Sunday, July 25, 2010
Life changes
While I continue to work on my novel, another more pressing event is using much of my time and energy now. You may read about this at Caring Bridge. Enter rosettakastama to read journal entries about how my life changed in an instant. Please check this blog later (maybe in a couple of months) for writing updates.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The aunt with the strange name, Part II
It has been almost two months since my aunt, Peaches, died, and I've pretty much recovered from the trip and the task of making decisions about all of her belongings. I will continue to remember the wonderful things that came of our relationship, mainly her life on paper, and I hope that her writing will influence my writing.
Another thing that Peaches did well was to collect jewelry. Oh, my gosh! What beautiful pieces she had and wore and passed on to me. I can't begin to describe them and the countries they represent, but I will say that I have worn many of the necklaces/pendants and will enjoy them immensely until my sisters, daughter, and nieces choose pieces.
There were two rings in the home's safe that the social worker gave me in April. One is a very old and beautiful diamond ring, which I plan to give to one of Peaches' friends. The other is a garnet harem ring, and I'm thrilled to have it. It is made up of 5 slender gold rings, attached on the palm side. Each ring has 5 garnets on it, from small to very small, that form a colorful (mostly dark red) pattern. These all come together to form one large ethereal ring that completely covers the "ring" part of my finger. It is stunning, and I'm hoping that my husband will take me out to a dinner/dance or fancy party soon so that I can show it off. It's too beautiful to be kept in a safe.
The snapshots from my trip were developed a couple of weeks ago. I have an old Pentax 35 mm and have learned to love macro photography -- bees on flowers, mostly. Knowing that this would be my last trip to this city, I got up early and spent some time capturing flowers in the morning light. Only one was stunning, and I stare at it and marvel at its appropriateness.
It is a single white lily -- perfect, bright, in focus.
Another thing that Peaches did well was to collect jewelry. Oh, my gosh! What beautiful pieces she had and wore and passed on to me. I can't begin to describe them and the countries they represent, but I will say that I have worn many of the necklaces/pendants and will enjoy them immensely until my sisters, daughter, and nieces choose pieces.
There were two rings in the home's safe that the social worker gave me in April. One is a very old and beautiful diamond ring, which I plan to give to one of Peaches' friends. The other is a garnet harem ring, and I'm thrilled to have it. It is made up of 5 slender gold rings, attached on the palm side. Each ring has 5 garnets on it, from small to very small, that form a colorful (mostly dark red) pattern. These all come together to form one large ethereal ring that completely covers the "ring" part of my finger. It is stunning, and I'm hoping that my husband will take me out to a dinner/dance or fancy party soon so that I can show it off. It's too beautiful to be kept in a safe.
The snapshots from my trip were developed a couple of weeks ago. I have an old Pentax 35 mm and have learned to love macro photography -- bees on flowers, mostly. Knowing that this would be my last trip to this city, I got up early and spent some time capturing flowers in the morning light. Only one was stunning, and I stare at it and marvel at its appropriateness.
It is a single white lily -- perfect, bright, in focus.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The aunt with the strange name
My father had two sisters and two brothers. There is only one left now, an uncle just an hour's drive from me. He is 91.
Two of them died many years ago, my father died 6 years ago, and my aunt died at age 97 in a skilled nursing facility in California 3 weeks ago. I already had this trip planned, knowing that she was ill and frail. I just didn't know how frail and that last August was my last time to hug her and tell her how much I loved her.
I called her Peaches. When she was born, her father held her and said, "She's a peach!" That wasn't her name, but many people called her that.
She was married three times but had no children. She traveled and lived in African countries and India but never contracted an illness. She left her home in Wisconsin and was adopted by a wealthy lady who had no children. Their devotion to each other endures.
On the plane to California, I wrote several paragraphs of my novel, In An Elephant's Footprint. After arriving, my sister met me, and we went through our aunt's belongings, deciding what to keep, what to offer to other family members, and what to leave at the home for other residents. It was about the hardest work I've ever done. Peaches and I were very close, and I made her end-of-life decisions, but this cleaning up, these thousands of decisions threw me. After we finished (the second day), I slept for 14 hours. I couldn't write another word of my novel. Couldn't even think about it.
I was very happy to find, in one of Peaches' boxes, a ream or two of her writing, from a young girl to middle age, some published, some just typed on an old manual. Maybe she chose me to be her next of kin because she knew that I would read her stories and learn from them, and that is my plan.
Peaches, you took the longest journey of your life and didn't need to take anything with you. Thank you for the privilege of viewing your life and leaving me with the most precious of gifts -- your thoughts.
Two of them died many years ago, my father died 6 years ago, and my aunt died at age 97 in a skilled nursing facility in California 3 weeks ago. I already had this trip planned, knowing that she was ill and frail. I just didn't know how frail and that last August was my last time to hug her and tell her how much I loved her.
I called her Peaches. When she was born, her father held her and said, "She's a peach!" That wasn't her name, but many people called her that.
She was married three times but had no children. She traveled and lived in African countries and India but never contracted an illness. She left her home in Wisconsin and was adopted by a wealthy lady who had no children. Their devotion to each other endures.
On the plane to California, I wrote several paragraphs of my novel, In An Elephant's Footprint. After arriving, my sister met me, and we went through our aunt's belongings, deciding what to keep, what to offer to other family members, and what to leave at the home for other residents. It was about the hardest work I've ever done. Peaches and I were very close, and I made her end-of-life decisions, but this cleaning up, these thousands of decisions threw me. After we finished (the second day), I slept for 14 hours. I couldn't write another word of my novel. Couldn't even think about it.
I was very happy to find, in one of Peaches' boxes, a ream or two of her writing, from a young girl to middle age, some published, some just typed on an old manual. Maybe she chose me to be her next of kin because she knew that I would read her stories and learn from them, and that is my plan.
Peaches, you took the longest journey of your life and didn't need to take anything with you. Thank you for the privilege of viewing your life and leaving me with the most precious of gifts -- your thoughts.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Writers' Group
As I predicted, the writers' group leader did not read me yesterday. I submitted a chapter, but it went to the bottom of the stack. Consequently, I escaped the scrutiny, and that felt good. I will submit another one next Thursday and would like to submit one each week.
This fantasy, In An Elephant's Footprint (though more about dragons than elephants), runs through my head, completely of its own accord, until details work themselves out. I took a long walk this morning (~4 miles to work) and created another character. I had this man's uncle killed, so the nephew will redeem the family name by making a benevolent gesture and receiving a reward.
The creative process is fun but not always easy for me. Oh, to write like Alexander McCall Smith! He can write 1,000 words an hour, and he says editing is unnecessary! For now, I will settle for fun.
This fantasy, In An Elephant's Footprint (though more about dragons than elephants), runs through my head, completely of its own accord, until details work themselves out. I took a long walk this morning (~4 miles to work) and created another character. I had this man's uncle killed, so the nephew will redeem the family name by making a benevolent gesture and receiving a reward.
The creative process is fun but not always easy for me. Oh, to write like Alexander McCall Smith! He can write 1,000 words an hour, and he says editing is unnecessary! For now, I will settle for fun.
Monday, February 1, 2010
In an Elephant's Footprint
This has to be the last time. Getting read four times in a row is some kind of a record, and it ends here, mainly because the leader doesn't have any more of my chapters. That will change this Thursday because I have two chapters prepared, but I need a break from all the criticism! Some are helpful suggestions, but some are rather rude, i.e., "I was bored up until X happened, and it was a little interesting, then I got bored again." Maybe his writing bores me, but I wouldn't tell him that.
I've learned to write chases and murders and international intrigue. And it all actually relates to my heroine and her dragon.
I've learned to write chases and murders and international intrigue. And it all actually relates to my heroine and her dragon.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Pictures -- finally!
As I promised a few months ago, there are now images to accompany some of my South Africa blog entries. Go to the March '09 posts, and you will see a little bit of what we enjoyed for three weeks when we visited my daughter in the Peace Corps.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Heather's ring
On January 9, my cousin threw an engagement party for her daughter. We had to drive over an hour to get there, but we like these people, like parties in general, and hoped there would be dancing. The invitation said "semi-formal," however, so that called for a new, fancy dress. I work at a fabric store, got some advice from my coworkers, and finally chose a deep blue satin. As I worked on it, I started thinking about a fancy necklace to go with it. I have always been a "gold" person and surprised to find myself thinking so quickly of silver. Brian likes to make jewelry and has some equipment. We shopped carefully, and he crafted a beautiful two-strand silver and blue necklace. It was a debut for me -- satin instead of work clothes and silver instead of gold -- and I looked and felt great.
Yes, there was dancing, and the engagement party was a surprise wedding!
What does all this have to do with my novel or Heather's ring? Read on.
Our writers' group met again this morning. Brian, my husband, again accompanied me, and I submitted another chapter. Remember, last week I received a lot of what I perceived as criticism. In fact, one man asked me this morning if all of my bruises had healed. I was able to tell him honestly that I was glad for the feedback because it helped me craft the current chapter, about Heather's ring. I didn't know if I would be read today or not, but I was (the THIRD week in a row), and the group's comments were almost all positive.
My past stories have been sweet and happy. No one ever gets anything more than his/her feelings hurt and the man in the white hat handily defeats the one in the black hat (bloodlessly, of course). In this chapter of In An Elephant's Footprint, however, there are definitely bad guys who want to hurt my young heroine, Heather, for their own gain. This is a new and exciting genre for me.
Imagine -- two debuts in the first month of 2010! And all without a resolution.
Yes, there was dancing, and the engagement party was a surprise wedding!
What does all this have to do with my novel or Heather's ring? Read on.
Our writers' group met again this morning. Brian, my husband, again accompanied me, and I submitted another chapter. Remember, last week I received a lot of what I perceived as criticism. In fact, one man asked me this morning if all of my bruises had healed. I was able to tell him honestly that I was glad for the feedback because it helped me craft the current chapter, about Heather's ring. I didn't know if I would be read today or not, but I was (the THIRD week in a row), and the group's comments were almost all positive.
My past stories have been sweet and happy. No one ever gets anything more than his/her feelings hurt and the man in the white hat handily defeats the one in the black hat (bloodlessly, of course). In this chapter of In An Elephant's Footprint, however, there are definitely bad guys who want to hurt my young heroine, Heather, for their own gain. This is a new and exciting genre for me.
Imagine -- two debuts in the first month of 2010! And all without a resolution.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Writers' Group
Two fascinating things happened in my writers' group this morning. One is that my husband came with me. He writes but tends to stay away from my hobbies. Unfortunately, he's an excellent writer and doesn't let it out, so I'm hoping that he'll stay in the group and pick up the novel he started for NaNoWriMo. It has a lot of potential.
The second thing is that I got read again, after just being read last week. This is unusual, but not many people have submitted chapters to the leader, so there mine was. This was the chapter about Heather taking the stone the dragon gave her to get it made into earrings. The stone, a mandarin garnet, has magical powers and causes some problems for the jeweler. The other writers, even the new ones, were rather critical of some of my writing, to the point that I defended myself. It seems that some heavy duty editing is in order, but I will hang onto some ideas. Brian, wisely, did not enter into that discussion.
The second thing is that I got read again, after just being read last week. This is unusual, but not many people have submitted chapters to the leader, so there mine was. This was the chapter about Heather taking the stone the dragon gave her to get it made into earrings. The stone, a mandarin garnet, has magical powers and causes some problems for the jeweler. The other writers, even the new ones, were rather critical of some of my writing, to the point that I defended myself. It seems that some heavy duty editing is in order, but I will hang onto some ideas. Brian, wisely, did not enter into that discussion.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Her name is Heather because she's tough
A person in my writers' group said that she got tired of hearing "Shelly," "Seana" (the feminine of Sean, as in Connery), and "she" a lot of times. Since they all start with the same sound, I decided that I could change my main character's name without sacrificing anything. "Michelle" has a nice ring to it, but I finally decided on Heather.
My heroine has a big job to do and needs to be strong and resilient. Heather suits her, mainly because heather grows on the heath (where else?) and, in spite of harsh wind and rain, is a beautiful flower.
There is a book about how to choose names for characters. I requested it for Christmas, didn't get it, so am on my own for a while. Heather and I are tough and will work it out.
My heroine has a big job to do and needs to be strong and resilient. Heather suits her, mainly because heather grows on the heath (where else?) and, in spite of harsh wind and rain, is a beautiful flower.
There is a book about how to choose names for characters. I requested it for Christmas, didn't get it, so am on my own for a while. Heather and I are tough and will work it out.
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