On maturing.

Miracle Maddie

Maddie Girl has been doing really well and we couldn’t be happier! She’s receiving MNRI OT twice a week and she had a GREAT visit with the chiropractor. He was extra impressed with her tone. She is adapting well to the Passy-Muir valve and was able to spend time outside in the beautiful Florida sunshine. She’s working hard in therapy, as usual, and she’s making all of us so proud.

We’re going to end our current GoFundMe campaign in about two weeks and launch a new one that specifically outlines Maddie’s care costs on a daily, weekly, monthly, and special basis. It’ll also show more of her progress and explain how the therapies are working. We’re planning the new launch to coincide with my sister’s birthday and I’m excited to be involved.

Ireland

I really love it in Ireland. On Friday night, I went out for a few pints with my classmate Ruth. It’s amazing just to walk around the city and talk about writing and our plans. There’s something magical about this city and this country.

And the photos came back from my “photoshoot” on campus. I happened to post to my Instagram story about my favorite spot on campus and that led to a student reaching out and asking me to be part of her project that dealt with that very theme.

My favorite spot on campus is this stone seat that overlooks a sloping hill and a short bridge that leads to the gorgeous river walk along the Shannon River. The inscription reads, “Pause here gentle scholar and think your good thoughts.” I like nearly all of these. That’s saying something, because I haven’t liked a picture of myself in a year or two.

These photos come courtesy of @pilrosted on Instagram. Her amazing website is here. And in addition to being a talented photographer, she was gracious and kind and intelligent! It was such a pleasure to meet her and be part of her project.

Writing

Kit de Waal gave an amazing lecture today all about editing. I joked with her that I don’t remember writing being so hard. I confided to Sarah Moore Fitzgerald during workshop that I think getting published was the worst thing that happened to me. I felt like writing Her Beautiful Monster came effortlessly. I struggled finishing Moody Blue, but I think that was due more to personal reasons that anything regarding craft.

But Kit explained that I’m already a better writer than I was when writing my first book because I’m making intentional authorial decisions now. I’m concerned with elements of craft that I never even considered before. It only seems harder because I’m pushing myself to be better.

And because NaNoWriMo just recently started, I’m making it a top priority for me to finish writing my current project. I need to get it all down on paper (well, technically on Scrivener. I just started using it and I’m still trying to navigate the software) and then I can number and purpose consequent drafts to make sure my writing isn’t flat on the page or generic.

I’m excited about all that I’m learning.

The post On maturing. appeared first on mandi bean: writer.