Having a wonderful holiday with Su and Mike. We've been to Harry Potter World at Universal Orlando among other things.
In professional news, my story, A Diva Scorned, will appear in the next issue of Ubernothing Art Review and Literary Magazine. Yay! And the story now in {short} Fiction is getting quite a lot of attention. It's erotica, so don't go take a peak if you are easily offended.
I'll be back to working on the novel in a few days. I think I am ready to tackle it and get it done.
OK back to holiday merriment!
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December 19, 2O11
I am happy t report that a piece of erotica I have on Short Fiction has received almost 2OOO reads in a week. Also somewhat pleased with the two poems written in the last week, one of which is posted here. It's a bit of comic fluff. The other is part of Lamentations of The Sabine Women poem cycle. I am not thrilled with it as it stands now but its at least a start on poem two.
My daughter will be arriving in two days for a two week visit. Doubtful I will do much writing between now and the time she heads back home to Ohio. Right now preparations for her arrival take priority over all else and, after that her presence will be a very welcome priority.
So this is me wishing all of you the very best end to 2O11 and start to 2O12! Happy, Happy Every One!
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December 6, 2011
So this is a day when I am just not real focused. It's partly that I did not sleep well last night but I think more because I am having a hard time with all three current writing projects. The novel is tangled and will take a significantly clear head to get untangled. And both poems I am working right now are at stand stills because I am just not pleased with them. One of them has a deadline so I need to face that one and fix it rather sooner than later.
Today, I will address the making of CDs so that anyone who wants to order a CD of Soul Hill Lullabies read by the author can do so when they order the book. The recordings are all done. I just need to lay the tracks on CDs and make a jacket for it. I am thinking some folks might like having such a CD as poems are far nicer to follow when read out loud.
Okay, back to the salt mines!
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December 3, 2011
Panera in Tarpon Springs has become my Saturday morning office. It really is a very comfortable p0lace to work and most weeks I leave here feeling I have accomplished a good deal. The mocha lattes are not bad either.
Earlier this week, I took part in an open reading at Brick and Mortar gallery in Cocoa Village. There was a good turn-out to hear several good poets. This coming Friday at 6:30 PM, I will be performing selections from Soul Hill Lullabies at the Progress Energy Art Gallery in New Port Richey.
http://www.nprgallery.com/
On Saturday the 10th, I will be participating in the inaugural tour of the Bluebird Book Bus. I will be performing in their event at The Buzz on Harbour Island.
http://bluebird-books.com/tour.html
If you are in the area next weekend, please consider joining us at either of these events.
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November 29, 2O11
I am really struggling with Tarpeia, a citizen of Rome and Vestal Virgin, who was to be the narrator for the second poem in the Sabine Women cycle. I am having a very hard time finding a voice for her so I am setting that one aside and moving on to another of the poems in that cycle.
Today there will be editing of erotica that needs to be sent to a publisher as well as more work on the outline for the novel, which is coming along well-- the novel, not so much the outline. I also need to send out some copies of Soul Hill Lullabies.
The weather here has turned cool-ish. I hesitate to mention it because I know I will not get -nor deserve - sympathy from my friends in the grey frozen north. But the coolness here arrived suddenly yesterday. You could actually see the cold front crashing into the warmer air we had earlier in the day causing light rain over the region. It was kind of fascinating and I am very glad to have the cool-down. I plan, at some point today, to get out and walk. It really is the perfect day for it.
In other news, I am now counting down the days til my daughter comes to visit. Yay for that!
I would be remiss if I did not mention here that I will be reading from Soul Hill Lullabies twice in the next couple of weeks. I will be reading December 9 at the Progress Energy Art Gallery in New Port Richey, FL and December 1O at The Buzz in Tampa, where I will be part of an event raising interest and funds for the Bluebird Bus, a very cool literary venture. http://www.thebluebirdbus.com/
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November 22, 2011
I plan to have printed several copies of Soul Hill Lullabies by tonight. Yay!
I have been mulling over the next of the Sabine Cycle poems. Its subject will be Tarpeia, for whom the Tarpeian rock is named. I really want to tell her story from her point of view, realizing how presumptuous it is to believe I can represent her point of view, but owning that presumption nonetheless The problem is I am having a hard time putting myself in her sandals. She is not in any way a sympathetic character. In theater, I have always enjoyed playing unsympathetic characters. In writing, I find it hard to find their voices. And the voice must be found and it must be compelling if not sympathetic. I imagine I will be struggling with Tarpeia for some time.
The book outline is happening slowly but it is happening.
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November 17, 2011
Yesterday about three hours into laying out Soul Hill Lullabies, I was reminded that in college I was an editor for the campus paper and that on lay-out nights I always had an urge to strong drink, suicide, or resignation, sometimes all three. Lay-out is still hell, even now that I am doing it on a computer. Anyway the layout is done and I am ready to print out a moc up. That means that I need to deal with the wireless printer that, as of yet, does not want to recognize my laptop. I will be having words with said computer very soon.
Orders for the book have started coming in. Please send your pre-order to divapresspublications@gmail.com.
Last night, I spent some time arranging my work space so that I will presumably be less distracted when writing at home. Hopefully today, presuming printer connection does not fry all my brain cells, there will be actual writing done in this work space. Wish me luck!
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November 16, 2011
Another beautiful day in Florida. Unfortunately, I have a ton of work I want to get done today so mostly I will view the beautiful day from inside. So be it. At least there are big windows here.
I am working on layout of the book. It's kind of slow going but its getting there and should be done by week's end. If you would like to pre-order a copy of Soul Hill Lullabies, let me know by sending an email to divapresspublications@gmail.com. The paperback book will cost $15, $3 for the audio recording of all the poems, $10 for the ebook.
I am also doing some organizational work on the novel, as I am getting plot lines tangled. I don"t often work from an outline but am finding I need one now. So be that as well. This is even more tedious work than the layout process for Soul Hill Lullabies.
I also hope to spend some time on the next poem I have decided to write for Lamentations. Luckily, I feel no pressure yet on that project.. It can grow at its own pace.
And now to work!
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November 12, 2011
The poem I just added to this blog, Good Girls ThanksGivings, has grown on me some. I wrote it a couple days ago to meet an assignment for a poetry group I like attending, the one that meets twice a month at the Progress Energy Art Gallery in New Port Richey. I knew when I saw what the challenge for this meeting was that I would never be able to write a particularly grateful sounding thanksgiving poem, but after giving the matter some thought decided that in itself was worth writing about. When I finished it though I was not in love with my words. In fact, I was pretty sure the poem would not survive its first revision -- many do not. Imagine my surprise when I found I actually like this poem. So here it is for you to enjoy too -- I hope.
I am sitting at a table in Panera in Tarpon Springs this morning, getting some work done while my partner takes a metal working class down the road a ways. When I opened my email here a while ago, I received the very welcome news that my poem, Alma Hill Dancing, will appear in the Fall edition of Progeny, the literary magazine of my undergrad alma mater, The Defiance College. I am not entirely sure when that will appear online, but will post the link here when it does.
What was really worth noting is that this is the THIRD acceptance notice I have received whilst sitting at a table in this establishment. Seems that maybe I should spend more time in this Panera. I wonder if just any Panera would do. Hmmmm....
Well, this morning, I plan to send out some submissions and get a start --if not a finish -- on chapter 19 of the novel. So, now to work!
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November 7, 2011
17 chapters of the novel are done now. Well, as done as first drafts ever are. I have reached a point in the story where something is not setting right with my writer's sensibleness. I am not entirely sure what it is that has set some warning buzzer to buzzing and will need to spend some time exploring that but maybe not before completing a first draft of the entire novel. There is some danger in deep editing too soon. Sure, a run through for spelling and glaring flaws can be okay at this point, but I am very wary of self-imposed criticism that might slow or completely stall progress. Been there, done that! Sometimes it is more important to get the words on the page imperfectly than to mine for perfection. I think I am at that point when it is better to keep pushing forward than to start tearing the work apart.
The first of the poems in The lamentations of The Sabine Women, is written and posted on this site. I have begun researching the next and know what woman will be its topic and protagonist. The shape of the cycle has become very clear to me in the last 24 hours. Clarity is good.
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November 3, 2O11
I have had a productive day this far, havng already written -at 1O:3O a.m.- two more chapters of the novel. Breaking now to update this blog and do a couple of household tasks before hitting the new poem cycle. I am a little intimidated by it to tell the truth. The story I plan to tell is well known and more than 2OOO years old. There are many versions of it ut I hope to bring something new to it. We shall see. Right now, I am struggling with style. I am somewhat tempted to approach this in a classic form. I mean it is a classic story so that seems appropriate. But I am intimidated as hell by classic poetry and the forms in which it has been written. And I hope to look at this tale in new ways so maybe an old form is not appropriate. I imagine I will start writing and see where the words lead me as the tumble from mind to keyboard.
Yesterday was another gorgeous one on Merritt Island. We visited a couple of swamps, because one is never enough dontchaknow? I saw, among other things, flamingos in the wild, just starting to turn pink. They are very impressive when they fly. Following is a pic from that outing.
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| Tri-coloured Heron in Kars Park on Merritt Island. |
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November 1, 2O11
It is All Saints Day. I am not much of a church goer these days but I do recognize this day as a time to remember my people. Lately, I have been remembering them a great deal anyway. The Alma poems have kept them in my mind. Still, this morning I think particularly of my mother and grandmother, my great aunt Viola, a couple of good friends who died way too young.
This morning I am ready to start research for the next poem cycle I plan to write. I will need to learn a good deal about early Rome and Roman mythology. Anyone have any sites or books they want to recommend? If so, please drop a note to stephaniemesler@gmail.com
I am sitting outside on a very windy morning watching a couple of birds by the water and another walking around the ground beneath the bird feeder. The feeder has been hung and full for a month at least. Not a single bird has found it yet. I know some of our birds are here for the fish and the seeds in the feeder would be of no interest to them. But others are migrating northerners and woods birds. Anyone have any clue why they are not attracted to my feeder or to the suet I have hung near it? Is it possible that birds in Florida never get desperate enough for eats that they resort to human-provided feeders?
Ok, that is it for today's procrastination. I am off to work.
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October 27, 2O11
Well, I have the book completely ready to go to the publisher except for photos or illustrations. It is called Soul Hill Lullabies. I am pretty darned pleased.
Also finished the 12th chapter of the novel two days ago. It's coming along well but the plot is getting complicated so I am slowing down some in order to avoid time line tangles. I am very pleased with how my two main characters are developing.
Today will be a light day writing wise. Have a number of other tasks that must be completed and that will keep me from the keyboard much of the day. So be it.
For now, I am back to work.
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October 24, 2O11
It has been a fun weekend. I got lots done too. Very little of what I accomplished was writing, so I am making up for that today. I just fished chapter 11 of The gorilla Rode Shotgun or The Ballad of Donny Granger. I also completed the ninth poem in the Alma cycle. So yay!
Over the weekend, the October edition of Pillowtalk came out with one of my poems in it. Another yay! And I took part in Second Life's annual Shakespeare read-off where I took first place.
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| My avatar, Freda Frostbite, is the one in the blue gypsy get-up. |
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| Freda with my award. |
October 2o, 2o11
Ok folks, my keyboard is acting up and the zero will not work. So, for the time being, you will get o's where there ought to be zeros.
In other news, I finished the ninth Alma Hill poem. It needs some tweaking but it tells the story I wanted to tell. There is one more I would like to write and then this cycle is ready to be a book. Woo hoo!
Today will bring editing and more work on the novel. I am getting to the part where plot lines can tangle, so slowing down a tad.
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October 18, 2011
I didn't accomplish much writing yesterday and need to do so today. Every now and then I need a reminder that almost NOTHING should come before the work. At the moment, writing is my work, so I need to remember that is my highest priority most days. It should have been yesterday but I got distracted by some editing, a trip to the gym, cooking-- all of which needed to be done and could have been done AFTER the writing.
Ok so I will lead meditation now and then face the blank page.
Resolved.
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October 17, 2011
I have started some drawings that may one day accompany the video version of Willow and Ivy. People seem to like that poem, which has been sort of a surprise to me. An even bigger surprise is that I sort of like it. I really did not like it as I was writing it or upon completion. But over the weeks I have come to like it pretty darned well. I certainly enjoy performing it. This is not the first time I have experienced like something I wrote better than i expected to.
Well today needs to be at least partly devoted to an Alma poem. There may be some time on the novel too. This will come in between mundane chores and a trip to the pool.
We are expecting a big storm to hit us in the next 24 hours, so there are a few things I want to accomplish before then, like offloading some things currently languishing in my partner's truck. So to work I go!
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October 15, 2011
Back to Merritt Island and back to work. Need to proofread one chapter of the novel for a reading tomorrow night, also need to write a new chapter. Have not written a poem this week either, so will attempt that as well. Have ideas for three more Alma Hill poems. Then, I really need to wrap that set and think about publishing it.
In addition to some writing time, I expect today to include some hard physical labor, some swimming and some biking. Catch y'all on the flip side, hopefully with lots written and the day's labors completed.
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October 13, 2011
On Florida's Gulf Coast today. We are spending a couple days in the trailer and wandering the area, just unwinding a busy couple of weeks. I am not doing any writing today. Have decided I need a break. Eight chapters of the novel have been rewritten in the last month. My goal is to have a completed version ready for submission to publishers by March.
In really good news, I learned today that two of my poems, Soliloquy: On Walking to A Latrine at 4:30 AM and By the Mill Creek 1965 are soon to be published in Ubernothing Art Review and LIterary Magazine. Yay!
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October 11. 2011
The rain I mentioned Saturday turned out to be just a hint of what was to come. Sunday followed with very heavy rain and wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour. I sat in the Florida room most of the day, writing (actually wrote both the sermon and a meditation) and watching out the wind as the storm worsened and the water rose. It got a little freaky around 7 pm when the wind hit its highest velocity. I moved inside then and waited for the world or the storm to end, whichever came first.
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| This was snapped on Saturday BEFORE the storm got really bad. |
Sometime, between midnight and Monday morning, the storm lifted and the sun returned. Yay! Yesterday was a gorgeous day that distracted me from writing and drew me outside. I saw up close-ish vultures and a a parcel of great white egrets. Also an alligator in, of all places, Kennedy Space Center.
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| Squirrels finally able to feast after the storm ended. |
I read for an hour at the Second Life Samhain Festival last night. It went very well. I read the collected Alma Hill poems and many more. I had a good time and think the poems and the reading were appreciated.
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| Reading at SL Samhain Festival, wearing Freda. |
Today is another gorgeous day, but I must face the work. Today, another chapter and, hopefully, a poem.
October 8, 2011
It is a raining and gray morning on Merritt Island, an unusual enough occurrence that I am actually relishing it. There is something about a rainy day in a place where you rarely have them that can be a sort of comfort. At the moment, I am sitting in the Florida room (to you northerners, that's a screened-in outdoor room), looking at water in the canal ripple as rain falls and the palms bend in the high winds.
I will use this day of enforced indoor living to work on sermon and possibly start a short story whose deadline is today. (LOL) I still have a poem hatching and may put some time into that as well. And, as always, there is editing and research to be done.
I don't know if I have mentioned here the two research-heavy long-term projects I am considering. One would be drama set in the Baroque period, the other a poem cycle set in Roman times. With both of these potential projects, I have only gotten so far as researching their periods a little. I am focused on the novel at the moment and then will need to complete the script for Bette and Lizzy. Once those two big projects are complete, I will approach the period pieces more arduously to decide of either is a viable project for me.
Okay, now the day starts.
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October 4, 2011
I am up and at 'em. Maybe TMI, but I am in the process of becoming a redhead again. This miracle occurs about once every two and a half weeks. I enjoy the half hour it takes because I really cannot move at all whilst sporting a mop full of dye. It is one time when NOT doing chores is totally A-OK.
Yesterday, I did manage to eek out a chapter, did some editing, and started the sermon. Sort of. A topic is chosen and I have chosen readings to go with it. Today, maybe I will actually start writing. I also have a poem in mind. Still. It will make it to paper before the week is over, I think.
Below is a pic I like surprisingly much. This may generate a poem or some such.
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| Lil and The Nameless One's Bike at Sykes Creek Nature Preserve on Merritt Island. Mine is gas powered, his electric. |
October 3, 2011
I was actually up before the alarm went off at 7, a minor miracle, if ever there was one. My plans for the day include some mundane household tasks, a ride on my motorized bike (Have y'all seen the pics of that? I should post one here.), maybe some fishing, some editing for a friend, and several hours writing. I will no doubt work on the novel. I need to start this month's sermon (topic not yet determined), and I would like to write a poem that is still gurgling around in the back of my head.
Boofest went really well. A Diva Scorned was well received and is now posted on this web site. Enjoy!
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| Vroom, vroom! |
September 30, 2011
Well, I have managed to get an earlier start today, which bodes well for creative productivity. Have spent a few depressing moments scanning the want ads and responding to the one that looks like it might not be a scam. Yay for that one! Now, I am situated at Bagel Joe's on Merritt Island. Have dealt with this morning's communications (i.e. email and Facebook), and started a mental checklist of what I would like to accomplish with this time, writing. First, I will try to eek out a poem that is starting to take form in my head, but it really may be too soon for it to eek. Then, I will move on to chapter five of the novel. Finally, I will do what I hope will be the last revision on Diva. I will be performing that in Second Life this Sunday at 4:30 PM SLT (which is Pacific time).
I have found a couple of good writing groups and a a poetry reading I enjoy on the Gulf Coast in Pasco County. But I seem also to spend a fair amount of time on the Atlantic coast in the Merritt Island region. If anyone knows of good literary activities over here, please let me know.
As you can see, yesterday's dry spell was a brief one. Someone seriously pissed me off and that got the juices flowing. The result is the essay on this blog's main page.
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September 29, 2011
These are the first words I have written today and, to tell the truth, I am en route now to Farmers' Market in Melbourne, so not likely to get much writing done today at all. I did, however, get some decent pics of butterflies and birds. That counts for something, right?
I think maybe I was so productive yesterday that today my creative self is in rebellion. Hopefully, there will be time and motivation this evening. If not, there is always tomorrow. (Famous last words, eh?)
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September 27, 2011
Well, the first revision of Diva is complete and has been reviewed and returned by one of two friends who agreed to be proofreader/editors for the piece. I am actually pretty pleased with it, though it does not possess the heavy gorification (new word?) of many contemporary horror stories. The plot is definitely contemporary, the style not so much. I plan to have a final revision done by Friday. That will give me couple of days to practice performing it before the actual performance date. After the story's premier in Second Life Sunday night, I will post it to this site for all to read.
Today, I really need to tackle chapter four of the novel and begin work on a new meditation. And, of course, there is always the hope a new poem will materialize. I have a few mundane chores to which I must tend today. I fear those may interfere with writing. Will do my best not to get terribly distracted.
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September 26, 2011
Working hard on the horror story this morning. It is at least tentatively called, A Diva Scorned. I doubt that title will stick, but it is keeping me on target. I expect to have the rough draft completed by mid-day tomorrow, which is good, cuz I have to perform this thing next Sunday. All in all, I am pleased with the story, though am finding it hard to write in any sort of chronological way. I may use that as technique for foreshadowing and suspense, but may, in the end, decide it is too hard to follow and reorder the thing to make it easier for readers/listeners to follow. I am very pleased with the way my monster is developing. Every horror story needs a monster of some sort. Mine happens to be human, but she is coming along monstrously enough. Surprisingly, I am not all that comfortable with writing gore. That surprises me because I like reading gore a great deal. Go figure.
In other news, Last night, I learned that my baby, Susie Mesler Evans (she of This is Probably Why I am Still Single, http://probablywhyimsinglereviews.blogspot.com/) will be published in the Novemeber issue of Shattered Illusions literary magazine. he poem to be included is "Proud To Be a Nerd." Yay!
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September 23, 2011
The RV is great and we have internet there now, woo hoo! I really, really like it there. Living mostly outside seems to suit me well and it is no surprise (to me anyway) that the smallness of the trailer is a sort of comfort to me. Small works for me and less really is not just more, but plenty. Yesterday morning, I had the privilege of showering with a toad. I am sure there is a poem in there somewhere. Reminds me of a song I used to sing with PK music classes, "Tubby the Toad."
Am now on Florida's Atlantic coast. Will be here for a an undetermined period of time. I plan to get a good deal of writing done whilst here. I find I am even in the right mindset for productivity. Yay!
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September 18, 2011
Still in moving mode. Not writing a lot, but did complete Willow and Ivy, a Halloween ditty, this morning. It's goofy and I know it is goofy. Nonetheless, it is posted here for you to enjoy. Or smirk at. Whatever floats your boat.
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September 15, 2011
Moving. Again. It's a good thing. Am sort of sick of life in a motel, especially not being able to prepare decent meals at home.
But, even when it's a good thing, moving is a pain in the ass. It disrupts ones rhythms and usurps ones attention. I look forward to just landing somewhere for a while.
Unfortunately, our new neighbors in the trailer park we have chosen, greeted us not as welcome additions but as a nuisance to be driven off. Nothing against us personally, they have just gotten accustomed to having an empty lot next to them. Hopefully, they will settle down so that we do not feel compelled to drag trailer and selves to another location soon.
In the meantime, I hope it doesn't take too long to get back into my groove.
I did start a poem this morning. A rhyming, rhythmic piece for Halloween. A bit of ghoulish nonsense. Fun, even though I am not usually big on rhyme.
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September 12, 2011
Well, it's Monday and I have started the week, dragging. Instead of writing this morning, I swam for an hour and a half and read. I am almost done with Randy Wayne White's The Man Who Invented Florida and can hardly stand to put it down. It is, now, past noon and I have a reading to do in Second Life at 1 pm. Once that is done, I will buckle myself to the desk chair and get some words put to paper.
Yesterday, I made a re-start on the horror story. It's hero will be a middle-aged drag queen. The monster is an aging hoofer, a former star of movies and stage, who desperately wants her spotlight returned to her. I like both of these characters a great deal and look forward to seeing how they play together.
I would like soon to begin work on a sort of major poem project, a cycle based on the tale of the Sabine Women in Rome. I may begin outlining that today.
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September 10, 2011
I have been receiving fan mail related to this honor. Thanks Rick Lupert and Poetry Superhighway. http://poetrysuperhighway.com/potw.html
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September 9, 2011
Oddly, a poem I wrote and posted yesterday afternoon, one about condoms and shopping for them, seems to be drawing a lot of traffic to this blog. I guess I should have realized condoms would be a big seller in any form to any audience.
Last night's UUtopia sermon went well and is now posted here as well. The service itself, or rather the music stream running for it, was a tad choppy, but the sermon went well and generated some lively discussion. Still amazes me that UUs are as subject to magical thinking as anyone else. On the surface, we are very logical, appearing to think before we believe. Truthfully, we are as subject to believing what feels good, what we want to believe, as anyone else. Always surprises me when I am reminded of that truth.
I started writing the horror piece yesterday. It was coming along swimmingly 'til I realized these characters were way too likable to be believed as instruments of terror. Gonna try to sort that out today.
Thanks again to my friend, John Burridge, for his kind words about my sermon. http://johnburridge.blogspot.com/2011/09/sermon-on-evil.html
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September 8. 2011
I will be preaching tonight in Second Life. The sermon topic is Positive Thinking and The Law of Attraction: How They Are Used to Oppress Individuals and Perpetuate Evil. I think this topic will lead to a fair amount of discussion. And, yes, I did purposely make the title provocative. If you are not a regular in SL and would like to know how you can come "inworld" to participate in tonight's service, send me a message and I will be happy to help. As usual, the sermon will be posted on this website around 9:30 PM EST.
I went dancing last night in Second Life with my partner (who is my partner in both worlds, in case you were wondering about the terminology). I heard a song I had not heard in decades, Ballroom Blitz, by Sweet. Now, it is an ear-worm, giving me an idea for the story I must write for a deadline next month. Yay!
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September 6, 2011
It WAS a productive weekend in writer-land! Without too much falderall, I made three new poems, revised the second half of a chapter in the novel (which has a title, now, too: The Gorilla Rode Shotgun or The Ballad of Donny Granger), and wrote this week's sermon, titled, Positive Thinking and The Law of Attraction: How They Are Used to Oppress Individuals and Perpetuate Evil. I still need to do some more work on prepping the service, choose music and readings and load the notecard reader (a sort of teleprompter/supertitler for use in Second Life). I also participated in two inworld poetry events and set up a schedule for reading sections of my novel inworld, the idea being that this will create deadlines for chapter completions, thereby making it more likely the book will be finished this year.
Today, in the tropical rain (Lucky me! At least it's not freezing rain, perish the thought!), I need to make my way to three meetings, one teaching related, two writers' gatherings. Hopefully, they will all be fruitful, each in its own way. The fact they are on the calendar at all, that I remember them, and am up early to prep for the day are all good signs. So, as my friend John Burridge calls them, my writers' muscles are getting stronger and that is, for sure, a good thing.
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September 1. 2011
Well, the intermediary move before the next intermediary move is done. So, for at least a few days, I can just breathe and maybe get some work done.
Today, I plan to do some mundane business, but, once that is done, I can focus on the work. I will have another look at the samhain piece begun a couple days ago and will start sorting a novel started and abandoned several years back. The poem, I am not loving, so it may be trashed by day's end. The novel needs to be re-ordered and completed. Today will be a start at that.
I also have plans to attend a writers' group that meets nearby on Thursday evenings. I am told this group approaches longer works with a critical eye and voice. I will need that, if the novel is ever to grow to publishable adulthood. I may also try to see sunset at the beach today, dependent on weather, of course.
May our days, yours and mine, be productive ones.
* Later, same day. The Samhain poem survived another revision and is actually not too awful now. It is to be part of the Alma Hill poem cycle.
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August 30, 2011
A couple of things on my mind. First, I have to move by Saturday. Have a place and a plan-- just need to make it so. This may involve some time staying in a motel whilst waiting for place and plan to be accessible. Secondly. I am still struggling with a routine of any kind. I really need to exert some serious discipline over myself in this regard. Wish me luck with that. And, lastly, I have agreed to participating in two big events in Second Life next month. Each will require at least one new work completed. The first is the SL BooFest, where I will present 30 minutes of short fiction. The second is a Samhein Festival, for which I will present an hour of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction.
I have managed, in spite of my poor adherence to a structured routine, to produce two new poems in the last week. That is better than it might be.
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August 27, 2011
Welcome to the new home for A Poet's Progress. Due to issues with my previous web provider, I am relocated. It will take me a day or ten to get everything moved from the old site to this one and I am having some trouble learning the new format here. All in all, I think this will be a good change.
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August 16, 2011
Well, the pane of writers' block seems to have lifted. For now. I wrote a poem, day before yesterday and a sermon, yesterday. As soon as I am back to being a redhead (within the next 30 minutes) I will head out for the morning, to somewhere comfortable enough to write uninterrupted for a few hours. Somewhere other than my house, I mean, At home, one is continually followed by the specter of household tasks that demand immediate attention. They nip at ones heals like hungry puppies.
I think it is no accident that my block lifted at the same time as my latest depression. It had been almost a year since the last occurred and this one came and went in under a month. Not bad, considering there were plenty of solid reasons to be down-hearted. Depressions are hard enough to escape when they are strictly cyclical. But give them some tangible justification for their existence and they can hang on for a damnably long time. Not that any length of time at all for a depression does not seem damnable..
This latest depression was tempered by a number of things, I think. While I have felt somewhat isolated in the last couple of months (the unemployed and newly relocated often do), I have felt completely supported by the folks who did surround me. I also found an herbal help with the depression. (If anyone wants details on that, email me, please.) I suspect frequent exposure to Florida sun had a positive impact as well. It is possible that age mellows my cycle of depressions and overdrives. I am certain that a healthy private life can only be an assist.
It is not lost on me that many writers and artists deal with depression. I see my own cyclic dips as a necessary part of my biology. Don't get me wrong-- I hate them. When I know I am depressed (which sometimes I do not realize until the depression has lifted), when I know I am depressed, I fight it. I use every trick I know to banish it and resort to herbs or meds when the tricks prove ineffective. So I am not saying I welcome my depressions. But I do see them as essential to balancing my much longer periods of overdrive (what are traditionally referred to as manias, but I am not crazy about that term.) In those periods of extreme high energy and focus, I get LOTS done. I relish that high end of my cycle. I am creative and happy and organised. But it can be exhausting to be up and on for weeks or months on end. I think my body needs the depressions to recover from the manic months.
So, at the moment, I am in the climbing stage of a high end to the cycle. I like this part. It feels good to be ascending. I will capitalize on it by writing lots and tending to many business details that will seem insurmountable when the next dip comes.
For more of my view of my manic-depression, please see the poem, BiPolarity, listed in the left sidebar.
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August 9, 2011
Well, yesterday I made a chart. This chart shows all of the written works I have currently in progress or in mind, waiting for their chance to be in progress. This chart was very eye-opening. It seems I should never be caught whining that I have no idea what to say in writing. I may have more to say than can be written in a lifetime, particularly when one considers my life to be in its mid-stages at best. My intent is to use this chart as a way of structuring my writing time. The plan is to check the chart each morning when I sit down to write and see what project is either most pressing or most appealing at the moment. My experience has been that a project takes hold sometimes, rendering a plan unnecessary. But, for me at least, there are always days when the spirit is not so willing as it ought to be. That is when a plan comes in handy. All of that said, I must now confess that, today, I overslept, and writing is getting short shrift. I have too many other tasks demanding my attention, business responsibilities and family and such. Tomorrow will have to be a better day on this front.
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August 3, 2011
Okay, so I need to just buckle under now and do the writing. I have discussed the next project in some detail with friends and other authors. I am pretty clear what form the work will take. I am clear on point of view. I just need to write. I think I need to ressurect my old habit of rising early and heading to a neutral zone for writing. Here, I am way too inclined toward doing chores. So, starting tomorrow, I will make Starbucks (or sume such) my office away from home.
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August 1, 2011
WRITERS' BLOCK SUCKS!
I go through this from time to time, an infertile period (artistically infertile. I mean). It can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Sometimes, it is caused by stress or upheaval in my life, but, truthfully, it just seems to be part of my artist's cycle. I have come to accept that these down periods are necessary somehow to the process. Does not mean I LIKE it though. I would much rather be fertile than infertile any old day of the week. Infertility of any kind suggests a system breakdown of some kind, which, of course, writers' block is.
Anyway, I am using this time of not writing to begin laying the groundwork for what will be either a poem cycle or a work of drama, based on a specific historic (legendary) event. Have begun research and am starting to get a feel for how the subject matter might be treated in literature (and how it HAS been treated already). Hopefully, this process will lead to actual writing.
A girl can dream, ya know.
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July 21, 2011
Yesterday, my mom would have turned 85 had not been for the smoking she refused ever to give up. I may one day write about that, but, nearly 20 years after her death, I am still to preachy on the subject to write about it well. So it will wait another decade. At least.
Today, Pedestal's latest edition came out online. Sadly, I am not one of the poets included there. Still, I highly recommend you have a look at the poems that did make the cut. Pedestal chooses well. I am particularly fond of the one about frogs. http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com
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July 9, 2011
The move has wreaked havoc with my ability to focus on writing. Really must establish some kind of routine. I am not loving being this scattered and at loose ends. So, this week, starting Monday, I MUST have routine of some sort. Will try to keep you posted on how well that works out.
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June 12, 2011
My short story, Invisible Woman. went live in For the Girls Ezine this past week. For the Girls is the web's fastest growing and most inclusive site for women's erotica. Please consider joining http://www.forthegirls.com/ to support one of the few sites on the web that pays for quality female erotica.
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June 1, 2011
My short story, Ermengarde the Expansive, the Life and Times of a Fat Princess is now available in e-book form for sale by lulu.com. Please visit http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/ermengarde-the-expansive/15910413?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1 to purchase your copy today! WooHOO!
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May 23, 2011
Four days from now, I will be on my way to Florida. Currently, I am wrestling with some choices about living arrangements once I get there and setting up lots of interviews for Fall positions. Saturday, I shipped almost all of my worldly possessions ahead of me. I will have 3 bags with me in transit and 3 or 4 boxes to be shipped in September or October. The rest fit into the 7 boxes already shipped. I don't know weather to be pleased or horrified that my life can be so easily compacted.
My plan this week is to attend a couple of events with Su (my daughter), to get together with a couple of friends I won't see again for some time, and to do some writing. Much of the writing will be meditations to be used later in the summer. I may also try to get ahead on writing sermons. I am anticipating the first few weeks in Florida will not be conducive to writing. We will see.
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May 16, 2011
Well, the writer's block seems to be once again at bay. Saturday, I did indeed try one of the techniques I teach and it worked. This particular trick of my trade involves taking something previously written and completed, starting with its first sentance or line and creating something new from it. This time I took a line from a poem written several months ago and created anther poem with the same narrative voice. Then, today, I began another short story, some erotica for a magazine that seems to like my work. I wrote 1000+ words this afternoon and seem to know where the plot is headed. I imagine I will finish the piece by Wednesday. Yay!
In other news, 11 more days til I am no longer an Ohioan. Wow!
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May 14, 2011
Writer's Block = Hell. Therefore, I am currently in hell.
I am not completely blocked. I am able to produce what is required of me. Deadlines and commitments to meet them keep me on track for sermons and meditations and the like. But, right now, I am having an awful time with being creative. I am sure this is due, at least in part, to the fact that my upcoming move is pretty much dominating my thoughts. It is exceedingly hard to put energy into creative writing when life itself feels so much like a plot that has wandered out of my control and is now rolling forward at breakneck speed. Don't get me wrong: I am absolutely sure that this move is the right move. BUT, making that right move, is costing me. Among other things, I will be leaving my daughter in Columbus. I will also be leaving a handful of friends and a life I may not love, but which has been mine nonetheless.
So today I will try some of the tricks for beating writer's block I have shared with students over the years.
Wish me luck.
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May 2, 2011
Well, I have a job in Florida, starting June 3. I will be teaching music for the summer and am being courted by a couple of schools looking for teachers come Fall. Hopefully, one of them will come through and I will be free of employment worries in no time. Now, I am focused on finding a place to live (hopefully something cheap and temporary and close to the job) and on planning the move itself. This bit of good news did a great deal to lift my spirits! So did the fact I wrote over 10,000 words last week. Yay!
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April 26, 2011
Let me say up front that I have had rather a nasty run of bad days recently. I will not bore you with details. Simply suffice it to say there was just cause for writing the rant I posted here yesterday and that there is almost nowhere to go from here but up. As is often the case, I have been productive in my writing through this stretch of nastiness. What is somewhat unusual is that I am really quite pleased with what I am producing. I am working rather seriously on the script for a play, Bette and Lizzy, and have been writing sermons, meditations and poems fairly frequently.
On other fronts, the Florida job search continues. I have made the decision to move mid-June, with or without a job in place. I will be no worse off my being unemployed there than here and will have a better shot at landing a teaching position if I can apply live and in person. It really seems there are more openings there and I have had some online or phone interviews already. Am waiting to hear back on the most promising of those. Unfortunately, most schools have told me to call when I am in the area.
So that seems to be all the news that is the news.
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April 13, 2011
OK so it is monthly sermon procrastination day. Don't need til tomorrow night, so what the heck?, might as well gab a little here, right?
Have been back from Florida for just under a week. In that time, I have decided to move to the Tampa Bay area by end of June. To that end, I have begun looking for teaching and camp gigs down there. Have had a couple of nibbles and one phone interview is set for tomorrow. Think good thoughts for me. I have also started disconnecting from some responsibilities in Columbus, making room for new ones. The hard part of this move is that it seems my daughter will be staying in Columbus with her Dad. She will be fine and I respect and support her choice, allowing that she can always change her mind and join me on the gulf coast if that becomes a more desirable option. I know I am going to miss her an awful lot, but sure do understand her thinking. High school is not a great time to get moved.
I have been writing a lot in the last months, as I have come closer and closer to making this decision. Not one bit coincidental, I am sure. One of my goals in making this move is carving out time and space where I will feel comfortable and supported in writing more. Eventually, I would like to be earning more than a few dollars now and then for my trade. More importantly, I just need to keep moving forward as an artist. I think this move can only help in that respect.
So please watch this diary for more news of the coming changes in my life as Mom, woman and writer.
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March 23, 2011
I have two deadlines looming, one tomorrow, one the day after. I actually work way better with deadlines than without. Some projects would never be completed without them. Self-imposed deadlines are somewhat helpful. But they are not long-term affective. Having actual events or editors waiting for my completed work is a HUGE boon to productivity. Still, deadlines create stress. And stress can be a problem for creativity. So far, with these two deadlines, the stress is good stress, but it does not always work this way.
I was at the gym this morning to work with my trainer. He asked how I was doing. I told him I am feeling a little anxious about a number of things. And, god bless the man, he had a solution: BOXING! I am not kidding. Today, for the first time ever, I boxed. And, people, I LOVED it! It was great cardio and did help to alleviate anxiety. So now I am adding boxing to the list of writer's tricks I will use when the literary going gets tough. Thank you, Jamahl!
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March 18, 2011
I will be participating Saturday in Second Life's Annual festival for short fiction. If you are a resident of SL, please consider coming inworld for my reading at 4 PM SLT (that's 4 PM Pacific time to the rest of you). If you are not already a member of Second Life, it is free to join. My avatar name inworld is Freda Frostbite. If you come inworld, look me up. There are plenty of literary events to make it worth your while and I would be happy to make your acquaintance inworld. Below is a link to the website for StoryFest 2011
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March 17, 2011
Yesterday, I posted a newly revised version of Ermengarde the Expansive, a short story I put to paper roughly 17 years ago. (I mean that quite literally. Back then, I had no computer, had never even touched one. I didn't own a typewriter either and wrote everything by hand, then had a typist friend make my work presentable for potential editors.) Ermengarde was begun roughly 2 years earlier when I was still teaching preschool full time. One of my duties back then was to sit daily from 1 - 3 p.m. in a darkened room with three-year-olds who needed to take afternoon naps. I was very skilled at getting children to sleep, even when they did not think they needed to. I used several tools to assure restful nap times for one and all: darkness, soft music, warm air and stories. The problem was that the room was too dark to see, so I told the children stories I had committed to memory. The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, The Owl and the Pussycat and a dozen or so others were my standard offerings. It got dull, repeating the same stories day after day, so, after a while I took to making them up. This suited me fine for a variety of reasons. It was far more interesting than telling the same old fairy tales. More importantly, making up my own tales allowed me to create plots and characters I believed would mean more to the children I taught. Somewhere along the way, I invented a fat princess and named her Ermengarde. Over a period of months, Ermengarde was a part of our story time on many occasions. There were several dozen adventure stories with Ermengarde as their heroine. Ermengarde the Expansive, my first published short story was an amalgamation of four of those tales.
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March 16, 2011
I learned yesterday that my story, Invisible Woman, will appear in an upcoming edition of For the Girls ezine. The editor has asked for minor revisions, including more sex, to which I said, "No problem." This author has the dubious distinction of once having had a story rejected by Hustler for being too racy, so adding a little heat to some female erotica should be a no-brainer. Anyway, I will let y'all know when Invisible Womanwill appear online. In the meantime, consider showing your support for one of the few erotica sites on the web actually paying authors for their work by subscribing to For the Girls. The web address is http://www.forthegirls.com/
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March 10, 2011
Started a new poem last night, but was far from pleased with it. I suspect it will be trashed when I go back to it later today. I find that more than half of what I start writing is not worthy of completion and only half of what gets completed is at all pleasing to me. Split that group in half and you have the work I actually like and, of the work I like, I think maybe half is actually good. That means I believe a sixteenth of what I write to be good and we can assume editors and readers, overall, will like about half of that. So 1/32 of what I write might one day be worthy of publication. Not particularly encouraging stats, but I suspect this is true for most writers. Maybe of all artists. And THAT, boys and girls, is my uplifting thought for the day. My advice? Major in nursing.
* Note on 3/18/11
The poem mentioned above grew up to be "Rant, March 9, 2011." In the end, I rather like it, but doubt it will be shared in print until a time comes when I make my living from writing only.
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March 11, 2011
Yesterday, this writer celebrated her fiftieth birthday. I am happy to report that fifty seems to be a fertile time for writing. Well, the last months of forty-nine certainly were, and I have no sense that the well is running dry anytime soon.
