On validation.

Miracle Maddie

Maddie Girl had an impressive week! At her chiropractor appointment, she was tracking light and that is a HUGE step forward in her recovery! My mom and dad are visiting in Florida now, and when I FaceTimed, Maddie actually moved her eyes to the phone and gave me an auditory blink. I knew that she could see and hear me, and it was just the greatest feeling in the world. Next week will be a busy week for Maddie, too.

Ireland

This weekend, I ventured to the Milk Market in the city with my new friend Isabel and her house mates. It was a great time! The conversation was easy and engaging, the food was delicious, and I convinced myself that I’d be perfectly happy just walking around Ireland for the rest of my life. It’s beautiful, but there’s also a musicality to everything. The country is resplendent with vitality; there’s a pulse to it. I love it here.

I’m even considering working part time at a bookshop in the city. How perfect is that? It might not work out because I don’t have my meeting with Immigration Services about my visa until the end of the month, but one can dream. And one can hope. Hell, that’s what got me here in the first place.

Writing

I had my first workshop of the Creative Writing Master’s program. I agonized over what to submit and finally decided on an excerpt from the beginning of my work in progress, tentatively titled Lightning Strikes. I sent it to Mom and made her read it and tweaked it just a bit more before I had to submit it. I wasn’t sure how it’d be received.

My lead reader, Conor, was such an awesome gentleman. He sent me his notes ahead of time so I wouldn’t be blindsided and they were so positive! He really liked Aurora and I found that interesting because I’d spent so little time crafting her. Honestly, Aurora is not that far removed from me. I remember one of my favorite compliments I ever received for Her Beautiful Monster was that the reader could hear the story in my voice. I always want to be authentic and engaging in my writing, and that’s something we’ve been talking about a lot in class: how to keep up the fictive dream.

But what was also amazing was that Conor completely understood what I was trying to do with the story and even anticipated where I was going. The only criticisms offered made complete sense and revolved around lines or decisions I had agonized over and debated about with myself before sending the piece.

AND EVERYONE’S COMMENTS WERE LIKE THAT. I was worried because at first, the leader Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, had singled out my submission to highlight some issues with my description, that maybe there was some unnecessary emphasis, repetition, and over description. I was slightly deflated until everyone shared their positive comments and when it came back to Sarah, she said she could tell I was an accomplished storyteller and that my story had a pulsing heart.

Wow. What more can a girl ask for?

OH! And they ALL complimented me on my realistic sounding dialogue, which Professor O’Connor just lectured about it. Dialogue is a huge deal because it really can make or break the fictive dream the story is meant to create. And I remember when a woman I looked up to and convinced myself was my best friend read my first novel, and her criticism was that my dialogue took her out of it.

She ended up being toxic and apparently, she ended up being wrong. I know being petty gets you nowhere, but that one feels good.

I meet with Sarah tomorrow to discuss my work in more detail and I cannot wait. The plan is to get Lightning Strikes finished before I head back home and then shop it around to agents.

Young Woman Using Laptop Working At Outdoor Cafe. Girl Browsing Internet, Chatting, Blogging

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