Sunday, April 29, 2018

Craft of Writing: Cathartic Process.

Dear Reader,

Writing has many uses. It ranges from the humble grocery shopping list to the greatest of written prose and poetry. Journal writing is usually a rather private process. Or it was until blogs came on the scene. Now, there are many who keep an online diary that has privacy settings filtered to specific groups of people and those who are more public about their writings, like this blog you are reading right now.

Journal writing is often the creative workhorse for me. It is where I suss out the details of scenes that have me stumped. It is where I test plot ideas and devise characters. (Fish Eye, a minor character in book two that proves surprisingly useful as a plot device came out of a written character sketch based off of a picture I saw in the wilds of the internet. Alas, I have been unable to find that picture since, or I would have posted it here with credit to whomever it was in it and had taken it.) I also use journal writing to handle the work I do on my mental health issues.

I write horror. It is graphic and uncomfortable. It is more than challenging to write because scenes often require me to look into my own traumas and emotional baggage. Journal writing is harder than fictionalizing my experiences. When I turn my trauma into fiction, I can separate myself from it and write some truly ugly things with out much upset. It is when I am sitting down with pen and paper to write about what really happened and how I am coping with it however many years later that it gets painful.

No one likes to reopen old wounds. For me, however, it is necessary to revisit those old wounds on a semi-regular basis. Partly, this is because there is still a lot of things that are unresolved for me. Mostly, this is because I am working to transform the tragedies of my life into something beautiful. Thus, writing a truly horrific scene helps me take my personal horrors and turn them into an amazing story that will move you, my Reader, in some fashion. 

I had an instructor at college tell me that I shouldn't worry too much about grammar and syntax when I was writing out rough drafts. He told me to especially not worry about such things when writing in my journal. My focus when writing in my journal should be the topic I am writing about and complete honesty in my work. Honesty shows up in many different fashions. It is why there are so many different forms of writing. But that focus on topic and honesty can lead to a great deal of healing if you're struggling with something painful. The journal acts as a mirror where by you may see yourself truly and, over time, watch yourself grow in to the person you desire to be.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Book Review: Diary of Anaïs Nin Vol 1.

Title: The Diary of Anaias Nin, Vol. 1
Author: Anaias Nin Editor: Gunther Stuhlmann
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., NYC Date: 1966

This covers the years of 1931-1934. I've heard of Nin as an amazing author of erotica and fiction. I've laso heard of her nearly legendary diary. I'm still working on obtaining her fiction, but the diary is available for me to read at the libary here in Wellsville.

The introduction states that Nin began writing as a child. Sounds somewhat like me.

Just started the actual text, the discussion of June Miller is facinating and the tone of the writing reminds me of my own writing. Henry Miller sounds like Rober Graves, a lover of the feminine eternal or the Muse.

[Edited to add: I forgot to write down additional comments. What I recall clearly is the fustrated sexuality of Anaias and Henry's relationship. Also, the rather... bitter feelings towards June Miller on the part of Anaias. Her descriptions of everything... even the flowers growing outside her house, were luminous and vivid. It's clear that she was a very visual person.]

Originally Published: 8/23/06

Book Review: Mythology for Dummies

Title: Mythology for Dummies
Authors: Christopher W. Blackwell, PHD & Amy Hackney Blackwell
Publisher: Hungry Minds, Inc. Date: 2002

Curiosity will kill me some day.

What little I've read just flipping through the pages is written with a droll wit and a keen sense of history. To say the least, it will be interesting to read.

Well, I finished "Mythology for Dummies" and I have to say it was a highly entertaining book. The wry humor and somewhat irreverent treatment of the topic was hilarious. I believe that this is a very good book and a highly readable book.

[Edited to add: I will continue to praise this book. It is a *must* for the "newbie" witch and the journeyman student of mythology.]

Originally Published: 8/23/06

Book Review: Dream Crafting

Title: Dream Crafting: The Art of Dreaming Big, the Science of Making It Happen
Authors: Paul Levesque & Art McNeil
Publisher: Berrett-Kochler Publishers, Inc. Date: 2003

I started reading and couldn't put it down. A simply amazing book. It hilights 5 skills to achieving one's dream.

1. Aspiration: A defined vision of a dream and determination to succeed.
2. Motiviation: Intensifying and sustaining resolve.
3. Projection: Connecting present acts with future goals.
4. Inclusion: Get others involved.
5. Applications: Use the other 4 skills as a habit.

Reading this book, I feel that I honestly do have something to look forward to. Both professionally and personally in my goals and dreams.

Originally Published: 8/23/06

Book Review: Wise Women

Title: Wise Women: Over 2000 Years of Spiritual Writings by Women
Editor: Susan Cahill
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co., NYC Date: 1996

The title is intriguing and the author's name seems familiar. I just can't place why, though.

Lovely book, reminds me very much of the anthology by Shawn Madigan.

[Edited to add: This text focused heavily on Christian writings.]

Originally published: 8/23/06

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Irons in the fire right now.

Photo by Maria Tyutina from Pexels
Dear Reader,

As it may have been apparent, I'm having some difficulty keeping up with my writing at the moment.
The vision issues are clearing up, thank gods, but I'm buried under things like parent-teacher conferences, school meetings, and the other stuff that goes with being a stay at home mom. My Beloved has been helping out and he is amazing for it. (Seriously, marriages that work as a team and focus on communication are the coolest thing. 10/10 Would completely recommend!)

Aside from the important responsible adult things that I have been doing with my husband's help, I have been doing a lot of journal writing for my therapy stuff. It's gotten hairy but it has also given me some ideas for how to work around some problems in my fiction writing. Thus, I am revisiting some manuscript ideas and trying to make them better. This includes the serial stories that I have been working on here. I shut down a secondary blog that I had going discussing mental health stuff because I have too much on my plate right now to do that. Also, a big amount of that work is going into my mental health journal writing.

I'm still in the process of retrieving data from my LiveJournal account. If I were confident that I could just shut it down and start typing up old book reviews from my notebooks, I would completely do that. The problem is I have reviews that I typed up on LiveJournal that I don't have paper copies of. And I can't remember which ones I have paper copies of and which ones I don't. My reading journal notebook is really full. Not quite time to switch to a new notebook, but in a few months that will likely be the case.

In other news, I am about to start looking for new books to read. If you have any suggestions, please post a link in the comments below. Also, if you are looking for something to read, check out Liam Burke's Moments Before. He writes psychological horror really well. I also really enjoy the quick pace the plot moves and his delightful take on plot twists. Spoiler: The diner is probably one of the best parts of the eBook. Seriously, he does an awesome job setting the scene and navigating it with how the action unfurls. You can almost see yourself sitting in a booth there.


I am still working on location description posts. I'm having some difficulty finding the right way to draw maps. Still doing some research into how to get that right, because the old map just doesn't work now. Halthor's journey will be continuing next week. The trek of Lady Al-Uzza into the north of the Dacian empire will be updated on the second week of May.

Ebooks are in the works. I'll be going through Lulu.com for the eBooks because they're going to be less expensive for you that way. More information about that tomorrow. ♥

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Craft of Writing: Typos are OK!

Dear Reader,

It is a scary thing to write something big. And big is a matter of perspective. For some people, it is cranking out a novel. For other people, it is a short paragraph that is supposed to introduce them to a prospective employer. In either case, there is a lot of emotions going behind that work. There is going to be a great deal of pressure to make it look perfect. One problem with that is you can't hit perfect on your first try.

I've been blogging for a little over ten years now on this platform. (I have multiple blogs, if you want links I'll post them to you as requested.) Just typing this post, I have made multiple typos and I edit as I go along. Perfection is not the goal. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that your work has to be perfect. The goal is progress. Your first draft is just that, a draft. Editing and rewriting is what polishes that first draft into the best it can be. Don't panic if your first draft looks rough. Just take the time to polish it up a bit and you'll find that it really is a gem after a little love and care.

Monday, April 16, 2018

Flora et Fauna: Real World Sketch

Dear Reader,

I can't see well enough to work on sketches right now. Or should I say, I can probably do stick figures but not much better. I'm wearing my glasses and a pair of cheapie readers on top of them right now to see across the room. My eyesight is supposed to improve over the next few months as my medications muscle control over my blood sugar. I'm currently typing this with the font super huge for me. For you, it will look like it usually does. All because of the stupid diabetes diagnosis at the beginning of the month. (I'm a tad resentful and angry about this. I'll work through it by killing of bad guy characters or something later. Until then, I'm going to just be a bit surly around the edges, mostly because I'm hangry.)

Attached is a sketch that I did on a day in September when it still felt like summer. If you're out my neck of the woods, there's a charming little park at the north end of Conesus Lake. It's called Vitale Park. The gardens there are cute. One of them has this water feature with a fish sculpture that rotates when the wind blows on it. As in, each fish moves freely. It's pretty cool. The water feature garden is in memory of someone's deceased child. On the windward side of the water feature, there is an assortment of ornamental grasses. I haven't any idea what any of them are called. 

If there weren't so many people around, I'm sure that the chickadees would love them as much as they love cattails. I'm fairly sure they were planted there to act as a windbreak to shelter the leeward side where the water feature is active and the plants there. I thought it was a charming scene to practice sketching with. So, I lucked out with a day of nice weather and went for a walk with my sketchbook and pencil. The above was the result. I apologize if it is difficult to view. If you click on it, it might be easier to see details.

Monday, April 9, 2018

What's going on? Where's Deb?

Hi everybody,

It's going to be a short post because of a couple things presently going on. First is that I have a stomach bug that has been just kicking my butt over the last few days. I'm not sure if it is a virus or if it is a side effect of the medication change that just happened last week.  Either way, I have learned not to trust a fart. It's been that kind of a couple of days. I thought it was done and then discovered I was wrong a few minutes ago. On the plus side, it did not require brown pants.

Second, my life has been tumult over the last several weeks. Depression and anxiety have been beating me like a rented mule. I found out on the Friday before Easter, of all days, that I have type 2 diabetes. My doctor is working with me and my family have been really supportive. It's been scary, as we're still at the figuring out how to treat it and how to get my blood sugar under control stage. I'm now having vision issues. This is making typing anything hard because everything is blurry even with my glasses on and set to a very large font.

So, long story short, life has resumed kicking my butt and I'm just trying to get through with my sanity intact.