Friday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. Sometimes they make me smarter, sometimes they make me hungry … sometimes they have to do with writing and sometimes they are just plain random.
I’ve had a wonderful week that hasn’t left much room for reading, outside of books I’m trying to get through and the regular news / gossip that I consume on a daily basis. Last weekend, my mom and I took a girls weekend and went shopping. Which was ridiculous – I’m not fond of shopping, but I adore my mother, so the opportunity to just hang out with her (something that doesn’t happen a lot now that *I’m* a mom) was wonderful.
On Tuesday, I had dinner with a dear friend of mine who’s a watercolor artist. We respect each others’ creative processes and we’re kindred spirits, so hanging out with Cathy is just a treat.
This weekend, I have a phone date with my former college roommate / soul sister. She’s a ridiculously awesome and busy corporate attorney, so our phone dates are infrequent, but necessary. And then the Urban Family is coming over for dinner on Sunday, so that’s another event that I need to prepare for. But hey – the holiday cards are stamped and addressed, my Christmas presents are basically purchased and are just waiting to be wrapped, so I’m (tentatively) ahead of the eight-ball.
Unfortunately, this busy period (and my regular work deadlines) are hell on my writing regimen. But other than figuring out how to clone myself or inventing one of J.K. Rowling’s “time-turners,” I gotta figure out where I can carve out more writing time and how I can better guard that time. Because yes – I’m very busy, but I also spend way too much time on social media. So the time is there – just gotta work on the discipline part. But having said all these things, I’ve so enjoyed the time I’ve been spending with friends and family lately, I think it’s recharging my mind in different ways.
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Listening to: Prince did a killer cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.” Check it out here.
Reading: Just finished Alexandra Sokoloff’s “Huntress Moon,” the first of her FBI Thriller series. Sokoloff is known in the fiction world for taking the lessons she learned from screenwriting in Hollywood and utilizing them in fiction. I’m not sure if that background knowledge that was in my head when I was reading “Huntress Moon” or if this is just the reality of my life, but I really read books anymore as a writer. I’m intrigued to see how a writer described a character or unraveled a plot line. Very fascinating.
Fiction Update: I was feeling antsy the other day and I realized that too much time had passed since I had worked on edits for “Dragonfly.” (And “too much time” is only a matter of days, but that’s how I feel about writing on a daily basis. [Sidenote: Wish I felt this way about exercise. Sigh!]) So I tackled a chapter and it didn’t go great. But … I’m going to back the truck up and take another run at it.
michellekubitz 