Writer Interrupted:

That's the kind of life I've been living for the past week. Samuel started on solids this week, and we're trying to get him to drink from the bottle. Add to that this week is the last week before the summer break. It's been raining lots and doesn't feel or look like summer at all. I hope the weather cooperates and gives us some beach weather when hubby has his two week break.

We're planning a surprise for our train-loving son. We are going to take a two day trip to Keulen with the ICE train. It's a secret, but since he doesn't read this (he's seven and more interested in games) I can safely write about it here. I'm looking forward to it too, never having been in an ICE train. That will be an experience. Also looking forward to Keulen.

I do love to travel. I want to go back to Paris again...maybe next year. Last time we were in Paris, someone told us it's not a good idea to visit Paris in the summer months. So, I'm shooting for sometime in October next year. Joel wants to climb the Eiffel Tower again, and he still talks about how we went up to the top of Montparnasse and looked out over the entire city. I'll never forget the look of awe on his face, and these words:

Mommy, my dream of becoming a giant has finally come true.

He was so enchanted by Paris, and we hadn't seen everything yet. So, we will definitely revisit Paris someday. With all this travelling, I suppose it isn't a surprise that he's got this desire to become an adventurer someday. But I think he's got the temperament for it. He's a child of wonder.

I planned to do the flash challenge on LH, but failed again. Baby duties. Someday, I'll get my old rhythm back.These days, taking inspiration from Dean Alfar, I do my writing guerrilla style.
What I find interesting is how it's possible for me now to slip into the zone where I left the story yesterday. Currently working on a story called Cordoba's End which I've been adding a couple of hundred words per day to. I've divided it into mini-chapters between the four main characters who are appearing in this story....and I've even roughed out how I envision the story ending.

Reading through my files, I find it interesting to note that most of my stories aren't happily ever after stories....also have got a lot of open-endings. I wonder whether it's got anything to do with my frame of mind, or if it's got something to do with me knowing that beyond the fairytale happily ever after isn't something that just happens.

blogging at eleven p.m.

Put the baby to bed at 9 p.m. so I could catch up on my reading, writing and do some blogging.

This Writing Life

Looking back, I have to laugh when I think about how I never excelled at essay writing. During elementary and high school, my essays came back with bold red marks telling me my margins weren't aligned. I thank God for the advent of computers. At least I don't have to fold the sides of my bond paper when I want the margins to align properly. Hallelujah for work that's automatically centered/marginated/left or right justified.

I still haven't got the slightest idea how folks manage to create headers with their names and respective page numbers on them. This is something I still do manually (because I am so lowtech and don't know where under help topics I can find this information). This also probably explains the notes I received from Ideomancer, way back when I was still submitting like crazy, telling me that I had formatting issues. I never understood what they meant, since my computer always told me my ms was properly configurated. So if someone can tell me how that almost invisible header thing works, I will be eternally grateful as I have decided I should really start thinking of sending out work again.

I sometimes wonder what it is with us writers and publication. I mean, here we write to the best of our ability, stretching our minds to the limit and then *boom*..."sorry this isn't for us" arrives. We must be masochists of a very special kind.

But when we get telephone calls from editors who have paid long distance fees in order to tell us that our work is being published and we are getting creditted as co-author of a book that's going to be sold in local bookstores where people who were our classmates in elementary, highschool and college will see it, well...I suppose that nullifies all the red marks telling me my margins are not properly aligned.

I hope my former english writing teacher gets to see that book. I really do.