it’s the friday after thanksgiving, which means TURKEY SANDWICHES (and no one makes them better than my dad). i love turkey sandwiches and i love being surrounded by my family and i love this poem.
i can only share one of those three things, so here you go:
in the midst of all the writing i’ve been doing this month, i’ve also done a fair amount of reading, correction: listening.
i was first introduced to audiobooks by my parents during long drives to visit this relative or that one. i was re-introduced to them when i started making my own long drives to/from boston. it’s an odd thing, these audiobooks, because i tend to look for different things in an audiobook than i normally do for one i’m going to read.
it’s my ears vs. my eyes.
usually, my ears like fast paced action packed novels because they deliver tension and intrigue and it’s helpful in keeping this driver alert. my eyes on the other hand also like that type of book, but they can handle slower paced things, more lyrical, more sensual, more fantastical.
and then there’s maggie stiefvater and THE SCORPIO RACES (which has quickly become one of my favorite all time books ever). it’s a pure delight in both forms.
and so when her newest book THE RAVEN BOYS came out this fall, i was eager to dive into it. it’s the start of a planned four book series and as such the depth of the book is intense and the pace is rather slow, as is worthy of a book setting up a new world and all the characters involved.
i had a hard time getting into it.
until adriana said she was listening to and loving the audiobook. i decided to give it a try and for whatever reason, it clicked. “reading” the book in this audible medium changed my perspective. the pace isn’t slow, it’s creepy and winding and lingering and just right. the depth of the book felt like uncharted scuba diving territory instead of drowning.
the narrator’s voice makes the characters come alive, feel closer, and fill your head.
i’m in heaven.
it’s also given me time to get my “reading” in at different points (aka walking around town) than normal because this month isn’t normal and i don’t have much free time but i also can’t do without reading for an entire month. this way, i’m having my cake and eating it too.
and so with maggie’s words filling my ears and rolling around in my head, it’s made my own words and stories smarter, better, more exotic. thank you, maggie for your wonderful imagination. thank you, adriana for suggesting the audiobook. thank you, will patton, the amazing narrator of THE RAVEN BOYS.
have you ever read a book and not liked it, but then gone to another medium (movie or audiobook) and liked it? or vice versa? if you like a book, do you like it in all forms or are your tastes more specific? how are you today? (i’m just trying to poke you all into commenting. say anything! say nothing other than hi. or good luck or whatever floats your boat. we’re all aiming for high word counts this month. ha.)
…and all those (still) affected by hurricane sandy.
Bent Tree in Storm Clouds & Light by TylerKnott
The storms will come and the winds will rise and the gusts will threaten to pull you from your roots. Let the winds come. Let them rage and know that you will not break in the breeze, you will bend. Bend. Always bend because you are made of more strength than you know, because you are better than the breaking.
(Source: treehousephotography.org)
p.s. i donated to the american red cross, did you?
sometimes something SO BIG comes along the desire to hide overwhelms your sense of logic.
in this case, the something so big is NaNoWriMo (NAtional NOvel WRiting MOnth) in which a novel is defined as 50K and is started on november 1 and finished on/by november 30.
yup. i signed up to write a novel in a month.
i’m considering a costume so maybe it won’t recognize me.
i swear this wasn’t just an excuse to show off my beyond adorable nieces and nephews. though, really, aren’t they the cutest?!? i’m not biased at all. this is the truth.
but back to my point. i’m really scared of this task, of this herculean effort, of this novel, of all these expectations (mine + others’). i’ve already started this one once and wrote 20K before i realized i needed to restart it and that brings me to what i’m doing this november.
this is manuscript #3 for me, which means i should have learned something from manuscripts 1 and 2 and those things learned should be incorporated now, but, umm, i can’t find my notes, a pop quiz today?, THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK, TEACHER.
wow. that’s already a lot more than i tell most people about my writing because i’m (a) too much of a perfectionist where i don’t want people to see the process, just the results, (b) superstitious, (c) private, (d) awkward, (e) uncomfortable talking about myself, (f) private, (g) see aforementioned items x100. i guess i’m hoping if i put this in writing, i’ll be held accountable.
i want to be accountable.
but i’m scared.
i think it’s time to take a cue from my dear (and ridiculously talented) friend adriana.
perhaps i should throw on something bright so (in her case) the people at the reading focus on that instead of her (so she said); or so (in my case) i focus on the outer (getting the words out) instead of the inner (editor)?
maybe i’m grasping at straws here. maybe that analogy sounded better in my head. maybe i’m procrastinating from working on that manuscript (if you look at the date, yes, i’m two days into NaNo) because the blog is safe and the MS is uncharted territory.
okay, okay. i’m leaving. but first, tell me how YOU go about facing your fears.
let’s all be in this together!
speaking of seeing professionals in their natural work habitat, sister E had a chance to see me in my home habitat. she had two days off for her collegiate fall break and parents who were willing to book her a flight, and so, she arrived. she’s been to boston lots of times, but always with a car full of family members.
this time, it was just her and me.
she got to see the (not so glamorous) two room studio i rent, and walk the neighborhood trails i frequent, and buy books from my mecca, and eat the (not so glamorous) meals i cook, and freeze in the apartment with the broken furnace and see what real life landlords are like (slow), and watch the first season of the oh so addictive DOWNTON ABBEY, and face time with sister J and baby and bubba mac, and go to the local college’s football game, and mesh in with the food truck throwdown crowds, and take public transportation, and see, really see how it is to live post-college.
but more importantly, i got to meet the adult version of sister E.
when i left for boston, she was 11 and sometimes my brain gets trapped and forgets she’s not a wee little thing anymore. i’ve heard stories that she gets to class and practice and meals on time, but i’ve never experienced it. i’ve been told she studies and gets good grades and pays for her own gasoline, but i’ve never witnessed it. i’ve been aware that she can pack her own bag and travel, but i’ve never been the final destination.
this time, she was participating in conversations and starting her own and even showing off her new found psych knowledge. she made plans with a friend and hung with him until it was time to meet me after work. she pulled out the credit card at the movies and paid for my ticket (um, thanks mom and dad). we cooked and cleaned and talked and laughed and read and talked some more. like sisters. like friends. like equals.
like the adults we are (or pretend to be).
but, it was good to find out when it came down to it, she still knew how to be silly…
Abigail Mumford 