Okay okay! I should’ve done this years ago, but at my doctor’s suggestion I am now leaving my phone downstairs at bedtime. I do the NYTimes crossword sitting in the living room instead of propped up by pillows. But more importantly, there will be no more grabbing the device and reading in the wee hours (sometimes for many sleepless hours).
It is good to minimize exposure to blue light and to shun extraordinarily upsetting information when I should be resting. What a shitshow the news is! Watching the collapse of the press is another and secondary shitshow to the campaigns, but one that informs all other shitshows and is really, really upsetting. (Of course you will have noticed that I still subscribe to the NYTimes).
I’ll save my thoughts about the Biden question for another post (or for no post at all), but let me just say I flip from one side of the resignation idea to the other at least ten times a day.
My PCP also suggested no books in bed, but there I push back. It feels really good to go back to my old custom of reading a novel for 30 minutes or so before turning out the light.
(How else am I gonna get through Lonesome Dove? Have you seen the size of that book?)
The proof from Amazon arrived and there is, I confess, some magic in holding my book even if the cover was screwed up (see that white band along the bottom?)
Naturally I found a mistake. Not a typo so much as an out and out mistake. Referring to a character’s horse as male and then three paragraphs later, as female. Oops!
Ken is very patient and good thing because I’ve found other words that I want deleted or changed and at this point that means fixing three versions of the manuscript.
Mostly though I’m re-reading and making the historical notes that in my Author’s Note I promised would be published on my blog. I’ll probably post it before it’s done and revise as I go. There will be tons of disclaimers — I am not a historian, my research was idiosyncratic (i.e. the opposite of thorough), etc.
But there is a lot that I can confidently assert — that the name of the family’s property on Antigua was in fact Cabbage Tree Plantation, that Eliza, contrary to my telling, got her small pox variolation in England and not in South Carolina, that her mother was reported to have malaria.
The Notes are very much at odds with the standard disclaimer THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION, but I think readers might like to know what I based on the historic record. I’m especially committed to this idea when it comes to a couple of the most egregious and sadistic torments inflicted on the enslaved (I didn’t make it up!)
You get the idea.
Have a great Sunday!
I so love getting the true history from you. In my thoughts, fictional works are stronger when based on actual events/truths.
Well then you are exactly the kind of reader I hope to attract. But then, of course you are!
A good reminder to shut off the computer earlier (so hard to do)…and some other current habits probably aren’t the best either. But, man I hate waking up and not having a distraction to fall back to sleep.
I can imagine it would be so hard to stop the editing process. Well, it would be for me. It is so exciting to see your book this far along. You must feel so proud.
The anticipation on that puzzle dog’s face is real! haha
I’m letting myself just lie there if I wake during the night. That can be restful.
Btw I left a comment on your tree-ring post this morning but I think it vanished?
Nah, Dee…it is there, I published it. For me, my mind would just run in circles. Maybe one day restful will come.
To see your book, splayed open, is such a thrill…soon, soon!
No way would I stop reading before bed, I have done so for most of my life. As for my phone, no worries there because I use it only as a phone and half the time, I keep it on my desk and not on my hip!
Re President Biden: I felt after the debate that he needed to withdraw from the race. Yesterday I wrote this in a note to my girls and some of their friends and made a similar comment on Nancy’s blog:
“Character is a marker of many things including strength, honor. and courage. Courage takes many forms; the broad gesture of a raised fist after an assassination attempt. A much harder courage is found in the dim early light of a morning, when a life is examined and a gut-wrenching decision made to put country, before self. This type of courage is one that requires a person to stand and face, to show strength of character and is something that Trump is incapable of understanding.
Yes, it is true that Joe Biden was pushed to make the decision but he could have held out, as he did for several weeks. This week the Olympics begins, a time when a torch has been passed through the land, signifying the contest of champions. Yesterday, Joe Biden became a historical champion as he passed the torch…”
This is so well put. Someone called his resignation his “George Washington moment.” Selfless. Country-first. It will cement his legacy as one of our truly great presidents.
I didnt realize how torn up I was about the situation until Biden resigned and suddenly I felt like I could breathe. The fact that Biden was pushed out in what many call an undemocratic process or a “whisper coup” doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision. I think it’s the first time since I started paying attention that I disagreed with the Black Caucus. I was ready to scream about the use of his excellent presidency as reason to keep him on the ticket. The argument failed to address so much.
darned phones.
oh, if it’s any consolation I edited 3 “authors proofs” and, as you know, had several people double checking. The cover is the hugest PINA. I can’t wait to hold it and read it. 🥰
I’ve read and reread the manuscript and so have others. I’m resigned to the fact that I’ve missed a couple typos.
“When I asked around on Twitter for examples of rich typos in books, Lisa Hendrix, a romance writer, directed me to the Library of Congress — a giant archive of errors by our nation’s scribbling millions. I suddenly imagined a new library, made up exclusively of human mistakes. It sounded like a gold mine.”
link below to complete “blah blah blah” about it – basically, no one cares about typos who is serious about reading.
https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/the-price-of-typos/