA.

I despair and dream of slitting my wrists and collecting the blood to mail to these people with a note that simply says "Are you happy now?".

When o When can I Write?

I am so good at overbooking myself. I currently have bubbling on my writing stove:

Words for a Christmas Cantata (or an Easter Oratorio)
Words for 12 hours of Opera
Words for 2 Lullabys
1st novel revision/finishing
2nd novel plotting and brainstorming

So - I have LOTS to write and almost no time to work on it.

Instead I write about lawyers and colon cleansers and puppies. Yes, this writing pays the bills (just barely), but still... I want to write fun stuff!

Maybe the fact that I am starting a new job tomorrow will help.
Part time work, but at a really good rate of pay.
Should mean I have to do less freelance writing so hopefully I can swap that time out for fiction and musical writing.

Wish me luck!

Life in a Corpocracy

The book that is stirring around in the back of my mind for this year's NaNo is based in the future. When Corporations have taken over all of the 1st and 2nd world governments. You know, the stuff of science fiction...

Until my son points out this...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090323_america_is_in_need_of_a_moral_bailout/

Ah brave new world...

Between Parachutes - What I Learned

I don't like writing about my personal travails. An author must play God and put her characters through challenges, set backs and travail - this is what makes books exciting. Unfortunately, when it comes to my own life, I seem to prefer waiting until after the challenges are done so that I know 'how it ends'. I am a storyteller - I tell dozens of stories about my own life - repeatedly. My friends tease that they like listening to my stories to 'find out what happened this time'.

So - as an update - I am still between parachutes, but there are good things on the horizon. My husband starts his Master's degree in a week and we have settled into an apartment in Denver. I am looking forward to beginning work again on my novel. And I have begun to anticipate NaNo 2009.

I'll probably start popping up here again more often now, trying to tell the stories that are my life.

Between Parachutes 1

You could not have told me in advance that I would find any city home. I am a country girl. I like open spaces and trees, and rivers and sky. All the things that are generally in short supply in a city. A normal city. But Edinburgh is not a normal city!

Edinburgh is a city of green spaces, parks, the 14 mile walk along the River of Leith, gardens and hills (7 of them to be exact - all still undeveloped). Edinburgh is a city whose very architecture leads the eye upwards to the sky. Edinburgh is very 'walk-able' which means that I spent more time outside - walking to and from work, the grocery store, the cinema than I had in all our years in California where it is necessary to drive everywhere!

In Edinburgh this country girl became citified. I regularly went to the art galleries, the museums, the concert halls. I went to music festivals, film festivals, book festivals! And still spent more time outside than any time since my childhood.

I learned a lot in Edinburgh. I gained by Bachelor's degree in music, I found my voice as a writer, I deepened my love for my husband, I gained a more worldly perspective in politics, I discovered a passion for film, I discovered a talent for arts development work. I was still learning. That is why the call to vacate the country was so devastating. I did not feel ready to end that learning process.

I feel the loss of Edinburgh as a deep cut. I am terribly homesick for the chimney pots, the closes, the daffodils. It is spring there now, the snowdrops have come and gone, the carpets of crocuses in purple, yellow and white are giving way to the daffodils - hundreds of thousands of delicate yellow blooms draping Castle Hill, coating the Meadows, filling your heart with sunshine.

For now, my heart sits in shadow.

The Writer Attempts to Articulate her Thoughts

Well. Here I am again. Staring at a blank page. Trying to think of something witty or bright to say. I am a victim of my own ideas. Too many. Too complicated. Too unformed. But then the impulse will take me and my fingers will seem to fly over the keyboard and before I know it I am writing - really writing - and I am lost in my imagination.

I am hoping that the musings I place on this page will be a catalyst for those times that I submerge myself in the flow of ideas. A place to limber up before each day's writing, to loosen the imagination muscles and get the creative juices flowing.

To start with, I will be journalling my current personal life in a series of articles I am calling Between Parachutes. I was happily ensconced as an ex-patriot in Edinburgh Scotland until my VISA extension was denied and I was given 14 days to vacate the country. Now I am homeless, unemployed and living with relatives while I sort myself out. So - tune in here for the saga, the musings, and the general chatterings of my overloaded brain!

Moving forward

Eddie is working on finishing a synopsis of the book to be reviewed. A number of things have changed in the overall story as she wrote during November (and into December). The synopsis will take these changes into account.

The actual book will not be published here anymore, although excerpts may from time to time be posted for a limited time requesting comments. Your thoughts and encouragement are very much appreciated, so keep them coming.

If you would like to pdf version of the novel as it stands now, please email Chip. As we are in the process of getting this ready for publication, we don't want too many copies floating about.

The purpose of this blog

Eddie is writing a novel, for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). As she progresses you can watch her progress on the NaNoWriMo website - and then read what she writes here.

The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to get writers writing without thinking about the editing process - that pesky little voice that keeps telling us to change what we've done and keeps us from moving forward. As such, Eddie is NOT going to be editing anything in what she's done.

Some rules for commenting on the novel.

• 1 - all comments are moderated by Chip, so don't expect direct replies from Eddie
  
  She has enough to do in just getting the 50,000 words done.
  
  
• 2 - since she is NOT going to be editing, any editing comments will NOT be
  
  passed on to Eddie until December.
  
  
• 3 - positive comments and encouragement WILL be sent to Eddie so cheer lots!
  
  
• 4 - negative comments without constructive criticism won't be published

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You are welcome to make editing comments. Just be aware that those will not get posted until December 1st so as to not get in the way of the writing. Definitely make suggestions as to where the story can go; these kind of suggestions can easily be incorporated into future sections and help the process.

Thanks for your support