In thinking about how my snapshot of days through haiku differs from my usual blog posts, I realized that the short form doesn’t allow room for complaint or self-denigration. I might do too much of both as a rule.
So here’s to a fresher, more immediate style of blog posting.
With K at the office today, I can watch Kimmel at lunch without restraint.
I made too many lentils for last night’s linguine/lentil dish, so I may be on the hunt for a good lentil burger recipe this afternoon.
Finn did not bark at Winnie today. Winnie did not bark at Finn.
I don’t know why but watching a squirrel cross the sidewalk with an apple core in her mouth this morning filled me with gladness.
Trout lily’s up. Solomon seal is not. Will I or won’t I see a jack-in-the-pulpit this year? The suspense. Virginia bluebells have spread — how nice!
Going to California for three weeks next month and early June. Given that it was 27 degrees here yesterday and that the weather in LA seems to have calmed down, I can’t wait.
Of course, it’s not about the weather.
Finished round 8 or 10 or who’s counting anymore of my novel. Cut around 5,000 words. But not enough. So later today I will copy the file, rename it “shorter Weight of Cloth” and delete five chapters. I have a pretty good idea which ones.
Maybe I’ll publish those orphans here?
When authors delete 5000 words- is it because the book needs to be tighter or because you really wrote TWO books????
Good question. I’m referring to industry standards and the oft-seen idea that agents won’t even look at books over a certain word count.
Dee~
I believe I practice too much self-denigration as well. Love the still life, mostly because the apple is upside down. Not the usual for me. I like.
So I was thinking you may be heading to CA soon. I hope we have beautiful weather for you, and not too many allergens!
These links are from my recent post. Perhaps you’d like to try ’em while close by. 🙂
https://ktla.com/la-unscripted/who-knew/borekas-is-a-family-business-serving-sephardic-pastries/
https://deemallon.com/2023/04/04/tuesday-its-tuesday/
You are so strong & brave in cutting down your work. I could not do this. I like the book cover!
Thanks for the bakery link. Looks amazing. I’m now following them on Instagram.
The weight of publishing anticipation..
The strength to keep on going with your book…
The lightness of family travel…
The softness of a getaway…
The determination to believe in democracy…
Especially
When justice hangs in the balance on a Tuesday,when the wish for stronger indictments hovers in the air…but we will take what we can get!
Yes. If the law is the law and applied equally, we can’t be going around saying “this one should have been first” like indictments are a deck of cards. Today I’m watching the Wisconsin judge race and Tennessee’s bold move toward fascism.
Love the title. Love the image. Love that you keep at it. It’s always about piling on and chipping away. Love that pic of you in the mirror too!
Will “keeping at it” come to anything? It’s impossible to know.
Where did you get your trout lily? And please don’t say,”same place as I got my jack-in-the-pulpit.”!! Haha.
Your complaints are usually empathetic somehow… my own complaints annoy me. It’s spring! Refreshing actions are seasonal, young grasshopper:-)
5,000 less words! I can’t fathom having the tenacity and patience to be so disciplined. I wouldn’t mind if you shared those pages here but that wouldn’t be fair to others. I mean, if you published those 5000 pages here, would the work be considered published? Does it then become unpublishable in other forms?
I’m guardedly optimistic.
There will be a local Democrats meeting on our deck this evening. I’ll be working in my basement studio —— unless I just can’t stand not know what’s possibly next. It’s just relentless propaganda, isn’t it? Or is it a new environment that is beyond T’s control?
Oooooh just saw the headline!!!!
Today’s a day I watch live news.
Trout Lilly came from a neighbor gardener.
I did listen to NPR today. It’s a start, eh?
“More good people than bad in the world”, I hang onto that.
I guess I’ll have steal some trout Lillie’s
🙂
Sitting on pins and needles waiting for the election results .. polls close at 8pm. Best part of today was seeing that door practically slam Trump in the face 🤣😂 Dee I can’t imagine how you delete 5 chapters .. do you get to decide or do they??
That door closing was worth everything!
It’s just me working on the story right now. It’s amazing how you step back and can see whether a section is moving the story forward or not. I remember hearing an interview with David Duchovny (Xfiles fame). He has a phd in literature from Yale or somewhere impressive, but he said it was tv that taught him about pacing. Every single scene, he said, should make you ask, “what’s next?” Not all of mine do that.
Just a thought this morning…how editing is like pruning. What will make it grow?
Good analogy. Or: what will let more light and air in?
The news, overall, was pretty darn good by last night!! hooray WI, and Chicago! and re:the orange guy: it may be long goodbye but I think it will be goodbye.
It was nice Janet won but unfortunately the Republicans have a supermajority in WI and that means they can impeach her, which they’re already talking about.
Oh, I thought Janet would hold a “deciding vote” position. My god the R’s need uh… a remaking. Thanks for being so knowledgeable – seriously.
BTW, I just finished the Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. It is not produced by the same free press org as I had been assuming. Still, I learned a lot listening to it, and I walk away feeling l like JKR has a much more nuanced and interesting perspective than I would otherwise think.
xx
I’m wondering if I’ll recognize the book. And that cover is simply stunning. There’s a huge problem solved for sure. Sending you an email about the “extras”.
I made a bunch of covers a while back. Mostly to try to “see” it forward.