#UpbeatAuthors Don’t Dwell

One of my brain’s favorite past times is reminding me of every stupid thing I’ve said in a social situation (as an introvert, I’m socially awkward, so this can go on for hours!), every mistake I made raising my children, things at various Day Jobs I could have handled better, and so on.

Sometimes I think my brain hates me.

But then it comes up with a story idea. A great story idea. A story idea I love.

And I’ve come up with a method to fool my brain. When it starts in with the “remember the time you said…” routine, I remind it we have a plot problem to think about. We need to write the next scene: what is it?

My brain falls for it every time.

A Lost Art

I love social media. I love email. Both let me keep in touch with people without having to resort to using a telephone.  (The best thing about cell phones? Texting!) But I miss the days of writing letters.  I miss getting letters in the mail.

I remember receiving stationery as a gift. I exchanged letters with cousins who lived in other states and friends I met at summer camp.

Now I have a box of notecards. I do use them. 

But it’s not the same thing as sitting down with a good pen and pretty paper and composing a letter. Dashing off a quick note on a notecard is the old-fashioned equivalent of a text message. Long, chatty letters that caught you up on a person’s life, thoughts, and dreams are thing of the past.

I love to read collections of letters written by famous people–authors, politicians, etc. We find history in those collections. I wonder what history will say about this time period with our tweets and texts and instant everything. What will happen when technology fails and the archives of this generation no longer exist?

 

 

Me Movies

One of my goals for 2017 was a list of movies I’ve never seen but felt I needed to watch.

Part 1 of the list consisted of the six original Star Trek motion pictures. I loved the original series. I love the rebooted movies (with Chris Pine). How could I have missed the movies with Shatner, Nimory, etc.?

I finally watched the last one. It was probably my favorite of the six, except maybe the whale one.

Now, on to Harry Potter.

Looking Back

I was leafing through an old note book and came across an exercise in which I was asked to describe my perfect work space.

Bare windows with blinds to close at night. Bare wooden floors. Pale apricot walls. A desk. A great chair.

Laptop computer.

Great audio system. A rocking chair in front of the windows.

I work there whenever I can. My dream schedule–work 7am to 3pm every day. No other people around.

How do I feel working here? Good. Productive. Fitting inside my skin.

Welcomed. I feel welcomed.

I guess it’s still a work in progress.