Beautiful Day!
Today is the LAST day of February of 2009. Two months of the new year…gone! Time flies. I don’t mean to panic you, but what have you done lately?
Are you taking time for yourself? Exercising? Eating healthy?
Have you danced in the rain? Jumped out of plane? Read a couple of books?
I plan to start a vegetable garden in a few weeks. Mom is going to help me. It’ll give us something to do together. It’s never too late to make an effort to do something with mom or dad. Our parents and siblings and good friends are not going to be here forever. And neither are we. Make the effort to spend time with the people you care about. Mostly, take time for yourselves. Easier said than done, I know. Between work, kids, laundry, and everything else on the list…but if you make yourself a priority, you and everybody around you will reap the benefits.
“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.” –Anon
Working on Revisions
On most days I think of myself as a writer who writes. I’m not often afflicted with writer’s block necessarily, but I do get stumped every now and then. Sometimes, when the words don’t flow so easily, I do what any perfectly normal person, or at least writer, would do. I procrastinate. I cook, clean, read. I sweep the garage. I talk to the dog. I gaze out the window to see if I can spot a wild rabbit running by. I glance at facebook or myspace to see what’s new. I gaze at the wonderful clearance sales on Macy.com. And then I come to my hangout and write a blog and tattle on myself, hoping that a public scolding will be the kick in the butt I need to get through a tough spot. I’m writing my first romantic thriller and tough is putting it mildly. This is my ninth finished novel. Four hundred pages and counting. My sister and I read through the first draft together and we believe it has potential. I scribbled vague notes and now I have to make whole characters disappear. I have to dig in and create additional scenes with great dialogue where the characters meet to discuss how they’re going to find the killer. How the heck am I supposed to know? I don’t know any cops or killers or FBI men. But that’s okay. My first two books were medieval time travels. I’ve never time-traveled before and that wasn’t nearly as difficult to write as this crazy thriller! If I can travel back in time, I can write a thriller. Or can I? We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted! Right after I procrastinate a little longer to take a picture for this blog! 
Brittany Reading
Right now I am reading Night by Elie Wiesel. It’s a small book (120 pages) but it packs an emotional punch. Part of the blurb: “Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel’s memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence….”
The New York Times referred to Night as “a slim volume of terrifying power”
In the first thirty pages, Elie talks about his family being warned about the horrifying things that were happening, but nobody believed man could be that evil and they ignored the warnings until it was too late. That’s understandable. I still can’t believe that even one person could commit such horrible crimes against another human being.
On a lighter note, I recently read Candide by Voltaire, a crazy book that my 16 year old daughter enjoyed! Voltaire is clearly making fun of optimism. His characters are tested on every page. The story is meant to be a funny romp, I believe, but it didn’t hit my funny bone. I read that “Voltaire created Candide as an outlet to spread his social criticisms about religion and government.” The book was written in 1759.
Earlier in the year, again prodded by my youngest daughter, I read Twilight and New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. I really liked Twilight but had a tougher time with New Moon since Edward waited much too long to make an appearance. I have the third book sitting on the night table…waiting. We’ll see.
Other books I read this year are HIDE by Lisa Gardner. I’m a big fan and she did not disappoint. I really enjoyed The Killing Hour. I am also half way through Jordan Dane’s No One Left To Tell. I’ll keep you updated. So far, so good.
So, what are you reading!? Any good books to suggest?