We made the pumpkin pie and it was great. Now I'm not just saying that. My daughter's mother-in-law, not knowing the little one made it, welled with enthusiasm over the pie. 'Not dry. So many pies are dry, but this one is great. And the taste is wonderful.' Whoo hoo!
I got to my daughter's at 8am and started making the scones. They had to be in before 10am so they'd been done in time to start the turkey. Interesting. I make scones from scratch, but not today. Too many things going on. I had a 'bag' recipe that only needed butter, milk, and fruit added. Again, had to go with the gut. The resulting dough felt too try, but I have added milk to this kind of recipe with disastrous results. I kept cool and kept breaking the butter into the dough. It finally 'congealed' and I kneaded it and flattened it with my hand into a pie shape and cut it into six wedges. They turned out great. Said mother-in-law said they were the best scones she'd ever eaten!
Trust. My friend D and I were talking tonight about trust. We got together for after-turkey scones (they taste better the older they get.) Trusting ourselves to get it right, to get the story we want down on paper. That's the crux of the matter. Trusting our friends to find mistakes or offer ideas to better our tales. Trusting that we will succeed. One way or the other.
It feels good to be cooking again, but even better to be on the path to writing again. It's been so dry. Like scones with too little liquid. It's been so like floating down a river. Like scones with too much liquid.
Just right. That's what I'm working towards. Making it just right. And it will be. Once I trust myself. And the Muse.
Life is trust.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Don't Stop
I haven't been cooking lately. It's hard to cook when you're only one and you've been used to cooking for five. Or even two. I'm not sure why, but I've started back at it. I made some fried chicken. It didn't turn out at all like my 'old' friend chicken. I used the wrong herbs. I made egg salad the other day. It was soupy. Soupy is not good for egg salad. Especially if you put it on toast. Soggy toast is not fun toast. I almost gave up.
My little one is here for the night. School is out for the US Thanksgiving break. I made fried chicken tonight. She loved it. I also made a cauliflower casserole. She hates cauliflower so I hid it with a nice dose of butter and a couple handfuls of grated cheddar cheese. I didn't expect her to eat it. She loved it! Success! She like the fried chicken, too. Cooked in just a dollop of olive oil with a sprinkling of seasoning - the right stuff this time. She cleaned her plate.
Then, we ate cookies that we bought at the hospital. My little one's cast came off today. (She also lost her top front tooth!). A day of firsts. The cookies were made by the staff - donations were for the cancer center. They made a very nice ending to an odd (and slightly fear-filled) day. She's now asleep with her cast-free arm. Very happy to be able to sleep the 'old' way without pillows and such propping up her arm. Life is good.
I vow to continue to cook. Tomorrow the little one and I are going to try our hand at pumpkin pie (saints preserve us!). I know I can do it. I just have to trust myself. The problem with the eggs were that I knew the sauce was too thin but didn't trust myself. I should have stopped with the 2nd dollop of mayonnaise. The same with the chicken. I shouldn't have used the herbs I did. I stopped and questioned myself, but I went on and made the mistake.
Same for writing. I vow to write everyday. I used to. I didn't need a vow to write. But I know I'm fighting things and must take a different path to my writing if I'm to continue and grow and love it again.
Success with the casserole and the chicken have raised my self-esteem again. The same is true with my writing. I will succeed one of these days. I've put the thought of publishing far into the back of my mind, for the nonce, so that I can renew the love.
Life is renewal.
My little one is here for the night. School is out for the US Thanksgiving break. I made fried chicken tonight. She loved it. I also made a cauliflower casserole. She hates cauliflower so I hid it with a nice dose of butter and a couple handfuls of grated cheddar cheese. I didn't expect her to eat it. She loved it! Success! She like the fried chicken, too. Cooked in just a dollop of olive oil with a sprinkling of seasoning - the right stuff this time. She cleaned her plate.
Then, we ate cookies that we bought at the hospital. My little one's cast came off today. (She also lost her top front tooth!). A day of firsts. The cookies were made by the staff - donations were for the cancer center. They made a very nice ending to an odd (and slightly fear-filled) day. She's now asleep with her cast-free arm. Very happy to be able to sleep the 'old' way without pillows and such propping up her arm. Life is good.
I vow to continue to cook. Tomorrow the little one and I are going to try our hand at pumpkin pie (saints preserve us!). I know I can do it. I just have to trust myself. The problem with the eggs were that I knew the sauce was too thin but didn't trust myself. I should have stopped with the 2nd dollop of mayonnaise. The same with the chicken. I shouldn't have used the herbs I did. I stopped and questioned myself, but I went on and made the mistake.
Same for writing. I vow to write everyday. I used to. I didn't need a vow to write. But I know I'm fighting things and must take a different path to my writing if I'm to continue and grow and love it again.
Success with the casserole and the chicken have raised my self-esteem again. The same is true with my writing. I will succeed one of these days. I've put the thought of publishing far into the back of my mind, for the nonce, so that I can renew the love.
Life is renewal.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Sailing
I am not a devotee of the late Tom Clancy. Yet, when a new book of his came out, I'd be one of the first to buy it. For my son. He's an aficionado. In the latest WD mag, Clancy is quoted. I have to share this with you. It should be shared with all writers.
"Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words.
If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world."
I once got the autograph of Sir Francis Chichester. He was the first person to sail solo around the world with only one stop. I was very young and very impressionable. I worked at the local library and he came in. I had just read his book and was fascinated with the tale. He was incredibly kind to a tongue-tied young clerk. Borrow or buy a copy and read it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/28/newsid_2495000/2495799.stm
http://www.amazon.com/Gipsy-Circles-World-Francis-Chichester/dp/9990371903
So I know a bit about what it's like to sail single-handed, around the world. And I am impressed with myself. And very glad that Tom Clancy shared this thought. I needed it. I need to remember that lots of people start a book and never finish it. I've got four novels written and one children's picture book. Nothing has been published - yet. But - I have the victory.
D and I met tonight to go over a part of her book. It was good, as always. I made a few suggestions which she was very happy with. We then did a couple chapters of my 'Blue.' Worked out well.
But we are both just coming out of writers' slump or whatever you want to call it. I can't wait to share Tom's quote with her. It is a victory to keep writing, even in the midst of waves of wretchedness, attacks by sharks of self-doubt, and swamped by whitecaps of weariness. (I do so love words!)
I've got to post this on my bathroom mirror. I have won a victory! I have won FIVE victories! I have sailed single-handed around the world FIVE times.
Life is an adventure.
"Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words.
If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world."
I once got the autograph of Sir Francis Chichester. He was the first person to sail solo around the world with only one stop. I was very young and very impressionable. I worked at the local library and he came in. I had just read his book and was fascinated with the tale. He was incredibly kind to a tongue-tied young clerk. Borrow or buy a copy and read it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/28/newsid_2495000/2495799.stm
http://www.amazon.com/Gipsy-Circles-World-Francis-Chichester/dp/9990371903
So I know a bit about what it's like to sail single-handed, around the world. And I am impressed with myself. And very glad that Tom Clancy shared this thought. I needed it. I need to remember that lots of people start a book and never finish it. I've got four novels written and one children's picture book. Nothing has been published - yet. But - I have the victory.
D and I met tonight to go over a part of her book. It was good, as always. I made a few suggestions which she was very happy with. We then did a couple chapters of my 'Blue.' Worked out well.
But we are both just coming out of writers' slump or whatever you want to call it. I can't wait to share Tom's quote with her. It is a victory to keep writing, even in the midst of waves of wretchedness, attacks by sharks of self-doubt, and swamped by whitecaps of weariness. (I do so love words!)
I've got to post this on my bathroom mirror. I have won a victory! I have won FIVE victories! I have sailed single-handed around the world FIVE times.
Life is an adventure.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
The Little Things
Honestly, it's the little things that will kill a book. Or a movie. The new one, 'Gravity,' has been berated for Sandra Bullock's hair. It doesn't float about. Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson caught the blooper. You've all seen the movie vids that show the number of bloopers in some movies. Most of these are one little thing that tips us off that someone wasn't paying attention. And - unfortunately - it takes us out of the moment.
I was going over Ch. 4 of 'Blue' tonight and realized I had one such blooper. Kathleen is on the back of a dragon, sitting behind a necromancer, and having a lively conversation with said necromancer. How could Kathleen hear the witch's chatter? Air flying by (you know how hard it is to hear in a car with its windows open) and great wings beating the air. Couldn't hear if she tried. So I had to move her to the front of the bus, so to speak, and let the necromancer talk into her ear with Kathleen shouting her replies. It worked, thankfully.
If you have a good editor, or a good critique group, they should be helping you with things like this. I know I have to rely on myself, but I also rely on others.
When I began in the work force, I was a legal admin. I was part of a huge national law firm. We were taught by the HR person how to proofread. We did it once ourselves, then we were instructed to use another admin in the 'pool' and read it aloud. These were important contracts and they had to be right. Really right.
We don't do that anymore, I've noticed. People rely upon themselves and that's a good thing, and a dollar-saver. But it is also a wee bit dangerous.
The same is true for our writing. We really can't trust ourselves, even after the fortieth edit. We will invariably miss something. I think it's human nature. We know what we meant and we wrote it. But did we? Or did we forget that it's really noisy on a flying dragon?
Just a thought for my friends.
Life is full of little things.
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/
I was going over Ch. 4 of 'Blue' tonight and realized I had one such blooper. Kathleen is on the back of a dragon, sitting behind a necromancer, and having a lively conversation with said necromancer. How could Kathleen hear the witch's chatter? Air flying by (you know how hard it is to hear in a car with its windows open) and great wings beating the air. Couldn't hear if she tried. So I had to move her to the front of the bus, so to speak, and let the necromancer talk into her ear with Kathleen shouting her replies. It worked, thankfully.
If you have a good editor, or a good critique group, they should be helping you with things like this. I know I have to rely on myself, but I also rely on others.
When I began in the work force, I was a legal admin. I was part of a huge national law firm. We were taught by the HR person how to proofread. We did it once ourselves, then we were instructed to use another admin in the 'pool' and read it aloud. These were important contracts and they had to be right. Really right.
We don't do that anymore, I've noticed. People rely upon themselves and that's a good thing, and a dollar-saver. But it is also a wee bit dangerous.
The same is true for our writing. We really can't trust ourselves, even after the fortieth edit. We will invariably miss something. I think it's human nature. We know what we meant and we wrote it. But did we? Or did we forget that it's really noisy on a flying dragon?
Just a thought for my friends.
Life is full of little things.
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/
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