More on Silence

A couple days ago, Goddess Taige wrote about the need for peace and quiet--particularly when we've just reached a tense point in the book we're reading (or writing).

I'm willing to bet that none of us can remember the last time we had perfect silence. I'm not sure there's any such thing any longer--if there ever was. Even when the kids are out of the house, the TV and radio are off, and we're alone with ourselves, there's always something: cars going by outside, a siren, a dog barking, the hum of some appliance or other. In the office, it's our colleagues talking in the hallway, the fluorescent lights, the computers and printers and fax machines.

Some people seem to fear silence--they always have the TV or radio turned on even if they're not paying attention to it, or they have to talk even when there's no one there to listen to them. But I find myself craving it more and more. I think it's a backlash against the world as it has become, so full of noise and rush and movement.

I have to find a way to make my own silences, to not contribute to the noise and rush and movement that sometimes seem to be tearing our societies apart. Larger peace, symbolic silence, can only come when individuals cultivate it within themselves.

Independence Day

I'm not a hugely patriotic person, and I could go off on the current state of the nation, and whether or not we're currently fulfilling the ideals of the Founding Parents, but then I'd be certain to offend someone, and that would be baaaaaad, because with my luck, it would be the person just about to buy my book, and I'd lose a reader. Plus, the Goddesses almost certainly have international readers. So I won't go there.

Instead, I'm going to write about freedom. In a couple stories I've got floating around in my head, at least one of the main characters is searching for freedom. One is a runaway slave escaping to a neighboring country (where slavery is outlawed). Another was a prisoner for years. Both of them want the same thing we all desire: to live their own lives, determine their own destinies.

But can anyone really do that? Are any of us really and truly free? Most of us have to work for a living, and if we're independently wealthy (not me), then we're dependent on that wealth. We're tied up by obligations to society, family, friends, fate. What about animals? Aren't they free? Consider fish. Exactly. Pretty much stuck with the H2O.

But many of the things that keep us from being truly free we can shed: addictions, keeping up with the Joneses, the drive for weath, unhealthy relationships.

Those other obligations I mentioned before--family, friends, even work--these are good things. The kite string that keeps us from being swept away by more harmful prisons.

On this Independence Day, celebrate with your family and friends. Enjoy the day off from work. And write your own Declaration of Independence from the harmful things keeping you from freedom. And find some fireworks tonight.

Home Stretch

One of the things I find happening to me as I work on a book is that the closer I get to the end of the story, the slower I write.

Is it because I have to be deliberate in how all the pieces come together and are resolved? Is it because that initial rush of creative adrenalin has run out? Or is it just story fatigue? Maybe a combination of all of these and more.

Today is a Goddess Free-for-All on the blog, so I'd love to see what the other Goddesses think, how the speed or intensity of their writing changes (or doesn't) as they work on a book, and how they keep their momentum up.

And readers, please weigh in with your own thoughts. How to you manage whatever big projects you take on, whether you're a writer as well, or are renovating your house, or working on the Big New Initiative at work.

Ready. Set. Comment!

Affirmation

A while back I wrote a post about the suspense leading up to my book's release and my hope for affirmation of my efforts from those who read it.

At the risk of sounding too much like a promotion, I have to share my pleasure with you all at the review I discovered today that calls "Speechless" a "stunner," and compliments my character development.

It's amazing what a few encouraging words will do to brighten up a rainy, stressful Monday. Affirm someone today. I promise it will make a difference, both for you and whoever you affirm.

I'll refrain from posting the review here, but if you want to read it, e-mail me or leave a comment and I'll send you the link.

The Writing Life

As others have pointed out on this blog, writers have some pretty unique aspects to our lives. How many "normal" people completely lose track of the seasons, for example?

I don't know if this happens to others, but I can get so involved in what I'm writing--describing a snowstorm, for example--that when I finally look up from my work, I'm surprised to see that the "real" world doesn't match the world I've been living in. Instead of a foot and a half of snow on the ground, the May sun is shining, trees are blooming, and the un-air conditioned room is over-warm. A villain is not bearing down on my house. And the hero is not in the upstairs bedroom about to burst into fevered ramblings resulting from the injuries he sustained in the last confrontation with the bad guy.

It takes some time to pull myself out of "story world," as I call it, and into this world. Sometimes I don't want to come back.

Ack! I'm Late!!

ACK!! It's my day to blog here at the Goddesses of Storytelling and I'm late!!

I feel like the rabbit in Alice In Wonderland, running to and fro and muttering to myself, "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!" You, my friends, are my date and I apologize for being late. I have to tell you, though, that I tried to be here earlier. Really, I did. But the internet access at the B&B Mickey and I are staying in in Vermont has been spotty all day. The owner says it's a "normal" thing here, but I'll tell you it would drive me mad to not be able to log on whenever I want to. I've been bugging out all day over it, and we're supposed to be here on a wonderful, romantic interlude. Some romance, eh? Going slightly batty over not being able to log on and "chat" with all of you? Yes, it's pretty funny...now that I'm here!

But I guess that's the way life is sometimes. We plan so carefully yet some things are out of our control. Fortunately neither Mickey nor I are controlling people, so we generally go with the flow. Laid back, I guess you'd say. We are alike in more ways than I like to admit, LOL.

I wonder if that's how most couples are? Do you think people gravitate towards someone with a personal style similar to their own? Or do they crave something completely different in a mate?

Most times my books feature a couple who have differences to reconcile before they can find happiness. Because honestly, I like a little tension in a relationship--on paper, that is. I enjoy reading about how two people either deal with a tough situation or learn to live together despite their differences, so that's the kind of couples I write about.

Hmm...maybe Mickey and I aren't what I'd consider a prime couple for noveling purposes...no major obstacles...no differences, really...hmm...maybe we should discuss this further. He's waiting for me poolside, so I'm going to thank you for stopping in today and bid you farewell for now. I've got some talking to do beside a pool. And maybe a couple of Margaritas would make the conversation flow more smoothly...

Until next time, have fun!

~Nina Nash

Other plans

Have you ever made one set of plans, only to find when the day arrives that the plans you've made are utterly impossible to carry out? Or that, at the very least, they'd be ridiculously impractical to adhere to? Of course you have. We all have. And that's what I'm facing as I wake this morning to the sound of ice pellets hitting our windows. A winter storm. In spring. Sheesh, only in New York! Oh, right. And the rest of the northeast, too! :)

So the dilemma. Mickey and I were planning to picnic in Central Park. It's part of his get-your-mind-off-the-cast-on-your-arm plan. Because, you see, the cast comes off next week but I'm a hairsbreath away from hacking it off myself, I'm so frustrated. Hence, the plan. But today things won't be going according to Mickey's fine plan, not unless I relish the thought of getting cold and damp--which I don't. So we'll have to make alternate plans.

Perhaps a picnic in our apartment? With the heat turned up really, really high so we can wear next to nothing? Yeah, right. Not feeling so romantic with this dratted cast. We'll probably call in for take-out and settle in with a couple of good books. Not a bad way to spend an icy day. Not a bad alternate plan, especially considering the great selection of new books available at Cerridwen Press and Ellora's Cave. Some of the writers here at the goddesses have released some great titles lately, with more to come. Have you checked them out? Recently I've read a lot of books by fellow authors. Some have made me laugh, some have made me cry and all have entertained me. We write a whole range of stories, so there's always something to please every taste. If one doesn't suit your fancy, try another. We've got a bunch!

Yes, today I'll find a new book or two to read from the EC/CP selections and it will be a good day, I know it will. Plans are meant to change, we're meant to adapt and me? I'm always meant to read. :)

Wherever you are, whatever your weather and whoever you plan to spend it with, I hope you have a great day today. And thanks for stopping in.