Mike’s Musings

….and all through my house is the smell of the vegetable lasagna I made for tomorrow’s Christmas party (ham is on the menu, and I simply do not do pork of any kind).  Underneath that is the smell of peanut brittle and banana bread.  Once again, I feel compelled to bring food to a holiday gathering, and once again, I shall realize that everyone else feels that same compulsion, and once again, there will be too much food.  Better too much food than too little love, I say.  And at this gathering, both will be plentiful.

This year, I really looked forward to Christmas.  I didn’t dread it at all.  Next year, I want to be even more happy for Christmas to arrive.  Dan and I don’t exchange gifts and we don’t give gifts (we don’t believe in adding to the Christmas crap-buying frenzy), and it works out pretty well.  What I’d really like to do for next Christmas is go away to Pigeon Forge, rent that cabin we rented this summer.  Or maybe we just have Christmas in July and rent the cabin then and celebrate our own kind of Christmas this coming summer.  I’ll have to float that idea by him, but I’m sure he’ll dig it.

Merry Christmas to everyone!  Eat, drink, laugh, ideally surrounded by your friends and loved ones!

Namaste… MS

So, after thirty-five consecutive days of writing anywhere from one to four hours a day, I decided to take a break for two days.  I gave myself the weekend off from writing about Nathan and his saga.  Where things left off, his mother had just made a huge decision that will change the direction of the plot so far.  I kind of knew she might do what she did, but until it actually happened, until it was actually written, I didn’t know for sure.  She’s full of surprises, for sure.  As a result, I’ve needed to take a few days and let her decision marinate.  I needed some space to figure out where to go next with the story.  It’s been a good mental vacation, too.  I’ll be ready to get back to it tomorrow.

Namaste . . . MS

So, I did it.  I took the National Novel Writing Month challenge this year.  I set out to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November, and I did it.  I’m still doing it.  The novel is not done.  Nathan, my main character, is not done speaking.  So I will keep writing until he tells me to stop.

I passed the 50,000 word mark last Monday; everything else has been icing.  

The teacher in me is asking, What did I learn from this experience?  The writer in me wants to answer.  So I shall, in a very off-the-cuff, non-polished way.  I learned that if you show up every day to do something, whatever it is you’re doing comes easily after a few days of doing it.  The writing just came easily after awhile; I could get in the zone quickly and stay there.  Another thing I learned is that being the conduit to a fictional world is eery and exhilarating at the same time.  The experiences are mine and not mine.  It’s a very present type of absence.

It’s been five years since I’ve channeled Nathan.  This summer, I got back in and finished a part of the original novel that needed completion.  This November, the “sequel” came about through NaNoWriMo, and I had no idea just how much there was left to say.  Nathan is different this time around.  Before, in the first one, he was more guarded.  Now, he’s less so.  It’s interesting to see.  I’m looking forward to seeing where he and I end up.

Namaste . . . MS