Notes from the Saggy Middle

Ovidia--every other Tuesday

I suspect all writers (and too many readers) are aware of the 'saggy middle' stretch where nothing much seems to be happening.

It kind of feels like that's where we're at in Singapore right now. Everyone's recovering from the crush of major festivals: Christmas- Chinese New Year- Hari Raya Aidilfitri and there's just a little time to breathe now that it's Lent and Easter doesn't come till April 5 this year.

I was thinking that I had nothing to write about this week--not because nothing has happened, but because so many small but good things have.

The best of these is, I have a new office assistant:

I can't believe we didn't realise how smart Sophia is--she just didn't understand our expectations. Now she not only walks on a leash, as soon as she sees me unhooking her harness she lies on her tummy and lifts her two front paws to slide them into the correct loops.
I might be biased, but isn't that dog level genius? She also responds to 'Sit' and 'Stay' even when other dogs are around and holds the current record for digging out treats hidden in egg cartons or wedged into toilet rolls.
Best of all maybe, she's come to understand the yoga mat in my exercise room isn't a second toilet!

Now she sleeps in the corner while I put my daily time in.

But I'm glad I'll be going to yoga and pilates classes again soon. We'll be having the sea burial ceremony (ashes in an approved sea burial pot) for my dad in law this coming Saturday and then the official mourning period will be over.

I've also really enjoyed the first German class we attended. It's been a long time since I've got to study something according to schedule and I realise I've always approached things by plunging in and going full immersion. But I'm seeing how my fellow students work in structured systems, making vocabulary lists and so on.

So I'm taking this as a chance to learn about learning instead of relying on excitement and momentum!

I've also got to a point where I feel like I know (for now at least) where the next book is going. I can feel it taking shape, bones and organs forming and I'm hoping to get a rough draft down by the end of next month.

And through all this I'm very aware how lucky we are to have quiet moments and safe spaces here, with eveything that's going on in the rest of the world.

Sophia's lessons on Writing, Walking and how Wonderful life is

Ovidia--every other Tuesday

This is Sophia

And our carpet is rolled up because Sophia's not toilet trained (yet).

She's around six years old, but as a rescued 'breeder', she's lived most of her life in a cage having puppies. She's only now learning what grass feels like your paws and that it's safe to be in a harness.

Another big lesson was that she's allowed to move around in the house and doesn't have to stay in a box to feel safe.

Best of all, she's learning to play--three days after she arrived, she woke up frisky and bouncy and eager for her walk for the first time and it was the best moment I've had in a long time!

I knew we were getting a dog who would need a lot of care and patience. I'd not realised it would reorganise our entire life or that it would be so rewarding.

Because of a ear infection, Sophia needs her ears cleaned and medicated ear drops twice a day.
She needs dental work (when she's in better health because it'll be done under general anaesthetic).

Poor Sophia getting her ears treated. She put up a valiant fight but was outnumbered.

She'll also need to be sterilised (ditto).

She needs careful feeding and constant, gentle reassurance that this is home now and she is safe here.

What surprised me is learning that she doesn't need me to make up for her past.
I'd thought that would be the biggest part of the job--making up to her for all that humans had put her through up till now. But dogs, apparently, don't hold on to the past like people do--all Sophia needs to know is that she's safe right now, her tummy is full and her bladder empty and there will be food and exploratory walks tomorrow.

And maybe that could be enough for me too.

Since she arrived last week, my step count has gone up dramatically because of our walks. My days have acquired a new structure that feels effortless: early morning walk before my morning writing. Breakfast after ear cleaning and medication, Food prep and breakfasts all round. Sophia follows me on my rounds of watering and spraying plants, feeding and checking on the fish and Turtle Boy and because of her, I remember to take stretch and step breaks in between writing pomos instead of working right through them.

Which actually works out very well--because even with everything going on, like vet visits and pet store trips and grocery shopping, I've been keeping up with my writing quota with what feels like less effort than usual!
And I've been reading more too, maybe because I occasionally read passages out loud to her to see if she'll react (mostly she doesn't. Sometimes she yawns. But it's good for me because I'm hearing words again!)

I'm still in the rough draft phase so that's not saying much, but I feel like I'm writing like a real grown up professional writer now--I'm writing on a long leash, exploring and sniffing and scratching, but still connected to the main plotline.

That's something that's improtant for stories as well as dogs!

But it hasn't been nothing but a dog's life--a couple of days ago I got to meet up with Cathy Ace and Geoffrey for Singapore Slings at the Raffles Long Bar!

I had a wonderful time and saw with my own eyes Cathy's 'magic connection' when a research connection she'd been thinking about just walked up and presented itself... but I'll leave her to tell the story herself when the book comes out!

I could talk to Cathy for hours and normally I would have made an afternoon/ evening/ night of it. But I had to leave because I wanted to get home to Sophia. Not that I had to--she had someone with her and I'd got photos of her having her tea and going on her walk... but I wanted to get back to her.

The same way it feels when a new story starts to come to life and you want to get back to it even if you don't yet know where it's going. Or even more because you want to find out where it's going!

Sophia doesn't know any of this of course.
She just knows she is safe and part of a pack where important things (food, walks, cleaning, naps) happen on a routine in between adventures and new experiences. That creates a safe space for her to grow in.

And maybe I can approach writing that way too--not worrying about what went wrong previously or trying to get back to the dead rat on the side of the path (we're both still working on that one), but just walking on and exploring and trusting the leash for now.

Right now all is well.

And I find it nice to remember that even the Queen of Crime had a faithful writing companion who cared more about walks than deadlines.

Elizabeth Hadley's life size bronze sculpture of Agatha Christie and Peter in Torquay.

Carrying a book to term and gaining 3 kg along the way

“The first draft of writing anything is shit” — Ernest Hemingway

“The end result of eating anything is shit” -- Me at the moment

Ovidia—Every Other Tuesday

I’m in the really final Stretch of finishing my latest Tree History Mystery and yes, 3 kg heavier than when I started. But by now I’ve come to realise it’s part of the process.

I love writing. I love the process, the picking and nitpicking, the sudden wonderful bursts of ‘that’s what I mean’ even if it means starting over with one more rewrite and the satisfaction of knowing I’ve done all I can to get the right words down in the right order to put across what I want to say.

But I also hate writing.
Especially when I’m mired in the chrysalis stage like I am now. When nothing seems to be changing on the outside but there’s agonising breaking down of a hundred caterpillar legs into sludge before they can re-form into the final book or butterfly.

There have been breaks, though.

Like Sunday night, when the Beloved Husband declared I needed (even if I didn’t deserve) a break and treated us to a ‘feast night’ out at our neighbourhood kopitiam. Also, he wanted to test his crab dissecting travel kit, so we ordered chilli crab…

The crab was Delicious and came with little fried mantous, thin crispy brown skins over moist Chinese bread that’s perfect for sopping up juices.

The crab dissecting travel kit worked perfectly, by the way. Though we didn’t need the little finger bowl because there was a sink a few steps away from our table.

(And yes, if anyone’s wondering, he also has a public restroom kit, a transit lounge shower kit, and a keeping footwear dry while viewing the Niagara Falls from boat deck kit and they all work.)

I also had the Hokkien Mee (one of my favourite dishes) and added a satay ‘set’ to make up for our wait.

And the drink stall was pushing their homemade honey lemon drink—“not from cans! Ownself make one!”—which was so good that we polished off two mugs each.

It was a fantastic feast. And yes, I came home afterwards and polished off three more chapters, but in a completely different mood. It’s amazing how a good meal can lift your spirits—and yes, it’s a completely different feeling from mindlessly swallowing junk food while sitting at the computer—because I’ve done that too, trust me.

And yet that’s part of the problem. The 3 kg I’ve put on in these three months of this final round of writing.
It’s totally understandable. I haven’t been to yoga, haven’t set foot in the gym or dipped a toe in the pool. The best I can say is I’ve kept to my daily morning and evening walks because that’s when I get to see my doggy friends.
Once this book is in, I know I’ll get back in shape.
I was thinking of taking October off writing to catch up on reading and exercising but I’ve already got a great (they’re always great until you start writing) idea for a standalone middle grade book that I really want to get down and if I could…

I know that writing a book is a marathon run, a cycling grand tour where stamina and mind set count for as much, if not more, than the idea you started out with. And yes, I enjoy even the grind as part of the process. Just as I enjoy preparing our home meals as much as the occasional feast night out.

We’re having noodles tonight; fairly healthy as you see— and I enjoy the preparation and cooking. It could be the start of the path back to losing this extra belly fat, except... the Beloved Husband just arrived home with what he calls happy writing fuel….

If anyone’s still wondering where that extra 3 kg came from… but yes I’m happy.

Heading back to the grindstone now… Wish me luck!

Choices to Make on Your Road to Writing Success

Jeff–Saturday

This being February, the music industry named winners at the Grammys, and next month the movie industry will do the same at the Oscars. Writers, who have been deluged for months with “best of 2022” lists, will find “best of 2022” award presentations of one sort or another running nigh up on through the end of 2023.

 

It seems to have put some colleagues and friends on edge. Nor sure why that is, but something I used to tell my students in the college level mystery writing course I once taught might be of help.

 

Jason searched for the Golden Fleece, Indiana Jones for the Lost Ark of the Covenant, and Robert Langdon for the Holy Grail (maybe someone should tell him that his buddy, Dan Brown, already found it), but writers appear doomed to wander the earth in search of something far more elusive.  No, not story ideas: recognition.

 

I doubt many writers would disagree that it’s virtually impossible to land on a writing site today without finding some form of promotional activity under active discussion alongside a flood of subtle and not so subtle self-promotional efforts. I’m not judging, we’re all “guilty” of it, including moi, seeking to find a place among the millions of books in the marketplace. 

 

I do admit that all this talk of promotion—how to do it, how not to do it, how important it is, how unimportant it is, how subtle it must be, how blatant it must be—makes me wonder how much of it makes any real difference in the long run.   Is the effort more akin to buying a winning lottery ticket than receiving a well-earned reward for diligent hard work, or does it lay somewhere between those extremes?  

 

Whether you’re a published, non-published, or aspiring writer—or for that matter virtually anyone committed to achieving––it’s up to you to decide for yourself what you define as success while navigating your way through the Four Stages of a creative journey: Wanting, Struggling, Attaining, and Enduring. 

 

We all set goals for ourselves, some modest, some wistful, some mad. But whatever our measure, we must be vigilant against failing to savor the unexpected joyful highs that come to us along the way. It does not matter how modest those bits of joy may seem at the time, for they serve to offset the inevitable lows we all experience at one time or another, no matter how bold or benign our personal vision of what writing success means to us.

 

Bottom line. It is up to you to keep your writing a joy and not a burden.

 

 

­—Jeff 

 

Jeff’s Upcoming Events

 

Friday, March 17 @ 9:00AM

Left Coast Crime

Tucson, AZ – El Conquistador, Turquoise 1

Participating in Panel moderated by Alice Volpe titled, “Crimes Around the World,” with co-panelists Connie Berry, Juliet Grames, Carlene O’Connor.

 

Saturday, March 18 @ 9:00AM

Left Coast Crime

Tucson, AZ –  El Conquistador, Presidio 1-2

Moderating Panel titled, “Both Sides of the Law,” with panelists Curtis Ippolito, Margaret Morse, Karen Odden, Michael Sears

 

A Fresh Page for 2019

Sujata Massey

Hark! A new year means a new Bullet Journal! 

I'd love to start everything fresh in the new year. Clear Desk, Clear House, Clear Fridge seem to promise a Clear Mind. 

But I can't blank out what's already going on. For this writer there is my work in progress—Perveen Mistry #3, about 1/4 written—and various contracts for audio and foreign editions that need to be managed, book signings, as well as family responsibilities. 

In my house, there are dogs that need to be walked every few hours, a dry Fraser Fir that needs to go to composting heaven, and two fireplace mantels full of holiday cards.

The refrigerator has become a library of sorts, full of small containers of leftovers. TBE shelves—To Be Eaten. Ha ha! 

The only new thing I can count on enjoying January 1 is my Bullet Journal™.

The index is waiting for my 2019 life to take off!

Last year, I shared some information about my fondness for this type of planner. I'm even more in love with it as time goes on. The system of organization was first implemented personally by the Austrian graphic designer Ryder Carroll, who has lived in the United States since the 1990s. His back-to-the-pen method in the era of digital organizing hit a chord with his colleagues who urged him to share his strategy with the world. He started with a blog. Now there are untold thousands using the trademarked bullet journals manufactured for Carroll's company, or using the blank books of their choice.

How is it different from a datebook or daily planner?

It's blank.This means one lays out a calendar using a ruler and pen, allowing spaces for to-do lists, gratitude lists, activity logs and more. In the trademarked bullet journal, there are a few pages with instructions like this to help:

Ryder Carroll's instructions come inside the notebook

I began my odyssey into bullet journaling in the middle of 2016, when I had barely any space left in the dated calendar book I carried in my purse. Yes, I had a calendar feature on my smart phone, but I could not rely on myself to remember to pull the app up several times a day. The app's calendar setting didn’t provide enough room for me to take good notes. I am not a fast keyboarder, I frequently hit the wrong letter, and worst of all, events sometimes disappeared from the phone due to various calendars not showing. For me, having a paper calendar book that has enough space for me to quickly scrawl down things is a joy. 

Leuchterm is the German stationery company that has had its sales explode internationally after the Bullet Journal ™ phenom took off. These notebooks have very firm covers and pages that are stitched together, rather than the cheap spiral-bound style The notebook pages bear a very faint dot grid. This is perfect for drawing lines and blocks and writing text so it doesn't meander at an angle. Also it offers so much more flexibility for the size of your handwriting. The ideal journal has pages that are numbered at the bottom and has a multi-page index at the beginning, so you can simply look in the front and flip to the place where you want to be in the 249-page book. 249 has turned out to be exactly the right length for my year. A built-in elastic band holds the day’s spread ready for quick reference--and also can keep your book closed and the pages safe when you're carrying it in a bag. 

I need to come clean about the lousy condition of my 2018 notebook. It’s the result of traveling throughout the year and constantly stuffing the book in the skinny pocket of the airplane seat. I do not recommend jamming your book into small spaces. I also sometimes forgot to use the elastic band to keep it properly closed. I have promised my new cornflower blue book I’ll be gentler than I was with the turquoise 2018 book. 

You might think that I'd throw away my 2018 book because I'm not using it anymore. No way. As the Japanese organizing guru Marie Kondo suggests, I will thank the book for its year of hard service, and also for managing not to get lost. But while she would say to take a snapshot of the journal and put it in recycling, It's headed for the special shelf in my study where other old journals and datebooks live. Occasionally, I page through these books, large and small, enjoying seeing addresses of my old haunts in Japan and India, and reading the names of overseas friends I haven't seen in years.  

The thing about having a serial pattern of Bullet Journaling is that you can learn from the old books and be more efficient with the future ones. All you need are colorful pens, a ruler, and maybe a stencil. And here are a few more things I'm taking to heart:

I followed the Ryder Carroll video on breaking in a journal and stretched all the page spreads to relax the notebook’s spine. This should guard against the spine separating from the cover. As he suggests in the video, I'm following a simpler system of listing upcoming events for a month on one page, so they can easily be transferred to the two-page spread that shows one week at a time.

I am starting “collections” of topics—such as film and literary references—in the back of the journal, gradually moving toward the center of the book. Naturally, the weekly calendars of events, grocery lists and the like will march from front to back. This strategy comes from  a Youtube video posted by a young Englishwoman with the ominous title Top 7 Bullet Journal Mistakes. Unbelievably, there are hundreds of people around the world shooting videos and writing blogposts about their journals in progress!

Still, with January 1 fresh start in mind, some goals and encouraging mottos for me are in a section up front, so I can’t avoid facing them. Things like:

Getting Writing Done in the Morning is Easier and Makes Me Feel Accomplished.

Lean Into Invitations! 

Easy Does It With Exercise.

These are my resolutions packed into a blank book for 2019. 

Shakespeare Made Me Do It.

Jeff—Saturday

I wrote this several years ago, but for the life of me I don’t remember ever posting it—perhaps because I had better judgment back then…or at least a better memory.

Though I wrote it as a reflection on the value of the writing life, told through a parody of Hamlet’s classic To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, when I re-read it a day ago I found it reminding me of why we who write must not give in to the pervasive ennui brought on by the seeming hopelessness of our times; but continue to take up arms (and keyboards) against the sea of outrageous inhumanity sweeping across our world, ever mindful that if we do not, insanity waits in the wings for its turn to rule.

JEFFREY: To blog, or not to blog--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

In despair at our blog’s outrageous fortune

Or to take pens against our shared troubles

And by exposing end them. To fly, to leap--

To soar—or do we creep away to end

The headache, and the thousand natural blocks

That publish is heir to. 'Tis a consternation

Devoutly to be wished on others.  Weep--

Perchance even scream: But at the very nub

Of a possible death to the dream of some

Is why we suffer at this mortal toil.

Let us pause. There's the respect

That is the balm to a long writing life.

For who would bear the ups and downs of time,

Th' reviewer's wrong and downright contumely,

The pangs of edited work, the pub delay,

The insolence of the press, and its spurns

Showing patient merit worthy of a saint,

When he or she might quiet exit take

To make a living?  Who would deadlines bear,

To grunt and sweat a solitary life,

But that the dread of giving no more breadth

To all those undiscovered thoughts that churn

Our traveling minds, and puzzle our will,

Would make us far more ill by half

Than denying readers what they know not of?

Dedication makes writers of us all,

And a simpler life of remuneration

Is sacrificed to one of words and thought.

Any enterprise giving pitch and moment

To our words, even if currently awry,

We can’t lose in the name of no action. 

So now fair Colleagues, bring on opinions

That our blog be not dismembered.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

—Jeff