Julia Karr's Blog, page 12

Solitary Sunday

To all outward appearances it’s a quiet, solitary Sunday in the writing cave. Notice how Frankie isn’t even trying to sit on the computer, or on my lap!

However, there’s a lot going on… not just revisions on the book I’m tweaking for my agent (the fabulous Kate Testerman at kt literary) – but overwriting some scenes for book three of the XVI saga.

Nope, guess it’s not a solitary Sunday at all, not with all these characters vying for my attention.

Hope your Sunday is exactly the way you want it to be! If it isn’t, take some steps in that direction, it’s amazing what will come up!

The Friday Five – This and That…

I’m busy with revisions, but I have all these thoughts running through my head, so I thought I’d share.

1. Sometimes there’s not a lot going on in the ol’ noggin!

2. Sometimes there’s too much going on in said noggin!

3. Writers should always carry some type of thought-net to catch those illusive “amazing ideas!”

4. Not all “amazing ideas!” are really amazing when studied more closely.

5. Sometimes one needs to take a break and make a list!

Hope y’all are planning on a wonderful weekend – you’ll find me in the revision cave!

The Kindness Project – Animals are, too…

The fabulous Carol Valdez Miller had this amazing idea about a Kindness Project. You can read about it here.

Well, yours truly (that would be moi) decided to join in – considering one of my rules to live by is this quote from Sir James Barrie: “Always be a little kinder than necessary.”

In thinking of what to write about for this month’s post, my mind went back to an incident that a friend told me about. It served to reinforce (for me) the belief that the only thing separating us from realizing how intelligent, caring, and capable our animals friends are is our inability to communicate with them in their language. (More on that in another post.)

Anyway – back to the incident. This gal (my friend) had two golden retrievers that were fast friends – having grown up together. They would run and play in her fenced yard – and the neighbor’s cat would sit on the fence and watch them. This went on for years. The cat never tried to be friendly with the dogs – although they were used to cats – it just watched them.

One of the dogs died, and the remaining dog was heart-broken – completely lost without his buddy.

My friend had let the lone dog out into the yard and she was watching him out the window. He laid down on the porch – his head between his legs – desolate. Suddenly, the cat appeared on the fence. It watched the dog for a moment, then jumped into the yard, walked over to the porch, up to the dog and began rubbing on it. This went on for several minutes – the cat poured out tons of love on this sad dog, who soaked up this dear little cat’s compassion and sympathy.

Now – I truly believe that little act of kindness was not random, a fluke, or out-of-character. I am convinced that all creatures have within them kindness, sympathy, and goodness. And – I am also convinced that if we express those qualities more in our own lives, we will find the world around us reflecting them back to us.

To read what other participants in The Kindness Project have posted today – click on their name below.

“Always [and in all ways] be a little kinder than necessary.”

 

Playing it safe?

I get Real Simple’s Daily Thoughts in my inbox every morning. Today’s thought is:

“You can’t steal second base and keep one foot on first.” Frederick B. Wilson

That quote inspires me to think of a project I’ve been working on that is completely out of my comfort zone. As a matter of fact, this project is so far out of my comfort zone that I have set it aside, thinking it had no real merit.

However, this quote is making me think that I’ve put the project in limbo because of my fear of taking chances. Back to the baseball analogy…

When you hit a home run out of the field you don’t have to worry – you’re scoring the run. Sometimes, however, you have to count on your wiles / smarts / intuition - and take chances in order to move forward. And, that can be scary new territory.

But, if you don’t try anything new – you’ll be forever with your foot on 1st base, waiting for the next batter to move you along, or strike out.

So – I’m thinking it’s good to take stock of your goal (2nd base – a totally new kind of book – whatever…), check out what’s going on around you… and then go for it! Because the worst thing that can happen is it won’t work. But, you’ll always get another turn, so…

Batter up!!!

 

 

Wondering where America’s “far, far better thing…” can be?

This morning I was thinking about Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. More specifically – I was thinking of Sydney Carton’s final words, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” 

Pretty much everyone knows that last line. And, I got out my copy of the book to read it in context. What surprised me (and it’s been many years since I read the novel) was a few paragraphs earlier… “I see… long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument [the guillotine], before it shall cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”

How can one read that and not think of today? What happened then was the old oppressors (the aristocracy) were replaced by the new oppressors (the revolutionaries) who were just as brutal and unscrupulous when they gained the upper hand as the artistocracy before them. (Reminds one of Lord Acton’s comment, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corruptly absolutely.”)

Now we have such bitter and hateful struggles going on within American politics. Last night I listened to an interview on GOP Obstructionism http://video.msnbc.msn.com/politicsnation/47682411 and was struck by the fact that lost in the milieu are the vast majority of Americans who just want to live their lives – work, play, raise their families, enjoy life.

Yet – as in the French Revolution (much more so than the American Revolution) – the lines of division are so sharp, immovable, and unpenetrable – that there seems to be little hope that (politically) either side can have rational and productive dialogue with the other. And so “we, the people” suffer with unemployment, insufficient healthcare, homelessness, and hunger (yes – the breadbasket of the world has men, women, and children who are starving… amazing…) – because grown (supposedly intelligent) men and women are so married to their political parties & biases that they cannot remember they were elected to serve ALL the people justly.

The flames of this destructive path we’re on are being fanned into an unquenchable conflagration by the Media – which I honestly think is not just the devil’s advocate, but sometimes the devil’s own hand tool. And, the devil is a fickle master – aiming the firestarter at whomever crosses his path with the most flammable (at the moment) issue – be it public or personal – past, present, or (imagined) future. No slip up, no moment of human error, no incident is too insignificant for the Media to blow up into an out-of-control wildfire.

Where does this leave the common man? My heart aches for us… caught in the crossfire.

I really long for the day that Carton envisioned – the “brilliant people rising from this abyss” – and the “evil…wearing out.” It cannot come too soon.

 

The Friday Five – Education

I recently shared this cartoon on Facebook & have been doing some major thinking about education in the USA. Following the pic are five thoughts on the subject…

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1. Everyone has different learning methods – some are visual, some are auditory, some need to be hands-on – some are a combination thereof.

2. There is no right or wrong way to learn – although some ways can be harder than others.

3. Education should be more about teaching a child to think than to pass a test.

4. Whatever works for the child is the right method.

5. Our children are our most precious resource – they should be assured that they are capable and then given the tools to succeed* in their life.

*Success is highly personal!

So – what do you think about education? I’m looking forward to hearing thoughtful & respectful comments on the subject.

What a book can do.

Hooray for the launch of Angie Smibert’s The Forgetting Curve!  Be sure to check out the entire week’s worth of launch activities at The League of Extraordinary Writers!

I am a huge fan of Angie’s! Memento Nora blew me away. Right after I finished reading it, I emailed Angie and was like… “I want MORE. NOW!” Ever since then I’ve been waiting – rather impatiently, I might add – for The Forgetting Curve. And WOW! The wait was totally worth it!

What I love about The Forgetting Curve (and also what scares the beejeesus out of me) is how readily imaginable it is that what’s happening in the book could happen here in the not-too-distant future.

Angie’s story-telling pulls us immediately into Aiden’s world – a world that peripherally includes Nora and Micah from Memento Nora – and a world that is becoming increasingly threatened by “terrorist” attacks. Except, as we learned in Memento Nora, the terrorists are much closer to home – much more personal. Now Aiden’s cousin – Winter (the sculptor from Memento Nora) has had a “psychotic breakdown” and Aiden’s sent home from Switzerland to help in her recovery. When he sees her, he realizes things are a lot worse than he’d imagined – and not just with Winter, who is far from psychotic!

In The Forgetting Curve, Angie tackles head-on the increasing enmeshment of government and corporations. This involves sale of fear to the masses – a promise of security which means voluntarily giving up certain personal freedoms (sound familiar?) – and then mandatory government/corporate control (all in the name of safety.)

The Forgetting Curve expands on the themes in Memento Nora and makes them even more plausible and chilling. I think Angie’s books should be mandatory reading for everyone! Period.

 

The Friday Five – home again…

I’m back from a road trip with one of my daughters. Here’s where we went & what we did in Friday Five format (I love alliteration!)

1. After getting caught in torrential deluge in Chicago.

2. Ate some really good food in Ann Arbor Michigan & saw this bookstore mural.

3. Spent a bit of time in the Odette Sculpture Park in Windsor Ontario.

4. Watched my daughter make this awesome stop-animation video in the Hammel House Inn in Waynesville, OH. (Yes, the Inn is haunted!)

Happiness in a bag

5. And… came home to my lovely house & cats & dog… including dear old “A” the cat!.

So – what’s going on with your Friday? I’d love to know!

Writing exercise – in the style of…

Recently I had the pleasure of taking a road trip with one of my daughters and we wiled away the miles by reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. What a great read! And, because his style is so distinct, I came up with the idea to do a writing exercise of one of my favorite books (well, one chapter of one) in the style of Raymond Chandler. As my daughter noted – not an easy thing to do! Especially not easy when the work you decide to write in his style happens to be 3rd person & Chandler writes in 1st person. However, not wanting to be deterred… here is the 1st chapter (more or less) of Pride & Prejudice  rewritten/re-imagined in the style of Raymond Chandler.

“It’s common knowledge, or so they say, that a single guy with a few thousand wants a wife. Doesn’t matter what the guy thinks, he’s fair game, and that’s just the way it plays.

I’d been summoned to Longbourn by Mr. Bennet. I arrived early and was hustled into the parlor by an obviously overworked maid who instructed me to “Go on in to the master when Mrs. Bennet takes her leave. He’s expecting you.”

I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. And, I couldn’t help pitying him having the first-hand experience.

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

A sorry huff of breath preceded Mr. Bennet’s reply in the negative.

“But it is,” she said, “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”

Bennet’s silence said it all.

 ”Do not you want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently.

 ”You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”

 I felt sorry for the man, but he’d given her invitation enough to go on.

 ”Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”

Bennet made the same mistake again, asking, “What is his name?”

“Bingley.”

You’d think with five daughters in hand, the man would have been through this enough to know when to keep quiet. To my surprise, he continued with the questions. “Is he married or single?”

“Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”

It was the next exchange where I first detected a hint of mockery in Bennet’s voice. Maybe he wasn’t as clueless as he was letting on.

 ”How so? how can it affect them?” he asked.

 ”My dear Mr. Bennet,” replied his wife, “how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.”

Bennet tiresome? Ha! I was already taking bets with myself on Mrs. Bennet’s physical appearance. I’d heard her kind often enough.

“Is that his design in settling here?”Mr. Bennet went on.

“Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.”

I’d heard of these Bennet girls, but hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing them myself – yet. That was about to change. The door behind me creaked open and a girl, maybe fifteen, skipped in ripping ribbons off a bonnet.

“Oh!” She stopped short when she saw me. Her fingers dropped the bonnet and began twisting a lock of her hair. Instead of the usual curtsey and quick retreat, which would’ve been proper conduct for a young lady who obviously wasn’t out yet, she fixed her bright, foxish eyes on me and said, “Who are you?”

I rose, bending slightly at the waist, a bow several times more decorous than the girl’s manner. “Philip Marlowe at your service. Miss Bennet.”

“I’m Lydia,” she said. “Number five. The youngest. Are you the new tenant at Netherfield? My mother says–”

She was interrupted by a voice, “Lydia. Who are you talking too?” Another girl entered the room. This one was dark, whereas Lydia was fair. But, the new sister – it had to be one of the five – was prettier than her younger sibling. Much prettier. She locked eyes with me. Fine, soft brown eyes, the kind that can turn a guy to mush if he’s not careful. I hoped I was being careful.

“Mr. Marlowe.” I bowed much deeper. “Miss Bennet.”

She curtsied. “Excuse us, Mr. Marlowe.” Her slender fingers wrapped around her sister’s wrist. “Lydia,” she whispered. “Come with me. Now.” They exited the room with Lydia doing her best to extricate herself from her sister’s grasp.

I was deep in thought about the two sisters when Mrs. Bennet charged out of the library, patting her ample bosom with a handkerchief, wailing, “My nerves. My nerves. Hill!” Upon spying me, she narrowed her eyes, but continued to call for the servant. ”Hill! Where are you?” The kerchief fluttered from bosom to forehead and back. “He has not one bit of compassion for my nerves.” She inclined her head toward the library. “All these years… no compassion at all. My poor nerves.”

A woman like Mrs. Bennet could twist a man’s head if he paid her any mind. However, I doubted any man, including her husband did.

Mr. Bennet appeared the doorway. “Nonsense, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.” It was then he noticed me. “Mr. Marlowe?”

“The very same, sir.” I removed my hat.

 “Excuse us, my dear.” He motioned me to join him.

 “Mrs. Bennet.” I bowed to her, crossed the hallway, and gratefully followed Mr. Bennet into his library. He closed the door tight behind us.

The room gave every indication that it was Mr. Bennet’s sanctuary. His chair, pulled close to the hearth, was surrounded by piles of books. The general disarray of the desk and the dusty ledgers carelessly tossed aside led me to surmise that Bennet was more interested in improving his mind than improving his lot in life.

I’d done some prior investigating of Mr. Bennet and suspected that the entail on Longbourn might have something to do with him summoning me for a meeting. He cleared his throat and started to speak when there was a gentle knock at the door.

“Father?” The second Miss Bennet peeked her head into the room. The minute she saw me, she said, “Oh, I am so sorry.”

“No, no, Lizzy.” A smile lit Mr. Bennet’s face. “Come in and meet Mr. Marlowe. He’s here to help us.” No small note of desperation underlay his words. Bennet turned a hopeful glance my way.

I didn’t know what he wanted me to do. But, when Miss Lizzy Bennet’s fine eyes, brightened by her father’s words, met mine, I knew whatever it was, I was going to do my damnedest to get it done, and done right. It’s what I get paid to do.

The Friday Five – Late Edition

Some things I'm thinking about…

1. Sometimes you just have to go to bed early. (Like me at 8:30 last night!  O.O )

2. A hole or two in a really comfy cashmere sweater needs mending – not replacing the sweater. Soft, warm sweaters that fit well aren't that easy to come by! Besides, my Gram didn't teach me to darn for no reason – keeping things useful is important.

3. There's a lot worth emulating in the way our grandparents lived (particularly those who lived through the Great Depression.)

4. I enjoy ironing (and am actually quite good at it!)

5. When you've got three stories vying for attention in your head, it's hard to know on which to concentrate. Maybe I can set aside 3 times a day – and assign each a particular time slot? It's worth thinking about…

I know it's late on a holiday weekend (3 days off for me – whee!!!) But, if you have any Friday thoughts – I'd love to hear them. Otherwise – have a wonderful Easter weekend!

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