Thoughts,writing, books, history and fall weather here in Maine...

Well I took the scenic route back from the High School this morning going past the Belted Galaways and down Chestnut Street into Camden rather then Union. The fog was so thick this morning you couldn't see the Islands off the coast. The sky was so low, just like lead... The trees drip from the rain that has stopped for the moment. All the trees are bare, the leaves have been mulched to provide protection for plants and nutrition for the soil for next spring. The weather really is mild right now. It was colder before and during Halloween then it is now.

Books... Sunday at work since there were only three customers and I could only clean and shift stock around so much I read... I read 202 pages of the " Postmistress". It's not a happy book but very thought provoking and gives you a look into the world of the early 40s and the beginning of the war. It made me think and remember a much forgotten(I'm sure) happening, the 'Voyage of the Damned' they called it. It took place in May of 1939 aboard the SS St. Louis. A cruise ship filled with 900+ passengers, German Jews who were trying to escape Nazi Germany. What happened is still discussed and debated but makes for more reading and thought provoking reading at that. Check it out. I googled FDR and his involvment. It raises a lot of questions and I still don't think he is cleared at least in my mind of how he handled it. If you like history google it, read both takes. Those who feel FDR turned his back on those 900. BUT also find some of the articles in his favor.
Well I need to get to work on editing of my book...

Thoughts

Well it certainly isn't cold today. When I woke yesterday it was nearly 60 degrees. One week it's wicked cold the next it's balmy...
This month is Write a Novel in a Month OR NaNoWriMo. It started in 1999. I saw it a few years ago for the first time but since I was already writing a book I didn't want to spend the time trying to cram another novel in a months time. BUT the whole idea is a very neat concept. Writing, writing, writing with a deadline of one month and having a story that reaches 50,000. No one reads it. You don't have to worry about spell checks or any grammar or punctuation... just write.
It's funny that the whole idea of writing with no one seeing your work to critique or worrying about mistakes has spawned nearly 60 novels that have been published due to this NaNoWriMo. It emphasizes creativity and the whole adventure of just putting together something and writing but in a months time.
I can say having a deadline works wonders. I am by nature a procrastinator and it really helps to see an end to the tunnel. It moves you ,inspires, prods like nothing else. When I was finishing my book "The Lioness" I was also going to school full time. Trying to finish school papers and then write. I was getting up very early to study and finishing up papers very late to go on and stay up into the wee hours to write and finish the book. It was like a cattle prod after my butt that's for sure.
I will end this little piece with a quote I saw earlier this week that I liked. A quote by writer Dorothy Parker. "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."
I like that!

Frost on the Pumpkins

It's a lot like winter this morning. I still tend to go out to drive the boys to school with my flip flops on but my feet are hurting too much so I think it's time to put those babies to bed for the winter.
It was really pretty this morning with frost covering everything and even a bit of snow on the side road after leaving the middle school. It's funny how my son Pat and I notice things together... Like the other morning we were heading off to drop Joe off and as we headed down our street, Mount Battie was shrouded in fog, well all except the top. The optical illusion was the mountain looked bigger and taller then it actually was and looked like it was really rising out of the fog. It all looked a bit menacing. But we slowed down to just stare at it and exclaim over how it all appeared.
I have been knitting quite a bit, a hat a week. Now to start Christmas presents. I now have three hats for myself so that should be more then enough for me for the winter.
One thing that is making me extremely happy is my new refurbished laptop. I found an Apple laptop and for the price of the sale of the compost tumbler I was able to get a nice little laptop. Now I just have to update the writing program and I am back in business. I really am chomping at the bit to write. I do love to read but writing just soothes me like knitting does.
Talk about reading. My bank has an annual book sale for breast Cancer awareness. You donate whatever and are able to get any books you want. Last week I found a lot of board books that I brought into work for the toddlers. Then Saturday I was in the bank to make a deposit before it closed at noon and saw out of the corner of my eye a Kathleen Woodiwiss book. It was "Shanna"
So after making the deposit I went and grabbed the book and went and paid for it. Bob happened to be inside waiting for me and as we were walking out he said I saw another author you like...
I thought " wow he actually pays attention to what I read." It happened to be a Jennifer Crusie book. So I ran back in with Bob in tow and found that book, paid for it and walked out a happy camper.
So with that one old, used book I found my roots... No, not my genealogical roots but my 'Romance' roots. It was Kathleen Woodiwiss who introduced me to Romance. I cut my teeth on her. I have read about how a lot of women would read their Mother's or grandmother's romance books. I had neither ,though I did have quiet the reading appetite and read just about anything down the pike. By 8th grade I was reading 'Summer of 42', 'Valley of the Dolls' to name a couple. Not exactly age appropriate reading material but since my father was not a reader and would give me money to buy whatever books I wanted . I read whatever I wanted, no censorship. After high school and Agatha Cristie I found Romance books at the local used bookstore and boy did I love those stories that just swept you away. Well 'Shanna' is on my bedside stand and I am reading her again. Woodiwiss knew how to write a story and she didn't rush. Her books were large and sometimes it took her a few years or so to finish a story.
So while I wait to get back to my writing I can read and dream of my next edit for my book and what I will do with it.