You Are Not Your Tonsils

Cut 'em out!

That's Winnie's big news this week. 

Popsicles and ice cream, here we come! 

And as I begin another manuscript revision, 

I reflect that life and writing are not far apart. 

Writing seems simple. 

It's only words, right? 

Plop some on a page and send it off to get published!

Such a romantic life, those writers! 

But the drafts, oh, the drafts!

Who knew there were so many revisions? 

Like life, writing is messy. 

It does not fit into boxes squarely. 

It takes pain and scratching out, 

deleting beloved characters and rearranging, 

knocking down not only small sentences, 

but bones and bracing, 

fireplaces and front doors.

A flexible canvas is essential -

or, at least as essential 

as the knowledge that 

you are not your manuscript.

You are lovable, 

even if your story isn't, 

even if your words need major surgery, 

or your book didn't make the New York Times Bestseller List,

or win any awards, 

or your blog only had two viewers last month. 

You are not your tonsils.

My sage writer brother advised me this week 

after a sound critique -

"Let it sit a few days, 

do something else that makes you happy, 

then approach your story with a little distance

and a bottle of wine."

So I sewed. 

Can you tell we're into The Sound of Music?

It was a happy treat
for Sound of Music-obsessed Winnie 

before her big tonsil extraction.

And then, to revisions. 

I love Scrivener for writing, 

but I needed something more tactile.

 

If I had a writing studio, I'd make a cork-board wall. 

Alas, the dining room does not lend itself to cork-board walls.

This is my solution.

It's a long strip of foam-core, 

layered with rows of card-stock 

left open at the top

like a hanging file rack.  

Now I can niche notecards and shuffle scenes around 

to my heart's content! 

Let the revisions begin!

Confessions of a Math Shirker

Yesterday was Pi Day. 

Did you know?

We don't know our Pi days, our prime numbers,  

or the square root of umpty-three. 

Is that such a bad thing?

PIE Day, now, that would be memorable.

Not a hard day to celebrate. Yum!

Or Color Day. 

Or Dictionary Day! 

But this post is really about confessions of a math shirker... 

and resolutions.

It's one of my New Year's Resolutions, see:

A resolution to add math as one adds vitamins, 

but to add it creatively, 

as one adds air and water and beauty. 

(How does one bring in math beautifully? )

Ideas, anyone?

Measuring snow

The kids loved sticking rulers in the snow
and recording their data in a soggy notebook.

Birdy - a little brown bear at the start of our adventures, 

and polar bear by the end.

Did they absorb a love of math?

I don't know. I got distracted making lunch. 

Popcorn math

We added handfuls of popcorn together, and ate our sums.


Jellybean Trees

This one was a big deal,
as we don't see much sugar around here.
I wrote out rows of addition (fact families)
that equalled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The girls had to write out the answer,
then put that number of jellybeans in the square.
Reward: eating jellies!

Math Pillow


For our pal Kenna's birthday, we made
a Wee Wonderfuls flannel dolly pillow.

It works like an old-fashioned flannel board, only cooler,
because clothes get stashed in the back pocket and well,
because it's just so dang cute.

(Her spa outfit. With cucumbers.)

The girls loved it.

So I thought to myself, "Hey! Why not numbers?"

Perhaps not as fashion-friendly,
but when they get tired of all that arithmetic,
(or, dare I say...bored?)
they can take a nap on it.

And Now.... 
for the Winner of the A-Z Mystery Contest!

For this Worthy entry :

ONE, ELEGANT, AZALIA, FLOWING, AZIMUTHALLY 

(Azimuthally!)

I choose Jan Morrison, intuitive writer pal - 

for her clever gusto. 

Jan, I can only imagine how enjoyable and mind-blowing Scrabble games with you must be! 

I shall contact you for mailing details soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

And Happy Pi Day! 

An Abecedarian Mystery

A contest for my word sleuths!

I stumbled on this sign last week while rambling around the old Fort.

What did it say...?

Give us a little indulgent fiction.
What's your take on this picture?
What's the story?

How to play:

Send it in the comments, or
by email:
faith(dot)pray(at)yahoo(dot)com.
The entries will publish in next week's blog post.

A surprise by snail mail goes to the best guess!

I'll announce the winner on Thursday, March 15.

Speaking of Alphabets...
Birdy's best girl is getting a baby quilt,
the kind where her doting aunties and friends make a square with a letter of the alphabet.
Our letter was "Q"
so, I sewed her a Queen,
with a Quill,
doing a Quiz
with Question marks,
under a Quilt.

But I didn't do it Quickly.



Mysterious books for detectives and word sleuths alike:

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick - Chris Van Allsburg
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick - (anthology based on the first book)

Graeme Base - The Eleventh Hour

Tuesday - David Weisner


Flotsam - David Weisner

Mr. Putney's Quacking Dog - John Agee

CDB - William Steig


The Arrival - Shaun Tan

The Red Book - Barbara Lehman