Write Write Write

The last few days have been getting away from me. After months of rain, this island is lying under a great blue bowl at the moment. I should not say that out loud as the ocean has very good hearing and will ship over a thick bank of grey fuzz to stop up the blue hole in the sky.

There were five months (although I was not here for them) of rain--do people know this when they sign up in droves to get married in Hawaii? I think the tourist board leaves out such information. Vera Wang and wet sand do not mix. And so now--the summer. There have been friends visiting, old friends getting together, new friends going to the beach, and a subtle frenzy to each day. It has been lovely, companionable and not conducive to working. In order to get lots done my day has to duplicate the last. Sleep, write, eat, write, teach, read, beach, repeat.

For me a steady footprint of repetition is road to an evenly threaded working week. A racing, running, burst of inspiration--while fun and productive--can also derail my little red wagon. Good books, good friends, good weather--my wagon gets derailed very easily. So, back to routine. My small green flash pot of fresh ideas seems to like routine. It is like holding absolutely still so that the neighbor's unsocial cat will come and lie against your legs.

Giant Limb

Ok, I am taking a huge risk here because no one might answer and then I will feel silly but who is reading the plum bean? I think I will just periodically throw this question out there and see if anyone responds. I think that is called scattering your risk?

I have gotten lovely, encouraging messages from everyone from: wonderful lower/middle/highschool friends to college friends to London friends to Hawaii friends to vagina friends (Vagina Monologues and VDAY, just to be clear) to family friends to my brother and sister's incredible supportive friends to my super students but it is all in my email and facebook or on the phone and not here. And then I signed up for a sitemeter thing and it told me in no uncertain terms that no one, ever, has been to the plum bean. of course i might have set it up wrong and i have definitely lost the password...

I totally understand the read but do not comment thing as I have left a grand total of three comments on the blogs of other writers (even though my New Year's resolution was to leave comments on the blogs of other writers). Those were three hard won comments as well, each with an average of four false starts.

Nathan Bransford has a super helpful, informative blog that covers everything from how to write a query letter to the current landscape of publishing. It has saved my bacon on a number of occasions and I have recommended his marvelous blog to everyone, and yet I cannot work up the oomph to leave a note and thank him. I will let you know as soon as I locate the oomph to thank him.

But I am just curious... who is out there?