Writer Wednesday: Growing Again.

Do you find that your productivity and inspiration, be it with writing, reading, or some other endeavor of the mind, changes in sync with the seasons and weather?

I certainly do.

I’m much more energized and inspired in the spring and summer. When the days are longer, my drive to work is stronger. There’s something about the world being warm and green and blooming that transforms me. It makes me more alive and, quite literally, more awake. I’m a much more fertile creator and reader when the world is fertile and growing too. The well I draw creativity and motivation from seems to be fed by everything about the warmer seasons.

Many of the authors I follow on social media live in warm climates or spend long writing trips in sunny locations. I think if I lived somewhere that’s warm year-round I might be a more prolific reader and writer, but I’m not sure what negative impacts it might have to not experience the changing of the seasons. I suppose there’s no use in blaming myself for seasons of slow productivity when all I’m doing is being attuned to the natural rhythms of nature. (That makes it sound much more romantic than to simply say I’m lazy in the cold weather months!)

So. All that to say, I am looking forward to spring in a big way. I can’t wait to get back to feeling more energized and inspired. I’m ready to hit the Hogwarts greenhouses and get the magic growing again.

On Slow Reading.

I am a slow reader. Part of that is due to life circumstances—I don’t have much time to read with three little dragons under 4 at home. But part of that is also my natural reading pace. I read slowly, rereading the same passages to cement images in my mind, setting a book aside for awhile to process what I’ve read and then coming back with perspective. Taking a break when the story is stressing me out. 

On bookstagram, there is this inherent pressure to be like the cool kids who read 10 books a month, 100 books a year—some less, but some even more. To be caught up with what everyone else has read and is talking about. To announce to everyone how many books you’ve read so far in a given year. And I won’t deny I get caught up in this. Reading many books and being proud of it is great! But we who read slow and let stories sit and stew in our minds shouldn’t feel bad. (Nor should those of us who write the same way!) 

I don’t know about you, but my reading (and writing) pace is inconsistent, too. Some months I’ll breeze through four or five hefty books. Some months I’ll struggle to finish one short one. And that’s fine, too. Reading slowly or inconsistently doesn’t rob us of any of our credibility as a reader. And, of course, the same goes for writing. For some, doing these things slowly or quickly is kind of a neutral phenomenon. For others, luxuriating slowly in a fictional world is beneficial to our understanding, rememberance, digestion of a story. As a writer I also feel like I benefit from careful, slow examination and study of not only the story in a vacuum, but the writing and structure. I’m not just reading to enjoy. I’m reading to learn how to write. To learn how I write. 

But don’t take this the wrong way—I also feel that those who are prolific readers deserve to feel accomplished for their Herculean efforts. To be able to read fast and in high volumes is a worthy skill. I’m just saying it’s not the only, or best, way.

Writer Wednesday: THINKING Days.

"Some days are TYPING days, and some days are THINKING days, but both days are WRITING days."

-V.E. Schwab

It’s #writerwednesday again & I am thinking about this quote I recently saw on the author V.E. Schwab’s instagram. I have had to realize that as a #writermom with three kids age 3 and under (!!!), writing will come in fits & starts for me. There will be slow seasons and more productive ones. But all the while, I am still "writing" because I can’t not have part of my brain in my story, unraveling knots and sifting through details that have been milling about my brain but haven’t landed on a page yet. Even if my fingers aren’t typing, I’m still incubating. My ideas are still marinating and getting better. 

(I recently watched -THIS- TED Talk about that very thing—how many creative people work best when they begin something, and then have what appears to be a period of procrastination but which is in fact a period of useful creative incubation. I also hear the author Adrienne Young talk a lot about letting ideas marinate and grow, and I think this idea has really begun to speak to me and help me put aside some unnecessary guilt over not feeling like I’m working on my story when I actually am.) 

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So. While this establishes that I’m still working on my story even while I’m not writing in a forward-motion fashion, there is still this vein of guilt that runs through me for not actually writing-writing in the tiny stolen moments I sometimes manage to find. I’m just not someone who can produce good or consistent forward motion through a manuscript in the slim margins between the long hours with my kids. I can deliberate and think through details while giving a bath or changing a diaper or pushing a swing. No problem. I can even piece together a blog post a bit at a time while feeding my kiddos lunch. But I can’t get into the right frame of mind to work on actually writing my stories in those tiny moments I can snatch. It’s like baking a cake. If all you get is a second to throw in an egg, and then you don’t get to come back to it for another couple days...well, that’s not going to be conducive to making a good cake. Maybe you can plan a menu in your head, or even think through a recipe of your own creation during those in-between moments, but you can’t actually bake the cake itself without a solid chunk of time to do it in. I know this, and yet I still feel bad for not writing fifty words here or there in those tiny margins of time. But that’s why it’s so important for me to remind myself that the thinking and incubating and marinating that I DO manage are important and useful.

Writer Wednesday: Accidentally Tolkienizing.

I didn’t set out to create a vast, complicated fantasy world. I wanted quite the opposite, in fact; I intended to write streamlined stories unfettered by convoluted backstory, confusing rules and systems, and extraneous details. But, as bad as I make all that sound, I now find myself having stumbled through the wardrobe into a vast and layered world that’s unfolding before me as I forge ahead into my stories. And while I am one part annoyed with myself, I am two parts loving it.

I’ve realized that these three stories are going to take me ages longer than I’d like to get written and polished and ready for the world to read. This is a source of frustration for me, since any writing is already going to take me longer than it does others due to my time being so restricted. (That mother of dragons life!) Add to that details and rules that beget details and rules, multiplied over and over, and you get a story that is going to take serious TIME to get right. But. At the same time, having all the rest of that sturdy, solid base of the iceberg beneath the surface, even if a proportionally small bit shows up in the story, is going to give the world of these books depth and texture and breathe them to life. I think. I hope.

Wish me luck. They say not all those who wander are lost. I’m forging ahead through this world withou a map, but I’m making one as I go!

Grishaflix!

As I’m sure you’re aware, the Grishaverse is coming to Netflix! I for one can’t wait. I hope they do all the dark mysterious magic, danger, intrigue, and even violence justice. I’ve been rewatching Game of Thrones with my husband and I keep telling him that Six of Crows is a bunch of Aryas running around pulling a heist. Good hearts with broken pasts doing dark deeds. 🖤🖤🖤

I see a lot of names floating around as far as fans’ casting hopes. I’m going to guess that Netflix will cast mostly new faces with maybe a few familiar actors here and there. It seems to be their MO. And I kinda prefer it that way, frankly. I also hope they skew up a little with the characters’ ages but not too much. It makes sense for the characters to be in their early to mid-twenties, with all the violence and dark themes, but too old and it loses that sort of prodigy angle (especially for the Six of Crows crew). And since I’m old and I don’t know any young actors, I’ll refrain from trying to guess at the possible cast. But I’m excited to see who they choose!

Regardless of casting, I’m excited and hopeful that this will be a good production. The Grishaverse is very cinematic and I think it will translate well. I’m sure I’ll be taking about it more as details emerge!

Writer Wednesday: 2019.

It’s Writer Wednesday & I thought I’d post a little something about where I am with my writing. I may start to post every Wednesday about it as a way to keep myself accountable! 

So, here’s where things are at the start of this new year...my kids are exhausting and draining almost every bit of me physically and mentally, so I don’t have a lot to give to my book baby. I’m trying not to let it get me down because I know it’s just a season. I’m thinking that as the days get longer and warmer this spring I’ll probably have more time and energy at night to write. So for now, I’m in a bit of a slow phase. But I’m still working, at least in the sense of marinating and sorting through ideas and puzzle pieces. I have a huge fantasy world being fleshed out in my head & various apps and post-its, and three stories that all live within that world. When I finally get my writing momentum back, there’s going to be a lot of behind the scenes meat to this world that I hope will breathe life into these stories even if a lot doesn’t make it onto the page in a direct sense. 

I have also been mulling over my writing goals recently. I think my new mantra needs to be, “Slow is better than stopping.” I write because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do—it’s more than just a hobby or a form of escape. It’s the one ambition I have for something resembling a career. It’s what I want to do when my kids are older and don’t need me 24/7. I have this frantic sense that I need to be making it happen NOW but I’ve had to stop and remember that I’ve been waiting so long, another 3 1/2 years of doing it scattered & slow till my twins hit kindergarten and I can really commit my time to my trade is nothing, really. It’s just that knowing I have this thing that’s just for me, that helps keep me from literally losing my mind, and not being able to escape to it hurts sometimes. But, yeah. Doing it slow is better than not doing it at all.  

2019! New Stuff!

Hey there! I’m just popping in here to say I’m going to start using this space again. Please ignore the horrific old interface of this blog; I’m working on that too, little by little. But in the meantime, I’m going to start posting a bit again because there are times when I want to ramble, to myself most likely, in a longer form than instagram lends itself to. So if you’re interested in hearing more of my thoughts on reading & writing, welcome or welcome back!

new leaf.

It’s been aWHILE since I posted here! I’ve kind of switched gears a bit and have gotten into bookstagram of late, so I’m doing short & sweet reviews over there and haven’t really been using this space. But I can’t let it go altogether, so I’m debating also posting my book reviews here...or at the very least, sporadically sharing other types of book-related posts. I’m not really sure yet.

But, anywho. This blog isn’t dead, and I’m going to be back again soon with something. I’m also leaving up all my old book reviews, even though my new reviews will likely be formatted differently.

So. See you soon!

 

Book Review(ish): Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

So, I feel kind of lame with this review, because it’s a not-review-review. It’s a DNF-reasoning. But maybe this particular issue I have is something I’m not alone in? Perhaps this can serve as a disclaimer/warning on the book for someone else with my hangup. 

I was excited for my first dip into the waters of Margaret Atwood, and I had high hopes even though this isn’t one of her lauded staples. I’d previously read another entry in the Hogarth Shakespeare series I enjoyed, Vinegar Girl. And then, very early into the pages, I got stuck. It’s the same thing that happened to me with Good Omens by Gaiman & Pratchett and Wildwood by Colin Meloy. 

I can no longer stomach when bad things happen to babies or children, even in fiction. 

I think it must be some sort of evolutionary  reaction. Since having kids, I have an extreme emotional and visceral, physical reaction to hearing of even minor, slightly unpleasant things happening to kids. It goes far beyond the normal sad, sympathetic reaction most people have to the same sorts of things. I wish it didn’t happen—it feels kind of silly and it keeps me from enjoying otherwise great works of fiction. It almost feels like a phobia or something, to be honest. 

Does anyone else experience this? Is it a parent thing or do others deal with it, too? 

I feel bad that I can’t fulfill my duty to give an actual review of this book, but maybe I can help someone else with my problem to avoid the discomfort I’ve encountered. I’ll give it 2.5 stars, since I feel equally bad saying it was “good” or “bad” in this circumstance. 

For more on Margaret Atwood and The Hag-Seed, here is a link to visit:

• The Hag-Seed @ Hogarth Shakespeare

**Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. However, all opinions are my own!

book review: Yellow Owl Workshop’s Make It Yours by Christine Schmidt.

I'll admit, it has been a looooong time between when I got this book and now, when I'm finally reviewing it. I'll also admit that I don't really have time right now to test drive any of the cute, quirky crafts in this lovely little book, what with the twins due to arrive in 6 weeks or less! But that doesn't stop me from admiring the projects within this book and certainly making mental bookmarks for future endeavors.

Make It Yours by Christine Schmidt is a light, airy, colorful, and approachable collection of DIYs and crafts that center more around types of patterns than project type. It lays out instructions on how to embellish items from scarves and t-shirts and tote bags to dressers and wall art and upholstery. Projects are labeled by difficulty, and utilize a wide variety of techniques like screen printing, dyeing, stamping, stenciling, iron-ons, and more. Provided with the projects are tons of templates you can test drive before going off with your own patterns.

I've always been curious about some of the techniques in this book, like stamping and especially screen printing. I would definitely use this book instructionally to try out some of Christine's projects, even if I'd have my own patterns or applications in mind!

For more on Christine Schmidt, Yellow Owl Workshop, or this book, check out these links:

• More Info
• Author Bio
• Yellow Owl Workshop's Instagram
• Yellow Owl Workshop's website

Happy crafting!

**Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. However, all opinions are my own!