Taking a Second Look at Revisions

Picasso in his studio.

"I don't know what inspiration is.  But when it comes I hope it finds me working."

-Pablo Picasso

This is just a short note to say that I am deep into the revision process and working hard.  I attended a Donald Maass workshop in Saint Louis last weekend, The Fire in Fiction, that was just what I needed to tackle the next steps in my revision/writing process.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

House on Pooh Corner

I ran across this real estate listing at work yesterday.  It looks like the home of A.A. Milne, the creator of, Winnie the Pooh, is up for sale in England.  Anyone want to pool their money with me and buy it? It's a mere 3.22 million. We could traipse along trails where Milne was inspired to pen the adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit and Eeyore.

The ladies at work all agreed that it would make a lovely children's library!  Wouldn't it also make a fabulous writing retreat?

Have a nice weekend, folks!

Cuckoo for Coconut

Image: Amherst College Archives and Special Collections

I've been thinking about Emily Dickinson lately.  My walking buddy and I were discussing the book, White Heat: the Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, written by Brenda Wineapple.  In the book, there's a passage that relates to all writers who go through the submission process.  Emily asked of her editor, "Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse is alive?"

It's a compelling question, isn't it?  So with Emily on my mind, I ventured to find her literary estate online and happened across a recipe of hers for Coconut Cake. 

Image: Amherst College Archives and Special Collections

So in honor of this week's rejections, I decided to try it.  (The rejections I received were for two poems and for one short story.  Tough week!)

Emily Dickinson's Coconut Cake

2 cups of flour
1 tsp. Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Mix in the eggs and then milk.  Add Cream of Tartar and baking soda.  Then add in flour, stirring just until mixed.

Pour batter into a buttered and floured bread loaf pan.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick pulls cleanly from the bread.  This recipe serves eight.  It's more of a quick bread than a cake, but still delicious.  If you like sweeter bread, try using sweetened shredded coconut or adding a little more sugar.  It would be a wonderful bread to serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

The smell while baking is divine.  As soul soothing as her poetry.  Way to bake, Emily!

How Far Does a Seed Travel?

Lady Guadalupe roses smell divine!

May has to be one of my favorite months when it comes to gardening.  This year, with the warm temperatures in winter, I feel like the flowers are blooming too fast.  Everything is a little ahead of schedule. 

My roses are blooming like gangbusters right now.  It's a treat for the eyes and the nose, especially when the windows are open.  The kids and I spent a fair amount of time in the flower beds, weeding and mulching for the long summer season ahead.

But look what I discovered behind the rose bush in my front yard next to a clump of Russian Sage.

What is this ferny feather-like creature lurking in my flowerbed?

At first, I thought it was the Sea Holly that my cousin, Chunky Toad, sent to me.  (Thanks, cousin! I immediately thought of you.)  I planted it in the back yard right before a long dry spell and it never made it.  But then, my dear cousin also sent seeds for a wide range of flowers.  Seeds that I had planted in the backyard as well.

Here's what one of the blooms from the ferny plant looks like up close:

Lovely, isn't it?  It's Nigella, commonly called, Love in a Mist, according to Google.  I remember planting the seeds.  The results had been somewhat disappointing as the weather and the timing hadn't turned out well.  Last summer went by so quickly, there was hardly time to keep the weeds at bay.

The Nigella is new this year.  I've never grown it before nor did I intend for anything to grow directly behind my rose bushes.  But they time-traveled, migrated and found a happy spot.  (Most likely due to a faithful robin who returns each spring to nest in my hanging baskets.)

I'm delighted.

I think the universe is trying to tell me something about resilience.  Having patience with the writing process, especially when you've put your work out there on the line, is sometimes a struggle.  So what does this little flower tell me?

Surprises are often good.  Sometimes a dream is not dead, just merely slumbering.  Maybe it needs a little more time.  Maybe it needs to get up and move around.  Don't give up.  Blossoms await.

photo source: Etsy

Greetings, friends! 

I hope May finds you well.  It's been a while since I updated the chess progress.  (I am testing Malcolm Gladwell's theory that 10,000 hours at a task will create mastery.)  So here's the scoop from the chess board:

900 games played. Yup.

Won 437 (49%)
Draw 126 (14%)

Total percent winning and/or drawing: 63%

Longest winning streak: 9
Drawing streak: 3
Losing streak: 6 (That was a pretty rough run.)

So far, Mr. Gladwell has been correct.  I'm showing slow and steady progress.  Makes me feel a little bit like the tortoise, in the tale of the tortoise and the hare.  But hey, I like tortoises!

What's new in your neck of the woods?

 

Oh, happy day!  Check out my little tweet story over at One Forty Fiction, titled, Ferris Wheel at Night.  The question begs...are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Enjoy and, if you get a chance, leave a little love!

A New Way to Read Books

Is this cool or what?  I saw this on Pinterest and just had to share!