The Great Novel

I have been working on my great novel lately.

That sounds so impressive, doesn't it?  Truth is, I've been writing on a particular story as much as time and kids have allowed lately.  Years ago, I came up with a great idea for a book.  The problem was, I came up with a great idea for the middle of the book, without a good beginning or end.

I wrote down that idea and was very pleased with it, but put it aside for a long time because I was unsure of how to start or finish the story.  Since I began this story, I have written so many other things: several books, several plays, a few years of the blog, many essays and multiple "short" stories.  However, my mind was never too far away from this particular story.  Finally, I developed its beginning and I was very pleased with it.  I wrote the beginning of the story and was able to incorporate the middle that I had already written.  Then I got stuck in the middle and had no idea where to take the story.

For a long time, I thought and thought and thought and then one day - poof - an idea came to me and I was able to come up with the base idea that would finish the story.  With that base in mind, I have been writing.  In the past month alone, I've added over 16,500 words.  I'm not done and I'm missing several small sections that bridge various parts of the story together.

It has been exciting to write and I have to say that I am enjoying my story.  I think it's pretty darn good.  I'm reaching the end of the story and that is exciting.

When I am done, I will have the exceptionally fun task of re-reading it and look for major spelling and grammar mistakes along with any glaring plot holes.

I have this wild idea that someday my book will be published, become a best seller and Hollywood will be interested in turning my book into a movie.  I even know which actor I want in the main adult roll.  But, while I have fantasies, I am not delusional.  I know that this book will probably never be published and never be read and it kind of hurts my heart to know that.  Still, it doesn't stop me from writing.

I already have my idea for my next novel.....

Differences in the mind

When I look at the world, I see the colors and hear the music of nature.
When my 9 year old daughter looks at the world, she sees the math and logic in nature.

She asks very difficult questions.  She wants to know how the human brain works.  She calculates the numbers she sees in the everyday world.  She has an interest in biology.  Today she and I talked about arteries and veins.  When she cut her foot and it started to bleed, we wondered if the blood came from a vein or an artery.  Then we cleaned up her foot and she got a Band-Aid.

She wants to be a Kindergarten teacher.  I keep telling her that she needs to become a professor at a university.

The funny thing is, she says she dislikes math and claims that she is not good at it.  It is so not true!  She is very good at math.  The problem with learning math, is that it is hard to see how the information you learn could be practical.  I told her that I hated learning fractions.  I saw no point in learning how to add and subtract fractions.  Little did I know, I would use it everyday in the kitchen when cooking food for my family.  I've told her to give math a chance.  Someday, when she is ready to become a great scientist, or a Kindergarten teacher, she will understand why it was so important for her to learn equations.

Until then, I hope she never looses her interest in the world.  I hope she keeps asking hard questions.

Busy summer

Life has been busy this summer.
We've done:

Parkour day camp
Boy Scout camp
Youth Conference
Summer school
Goofing off
A visit to the frozen yogurt place - YUM
Hikes in the local national forest
Tons of laundry
Monkee Marathon
Visits to many local playgrounds
Improv classes and a performance
Computer game playing
Writing (me) lots and lots of writing
Reading
Working at the parks
A birthday party
Caught a cough
Two 1000 piece puzzles
A trip to the pool
Sewed a purse
Kindergarten registration
Shopping at new malls
School supply shopping (cries)
4th of July BBQ
Went to see fireworks
Watched movies
Jumped on the trampoline
Canned salsa, tomato sauce and ketchup
Grew tomatoes, cucumbers, cherry peppers, 1 squash, 5 kinds of mint, and a few strawberries
Built a small chicken coop
Started collecting eggs from our chickens (hooray!)
Baked cookies, cupcakes and brownies

It's been a very busy summer and lots of fun!  School starts in 3 weeks and we all have mixed emotions.  Some of us are very excited and some of us not so much.  The Kindergartener is crazy excited!

Wonder what else we'll squeeze in these last few weeks.