Cccccan't Puuuut The Book Dooooooowwwwwn

I just spent Spring Break in a way I can be proud of. It's kind of rare for me to be able to say that, maybe because I like to indulge in my favorite wastes of time, maybe because I'm hard on myself. But this Spring Break I made a list, and I made goal charts for myself and each of my kids and we accomplished everything- all of the fun stuff and all of the make-yourself-a-better-person stuff. I feel pretty great. Unfortunately, you have to prioritize and my blog has been falling by the way side a little.

I've spent this morning reading, (which could probably be defined as one of my favorite wastes of time, or... research for my career) and I am giddy over the book I'm reading, so I'll take advantage and use the adrenaline to update my blog!

My brilliant cousin, Emily made my whole life better by recommending this book to me. I read a handful of books I like, clicking on my bedside lamp and reading for an hour here or there before the book starts to fall out of my hands as my eyes start to fall shut. A handful of books in a row, somtimes a few handfuls, and then I find one that I can't put down. It's smarter somehow. It's more intriguing somehow. I'll attempt to tell you a couple of the things that stand out about this one.

I think the storytelling part of writing should come naturally. You have to be creative, and you have to have a really great idea. You can pour that thing out on paper without much hesitation, and you probably should. THEN you have to consider the rules. That's the point I'm at with the novel I'm writing. I've come to realize that you aren't doing your story justice without the rules. Your story deserves to be backed up by the kind of writing that let's people get to your story the best way they can. They need to feel it. They need to experience it. The rules are there to help them do that.

Here is a description of my favorite guy in Divergent. "His eyes are so deep-set that his eyelashes touch the skin under his eyebrows, and they are dark blue, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting color." I've never heard a color described this way! I like that the author describes it, but also leaves it to your imagination and preference. What is a "dreaming, sleeping, waiting" blue to you? I'll bet it's a pretty fabulous blue.

Early on in the book, I was bordering on frustration because I was so eager for what I wanted to happen and it wasn't happening! Only a subtle hint of it was happening. Just enough to give me hope without me knowing for sure that things would go that way. When things did start to progress in the way I was hoping, it was that much better! I didn't realize the power of making the reader wait and wonder. The payoff is an emotional rush!

So that's what I've been up to! ...And it makes me pretty darn happy! Gotta go now, as soon as I get the kindergartener on the bus I can apply my brown eyes, currently an eager, single-minded, hungry shade of brown, back on the pages of my book.

Temporary and Perfectly Acceptable Solutions

What’s going on with you right now? I’m willing to bet that your heart is breaking for someone you know who is dealing with a tragedy. I’m willing to bet that you have a child that you’re really worried about. I’m willing to bet that there is something you don’t like about yourself and you think about it every day. I’m willing to bet that you have some major event coming up and it’s sort of looming up there, adding to your stress.
ALL of those things and more are going on here.
I could talk about service. I could talk about action. I could talk about preparation and hard work and a set of beliefs, and it would all make perfect sense and be the proper way to get through all of it.
But my heart is breaking for someone I know who is going through a tragedy, I’m already doing the little amount that I can and my heart is still broken for them.
I have a child (make that four) that I’m really worried about, and I do everything I can every single day for them and I’m still really worried.
There is something (make that quite a few things) that I don’t like about myself… and I ate pretty healthily all morning until now when I downed a quarter of a bag of Peanut Butter M& Ms and realized I barely tasted them. It was the LAST quarter of the bag, or believe me the fraction consumed would be higher.
I have more than one major event coming up and what’s looming is the possibility that I could forget one all together, show up late, double book and have to choose between two, or burn the food I’m supposed to take with only minutes before the event starts. All of this seems really really really important too, until I remember the first thing on my list. My heart is breaking for someone I know who is dealing with a tragedy.
So I don’t want to write about all of the things that we should be doing and feeling. I’m going to write about the “I’ve done all I can and I’m still sad and I’m going to get my mind off of it for a little while before I lose it” fix. Here it is. Are you ready for it? It doesn’t even involve alcohol. It can even be achieved without chocolate.
It is a nice….. fluffy….. adventurous….. far away…… fictional…. solution that can make things seem quiet even when you’re still surrounded by noise. It can make you forget tragedy and worry. It can give you something pretty to look at in your mind. It can give you a hero to believe in. It can remind you of happiness and love and make believe.
It is a book.
And I’m not talking about a self-help book! I’m not talking about a biography! I’m not talking about a how to, or historical, or a deep, heavy, but gosh doesn’t it make you think or re-think or want to change and then decide you can’t and down what’s left of the Peanut Butter M&Ms book.
That’s why I’ve decided I’m not ashamed to say that I like fluffy fiction with happy endings and possibly mystical creatures. There is value in a book like that. It is okay to forget real problems for awhile and concern yourself with the hopeless human girl, in love with the fallen angel or the alpha werewolf forced to marry so that two packs can join together. It really is. Tell me it hasn’t been good for you! Tell me it hasn’t gotten you through a hard day. Give me one good reason why it’s wrong to just enjoy yourself for a little while. You can’t, can you? Now close the bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms. There you go. Open the book. Nice isn’t it? Don’t worry too much about the character's problems. Remember- faeries aren’t real, so it’s okay.
Finish the book by Monday and come back to read My True Love Story, won’t you? I’ll help you forget some more problems.