The holidays have been busy. This year, Don and I spent Christmas with his family. Yesterday we visited with his cousin and her boyfriend, as well as a few other cousins. Today we ate Christmas dinner with his sister, husband and their kids and grandchildren, as well as Don’s brother. For me, it is a joyous experience to be with his family members, to share in their great sense of humor and compassion they have for other people.

This year, we did not spend Christmas with my mother’s side of the family,, as they have their own tradition. However, we did visit my grandfather a week ago and I gave him his gift, a book of short stories by Louis L’Amour. I suspect Grandpa has read every L’Amour novel out there, but I am sure he has not read this collection of short stories.

As for writing, I am now working on the first revision of my novel. In order to gain some objectivity, I had to let it set for a good three weeks. I tried to start revising about a week after my first draft was completed, but that did not work out very well. Revision requires stepping away from the story and letting the writer ego to simmer.

This is about all for now. Time to get back to that first revision. Happy holidays to all!

These last week I have been on a “me” vacation where I chose to stay home to complete household chores and the first draft of my novel. So far, I have painted doors and trim, repaired a place where I was hanging a curtain rod and pulled a little piece of the drywall off, cleaned, and played with the boys (my cats, Buddy and Oliver). I have taken my laptop in for repair, gotten it back unfixed, bought a monitor, keyboard and mouse to use on my laptop, and then returned all three. Today I take the boys to the vet for their shots, my car in for service tomorrow morning, and tomorrow night I have a grand gala cookie party to attend! One busy week!

Despite all the activity, as well as the problems with my laptop, I completed the first draft of my novel. I wrote the last two chapters in longhand and then transcribed them to my word processor. It was a great experience writing in longhand, but it was horrendous trying to read my own writing. However, when push came to shove, I was able to decipher well enough.

About two weeks ago, my laptop started doing some strange stuff. At times, the monitor looked like someone put a dark veil over it, and then began to flicker, until it finally went blank. I took it to one popular computer establishment, and they diagnosed a faulty sensor button. Apparently fiddling with the button brought my monitor alive again. They could not repair it, though.

I took it to another popular computer store and they sent my lovely baby out for repair. When I got the call from the repair serviceman, he said, “It’s your backlight. It will cost you over $800 for repair.” After I picked myself up off the floor, I asked the important questions: “Is the repair worth it?” “Do I have other options?”

The technician’s advice was to forgo fixing my computer. “Get a new laptop,” he said. “Or, if you cannot afford one, get a monitor, keyboard and mouse. All you do is hook everything up, close your laptop, and then your desktop appears on your external screen. Simple as that.”

It was not as simple as that, as I soon found out. In the midst of trying to make the monitor pick up my laptop signal, I called the computer store for advice. After several calls of nobody answering during business hours, I finally got through to a person who gave me a phone number to contact the service repair department. “We can’t give any technical advise here at the store,” he said. I called the number, which had two too many numbers. I called the store back, finally got a hold of the same person again after numerous tries, and he gave me another number- to a pleasure talk line!!

Finally, I unhooked everything and returned it to the store. My call to another computer store that does not send their laptops out for service, and who exhibits good service by answering the phone on the second ring, quoted me $500 total for the backlight repair!

Now, my backlight flickers every now and then. A gentle pushing of the sensor button brings my screen back up. I will try to squeeze another year out of this computer and back up all my writing. Once the backlight dies, I will decide whether to get it repaired or get a new computer. Personally, I love this one and I don’t want to part with it. It has given me almost three wonderful years of continuous use.

Oh, and Thanksgiving was wonderful! Don and I went to my Aunt and Uncle’s house in Sacramento. Besides many relatives, my Grandpa was there. He is such a joy to be around, and so full of great humor! He will be 92 on his next birthday in March. I hope all who read this had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Until next time…..

In my last entry, I wrote about my green-eyed tabbies, Buddy and Oliver, and the relationship they have been building since Oliver came to live with us on October 14, 2007. Now, two weeks later, they are the best of friends, eating and playing together, keeping each other warm during the night, taking time in the mornings to bathe each other’s ears and face after breakfast. It is so wondrous for me to witness to their cat culture. They are truly an inspiration to me.

On the home front, Don and I are doing well. We have attended many musical events over the last few months, including the Bluegrass Festival in Clearlake (of which he is one of the head honchos) and a musical presentation in San Rafael titled Music from the Crooked Road. When I was growing up, Mom listened to bluegrass, folk and country music nonstop, but I was always into Peter Frampton, Elton John and Olivia Newton-John. Now, as an adult, I have come to appreciate the bluegrass culture. I am thankful to share my love of muic with Don.

In the literary realm, I have been writing my novel at least 5-6 days a week, an hour or more each time. After 18 chapters and almost 40,000 words, I feel like I am finally moving forward with congruency of the smaller themes within my character’s larger journey. I am to the point where I want to be done with draft one so that I can tear it apart and start draft two. On the other hand, I know the value of just taking my time and turning the story over to a two-week hiatus before starting to work on the second draft.

This afternoon, I attended the monthly Redwood Writer’s Group, which is always intellectually informative and spiritually uplifting. There is nothing like being a part of a larger writing community, of feeling revitalized from the energy of those who enjoy putting words onto paper. Today, our introduction question was, “Why do you write?” My answer: “Because I like putting words onto paper to create a picture.” For me, that is what writing is all about!

I am excited because after the first of the year, Redwood Writer’s Group is having a four part workshop on editing, revising, polishing and proofreading your manuscript, in that order exactly! One of the workshop leaders, Jordan Rosenfeld, lived in Sonoma County and has a regular column in Writer’s Digest Magazine. I cannot wait to attend her workshop.

Holidays are coming up with Thanksgiving in a few weeks. We will spend it with my Uncle Clay and Aunt Marta in Sacramento. Grandpa will be there, as well as aunts and cousins and their families. I am looking forward to some good Turkey and great family interaction!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The story of my green eyes tabbies started about two weeks ago when Don’s elderly friend, Mary, decided she wanted a cat after the death of her dog. In fact, Don had accompanied her to the feed store where she picked out the little peach and white tabby. A few days later, Mary decided the overactive kitty was a little too much for her.

When Don told me about her second doubts, I said, “If she can’t keep him, I’ll be glad to give him a home.” Since Arby’s death last May, my other cat, Buddy, has been lonely and a little bored. Not that he and Arby got along because, frankly, she hated him. However, he continued trying to win her affections, and he seemed entertained by her antics to keep him at bay.

I met my little friend for the first time last Wednesday. The first time I looked into those sweet little green eyes, I knew Oliver was destined to become part of our household. Buddy is a sweet loyal cat, but he also has a bit of a temper, especially when he doesn’t get his way. I think this goes back to his days on the street where he learned to charm humans and fight other cats until he got a nibble or a good meal. Thus, when I brought Oliver home, I didn’t know what to expect.

First thing, I set up Oliver’s space in my office area- his own food, water, kitty box, bed and toys. For the first 24 hours I didn’t let my green eyed boys near each other, but allowed them to both roam the house freely at different times so that they would become accustomed to each other’s smells. The next day, I came home from work, put Buddy in my room, and let Oliver roam free. That evening, I finally decided to allow them into the main living area at the same time.

At first, Oliver became too friendly and Buddy hissed a lot. Now, after four days of roaming the house together under supervised conditions, my two green eyed boys seem like they’re getting along better. Buddy still hisses to let Oliver know he is top cat (and I make sure Buddy gets a whole lot more affection for being so tolerant of another baby), and Oliver is learning to just sit back and wait for a better moment to use his kitty-friendly skills. I thought I was home today when they walked past each other in the hallway….and their noses moved toward each other….but, just when their noses started to touch, Buddy let out a warning, “hsssss.”

Okay, maybe that’s almost home.

As for my writing: because Oliver needed rest time in his own space, and the office is where I write, I temporarily moved my laptop out to the dining room table. I didn’t want to give Buddy any ideas that I was giving our new little guy extra petting. Now I am back in the office and writing chapter 17 of my novel, and I allow Oliver to roam freely (but supervised) when I am home.

The writing is coming along well. I can see all of the changes that will need to go into the second draft. As a writer, I know it’s important to keep plugging forward until I have completed the piece, and then I am free to go back and do the second rewrite. I continually fight the urge to go back and edit right now, to start over and make it “right” this time. A little too much self-judgment I would say.

In writing this novel, I can learn from my little green-eyes tabbies; they are always in the moment, live from their deepest intuitions and make constant forward movement. If I stick to their three principles, I cannot go wrong.

I have often wondered what it would be like to be a full-time writer. In my dream, I already have it all worked out. The alarm would go off around 6:15 each morning, as it has been doing for several years now. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I would jump out of bed and take my 3.5 mile run, just as I do now. Nothing would change on Tuesday and Thursday either; I would hit that snooze button and sleep in until 6:50. Of course, before I run or hit the snooze button, my cat, Buddy, would demand his precious Science Diet, just like he does now!

After getting ready for my day- breakfast, coffee, etc.- I would go straight to my office at the end of the hall and sit down at the laptop and write for the next four hours. Sure, I would take breaks, just as I do at my job as a full-time paralegal, where I also spend a good day of my job on legal writing. Just as I do at my work now, I might even take a moment to make small talk with someone or get a Mocha from the coffee shop own the street. However, my focus would be on getting those words out of my head onto paper, where those characters can breathe new life and become more real.

I would spend anywhere from two to four hours each afernoon on research. As any writer knows, getting the facts correct, even in fiction, is essential. Recently, I had the honor of hearing Jean Hegland, author of Into the Forest and Windfalls, speak on the importance of setting and learning every detail down to the names of the bushes and the types of trees. I couldn’t agree more.

For example, if I am writing a story set in Cape Ann, I need to know every detail about the setting, culture, type of people, indigenous speech/sayings. Even though Don and I visited Cape Ann for one week last fall, I know that experience would not be enough to make the story realistic. I would need to ask questions of people who live there, as well as conduct book and online research.

As a part-time freelance writer with a few publications under her belt, every weekday I set aside at least one hour per day, and sometimes more, to write my novel. I do research after I have written an hour, or on my lunch break at work, or sometimes when I need a detail while writing. On the weekends, I can get anywhere from one hour to three or four hours writing time in. The way I see it, my discipline now is the foundation of becoming a full time writer in the future.

I can’t wait to be creating stories full-time….