Thanksgiving is when we reflect on the things we are grateful for: our families, friends, jobs, the roof over our heads, food on the table, etc. I’m grateful for all those things. I’m also sitting in gratitude for the journey I took in rewriting and self-publishing Desert Ice.
My late father was a part of that journey. He was so proud of me for being an author and for republishing Desert Ice. I would call and talk to him about every step along the way of the process. Our last conversation was about the book and how close I was to getting it re-released. Then he died unexpectedly. Suddenly the book wasn’t just about my writing journey anymore but became part of my grieving process. I know he would not have wanted me to stop or delay, so I pushed through completing tasks even as I wrote his eulogy. However, I won’t lie. Once Desert Ice was published, I found it difficult to write. My heart just hurt. My father was a good man, probably the best person I’ve ever known. He was also a natural storyteller, and if I have the ability to tell a tale, it’s largely because of what he taught me. I’m blessed he was in my life, and I had the opportunity to learn from him. There is so much about my father for which I’m deeply grateful, yet the breadth of that gratitude correlates with the depth of my grief. The loss is as keen as the love. As I gather with loved ones for this first Thanksgiving without him, I will mourn even as I count my blessings. I will also honor him and continue to write. He would not want me to stop. Desert Ice is just the first destination, but not the last. Thank you all for being part of my writing journey. I wish you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Rose
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It's an old adage, but it's true. The hardest part about writing, is writing. For one, it's difficult finding the time. Like most writers, I have a full-time job. So, I have to balance my writing life with work, family, and social commitments. At the end of the day, plopping my butt in front of the laptop to muddle my way through the complicated love life of my heroes seems more than daunting; especially when I have two cats who'd rather I sit in the recliner so they can snooze comfortably in my lap.
Still, sleeping cats are an obstacle which can be overcome thanks to something called a “can opener.” However, then there is the blank page, that imposing sight of white expectation. I'm sure I have nothing new to offer on the concept writer’s block. For me it’s staring stupidly at my laptop while characters and ideas collide so hard in my head blocking any meaningful attempt to pour forth a coherent spattering of words. Writer's block is more like a sitting quietly at the end of the table during Thanksgiving and listening to both sides of the family squabble about who said what at last year's dinner. At some point everyone will get hungry enough to settle down and say grace, but until then it’s just noise with nothing meaningful said. However, writing is an act of persistence. You can't do it without pushing past the distractions, the writer's block, and the ever present self-doubt. It's part of the process, and when you do, that's the where the fun begins. That's when you have those moments where you can hear your characters as if they are whispering, or sometimes shouting, in your ear. Those are those times when ideas pop so unexpectedly and magically, you laugh aloud startling the dozing cat on the edge of your desk. It's when you can't imagine wanting to do anything else. Yet, that becomes the hardest part of all. Once you step away from those pages which almost seem to write themselves and left you feeling you could do this forever, you need to hang on to the memory of those moments. You need to have faith you’ll write like that again, because it all starts over from one sitting to the next. The work of writing isn’t writing. It’s all you have to do leading up to it. |
Rose MaefairAuthor, geek, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Archives
November 2022
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