Spring Fever
From an older version of my brain, to yours.
Musings
I’d known that butterflies come from caterpillars since I was a kid, but I’d never thought much about the how until my friend Kim just casually mentioned one day that caterpillars basically turn into goo inside those chrysalises and then through the magic of nature, recombine themselves into utterly different life forms aka butterflies.
Mind. Blown.
Can you imagine yourself just melting down into organic goo? Where would our brains go? Or any of our organs, for that matter? What about our thoughts and feelings? Our bones?
Humans aren’t programmed to transform in such a physically stark manner, but that doesn’t mean we’re strangers to dramatic changes.
About six months ago, I was told that one of my chronic conditions had been mis-diagnosed. So, instead of a metabolic disorder, I actually have an autoimmune disease. Which means, in the understatement of understatements, I’m re-learning how to manage my health. Since that original mis-diagnosis happened in 1999, you can imagine: it’s a lot. I’m still struggling to get back to the baselines I was much, much closer to in November.
Unsurprisingly, I feel like goo right now.
Well, to be more specific, I’m trying to be more like goo right now. As in, letting go of the need to get my new treatment regimen absolutely perfect (again!); of the underlying anger at my past doctors and how their combined oversight, however innocent, still cost me peace of mind; and of the regret for all the things that I could’ve done differently.
All while life carries on around me. As it does.
Honestly though...I don’t think there’s a right way or a wrong way to be goo. I figure, you just...be and trust in the process. The rest will simply have to take care of itself.
I’m not sure I’ll be a precious butterfly when the goo stage passes, though I'm pretty sure the goo stage isn’t a one-off, sadly. At the very least, though, I’m more than halfway certain:
I will be ready to fly.
The Q&A Corner
Thanks for this great question, Erika E.!
“When you're writing something very heavy, do you use other media (movie, tv, music, etc.) as ‘comfort food’? Or do you dive headlong into the dark side with everything you consume? Also vice versa -- when you're writing bits that are uplifting, do you gravitate toward darker media? Or does it make no difference at all?”
I prefer to stay in deep waters when I’m writing dark stuff. Not like Method acting, though, I promise. I don’t go around making my family miserable in order to stay “in character.” (Ohmigod, can you imagine???) More like I’m treading water, as immersed as I can get without drowning. Otherwise, I lose the feel of it.
However, I do tend to shy away from really dark stuff when writing lighter material. The distance I have to emotionally or metaphorically travel from reading darker stories to creating uplifting scenes on the page, day in and day out, is just too far for me, usually. An occasional dark film is okay, though; go figure.
Sometimes, too, if I’m nearing deadline and the MS isn’t where I need it to be, I’ll stop reading altogether so I can focus on the writing exclusively. In those cases, I’ll rewatch comfort films of any genre because I know what to expect, even if the themes or action is darker. Or, I'll watch Great British Bake Off because it keeps me engaged while letting my working brain shift into a lower gear.
That was fun. Thanks again, Erika! Lovelies, please keep the questions coming!
Ask Me Anything: publishing, writing, baking, cooking, movies, books, TV shows...it's all up for grabs. Even questions that get sparked by one of my answers. What strikes your curiosity? Let me know!
In Other News
My revision pitch for the romance novel is in the editor’s hands now. In addition to a plan to cut 21k words (which is about 84 pages), the editor also wanted sample chapters demonstrating that I’m able to write “high heat” love scenes. If you guessed that means explicit sex, you are correct. I thought it would be a fun challenge for my writing skills; there’s a real art to writing good scenes like that, and it’s not just about vocabulary or positions LOL. So I’m back in the waiting game, hoping for an offer!
Thanks to enthusiastic readers, including some of you here, the Festive Mayhem 4 anthology is now backed! This means it will be published in October, in ebook and paperback editions. I’ll be sure to post all the preorder links. Thanks for your support to make “Dearly Departed” available for everyone!
Join me and Premee Mohamed on May 22nd @ 6:30-8pm MT! Register here for this free virtual event, Novel Approach: Genre Perspectives on Crafting Fiction. Premee is a multiple award winning author and the Edmonton Public Library’s 2024 Writer-in-Residence.
Join me on this free Writers’ Guild of Alberta panel on May 29th @ Noon MT! Rejection: “Frame”? of Reframe? is part of the WGA’s Controversy @ Noon series. You can register for this virtual event here.
Oh, there’s just one more thing...
When Darrin Hagen—local drag LEGEND, LGBTQIA+ community superstar, and long-time booster within the writing community—asks you to help spread the word for an upcoming theatre show, there’s only one acceptable answer. So:
Theatre-lovers in the Edmonton area! Do you want to catch a “part romantic comedy and part mystery...as surprising as it is delightful”?
Then check out the legendary Conni Massing’s latest offering, DEAD LETTER, at Workshop West, May 15th - June 2nd.
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