Entry 30: Digging Out

I’ve never been good about keeping a journal. It all boils down to consistency. There are days when I skip making an entry. Life can crowd out the time I need to write down my thoughts about a day’s events. I’ve also been reluctant to pose as an expert on the writing process. If I knew anything of value about writing, my work would already be in print. I went out on a skinny limb of a tall in 2022 when I shared my 365 days of thankfulness. The exercise forced me to put myself out there with my soft belly exposed. Thank you for joining me on my journey in the written word. Therefore, I plan to keep a journal in 2023 to document my progress. I will call entry 30: Digging Out.

Note: I consider editing an important part of the writing process. Editing is where all the artistry happens.

My morning writing before I started entry 30: Digging Out

We are digging ourselves out from under all the snow that fell yesterday. Now, I am spending the morning digging for words. I finished chapter 15 and started 16 of Amazing Buchanan and the Beast. This rewrite of my NaNoWriMo project is moving along rapidly. I’m surprised to haven’t encountered snags along the way. What I’m writing now gives the characters stronger motivation to do the things they do. Will Chandler wants to keep Maizie safe. He feels he owes her a debt for an incident in the French Quarter years before. Maizie has unresolved issues in her past from which she would like to free herself. She is attempting to build a life for herself but doesn’t know if she can accept Will Chandler’s help. Then there is the whole issue of him being a Rougarou.

I wrote several acrostic poems today. It has been challenging to keep up with my blog posts this year. I think maybe I took on too much of a challenge with this writer’s journal and attempted different styles of poetry every month. I fell into a rhythm with all the Black Out poems I wrote last year, but I have to search far and wide for words these days.

The book I am currently reading right now and entry 30: Digging Out

As I predicted, I started reading Alexander McCall Smith’s The Novel Habits of Happiness. Isabel’s niece, Cat, has taken her dishwasher engineer to Paris. They seem to be romantically involved. That is the reason why Cat doesn’t replace her faulty dishwasher. Isabel is worried about her niece. They are close to the same age, and Cat once dated Isabel’s husband.

Smith unravels a story with a great deal of subtility. His style of writing is different than what I am used to reading. Sometimes it feels like he is rambling, but he always manages to tie Isabel’s fights of fancy into the plot. The Novel Habits of Happiness is the third book in the Isabel Dalhousie Series. I swore I’d never get hooked into the reading of a series again, but here I am. What can I say?

What I’m listening to right now and entry 30: Digging Out

I put Tab Benoit’s Wetlands on my stereo this morning because Amazing Buchanan has Cajun roots. Tab is a blues artist from Houma, Louisiana. The music he roots plays has the rhythm of the bayou built into it. He is one of Rooster and my favorite blues artists. Before Covid, we tried to catch his show whenever he played close to our home. We took a Tab Benoit groupie motorcycle vacation and rode to venues in Wisconsin and Michigan, ending in Indiana. We traveled some amazing scenic roads along the way. Our battery suddenly died while we were in an isolated area of Door County, Wisconsin, and we had to bum a ride to get a new one. It was an amazing experience filled with wonderful music, good food, and great roads. You should try to catch his show sometime.

The thing I am most thankful for at this moment.

I am thankful we didn’t get the eight inches of snow predicted for the area yesterday. Three inches of the white stuff is more than enough. Now, it is up to us to dig our way out of the mess. It was pretty yesterday, but today it’s a muddy mess. I am grateful for snow shovels and snow blowers.

This old lady says

Into every life, a little snow must fall, but it is the way you dig yourself out that matters. There is nothing like hard work and persistence to get the job done. It’s like that old joke. How do you eat an elephant? The answer is one bite at a time. This old lady has a large white mess to clear. Catch everyone later.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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