“Get in the habit of writing in images instead of putting down all your thoughts hoping to translate them into images later” (122).

I’m entranced by the thought of using this advice as a journaling project.  What would my journal be like if I wrote down only images instead of thoughts?  It reminds me of art journaling–in recent months I have done more drawing and painting in journals.  But what if I kept my journaling words focused only on images?  What would result?

Anyone ever tried anything like this?

So far, I’m not moving along as fast as I’d like.  But I am moving along–and with work I like quite a bit.  So I think I’m further ahead than I would be if I were moving faster and risking burning out.

Do others of you find that pacing yourself, even when you want to press on, is a good way to combat burnout?  Or do you prefer to write while you’ve got the motivation and time–in fits and starts?

I know many mystery series do this, notably Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, but her series was set up that way.   The Lonnie Squires series is established (two books so far with the third under way) as a contemporary “cozy.”  One of the hallmarks of this subgenre is the “fish out of water” character living in a small, closed environment, usually a rural or isolated town of quirky ways and folks.   So, if several books in, the author uprooted the character and took her somewhere else, would that be a fun diversion for series fans?  Or an affront?

I think I’m remembering right that Agatha Christie took Miss Marple out of St. Mary Mead on occasion, but I’m not sure . . .

Ideas, anyone?

I like to do a review of the year on New Year’s Day. I’m a bit late (blame vacation), but regarding writing, here’s what I’ve learned.

1. I’m a lousy blogger. It seems like something I would be terrific at. I love my computer. I love to talk. I love to write. But the truth is, when I’m done with my “real” job (mostly computer and writing) and then done with my “writing” job (mostly computer and writing) the last thing I want to do is spend another minute on the computer writing! I love answering emails, though.  That I do most any time!  I guess conversations with people are more fun for me than casting thoughts into the blogosphere.

2. Undisciplined ideas can wreck a novel draft the way an untrained German Shepherd can wreck a house. I’ve hadboth, so I know!  I think that’s why I’ve struggled so on Lonnie Squires novel # 3. Too many ideas full of energy running around tearing up the carpet. Gotta get that under control and soon.

3. You never know how your work will affect even the most unlikely people! I’m more mindful now than ever of the importance of writing “true.”

There’s more, of course, but I’m still on vacation on that Caribbean Island and don’t want to think about it all too hard!

Happy New Year to all! I’ll blog when I can. You can always contact me via email.

But I’m also in love with this great idea from featherproof books:

It is our most whiz-bangy thing-a-ma-jig yet. The TripleQuick Fiction iPhone app.

What’s that you ask? Well, simply put: stories by some of today’s most exciting young writers delivered straight to your iPhone or IPod touch. With the TripleQuick Fiction app you can download new stories in seconds and read them on the go, wherever you are.

And we’re not calling it TripleQuick just cause we like how it rolls off the tongue. These short shorts are only 333 words long. That’s just 3 iPhone screens. You can read one in 3 minutes or less. They were all written with the mobile attention span in mind.

And the app is there, just a buck ninety-nine.

Anyone tried it?

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

-Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)

It has set me thinking.

I can think of many instances from my own life when I’m sure this is true.  Times when I’ve observed someone condemn as immoral a book or film or even an idea, when I know that  person is really trying to avoid facing their own shame, their own knowledge that they have done or thought or felt something that they consider “wrong.”   You probably can think of such instances too.

As a writer of fiction with a lesbian protagonist, I’m especially sensitive to it.  Just featuring such a character in a positive light can be viewed as “advocating” the “homosexual lifestyle”–which, I suppose, it is–which I know plenty of people find immoral.  So I like jumping up on my imaginary soapbox and pointing an imaginary finger at such people and shouting, “Yeah, you, buddy.  Calling me immoral, are you?  Well, have a good look at what you’re really ashamed of inside yourself!”

But I think the rich value of this quote comes in this: I wonder how often I do this as well?   It strikes me as a little suspicious that I can’t think of a single time when I’ve called something immoral just to deflect my own sense of shame.  This probably means I’ve done it for sure!  I mean, if you’re deep in the throes of denying your own shame as you toss about the word “immoral,” then you surely won’t realize it, right?

Hmmm . . . do any of us escape this?

Today I’m going to give that some thought.  What book or film do I find immoral?  Would I actually use that label?  What is it I do when I confront ideas that show me my own shame?

What do you think of all of this?

And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your time reading her latest blog couldn’t be better spent.

Sept 2009 Really

In the last week I found myself walking through life and writing “Really?!” scripts to everything that bugged me.  That made me laugh, which probably kept my blood pressure down.

“By being the curator of our images, we care for our souls.”  Thomas Moore

What a lovely quote for anyone who works with images.  Writers.  Painters.  Photographers.  Musicians.  Others.  The work we do is care for our souls, isn’t it?

This is why it is so important for lesbians (as well as gay men, African-Americans, Asian Americans, people with autism and so on, including everyone who isn’t the mainstream “norm), to represent and be represented in the literature, art, film, theatre, dance, music and other arts.  It’s not just about politics and justice.  It’s about souls.

In my experience it’s rare to see a pitch perfect romantic comedy about a gay couple and this movie helped me see why I feel that way.  In Imagine Me and You, the lesbians and their relationship woes were presented as completely normal.  “Normal” as in not the focus of the movie; true to genre the film centered on two people trying to be together, family and friend entanglements, crazily comedic scenes, other relationship opportunities.  Never in the movie did the sexuality of the protagonists take over the story.  None of the characters had significant issues with anyone’s sexuality.  The film just focused on character and plot and genre.

No surprise to learn that the film was originally written as a heterosexual romantic comedy.  Wonderful.  Sort of like action movies written for male heroes and then ultimately featuring female kick-butt heroines!  That sort of thing points out:  gender roles simply don’t need to matter as much as we (as a culture) seem to want them to.

Of course, my own books don’t do that.  They focus on a lesbian character and the issues that surround that identity as Lonnie navigates her world and its prejudices.  I write this way because these are issues are very real in my life and the lives of most lesbians I know and I want my books, cozy comedic mystery “fantasies” that they are, to reflect that real world.   But when I want to spend the evening with a bowl of popcorn and a good old-fashioned romantic fantasy movie, well-written and well-acted that shows my kind of relationship as just “normal,” well, I usually can’t find one.  This film is perhaps the best I’ve ever seen.

I’d love to hear others’ recommendations if you have ‘em!