66000 + y'all

That's right.  Less than 4000 words, and I will have my book  ready for proofreading.  I've become comfortable with my process.  I get inspired, I write until said inspiration is on paper, and then I'm done for a bit.  I go on to whatever fuels my creativity next - that might be a good dose of sleeping, reading, or painting, but whatever it is I respect my brain's need for refueling, and  I wait until it is the right time for writing.  It has served me well.  I am so close.  I am going to meet my goal of 70,000 by my August 22 birthday.

In the beginning

I thought it would be good to post about what started me on my novel writing.

An acquaintance sent me a book that she wrote.  It took me about an hour to read, and it was insipid and  saccharine at best.  I know those are mean words to write, but it is truth.  It was every cliche in extremely concise text.

It was bad.  I knew I could do better.

So I found inspiration, came with an idea,  created my heroine, and have steadily and carefully built up my story, which is why it  has taken me so very long to craft.  If I didn't work for a steady paycheck, it is possible that it would have been completed by now, but my life is what it is.  I love my life, and jam pack it with as much pretty, creative lovelies as I can.

So here I am, staring down 70,000 words with a strong, proud gaze.  The end is in sight.

This weekend was a sad one - nothing to do with my family or anything, but I attended the memorial service of a person whose life ended entirely too soon.  I am hopeful that I will be inspired to write again in the near future, but I am  not going to force it.

I would love to take a "get lost" drive in the country around Nashville.  It has helped me so much  in the past to remove myself from the reality of my surroundings.  If the weather is cooperative this Saturday, I hope to be driving  someplace lonely and quiet.

62,000 Words

That's right.  I'm over 60,000.  At one time, 60,000 seemed like an insurmountable number.  It was my  Moby Dick, my completion of the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred program, but I got past it, and I was positively elated!

I am so close to my goal  of 70,000 that I can almost reach out and feel it with my fingertips.  When I hit 60 last week, I looked at my book for the longest time, and didn't know how I would be able to expand the story any more,  but I soon told my mind to shut up, because I knew that faith trumps any human emotion, and I got inspired.  I  know I can carry this story through to my goal.

This past Saturday morning, thankfully before it got beastly hot, dear husband and I took a trip to the historic Nashville City Cemetery.  It had always been on my list, but I had never gotten myself there.  It was so helpful to be surrounded by all of that history, all of that collected time.

59,000 words

That's right y'all.  Just short of 60,000 words.  I never in my wildest dreams  thought that I could take the story this far, but now I have the confidence to get to that goal of 70,000 words.

This past Sunday,  I took a drive into the country,  on the sort of roads that locals look at the passing car and say "oh...is that what cars look like these days?"  We saw countless goats, and cows, and horses, and towns that, if you huffed and puffed on them hard enough, could get blown to dust.  All sorts of old houses, barns and stores, and the vistas....need I describe the views?

We shall not discuss the sorry sunburn I got.  I am convinced that I am indeed the whitest person ever to breathe.

It was very inspiring.  I was so thankful that I brought pad and pen with me, just in case thoughts for my book came to my head, and did they ever.   I am truly pleased.

56000 Words

After a brief foray into painting, I am back to my book project.  I am now over 56,000 words, and  I love where the story is going.  I have been able to expand some important parts of the book, and flesh out my villain characters even more.  I think that having my book done by the end of the year is a very realistic goal.

I realized the other day that I have created over 20 characters.  That's a whole lot of people to come from one person's brain.  I hope that people my finished work, but I especially hope that Nashvillians enjoy the trip back in time that I take them on.

Creative phases

I'm back!  I go through creative phases.  A dear friend recently had a birthday party where she asked all of her guests to create their version of a favorite painting of hers.  I did as instructed, and seriously wanted to take it home, but I did not, and below is the end result.

 

I love how it turned out.  I hadn't painted anything in quite a while, and this exercise got me thinking of painting yet again, and I was now obsessed with painting birds to boot.  Below is the painting I just finished for my very own self.  I love, love, love it.

It will eventually hang in my bedroom, but for now I am enjoying it in our living room.  I have recently acquired a 36x36 canvas for yet another painting, and lo and behold the subject is going to BIRDS, but painted in a very different style from my most recent work. 

Alas, I first need to buy paint, a lot of paint, and it is just not in my budget right now.  So, I am once again back to working on my beloved novel.  I originally split the book into three files for my ease.  The third part is what I need to work on, and I am really dreading the task, which also probably contributed to my painting jag.  It needs a lot of tender loving care.  The story moves way too fast.  I need to let it breathe and wander.

Southern Turf

The name of my book is "Southern Turf." Why? Because that is the name of the beloved building I work in, and the inspiration for my book. The idea for my book started with a door.

The door, located on the second floor of this building, must be 15 feet tall, and about 6 inches thick, made from a very sturdy and beautiful mahogany. It is scuffed and dinged, and shows its age well with a deep patina. I absolutely adore the hardware used for the keyguard and door handle. It is original to 1895, and is a very unusual scrollwork design, and I'm thinking this design will need to be incorporated in some fashion in the artwork for my book.

Another wonderful feature on the door is a little sliding panel, pocketed in the door at eye level, about 4x5 inches, with a metal finger hook on the interior side of the door. Since this is the only door in the building that still exists of this size, width, and made from such a strong and durable wood, I deduce that the office behind the magnificent door was used by the owner, or perhaps the person that handled the money for the gambling that took place on that floor in its heyday. Said person could use peer out the sliding panel to see if a friend or foe was on the other side of the door.

I have noticed a few semi-circular, crescent moon shaped indentations on the exterior side of the door, near the keyguard. Looks like old hammer marks to me - perhaps made by an intruder's vain effort to get in? That is purely a guess.

The other fact that leads me to believe that someone important was protected in that office by the sturdy door is that there is a secret passageway that looks like an unassuming closet, but in fact is a pass through to the office behind it. Perhaps if there was a bad person on the other side of the main door, the person in the office could skin out via the passage way.

I could go on and on. I love this building, and cannot wait to share it with everyone when my book is done!