Drunk with Literary Love

Again I have missed Fess Up Friday. This is entirely due to being drunk on and physically unable to put down either of the two Sue Miller books I borrowed from the library. A long while ago I read The Good Mother because it is one of my mother's favorite books and, a few years ago I read Family Pictures. My interest in Sue Miller was rekindled when I applied to the writer's conference as she is going to be there. So, on Wednesday, I picked up a few of her books at the library. Friday I began reading The Distinguished Guest. Yesterday I finished hungrily devouring it and began reading Lost in the Forest and, just a few moments ago as the clock struck midnight, I finished it. I would have finished sooner if not for love of my husband above all. It seems that in my literary drunkenness the dirty laundry, mail, and other household responsibilities piled up. This afternoon he told me he would like some help and intermittently I, somewhat begrudgingly I must admit, put down the book and answered his pleas. We went to bed at 10:20 and at 10:40 I found myself laying in bed wide awake unable to sleep having not finished the book. Suddenly I found myself shimmying out from under the arm my husband had protectively placed across me and creeping into the living room where my book waited. So elicit!

There is something about Sue Miller's work. The way it flows nearly seamlessly. The way she manages to let each of her characters have their say without making the transitions feel bumpy or abrupt. The way she writes sex so honestly and unflinchingly. The humanity she brings to all of her characters in all of their dealings, pleasant, unpleasant, or anywhere in between. Reading her work inspires me to keep working on mine, to keep seeking perfection in my own writing.
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Inspiration to keep moving forward in my own work is something I really need these days. I received an email last week informing me that I had not been selected for the Lesley University Writers Conference, but encouraging me to "continue pursuing (my) passion." After much self-doubt and some mild disappointment, I have come to the conclusion that this is a good thing, this being rejected. It is part of being a writer. You work, you submit your work, you frequently get rejected, but you keep working, keep striving, keep writing for the love of it. Maybe you aren't really a writer until you submit and get rejected. In any case, this was a milestone. I will keep writing in order to get better at it, improve my craft, and apply again next year.

I have also been exploring other conferences coming up this summer and beyond and found The Green Mountain Writers Conference in Vermont, the Patchwork Farm Writing and Yoga Retreat in the Berkshires, Kentucky Women Writers Conference, the Sanibel Island Writers Conference (Florida in November sounds delightful), the A Room of her Own Foundation Retreat, Robert Vaughn's Write on the Beach... There is just so much out there to explore and apply for! It is encouraging.
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As far as fessing up about my writing this week, aside from blog entries and to-do lists and one thank you note, I have been stalled. As result, I allowed myself to indulge in literary drunkenness, but it has brought me inspiration and tomorrow is another day.

Vacation

My husband was on vacation last week and I was at my nanny job on Wednesday and Thursday which left me little time for writing. It was wonderful to spend time with my husband though and awfully difficult to say good-bye when he went off to work this morning.

My husband is a "car guy." He loves driving them, changing his own brakes, cleaning his wheels, racing them, and watching other people race them. This brings me to this past week during which we spent three days at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and one evening watching demolition derby at Brockton Fair. Being a writer, no matter where I am, I am always looking for stories and inspiration for stories. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy motorsports, but four days of car activities in one week... a lot. So, I observed people and let my mind wander. At Nascar in New Hampshire there were so many 'characters': a man in a bathingsuit, the Indian couple with their young son all decked out in Dale Jr. merchandise, the two Asian couples, the man with a long red ponytail and a bottle full of a vodka/redbull mix, the ladies with their tanktop and bra straps folded into their tanks so they didn't get tanlines on their shoulders, and all of this within three rows of me! If I can't come up with any material from all of that, how can I call myself a writer? The Brockton Fair was interesting because it is like stepping into a time warp and it brings out all of the kooky people. I was also fascinated by the animals in the petting zoo, for sale, putting on a show (elephants, camels, ponies), to ride (ponies), and racing (pigs). I wanted to set them all free. I think I could write a childrens book with the premise of a little girl or boy wanting to free the animals at the fair and imagining what would happen if she/he did OR write a short story from the perspective of the animals OR write a story where the animals are in charge and the people are racing, in a zoo, for sale, and putting on shows. Inspiration is everywhere.
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I officially applied to the Lesley University Writers Conference. It starts on July 27th, so I should be hearing back soon. Waiting is the pits, but I am trying to think positively in the meantime. I appreciate any positive energy you might send my way.
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I have been noticing more traffic and returning traffic to my blog the past few weeks. Thank you for reading!

Fess Up Friday - Part Deux

I have been doing a lot of writing this week in preparation for the Lesley University Writers' Conference. They have extended their application date so I have been filling out the application and preparing a writing sample to send in as required. I have been struggling with what to use as a writing sample because I write poetry, short stories, books for children, and I am working on a memoir. So, basically, I am kind of all over the place, but I think I am going to go with the memoir. I need a reason to get a jump start on that piece of writing and it would be nice to get some feedback on it to see if it is worth my time to continue with it. Applying to the conference and working on my memoir are the two big steps I have taken in the right direction this week.

Blurbs

I have started volunteering at my local library a few days a week for a few hours at a time. Right now I am taking donated books that have been priced by the assistant director of the library and entering information about them into librarybooksales.org to raise money for the library fund. My job includes looking through the book to find basic information such as publisher, copyright date, whether on not it is a first edition, etc. I also have to flip through it to figure out what it is about so I can enter key words. Finally, I have to write a little blurb about the condition of the book.

The blurb is the challenge. What can one say in just a few sentence that will catch the attention of the potential buyer and rope them in? It is a creative challenge. This also got me to thinking about whether it is easier to compose a shorter or a longer piece of writing in general. Also, what do people value about books? Doing this project also gets me to thinking about the life of a book. I have held books in my hand that we're published as early as 1905. Where has that book been, who else has held it in their hands, and what did it mean to each person who turned it's pages?

Books are magical.
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A couple of "blurbs" of writing from my archives:

On an Amtrac Train to Providence
10 minutes away from New Haven, CT
10/5/03

Loving is a complicated word
A verb
An adjective
An emotion, of epic proportions

On an Amtrack Train Somewhere in Connecticut
10/5/03

TAKE ME SOMEWHERE
FAR AWAY
TO BE MYSELF
TO MEET MYSELF
TO FIND MYSELF
Mellow
Meandering
Marvelously happy
Wandering
No longer waiting for life to happen to me
Instead, happening to life
HUNGRILY CONSUMING IT
Incapable of being satiated
ALWAYS ACCOMPLISHING
Deliciously Devouring more
more
more
more