Ruth Tenzer Feldman's Blog, page 5

Writers Write. Writers Write. Writers Write.

So there I was, at breakfast today, chowing down my regular oatmeal and yogurt on a regular weekday with regular summer weather (unlike the recent scorchers). But something was oddly out of whack. No construction noise. I checked out the window and this is what I saw: lots of steel and concrete and not a living soul. Hey, where’d everybody go?

Builders build. That’s the way things are supposed to work. For months now, that’s what I’ve come to expect from the Janey II crew: five days a week, a...

Joyous Journey, Margot Adler

Today I put aside my competition with the construction crew of The Janey II. No way can I write the next scene in Book Three, as I remember Margot Adler, who took time from her life last year to write a review of my most recent book, The Ninth Day. She called the story “riveting.” Who could ask for more?

Still, I did.

I was hoping to meet Margot in person this fall during the reunion of participants in the 1964 Free Speech Movement. I wanted to thank her again, this time in person. I wanted her...

Getting Serious…Part One

The construction crew has been busy since early July, and so have I. Look at all these apartments-to-be in the Janey II. Their erector-set walls and ceilings will turn into living spaces for someone, real homes with a kitchen and bed and bathroom, and maybe a corgi curled up on a corduroy couch.

I’m building habitations, too, only not the physical kind. These last couple of weeks I’ve laid down the basics of four chapters in which Book Three characters talk and eat and tease and grieve. Like t...

Taking It to a Whole New Level

Look! A new floor! The Janey II construction crew has covered up the foundation and basement areas and taken the building to a whole new level. Of course not everything is perfect below decks. There’s still lots to fill in. But it was time to move on.

My sentiments exactly! I’ve spent months laying the foundation for Book Three and drafted and revised the first main chunk of the story. There’s about 15,000 words on Portland in 2059. For two weeks our main character, who is eM Zarfati in this d...

S-L-O-W-ing Down

I must confess, I’ve slowed down the writing in the past couple of months. The Janey II construction crew is way ahead of Book Three. I have an excuse: a recently diagnosed mild and manageable blood cancer. It’ll take a while to get body and brain settled into living with a disease that, honestly, is less horrid than it might sound, but is getting a lot of my attention these days.

Meanwhile, as I go off to doctors and figure out what’s what, the Janey II crew keeps building. They remind me of...

Eco-Fiber 2059: The Backstory

A heavy chain-link fence nearly surrounds the concrete and metal structures that will eventually be the Janey II apartments. It’s the “nearly” part that intrigues me. One small section of the site is sealed off by a wooden wall and a padlocked wood-filled door.

Wood. My favorite. It’s the timeless material that fits in a prehistorical tale about velociraptors and can still make a fashion statement the Portland 2059 world of Book Three.

The first draft of Book Three mentions an “eco-fiber Fem-Fo...

Tagged for a Blog Hop. #MyWritingProcess

What happens when the most powerful woman in the Ottoman Empire dies?

I was sitting in my comfy chair and checking email when DOINK! Amber J. Keyser tagged me in her stop on the blog hop #MyWritingProcess. I was delighted. Amber is a super fine writer, and she’s been working her earlobes off for members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Members like me. The Oregon chapter has its Spring Conference this weekend. Lots of great goings-on there.

Back to my writing...

John Green’s Rebar

For those of you who read the Viva Scriva blog, this is the same post that’s scheduled for May 5. Just saying. There’s a bunch of good stuff on Viva Scriva, too. Try it, you’ll like it.

The Janey II is at the rebar (reinforcing bar) stage. This blurry photo shows a construction guy building the mesh of heavy steel wires that provide tensile strength to the concrete walls. (Yes, guy. I’ve seen no construction women on site. Sigh.) Rebar helps to support and spread the load. You don’t see rebar...

What’s with Pink? And Magenta?

Ah, spring. The sky is blue…sometimes. This is Portland, after all. And spring rain helps to prevent summer drought, so I’m content. There is new green growth everywhere and the flowers are blooming like crazy. The daffodils are yellow, the tulips offer a rainbow of color, and the construction site is…pink? Really?

Now I suppose I could go ask the folks on the site what the pink slabs are for, but that would spoil the fun. I’d rather use my imagination. Recycled marshmallow peeps for insulatio...

The Crane is Up! Let’s Get Serious.

There’s definite progress on the Janey II. They’ve stopped reallocating dirt and laying the foundation. Last week I watched the two-day process of putting up the ginormous crane that seems to swing ridiculously close to my dining room windows. Now the sky is blue, the winds are calm, the temperature is both brisk and balmy, and it’s time to work, work, work.

I’m working, too. Not as fast as I thought I would be at this stage. Still, I’ve got the major characters down, not just my three chicken...