Happy New Year

Tilting toward Inspiration

Iguanas out to sun themselves on a cool day in Cozumel.

Inspiration for the New Year

I’m in Mexico with my husband, sisters and their families. I’m pretty much in slacker mode, but I did find a few bits that inspired me for the new year. Not in the way they are supposed to, though. 

Isn’t this what happens to writers? You look at something seeking a specific outcome and another idea altogether comes up? 

Poets & Writers has its annual inspiration issue. In the article “Earth: Ground Yourself in Purpose” by Laura Spence-Ash, I loved reading:

I try now to be more mindful of what I can’t stop thinking about. To honor my obsessions. To ignore the editor on one shoulder and the internal naysayer on the other. Those two voices who are always convinced that every word is the wrong one, that the whole idea is bad, that the end will never be in sight.

I am attempting to honor my obsession by having started over on my novel revolving around book censorship in a high school. I am in the middle of ‘no end in sight,’ so it’s nice to have permission to ignore that worry and just keep up with the work.

At the beginning of the year, I always remind myself of this quote from Carrie Fisher. It’s from a Q/A, but I don’t remember the details. 

What are the important rules you live by?

Be kind. Don't hurt other people. It's all the sort of Christian ethics stuff I thought was bullshit when I was a kid. No, it turns out it's not bullshit. Tell the truth, be kind, all that corny stuff. 

School Library News/Book Bans

More good news on the book banning front: “Judge Tears Apart Iowa Book Ban, LGBTQ Education Law”

What I’m Reading

Another positive outcome of slacker mode is having the chance to read more than usual. 

More issues of One Story and Teen One Story (perfect to take to the windy, cold beach and read while wrapped up in my beach towel). 

“The General” by Phuong Anh Le I very much enjoyed this story of reminisce, regret and fulfillment decades after the Vietnam War. 

“The Exorsister” by Nic Anstett If you don’t subscribe to One Story, see if you can get ahold of this issue (304). So good. First line: “I come home and my sister is possessed.” Demon possession, inadvertently caused by an oil company drilling and breaking open a volcano into hell, is now common. The Catholic Church has become a government entity, the Center for Demonic Control. The narrator, a transgender woman, is working to save her previously loving sister after she is taken over. 

“Eleven Things You Don’t Remember” by Oliver Reimers The narrator recalls significant events molding his teen love for a boy whose mom rented the granny flat behind his house. I have two friends who also read One Story and, not long ago, I told them it seems that Teen One Story has been looking for a truly wonderful story with a LGBTQIA protagonist, but the stories they’ve published don’t quite land or, in one instance, are too Hallmark-Movie-Channel. Finally, here’s beautiful writing and a story to be lost in. Bravo!

Magazines while sitting on the plane, delayed by engine trouble and data loss. There’s a good story behind this, but it can wait a week. 

Hello Beautiful. Yes, still. It’s a marathon. What can I say?`