Thursday, October 9, 2008

A Poem for the Fall

A Walk

The autumn leaves are blooming,
The temperature is dropping,
The scent of burnt wood fills the air.

I walk past the graveyard.
I tighten my coat around me;
My scarf billows behind me.

The wind blows through the trees.
Leaves scratch their way down the street
And crowd around my feet.

I have at least reached the house
And walk up the porch steps.
I sit on the swing next to her.

A warm mug placed in my hands,
Steam wraps around my face.
The swing slowly sways.

She lays her head on my shoulder.
I gently kiss the crown;
I have finally come home.


Fall, 2006

Writing Update. Again.

So, since my last blog I still have not written anything. However, I have few story ideas in my head that I really, really need to put on paper. Well, one full story idea and a few snippets of dialogue. I just keep losing my focus. I can't seem to keep my eye on the prize. Of course, all of the stress in my life isn't helping. My big goal is to write an epistolary novel. It's a novel that is told not in the normal narrative, but through newspaper clippings, letters, diary entries, emails, and the like. But, the question is, do I start now, or wait until next month which is NaNoWriMo? (National Novel Writing Month). Maybe I could just write down the premise and do some character sketching, then delve into the actual story next month. Thoughts?

Today's Quote: "I hope you burn in hell for your lack of charity." ~Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
What I'm Watching: Grey's Anatomy
What I'm Reading: The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Monday, September 22, 2008

I'm still on break from writing. I do have an idea for another story, but it's a little underdeveloped. I need to outline and do some character sketching first. I haven't really done any of my weekly poems lately because the prompts just haven't really inspired me.
I have a short story to submit to a writing competition and three poems to submit to a competition. Wish me luck!

Quote of the Day: "God does want us to figure it out." ~ David, The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
What I'm Watching: Two and a Half Men
What I'm Reading: If I don't finish Count of Monte Cristo this week, I'm just going to be done with it.

Monday, September 15, 2008

What I've Been up to Creatively

Let's see. I'm taking a brief break from writing as my short story is looked over by my trusted readers. I'm fixing up my dialogue to submit, and I need to pick a poem (or a few) to submit. I made a gorgeous cubic zirconia ring the other day. I finally figured out how to do it. I'm simultaneously knitting a red wrap for me and a scarf for Lauren, which is requiring me to learn to purl stitch, which was the next step for me anyway. And, yes, I'm still reading The Count of Monte Cristo. So, now you know.

Where I've Been

On Wednesday, we had to call 9-1-1 for my Grandma, who had been having chest pains. She was taken to DePaul Hospital. Sara and Nick flew out from St. Charles to be with me, and Richie even drove all the way out from Soulard to stay the night with me. (don't tell grandma) Gran was in the hospital until Friday evening. She had AFib, I believe it's called. Her bottom chambers weren't pumping properly, so the other ones had to work overtime. That's what she felt that night when she asked my mom to call for an ambulance. She thought she was having a heart attack. She's doing better. Then Saturday night came, and she fell. She went to get her hand cream off the coffee table and tripped over her house shoes. Poor Grandma. It's been a rough knock for us.
Extra special thanks and love to my darling Richie, Sara, and Nick, who drove so far out to see me, sit with me, care for me and lift my spirits. I love you all. XOXO.

Quote of the Day: "God is a creative force. And so are we. He told Adam, 'Increase and multiply.' That's what the first organic cells did, increased and multiplied. Not merely changed shape, but replicated. God is a creative force. He made the whole universe out of Himself through cell division. That's why the devils are so full of envy - the bad angels, I mean. They are not creative creatures; they have no bodies, no cells, they're spirits. And I suspect it wasn't envy so much as a form of suspicion that God was making a mistake in making another engine of creativity in Adam, so like Himself. I mean the angels probably felt the physical universe was bad enough, with all the replicating cells, but thinking, talking beings who could increase and multiply? They were probably outraged by the whole experiment. That was their sin." ~ David, The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
What I'm Watching: Flipping back and forth between Big Bang Theory and Rick Steves' Europe
What I'm Reading: Yep. You guessed it.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Math (for Adam)

Whole numbers,
Fractions,
Integrals,
"The area under my curve."

Divide by X,
Carry the one,
Drop your zero,
"Erase it; that's wrong."

Add and subtract,
Find and solve,
Multiply and divide,
"What's the factor of X?"

I sigh, yearning for my literature.


(fall, 2006)

Story Sample

So, I know I talk about writing, but you don't really know much of what I write. So, here is the opening paragraph to the short story that I just finished.

"It was such a cliche, she knew. The intern pregnant with the Senator's baby. She even swore before moving up here that she wouldn't get involved with anyone in politics. Yet here she was, hiding in the bathroom, holding a small plastic stick covered in her urine, the pink plus sign mocking her. What happened to pregnant Capitol interns also was a cliche. Leela knew she had to do whatever it took to escape back home alive."

~from The Senator's Intern

My Plans for the Weekend

Because I know you're just dying to know. Well, I've finished my story, and have handed it off to my trusted readers. (and Tim. He has to prove himself as a trusted reader) So, there are a couple of knitting projects I want to start.
After making my first scarf, I've thought about making a wrap, similar to the one Sara got me for my birthday a couple of years ago. Only bulkier. And a different color. Then, I want to try knitting on my circular needles. Richie has asked me to make him a camera bag, and the cozys that are in my knitting book use stitches that I can't do yet, and I'm not much of a sewer, either. So, I thought I might play around for a while and see what I can come up with. Maybe I can make a nice draw-string bag or something. Then I might try to teach myself to purl.
I also need to read some of Monte Cristo. I've been reading it for what, a week or two? I only passed 100 pages last night. It is a little dull, though.
If I get any story or poem ideas, of course, I'll work on them. Also, since I plan on entering three separate writing contests, so I need to pick out what I'm going to submit for each one.
I'm going to a wine tasting tonight. It's being held at work, so I'll be helping more than I'll be tasting, but it should still be fun.

Quote of the Day: "The work of the very old is always extremely powerful and intriguing, and infinitely worth pondering, and all the more perhaps because creative stamina deserts so many artists before they are truly old." ~ Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
What I'm Reading: Well, if you read the whole blog, then you would know, wouldn't you?
What I'm Watching: Ping-pong being played standing on the table.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Rough Draft One: Completed

I can't believe it. I finally finished the first draft of my story. I'm thrilled. Now I have to get copies to my two trusted readers. Then, I sit on my first draft for a while before going back to edit with fresh eyes. I just need to figure out what to do in the meantime. Guess I'll just work on some other stuff that has nothing to do with this particular story. Hooray for me!

Quote of the Day: "Where are the angels with their feathered wings to carry me down into hell? when they do come, are they the last beautiful thing that you see? As you go down into the lake of fire, can you still follow their progress heavenward? Can you hope for one last glimpse of their golden trumpets and their upturned faces reflecting the radiance of the face of God?" ~Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
What I'm Reading: Yeah, still reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, pere
What I'm Watching: I'm flipping through the channels

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Writing Update

So, I finally parked my butt and did some writing last night. I wrote another Muse Dialogue last night, so now I have eight of those. They have been getting a bit short on me lately. I should probably remedy that. But I think it's easier for me to write when I don't really have any set limitations.
I also wrote some more out of the short story I'm working on. I now have twenty-five pages. My aunt agreed to read my manuscript, so I'm trying to have it finished my October 4, our family reunion. I'll also see her tomorrow, so it would be nice if I could get it finished before then, but I'm not counting on it. I just need to remember that this is my first draft and that it doesn't have to be perfect.The perfectionist in me is arguing that last bit every step of the way. I plan on spending today writing. Wish me luck! I'm excited. Are you?

Today's quote: "My conscience is killing me, isn't it? And when you're immortal, that ca be a really long and ignominious death." ~ Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
What I'm Reading: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, pere
What I'm Watching: Ping-Pong played standing on the table

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Greetings and Salutations


So, you've stumbled onto my blog. Welcome. Make yourself comfortable. Take a look around. I'm Monica, and it's nice to meet you. I'm a writer. Well, I try to be. And this blog will revolve around my writing life.
What do I write? Fiction and poems. I try to write across genres, even if it's just a snippet of dialogue. I purge a lot of emotions and darkness out of me onto paper. Sometimes it's amusing. Sometimes, the story is so tough for me to write that it gives me a headache. I'll post some poems and clips of my stories. I'm going to enter various writing competitions, and I'll keep you posted on those outcomes. I also plan on posting book reviews.
I have yet to stumble into a writing regimen. I know that I just need to park my bum in the chair and just write until my writing takes shape, but I start to watch Penn and Teller on YouTube, then the next thing I know I'm off doing something completely. The same thing happens when I look something up on Wikipedia. I start off looking up miscarriages or depression, or even a type of food - next thing I know, I'm up to my neck in the Black Death.
But I'm rambling off. It happens. You have to learn to get used to that with me, or you're going to get dizzy and fall down.
The reason I write is that one other person. When you listen to musicians talk about how music has influenced them, they always say that when times get tough, they would escape into music. I escaped into books. I have been to so many different places and I've been so many different people. My books have gotten me through some dark times. I can't identify with the screaming of heavy metal, or the street lyrics of rap, but I know how Lizzy Bennett was discriminated against for being poorer than Miss Bingley, and I've had people remind me of that fact. I want to be that for someone else. I want to write something that someone else can escape into. And if I can reach that one person, that's what matters.
Besides, if I don't get these stories out, my head my just explode.
So, now that you're here, I hope you stick around for a while. I'll do my best to entertain you and keep you coming back.

Yours,
Monica