Writing, Mom-ing, etc.

This has been one of the crazier weeks of my life (not counting the first few weeks of Zoe's life, which were supremely crazy on this whole OTHER level). I've been busy, so busy with work and family; Zoe has started tantrum-ing, also on this whole other level that I never dreamed possible; and I've been writing like a madwoman...or at least, a madwoman who is busy with oh so many things other than writing.

See, I've been paying attention over these last few months, and I've been pleasantly surprised to find that, at almost any given time, there are numerous story, essay and blog post ideas floating around this head of mine. I tend to cultivate them during quiet, me-time, like during a long weekend run or at night when the TV becomes background noise and I stare vaguely in it's direction while playing with these ideas, going 'round and 'round until I don't know where I started and where I'll end.

It's been fun. It's been cathartic. And then, I took the plunge.

NaNoWriMo. Have you heard of it? I hadn't, until about a week ago. It's National Novel Writing Month, and it's a challenge. Can you write 50,000 words during the month of November? I never dreamed I could even come close, particularly since it has to be in novel form, and the longest piece I've written thus far has been about 5,000 words.

But I decided to try it.

Since you have to work on something new, I had to put aside the story/novel idea I've been fussing with for about three years now...I only recently had a breakthrough with it and vomited about 4,000 words onto the screen...4,000 words that don't even begin to do the story justice, but at least provide a reasonable outline for future work. That story is serious, intense...it's Holocaust based, which should surprise no one who knows me, since I've been studying the Holocaust since I was 14 years old.

So for NaNoWriMo, I am trying something new, something that I am having so much fun writing, I never knew it was possible. I am writing about...zombies. Yep, a plague of zombies and a teenager coming of age in hard times. Neither are original plot lines, but I am currently into my main character, and I'm having fun writing her in and out of trouble. And, I guess, what I'm finding is that it's ok (in fact, it's probably ideal) to actually enjoy what you're writing. To not agonize over each word to the point that you bag the three pages you just wrote and start all over again...every day.

It's keeping me entertained and out of trouble for now.

And with so much else going on with work and life and Zoe's two-year-old-ness, it's nice to have such a fun outlet. I mean, aside from Zoe's kiss attacks, which keep us both in hysterics for hours at a time...

P.S. If you're looking for some fun music, check out this past week's Austin City Limits, featuring Steve Martin (yes, THAT Steve Martin) and the Steep Canyon Rangers, as well as a singer/songwriter named Sarah Jarosz who has, in the past 25 minutes, totally rocked my world. Enjoy!

'twas a dark and stormy night

I've started about three posts tonight, and none of them felt right. The tone wasn't right, or it wasn't important enough, or whatever. You know I like to be political, and when I'm angst-ridden, I think I write better.

But sometimes I'm just apolitical and content, which is alright too.

So I thought I'd share some stories from the past few days, just to write some more about my family and me. In case you wanted to know us better.

In the first place, an update: we started potty training Zoe in early September. She's done fabulously overall, but the past few days, she's started having accidents...daily...which is just so odd. I'm wondering if it's just a phase or something like that, but I guess a phase should be longer than three days. Tomorrow I'll try the bribery technique for the first time in weeks - if she goes all day sans accident, she can have a treat when she gets home. It's amazing what that kid will do for some candy corn!

Here's an update on some of my writing projects. I have three short story rough drafts that are so rough they hurt to read. The same can be said for an essay I'd like to submit for publication to an online parenting mag. But my plan is to print them all out and start red-penning...which, to me, is the fun part of writing. I'm going to take what David Sedaris taught me and pay attention to word selection and placement, and they're all going to wind up awesome. Clearly.

Also, today felt like a good mom-day for me. Zoe did not nap at school, and I've been up since she woke me up to pee at 3:30 this morning, which is typically a recipe for disaster. But she was actually (mostly) sweet all evening, and I found a second (or third) wind. We ate tacos for dinner, a favorite for all three of us. Zoe and I sang silly songs during her bath, and we laughed a lot. It was a good night.

And finally, an update on our poor TV...it's still broken. So sad. Charles and our friend Antonio tried to fix it Friday night, and it was sort of crazy seeing the TV all spread out across our living room. They think they narrowed down the issue to the power board (I learned about capacitors that night...but not flux capacitors because they don't exist), so Charles is going to order a new one and see what happens. We've mostly adapted to life without TV - our shows and Zoe's can all be watched online. But sports are kind of a killer. Right now, my Giants are playing their arch nemesis, the Dallas Cowboys, and I am NOT WATCHING IT! AT ALL!! It's sort of painful.

But the other night, Charles and I played Trivial Pursuit instead of watching a show, and it was really fun.

So there's the silver lining. Tonight, on this dark and stormy night, I'm all about silver linings.

On David Sedaris, dirty jokes and the craft of writing

Last night was a good night.

Charles and I had tickets to a David Sedaris reading (if you don't know him, he's a humorist/satirist who writes essays for his own books, The New Yorker and NPR). We were excited - our seats were in the front-front row (AA). We'd be so close, we could see up his nose!

One of Zoe's ex-teachers came over to babysit since my mom is out of town and it went...surprisingly well! I expected tears, I got kisses. I expected drama, I got a rousing game of Ring Around the Rosie. It was fabulous.

So Charles and I managed to sneak away early - we arrived at the Performing Arts Center at 6:30 for a 7:30 show. We sat, drank wine, ate popcorn and people-watched, and had a nice, quiet 45 minutes.

When we stood up to head into the auditorium, we saw Sedaris himself walk by, which was so exciting. I love getting to see people I admire, up close and personal. We decided to hover around the book-signing table, in case he did a pre-reading signing, and HE DID! And we were first in line! HOORAY!

He was absolutely lovely, and laughed when we told him we wanted him to sign the book to Zoe, our two-year-old. "One day she'll love you as much as we do," I promised, sounding absolutely like a fan-girl.

Sedaris predicted a second child for us (a girl in 2012 - I politely laughed and shook my head) and then signed the book: To Zoe, You're such a baby. David Sedaris.

Dude's even funny off-the-cuff - totally impressive.

The reading began, and he was excellent, as always. I love how he reads his essays - something about the tone and cadence of his voice feels very soothing to me. He took a break from essays to delve into dirty jokes, to much applause and laughter. It always sounds so funny to hear his sweet little voice being so raunchy.

He talked about a book he's recommending while on tour - Wells Tower's Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. Charles bought it when it first came out but I haven't read it...yet.

But it was when he talked about WHY he was recommending it that I really got interested. He read a few passages, calling out why he liked bits and pieces, why he found it so surprising and engaging. One was as simple as having the words "mouse" and "coupon" in the same sentence - a surprising and apparently pleasing combination to his ears. To think that people pay so much attention to your choice and placement of words - it was something to think about.

He also referenced, with regards to his own writing, reading pieces out loud during the editing process, and it was like a light bulb flashed on over my head.

DUH. I know this. I used to do it all the time, but I've gotten away from it in recent years, due either to laziness or self-consciousness. But really, how else can you find the perfect words that flow into your sentences, than to read it out loud? It kills me now, that I sent an essay off to a writing contest without ever. Once. Reading it out loud.

Ugh.

But still, I was so appreciative of seeing Sedaris (and no, we could not actually see up his nose). I love his attitude and his politics (his two references to Prop 8 almost had me on my feet, laughing and clapping enthusiastically), and mostly, I love his writing. His craft.

He's brilliant.

Sometimes it's a little hard to write

I have big plans.

I've mentioned before that I am interested in working on a couple stories for upcoming Writer's Digest contests. I've been having fun doing some editing for Marissa. I've enjoyed blogging thus far.

I also decided that I'd like to try some more essay writing (my strength) to submit pieces to a few online magazines I like. I want to get published.

Last week was a little hectic; ok, most weeks around here are hectic. I'm used to it. But since I was worn out from our crazy weekend in New Jersey, I planned to give myself a break by sending Zoe to school on Friday, giving myself a free day at home.

I had big plans.

I wanted to go for a long run in the early hours of the day, then clean my house (focusing on one unruly closet) so it was sparkly. Then, I planned to write.

I planned hours of writing, in fact! I had three pieces on which I wanted to work, all of them clearly defined in my head. By Thursday night, I was practically giddy with excitement.

Until about 11:00 p.m., that is. That's when Zoe first woke up and started crying. I could tell from her gasping breaths that her nose was completely congested, making sucking on her pacifier (her one vice, and only at night) impossible.

About an hour later, she was asleep again, and I knew she had a cold. Not a bad one, really, but it was enough - no way could I send even a semi-sick little girl to school when I was already staying home.

So I had to put my writing plans on hold; Zoe is a notoriously bad sleeper/napper when sick, and she has held true to that all weekend long. So we've spent a lot of time in and around the house since Friday - luckily, we've had the best weather EVER, so all our windows have been open, keeping my normal stir-craziness slightly at bay.

I finally sat down this afternoon and got a rough draft done on one essay; the others have gone the way of so many ideas - far, far away.

The good news is that, crazy as life is, it provides lots of writing material. We are certainly never dull.

Now I'm going to go blow my own stuffy nose and pretend that my throat doesn't actually hurt.

I still have big plans.

I need incentives!

Ah, writing...what to say about writing?

I'm an essayist, primarily. It's always been where my writing skills lay. I'd be able to write a kick-ass memoir, if only my life had been a bit more exciting. But I'm fairly lame.

I'd love to be a super cool Sci-Fi or horror writer, but my fiction skills are lacking. I can't write believable dialog to save my life, and I get so annoyed with my bad dialog that I give up on stories without seeing them through to the end.

Also, and unfortunately, I write romance approximately on a level with George Lucas, which is to say badly. (I love Star Wars with all my heart, but come ON George...learn to write valid love scenes!! "Someone who loves you?" When Han is finally released from carbonite? That's all he could come up with for Leia to say? Blarg...but I digress.) I start to write about the interactions between two characters and, inevitably, I get the giggles. Literally.

And forget about sex. I can't write a damn thing about sex. Even typing it now is kind of making me blush. I mean, my dad could someday read things that I write - I certainly don't want him reading that kind of stuff. So I giggle and blush and get completely embarrassed and stuck and it's pretty pitiful.

But, that said, these are all things I'm working on. And to provide incentives for myself, I have big plans of entering stories in upcoming writing contests. Writers Digest is kind enough to provide several annually. I have a couple stories floating around my laptop, and plan to enter at least one Sci-Fi and maybe one general fiction. Marissa has also gotten me hooked on little mini-contests run by various agents. I've entered a couple and not had any form of recognition yet, but at least I've overcome a fear of putting myself out there. You can't get anywhere if you don't try, right? So try I will. Wish me luck!

And incidentally, I just learned that rhinos are pregnant for sixteen months at a time. All I can say is, thank God I'm not a rhino. I'd never have made it...

Nothing can keep me from you

My computer crashed and died last Thursday. The timing was terrible. I had a webinar I was attending at 1:00 pm hosted by Writer's Digest and led by Rachelle Gardner, a literary agent. She was discussing query letters and pitches, and I was giddy with excitement.

But that was not the first thing that tried to stop me from attending this webinar. I am a stay-at-home mom who has no family in the immediate vicinity. When things like writing webinars, or veterinarian appointments, or dentist appointments, or anything else come up, I call my mother who lives three hours away. She comes in town for the night and watches Max while I attend whatever it is I have to do. I should probably find a babysitter, but that requires a lot of work, like background checks and lie detector tests, I kid, (but not really).

Thursday morning, my mother calls me at 7:30 am from her garage. The battery in her car is dead. My father takes care of it and she gets on the road.

She calls me at 11:00 am from the middle of nowhere, thirty minutes out of town. She has a flat tire.

I wake up a napping Max and we drive out to pick her up, leaving her car on the side of the road. We make it back to my house with twenty minutes to spare before my webinar.

I sit down at my computer at 12:50 pm, log into the webinar and wait patiently. Right when Rachelle comes on and utters the word, "Welcome", I get a blue screen followed by a black one that says something about a SATA disk drive error. This means nothing to me. I don't speak this kind of computer. But, I did know this was a bad thing, a very bad thing.

I practically scream, then run to find my old laptop and boot it up before I miss too much of the webinar.

I finally made it back on just as Rachelle clicks off a slide that I didn't get a chance to read. I can only hope the secret to writing was not revealed on that slide.

The point of my story is...nothing can keep me from my dream of becoming a writer. Dead batteries, flat tires, SATA disk drive errors, nothing. I will find a way to write, I will find a way to learn more, I will find a way to attend a writing webinar.