Story Ideas

I'm considering whether to do Nanowrimo again this year. It's like an addiction, though. I feel like I *have to* do it. 

BUT... I have no ideas of what to write. There's no burning story that is bursting to come out of me. 

So I've been generating ideas for what to write, if I decide to do Nano. Here are a few ideas:

1. Sci-fi. Manager of a coffee shop on the Moon, in a time when the trendy thing is to move on to Mars. But this person doesn't make the cut for Mars, and feels stuck. A couple story options. A)S/he learns of something that could be a danger to all Moon-lings and has to escape or save the Moon. B)S/he meets someone, relationship starts, the SO makes the cut for Mars and either they go together or it ends in heartbreak.

2. Dystopian. BFFs were broken apart by a cataclysmic event in their youth. They reunite as adults, but their ideals and paths have diverged so much they have to overcome their new differences (because they share this deep connection to a brutal past). In the end, by coming together they find their new talents/skills/education are complementary to a degree that they can help their community/society/nation avert a coming catastrophe.

3. Parallel/Future world. A young woman's life is spared for a rare, prized physical trait. She wants a normal life, but is used for DNA harvesting. She begins/joins a rebellion of others trying to overthrow the DNA harvesters.

4. Modern world, possible Women's Lit. Woman breaks free from financial hardship through an online business. As things are looking good, she suffers death and loss from multiple angles and sinks into depression leading to loss of business and isolation. Back on her heels, she learns new skills to help herself, and in the process helps others. Story ends with her finally leaving her house for the first time in years.

5. Environmental Collapse. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the world's populations, agriculture, business. Storms, droughts, wildfires all take their toll. In the middle of the growing crisis, scientists find a way to weaponize weather and target opposing governments.

Now that I lay these all out here, they're each pretty heavy. Maybe I need to simplify and write REAL things about realistic people. Hmm... Thoughts?

American Road-Trip, Part 2: Edibles

I'm not a drug person. Never was. Once, at a college party, the guy I was talking to invited me to join him in lighting up with some friends. I excused myself from the room until they were done. Now of course, marijuana is legal in some form in most US states, and easy to get everywhere. But I live in Vietnam. It's around, but illegal.

A few years ago, we were in Canada and shared a joint in a legal lounge. I didn't get much out of it. Not being a smoker, I probably did it wrong.

Now, in the latest book I'm working on, a character is given edibles from a friend. I don't explore this character's history with pot - she allows that she's not a "regular" user, but seems familiar with it.

During our trip to the States, I decided to do a little research.

First, I asked a grower about it and got some solid information about the different effects coming from the different strains. Cool. Helpful.

Near the end of our trip, I decided to try gummies for myself. A friend was buying some brownie bites from the dispensary at the same time. Not too long after I ate a gummy, back at their house, they offered me a brownie bite. Of course I wanted to try it! See, I had already forgotten this was A Drug. And that it was For Research. In my head, gummy candies and brownies are snacks. That's a hard idea to alter!

Two edibles in quick(ish) succession was a mistake. I'm just not used to trying to get high!

Sure, at first came a pleasant, light, buzzy sensation, but then it became unpleasantly like being way too drunk. Plus. I felt like lead. If I got up to move, I knew (did I?) that there was every possibility that I'd fall down, or vomit, or both. Brett - who had elected to stay sober while I experimented, brought me a slice of the leftover pizza, and after I finished my one beer I switched to drinking water. We were having a movie night, and I safely fell asleep there on the sofa during the movie.

Midway through the movie, Brett woke me and convinced me I might as well go to bed. I managed to get myself ready for bed and slept very soundly, never wishing to do that again!

The next morning, I was kicking myself for wasted research. I needed to know how to write about this! What if the brownie was the more potent edible? What if the late hour had conspired against me? And what about that beer I had early in the evening - the combination of alcohol and drugs is not in my book! We had some open time that morning, so after breakfast, as I was repacking our bags, I tried Just One Gummy. This time I could focus. It was morning, my head was clear, and I was without the audience of those sharing in our previous movie night. Plus, I was doing a task that I've done numerous times and knew how it should go.

While packing, I took notes:

• 45 minutes in, it was getting hard to focus. Visually and mentally.
• 1.5 hours in, that floating sensation kicked in. It was accompanied by a tingling in my lips.
• At 1 hour 50 minutes, my mouth was dry. SO dry! I drained my water bottle.

That's where the notes stop. I recall that, mid-packing, I stretched out on the bed and relaxed for a while. Did I sleep? If so, not for long. My nature is task-driven and I had a task. After finishing packing, I picked up the book I was reading and sat in a corner, in a haze, reading, until it was time to go. I was fine, but operating at low energy.

Overall, even a tiny little pot-gummy is too potent for me. Although I was able to move (no leaden sensation as of the prior night) and I didn't feel ill, it was no fun. I am in NO danger of becoming an addict!

And the research was worth it. They say "write what you know." I will be removing the drug parts from the book. It was all unnecessary to the plot, anyway. 

Have you ever done anything "for research"? Gone somewhere you wouldn't normally or tasted a food just to see? How did it turn out for you?

Tuesday Tirade

I am livid.

I recently joined a writing group, and found that I enjoy it. It's nice to write and getting immediate feedback. So I've been regular there for three weeks.

Yesterday, one woman - I'll call her Karen - came in and announced that her daughter has Covid. Her grown adult daughter who lives with her. The daughter had tested positive a week ago, but Karen had not gone to get tested yet. I don't know why not.

Two of us put on masks after hearing that, but no one left. In my mind, I was thinking, "This is a responsible adult. I know they have a large, 3-bedroom house. Maybe the daughter is self-isolating. Because surely she wouldn't come to the group otherwise."

Tonight, she posted in the groups chat that she has Covid.

Livid!

I believe Covid has a 3-day incubation period. (Yes? No?) So on Thursday I'll go get tested. I pray that I will be negative. I wore my mask, except for when I was taking a drink of coffee or water. I hope it was enough. But that was yesterday. If it wasn't enough, it's too late now!

Livid! Who does that? Irresponsible, careless people, that's who.

Querying - #AtoZChallenge

Querying: That annoying process that writers have to go through to get their books published. 

I mean, these days it's not as necessary because self-publishing and e-publishing is so easy (or at least, easier). But I have decided to shoot for the moon and go the traditional route to publication. 

My former work in the States was in business writing. For fun, I wrote a one-act play for my theatre, but that was it.

In China, I modified or created short plays for children's drama camps.

Since moving to Vietnam four years ago and finding myself with extra time, I've been writing novels. First I took the one-act play I had written and turned it into a novel. Then I discovered Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) and have basically added another new novel per year. But they were all first drafts, with some incomplete editing in between.

A year ago I decided to focus on editing, and since October I've been querying that first book out to possible writing agents. It's one step toward publication, and it's a long slog. Here's why:

First, general wisdom that I read or heard from agents in writing workshops, says not to send to too many agents at once. Because as soon as one agent says, "Hey, show me more," then you have to go back and contact all the other agents still holding your query and say, "Someone's interested, so never mind," or give them an opportunity to show interest, too. Therefore, I've been keeping about 10 copies in circulation at a time. 

Second, not all agents or agencies give a time-frame to expect response. Nowadays it seems quite common that "if we're interested, we'll let you know" is the standard. Of the places that offer a time frame 8-12 weeks turnaround is common, so for every agency that has no turnaround time listed, I consider that query "active" until at least eight weeks have passed. So therefore, I may go weeks without either sending a query or hearing back.

It's a long slog, but I'm not discouraged. Time was, authors bragged about how many rejection letters they received before publication. Now the letters don't always come, but they still count as rejection. The first rejection email I got, I cheered because it meant I was on my way. It's less exciting now, but I still think of one popular author who had her first manuscript rejected for a full year before turning around and querying with a different book and finally achieving publication. It's only been six months for me. I'm good.

P.S. That's one reason I do Flash Fiction Fridays during the rest of the year - just working to keep ideas fresh. Drop a prompt if you have one!

Battling Writers' Block

I want to address a question from the comments.

For the last several months, I've only been writing my weekly flash fiction, and I've been very terrible - yes: very. terrible - at visiting other blogs, even my favorites. So naturally, there are only a handful of regular-ish readers on this blog. 

Since most of what I do is flash fiction these days, I thought I'd explain a little.

During the A-to-Z Challenge, I actively solicited suggestions from readers, and managed to write an entire month solely using reader prompts! Since then, although my concluding note always asks for prompts in the comments, there have been few. 

Sometimes, like this past Fiction Friday, I sit at my computer with a blank mind. No ideas, no characters, nothing. Writers' Block. There seems to be nothing to write.

However, I am dedicated to my weekly fiction commitment! What to do when the brain is devoid of ideas?

In cases like that, I force myself to sit down - there's a grace period, since I'm 12 hours ahead of the US - and just use whatever phrase or quote comes to mind. For my most recent flash fiction, I ended up editing out my opening line. It happens. I don't even remember what it was.

I have a list of prompts, gleaned from the internet and my verbose husband, but my favorite thing when I'm stuck is to follow a random phrase in my head.

Now, there is ALWAYS a song in my brain. Always. I can't stop it. But also, influences from nature, from TV, from daily life - what would someone else do? - or the illustrious "what if?" and those often feed these little flash fiction tales. 

It's quite freeing, to know that I don't need to follow the story through and actually answer the questions that come up. So WHAT happened to Paige? I don't know. Does she have amnesia? Was she at a resort that brainwashed her? Was it an alien abduction and replacement scenario? 

I don't have a lot of luck with this but...

...What do you think? Which direction should this story go?

Reassessing What's Important

I am utterly apathetic these days. 

I don't think it's depression. It was, and sometimes is, but even when the depression fog lifts, I have zero motivation to do anything.

I'm learning two languages. Theoretically. I cancelled both classes last week, and haven't looked at the homework for either one.

I called off the classes because I'm trying to finish the novel I started in Nanowrimo last year. The ending is proving elusive, and I thought that if I gave myself permission to focus just on writing, I could sort it out. I did not. I wrote less on the days of the cancelled classes than on previous days. 

I called my mom the other day. Thought maybe a touch of normalcy would help shake me out of this ... whatever it is. It did not. It was yet another conversation of small talk, peppered with updates on my siblings as much as she knew. (My family does not partake of deep conversation with each other.)

So I'm just here to make sense of my own self.

Learning Mandarin was vital when we lived in China. I still think it's a good idea, and it is helpful with my little online Chinese students. But am I learning simply for vanity? To be able to brag? It will look good on a resume if I ever go back into the normal workforce, but how likely is that?

Learning Vietnamese is a good idea because I live here, but many foreigners don't bother learning it. Two reasons. 1) We are in a touristy area where minimal Vietnamese is needed. Most vendors and businesses that will have dealings with a foreigner have some basic English. 2) Pronunciation is apparently vastly different from north to south, so learning it in one place doesn't mean you'll understand it elsewhere. BUT 1) vendors and business-people appreciate a foreigner who at least tries to speak Vietnamese - even poorly, and 2) We haven't yet traveled away from the central coastal region, so ...

Do I continue with language classes? For both languages?

Before I started teaching online, when I decided that I was a Writer first and foremost, I forced myself to spend time writing. I keep adding hours teaching, which makes it feel like my main job. I mean, being paid NOW is more motivating than working long hours for the potential of payment later, should I ever be published. 

I think I need to cut back on teaching hours, and maybe relax the Mandarin for a bit. I don't know what that looks like time-wise, but at least I have an idea of a potential solution!

Thanks, Blogger. This has been productive.

Really, I'm Not ONLY About Death

As you know, I took my time getting back into reality this past month. I'm lucky that I have the kind of life where I could take the time. I did a lot of nothing - yoga, reading, coloring, playing stupid games on my phone. Finally I opened my Nanowrimo manuscript and started re-reading it. Doggone-it, it's good! I mean, it needs a ton of work, so it still may turn out to be nothing if I can't figure it all out. I left a lot of holes in my push to get words on the page in November.

I started back into it over a week ago, very slowly. I'm beginning in earnest, reading and doing minor edits, plus filling in all the gaping holes in the manuscript. It's something. Life seems a bit more like normal again.

As I was messaging with my big brother recently, I got to considering how the same death is different for everyone. He lost his son (to suicide) in the fall, and his sister last month. Our sister's death leaves him as the eldest sibling. You wouldn't think it makes a difference, but in a family with five kids, birth order becomes a part of your identity.

I should think that, if one could quantify grief, his must be the hardest. Of course you can't quantify it. How close was he with my sister? But then, his son... There's no standard.

And then again, when his son died, I know it hit our younger brother hard. He had just recently lost an Army buddy to suicide and was already trying to cope with that. So although it was "just" his nephew, it came at a time when he was already dealing with grief. The sister who died last month was, I believe, the only one of us that little brother communicated with openly. Even then, he didn't do it often - man of few words, he is - but still. If she's the main one who checked in on him, and she's gone, and so soon after all the rest of it, what must he be going through?

Of course, my living sister and I both lost our closest sister. We do not get along terribly well. We do fine for short gatherings, but more than a day together is a strain. Our eldest sister was a bridge between us. The three of us could get together and have a good time. I feel like I should be closer to my living sister now, but you can't force a relationship, and neither one of us can fill the gap left. So this recent death was super hard on her. But I can't imagine her thoughts at the death of our nephew - just six months younger than her own son. How worried is she about her own child now?

Many years ago, a friend of mind lost one of her sons to a freak accident. He was on foot, hit by a car. (This all happened years before I met her.) It took years before her cloud lifted, and even today you can see how the grief of losing a son colors her attitudes on social media. It's a part of her. 

I think it becomes a part of each of us. Hopefully not to the point of defining us, but what if it does? 

For my part, I think I've returned to life fairly quickly. I know that although things will be different, I'm okay. Others might not be. 

This is why we should always be kind. 
I understand the meme a lot better now.

Forgetfulness

Oh good grief.

On Thursday, I went for a walk to find a spot to write that was out of the house. I sat down in a new restaurant and wrote most of a new flash fiction... but I'm so lost in the timezones that the next day I was going to bed before I realized it was Friday. 

Oh, and Friday was the day we went out to celebrate Brett's birthday, so I had overdone it a bit and was completely non-functional on Saturday. The older I get, the harder it is to recover, and yet I haven't learned that lesson. 

Good news is, as much as I am missing my blogging goals, I am working on my book. I'm thinking of making this next edit my NanoWriMo project. 

Will you be participating in NanoWriMo? What's your handle? We can buddy up!

Wait... It's STILL August?

It might not be the end of the month yet, but it feels like it. I have done more "big stuff" this month than most months. Big, but not uncommon for the life of an expat. It's just that everything came up at once! Not only that, but my closest expat friends are all leaving the country within the next week, so it's the end of a chapter, too.

Therefore, my list:
I stole this bullet point list from JZ at "A Reluctant Bitch".  


Relieved to Be Done With: Moving to a new house. AGAIN!

Inordinately Proud Of: Doing all my work with no air conditioner.

Happy to Have Survived: Multiple hangovers. I'll miss my Aussie friends when they leave, but holy drinking!

Glad To Be Done With: And extra, unexpected, tourist visa run to Laos because there was a delay with the work visa.

Grateful For: A 2-year lease, so maybe I can break my habit of moving every year!

Making Magnificent Progress: My first novel. Three out of four Beta-readers have submitted their notes. 

Looking Forward to: New passports. These are already full!

Reveling In: New friends and new hangouts. Also, finally being recognized as "a local" by the locals!

Latest Taste Obsession: Fresh garlic and soy sauce mixed into my melted butter to put on my popcorn. 

Filing Under “I Don’t Understand Men”: Our new neighbor, as he and his wife prepare to leave this week, offered to lend us books from their collection. The first one he pulled off the shelf to offer me was erotica. Because I'm a woman?

A Thing I Never Thought I’d Do: Appreciate a bathroom where the shower has no division from the rest of the room. But it's awesome. Cleaning the bathroom is much quicker now.


That's it. New home, new visas, new passports on the way, new friends leaving already - it's been a busy month!

NOT About My Past

I'm just going to blather about nothing for a bit.

I sat at supper alone the other night and wrote out a blog post I thought I'd share yesterday, but then it sounded absurdly personal and maybe a bit whiny, so I never typed it in. Am I the only one who, as an adult, finds out things from the past and gets to feeling resentful? It's not a good feeling, and I'm not proud of it, especially since everyone is just making their choices of what to say and what to do in the moment as we progress through this journey called life, and how can I objectively remember how I behaved back then, and whether or not my actions and attitude caused another person to withhold information that now I wish I'd known?

I'm doing a lot of internal work on ... oh I don't know, call it "mindfulness" - that's part of it - but also on trying to accept people/things/situations without negativity. That needs to include the past. It's not instinctive for me.

[I'm not talking about supressed trauma. That's different. Just tiny things that if you'd known then, maybe you would be different now? Maybe would have helped?]

But the thoughts I wrote down the other night are a step backward, so here I am sharing inanities!

How I write.

I sent my novel to a few Beta-readers last weekend, so I've been taking a week off from writing or editing. Maybe I'm drifting a bit.

I started looking up this ancient Chinese poet: Du Fu (Also translated as Tu Fu. I know, you were confused by the "D".) I took a picture of the full moon the other night, so the first poem I looked up was called "Moonlit Night". Not at all related to my picture, but here they both are:

It was a full moon, and I was walking home from supper through the rice paddies. Heaven.

The text of "Moonlit Night" as translated by the first website I clicked on:

The moon shines in Fuzhou tonight,
In her chamber, she watches alone.
I pity my distant boy and girl-
They don't know why she thinks of Chang'an.
Her cloud-like hair is sweet with mist,
Her jade arms cold in the clear moonlight.
When shall we lean in the empty window,
Together in brightness, and tears dried up?

I'm no poet, and yes, it's a translation, but even so I feel that I need to take a course in Chinese poetry if I'm ever to understand what the heck it means! 😂

Any insight from any poetry lovers? Maybe I just need to read more of this Ancient Chinese Dude, to get into his head. The last ancient poetry I read was Beowulf. I loved that one, but epic poems are easier I think, because they tell a story.

See? I told you I'd blather about nothing. What nothing is new with you?
 

To Air is Human

It's 100° every day this week.

I've acclimated to the tropics very well in the past year. I wear loose dresses (no tight waistline); I get up with the sun to take advantage of the morning cool; I open up the house while it's cool - all doors and windows except the bedroom where Brett still lies sleeping; if a trip to the open air market is needed, I have even been known to walk there (5 minutes) in the 90° 7:00 temps while he decides to awaken. (If he's up, we'll take the motorbike.)

The house is not air conditioned. That is wildly impractical here, and would be a huge expense. But the ceilings are high, we have fans, and with the cross-breeze, it's not too bad. Mostly.

Each bedroom has an a.c. That means our bedroom, Brett's office, and the guest room / my office all have the possibility of being cold. In fact, I need two blankets to sleep, because I married a human radiator who cranks that thing down to 18.

I typically do not use it in my office. Now that I'm teaching online, I do turn it on three times a week for a few hours each time. 

I'm HAPPY to be functional in the open, hot air!

Today, after two days of this heat and with a full week of it on tap, I am contemplating using climate control during the day, in the hopes that it will perk me up for some quality editing time. Maybe the heat is sapping my energy?

To Air, or not to Air? That is the question.

What's Up, Buttercup?

Lots, actually. A lot is up.
A lot is happening, and getting in the way of my blogging. I had really hoped to crank out at least two posts a week after almost EVERY day in April!

An old picture. I write better now.

Since moving to Vietnam, my Mandarin classes have continued via Skype. We had already paid for oodles of classes - for both of us - but when we knew we were moving out of China, Brett (this guy) stopped his lessons. But I want to actually KNOW the language. To be conversant. So I continued, using his and my pre-paid hours.

Finally, all the classes we had paid for are nearing their end and I need to sign up for more. That money is not in our single-income budget. 

So I'm starting online English teaching to get my own income, to pay for my Mandarin classes. 😄 I know, crazy, right? Just a few hours on a couple evenings. It won't be fast money at that pace, but I don't want to over-fill my time when I should be writing or editing.

I write and edit in the morning or afternoon, plus study Mandarin, and in the evenings I'm either relaxing or, now, teaching online. It's not a crazy schedule, but I'm still getting used to it. Blogging is slipping.

...AND in a couple weeks I'm going to start weekly Vietnamese classes. In my perfect world, I would learn languages with ease, but the fact is there are SO MANY WORDS! In every language.

When your schedule changes drastically, how do you get on track? Do you jump in no problem, or take a while to adjust?

Back to Life, Back to Reality!

Whew! We made it! I successfully completed the A to Z Blogging Challenge, and you, if you chose to, participated and helped me write a new story every day by suggesting a word or a theme or a place.

I had so much fun, I'm initiating Fiction Fridays here at Doesn't Speak Klingon. A new story every week, starting with some of the prompts I was given during AtoZ but didn't use. I hope you'll all enjoy it as a break from the humdrum of my world.

Meanwhile, it's back to the grind.
The grind of writing. When April started, I was in the throes of a re-write of my Work In Progress. I have completed that re-write, printed it out, and finally the other day I sat down to read it with my colored pens in hand to make notes.

It's terrible. 

I remember when I sat down with a manuscript of the first draft, I realized how much my writing had improved since writing that draft! So I set about to improve it.

It's still awful. 
I bored myself within the first three pages. 
WHAT THE HELL, ME?

Sorry, this is generally a curse-free blog, but seriously. I deserve a good tongue-lashing.

I know, I know. Growing pains and blah blah blah. 
I know I can write, and I do think I have an interesting story here. 

I've read tons about typical pitfalls that new authors land in, and I have avoided most of the glaring ones. Grammatically, I am REALLY skilled. I mean, that was my job before. That's my degree. I just need to give the book a boost.

Maybe I need to do the "Cut the first scene - Cut the last scene" and see if it reads better. What do you think? If I was bored in the first three pages...

If you are writing, or teach writing, or involved with the writing universe, I welcome any and all suggestions!

#AtoZChallenge Audience Participation!

For better or worse, I have registered for this year's A to Z blogging challenge. It will be my 3rd time, and I've always successfully completed it.

click here to sign up!

But this year, ... well, my April problems are not theme related. Suffice to say, April will be a busy month. (for more reasons than are mentioned in that blog link)

THEME: Fiction (with Audience Input)
 
In order to try to coordinate my blogging with Camp NaNoWriMo, I will do individual stories each day. I'm trying to hone my fiction skills, whatever that means, so each day I will make myself do something different.

Honestly, some stories might turn out to be fragments of stories, unfinished. I'll go where the muse takes me.

HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN:
I will start with one story for A, but in the comments each day, I want YOU to offer a suggestion. It could be a word or a phrase, a hint of a character, a setting, an event, ANYTHING. It doesn't specifically have to begin with the next day's letter, either. Hopefully there will be enough comments that I can build a stockpile for days when no one offers anything that inspires words.

If there are several prompts that work for my brain, I may add a voting question to the following day. So on Day C, if I like 3 prompts given in the comments, then on Day D you may find yourself voting for one of the 3, the winner of which I will write on a subsequent day.

Note that the story will not continue on the next day. 
I want to keep this as spontaneous as possible.
Also note, that my blog is not "Adult Content" so please stick to that in your comments, or your comment will be deleted.

Any questions? I hope to see you all during my VERY BUSY April! (what am I getting myself into?)

A Busy Month

...So to speak. 

Let's be honest. My "job" is writing. I write, I edit, on my own time. I keep the house reasonably clean, do the laundry, pick the papayas off the tree when they're ripe, and usually accompany Brett to the market. Sometimes I do separate grocery shopping.

I have it easy. I really do.

But I am faced with a conundrum about April activities.

Since completing NaNoWriMo in November, I have remained active on their website. I subscribe to their YouTube channel and join virtual write-ins. April is a "Camp NaNoWriMo" month, and there's a lot of chatter about it. Cool! For the Camp, basically, you set whatever kind of writing goal you want to - hours or words, novel or not. Just kind of a support group, it seems to be. I was all set to register for it, as soon as I can decide on a goal.

Then yesterday Brett came downstairs excited about registering for the A-to-Z Challenge.

Right. That's in April, too.

I've done the A-to-Z Challenge twice, and enjoyed it both times. It kept me on track, boosted my blogging habit, and I found interesting blogs to follow.

Now I'm stuck. Could I do both? Of course. But I'm also editing a book and slowly working on a couple other writing projects. Camp Nano would be an easy help for my projects, but daily blogging might be more of a time drain than I want to commit to!

What to do? What to do?

EUREKA!
Literally, while I was writing this, I realized that I CAN do both: I'll set my Camp goal around blogging daily! If I can. I haven't looked into it too much. 

I'm so glad I sat down to moan about having too many options! You may see a lot more of me next month!

Are We Dead Yet?

Well, my priorities have solidified. 

When we moved here, one of my new expat friends was very interested in my theatrical background, and although we both sit and write together, we've also discussed trying to get a theatre group going here in Hoi An. 

I had since realized that she and I disagree fundamentally on a lot of things that would be critical to being co-founders of any kind of group. In my head, I had determined that the next time we talked about it I would gently bow out (with the understanding that possibly I would audition, just don't want to manage).

She recently met an Australian playwright and loves his new script. She wants to do a table reading and asked if I would do it. I wouldn't mind, but...

Now that I'm writing so much, I never know when inspiration will strike, or when my muse will be generous on a given day. Reading a play will involve several people and a certain time commitment. So I had to say...

"No. No. I have to be free to focus on writing now."

My priorities are now firmly stated. She understood.

The next day - The VERY NEXT DAY! - I was sitting in a coffee shop randomly writing in the notebook I have with me at all times, and a story started. And I love it. It's fun.

I'm so glad I declined on the play.

This new story seems like the kind that might just write itself, so that's what I'm doing. Or attempting. 

My original random thought that started all this? Have you ever heard a statement, something along the lines of "One of these days, he'll/I'll/she'll wake up dead." 

What if you woke up dead? I'm days into considering that, and having a blast.

Headaches

So I wrote this random bit the other day...

Where the headache came from was a mystery. It started as she relaxed in front of the TV. Assuming the pillow was positioned poorly, maybe putting pressure in that annoying trigger spot at the base of her head, she moved the pillow. 
Reclined more, laying back with the pillow under her shoulders. Nope.
Sat up straighter, removing the pillow entirely. No dice.

Refilling her water, she hoped it was a dehydration symptom. The pain was moving toward the front of her head now. What was going on in there? Finally, last resort, she took three ibuprofen. Say what you want, this cheap, generic, Chinese knock-off Advil was NOT equivalent to real Advil - or even a cheap Walmart or Target generic version!

Movie over, she shut off the TV. Maybe silence for a bit while the drugs tried to work. The headache was changing again, now more like a net of nerves tightening around her brain, all vibrating like some bizarre musical instrument being strummed and thrummed by a tiny mental elf. 
Damn you, elf.

Just then, Hubs rode up to the house, returning from the morning's excursion. By the time he joined her in the living room, cleaned up from the smells of sweat and the sea, he was ready to tell of his adventure out on the island. She wanted to hear, truly. She listened attentively, commenting, asking questions, all while that elf kept strumming in her skull. Still listening, she got up and grabbed a muffin. Maybe the elf needed a sweet distraction.

Finally, story ended, vibrating brain-instrument ongoing, she decided to take a walk. It was all she could do. She couldn't read, couldn't look at a screen - TV, phone, or computer - and maybe sunshine would lull the nerve-strumming elves into silence.

As she walked, there was a brief moment when she felt the pain subsiding, but the moment passed and she walked on.

First locale to check off the pit-stop list: the pizza place. Closed. Headache remained.

Continuing walking, she found that the new microbrewery in town had NOT closed for the holiday. Maybe a cold one would do what water and drugs and food could not. Beer in hand, she sat out on the patio. The headache remained, but the beer was good. 
Sun was good.
Watching the light traffic was good.
Talking to random passers-by was good.

As she returned the empty glass to the bar inside, she smiled a thank you and said good-bye. Returning home, the thread of the headache was still holding on to its own existence, but it was weakened. She felt strong. "I did not let that headache cripple me. I went out into the world a functioning citizen and contributed to a local business and to the society of those around me," she nodded to herself with pride.

Sometimes, it's the small victories that make the difference.

What Year is it, Again?

I know it's silly, and there are jokes and memes about the trite-ness of not knowing the year, but now that I'm not working in an office where there are dates on a bazillion documents, it is really hard for me to think of this as 2019. 

Because I don't have to think of the year.

Except when I'm going through facebook memories and I want to calculate how many years ago something happened. That's kind of weird. I think of 2016 as the year we moved to China, but my current 2016 memories are long before we had even considered that idea.

Life. Weird, right?

I don't do new years resolutions, but right now, simply because I'm starting a new planner, my current goal is to blog here 2 times a week. I've set that goal before and got waylaid by life. We'll see how it goes this time around.

Disclaimer: I'm on my second cup of coffee, and am totally amped up on yoga and writing. And Star Wars. (The Empire Strikes Back is playing as my background noise this morning.)

I think I might start a new blog that focuses on writing, because I just want to gush about this new love I have! I'm sorting out the book I wrote during Nanowrimo, in order to set it aside for a while so that it will be ready to edit in a few months, and it's so fun to nitpick character arcs, and mix up the timeline to see if things flow together.

Since I have no day job, and I usually write for a couple hours during the day, I've started blocking out a couple hours in the evenings, for editing earlier books. THAT'S enlightening, too. I just want to get one book to a point where it's presentable, and where I can see what actual professionals think. 

For now, I'm enjoying it. It's just fun.

And the ideas are flowing! These first three, if I have a niche, I'd say they are about women finding strength on their own. It's something I feel I know, having been a "strong, independent woman" my entire adult life until marrying at 39.

But I have one more complicated idea that will take world-building and a lot of research. I've had that idea for a while, and I'm picking away at it slowly.

Recently, I had a different idea for an anecdotal book incorporating all kinds of different stories. 

Ideas are everywhere! I love it! 

I have found that my strength is in writing characters. It's my theatre background, probably. Sometimes, I'll have a great idea for a character, but I have no idea what might happen to that character to make an actual story.

Do you write? What do you write? I was doing professional, business writing prior to moving overseas, then short children's plays for Chinese kids. All very different types, but I have enjoyed all of it. THIS is my joy. THIS is my gift. What about you?

NOTE TO SELF: Less coffee before blogging.

Maintaining Balance: Writing and Writing

I don't want my blog-writing to slip by the wayside as I get more into book-writing. That's why #AccountaClub works for me. I mean, okay, Isa-Lee Wolf posted the prompt on Friday, and that was three days ago, but I'm getting to it!

Last week, I finished the first draft of my second book. It's basically a steaming pile of crap for now, but it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. There's a lot to do, but it's out of my head for the moment. I think a good, clean, messy, edit will help. Later.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo last month, and I've been slowly working on the plot for that one, but I don't want to actually start writing the story until November 1st. I'm a purist, what can I say?

Until November 1st, I am practicing writing 12,000 words a week. I'm meeting that word count by working on a project my sister and I talked about:

Our dad started writing down his memories. He's not calling it a memoir, and he might just be doing it because he's afraid he's losing his memory, but he seemed kind of stalled at about the time in his story that we moved overseas. So we thought it would be fun if all five of us kids wrote some of our memories of life overseas. Maybe to jog his memory, maybe as a continuation of his story.

So that's my writing project for the next couple weeks.

As far as maintaining balance, I realized last week that if I'm going spend so much time writing, I can either work on A) my fitness or B) keeping the house clean. One or the other. 

I live in a country where the house is open to all the weather all the time, and we go barefoot in the house. Guess which will win - A or B? So I do my yoga, and sometimes a supplemental workout, but I'm not worrying about getting in a number of steps each day.

Maybe that's it: I can count words or steps, not both.

What do you give up when you take on a new project? Or are you one of the amazing people who simply adds an extra hour to your day?

How is it October?

Now that I'm virtually retired, time doesn't fly by as fast.
The days blur together, but I fully realize that I've lived in Vietnam now for over FOUR MONTHS.
We are finally reaching a point in the year where my summer clothes aren't too hot. They are exactly right for the temperatures.

I've started to compare "today" with where we were at this point after moving to Beijing, rather than "this time last year". This time two years ago, we were full of excitement about our new home in Beijing. However, four months after we had moved there, we were desperately awaiting a legal return to work, and suffering cabin fever from being cramped in a tiny apartment with nowhere to go!

Four months after moving to Vietnam, we are in a larger space, with our own things to do, living almost as if we are retired! Mind you... 

...I've not furnished the house the way I envisioned it when we first moved in.
...We've STILL not yet begun cooking again.
...I know less about this city and language than I did with our move to Beijing.

Baby steps.

Life is good. I'm using a lot of my time for writing. I don't write about it much here, but I might start doing my #AccountaClub posts here, instead of in the comments on Bit2Read. Now that I'm boosting my daily word count, I just don't get into the blogosphere much, so I'll just blend this into a post to update my own blog.

If you're wondering, #AccountaClub is simply a place to set and check in on your goals. Every Friday, Isa-Lee Wolf at Bit2Read (linked above) writes a short post updating on how she's doing with her goals, and if you choose, you can do so as well, in the comments, or on your own blog. It is literally, a club for accountability. Most of us have writing goals amongst other goals, so if you have a goal and need to be held accountable, check it out!

In the spring, my writing goal was to meet a certain weekly word count. I've been increasing that number lately, and last week I wrote over 9,000 words. I don't know if that sounds high, but I'm inching up to at least 12,000 words per week.

So for me, my week was productive, even considering we're getting out more often to explore the area. For instance, on Friday we were on the road all day, riding the motorbike almost FOUR HOURS to a couple ancient historic sites. Here are a few pictures.

Hai Van Quan. A fortress between 2 arms of the sea.

North of Hai Van Quan... see that beach off to the left?

Outside a military museum in the "Forbidden City" in Hue, Vietnam.

 

Hue (pronounced like "way" with an H in front) is an ancient city. The old part of the city is sometimes called the "Forbidden City", or the "Imperial City", or "Purple City". North of Da Nang, it ended up taking us almost 4 hours on the motorbike. We stopped several times, including at Hai Van Quan, above - which literally means "The most impressive gate in the world" and when you see the setting, it kind of is...

I took this panorama shot to show the ocean on both sides of the gate. It protected both stretches of land north and south.

This will have to suffice for my summary of September. I'm trying to get around to read all of your updates, too. What were your goals, and did you meet them?