Dear Shell,
Last night around 6:40pm, my buddy, my companion, my little furry-footed friend Junior passed away. He was almost 14 years old. He had short gray fur and yellow eyes. And the sweetest, most loving personality. He loved to curl up on my lap when I'd sit on the couch and write. Or he'd jump up and sleep on my computer tower if i was on the computer. Most of the time, he had to be in whatever room we were in.
When J got home from work, Junior would meet him at the door to greet him. He'd curl up on J's chest or next to him on the couch when we'd watch TV. And he loved to sit on J's lap while J was doing stuff on the computer. He'd just stretch out and close his eyes and purr, or he'd watch the monitor to see what was going on.
When I got Junior, he was a handful. Literally. He was 5 weeks old, just this little tiny kitten with fuzzy gray fur that would fit in one hand. He popped up through the floor, through a dryer vent hole, in an old mobile home I was living in right after high school with some friends. I quickly grabbed him, and he proceeded to try to rip my skin apart with his tiny little claws (which by the way, even on a 5 week old kitten...are sharp!!). It took 2 days, and then I could reach into the box where I kept him and he would purr and cuddle with me.
He comforted me through many of life's trials: My parents divorce, losing my best friend from high school (she went mentally nuts and we couldnt keep the friendship going), he was there when I went through an abusive relationship (emotionally not physically). Junior suffered through many moves until I finally bought the house we're in now.
He had a paw in things on getting me and J together. J and I are both cat lovers, and Junior was such a lovable cat that he drew J in and hooked him. :)
Last night, I was sad, then angry, then felt guilty. I know we did everything we could for him, but there's always the 'what if' in the very back of our minds when something sad happens. And the anger, i dont know who I'm angry at, I just felt so much anger. I wanted to throw something or break something.
J is taking it hard too. Junior was his buddy.
Junior, I love you baby. We are going to miss you, but we are glad you are no longer in pain. We will try to comfort ourselves and each other with the thought of you playing and having fun, without any pain, while you wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge.
Missing her Junior,
Shell
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
The First Draft
Dear Shell,
Well it is official. My first draft of Dragon Eye is done. It's very rough and needs a lot of work. I have a couple of plot holes that need to be filled (they were from the Nano days where we were supposed to just write and write and write without worrying about editing). I also have a small problem with mixing up past and present tense in certain areas. But nothing should be too hard to fix.
So my next step is to let it sit a few days. Just walk away from it and work on something else. Then I'll go back, with a notebook beside me, and I'll read the whole novel from start to finish. Then I'll take my comments/suggestions that I wrote in my notebook as I read through, and start to fix the problem areas.
I think the storyline is pretty good. But it could be much better.
After I get the second, or maybe third draft finished, then I'll print out a copy to share with someone to read in its entirety. See if the story catches and holds their attention, see if something needs work.
After it's finished? Then I'll start working on my queries and synopsis, and start looking for an agent. And... work on the next novel in progress!
Shell
Well it is official. My first draft of Dragon Eye is done. It's very rough and needs a lot of work. I have a couple of plot holes that need to be filled (they were from the Nano days where we were supposed to just write and write and write without worrying about editing). I also have a small problem with mixing up past and present tense in certain areas. But nothing should be too hard to fix.
So my next step is to let it sit a few days. Just walk away from it and work on something else. Then I'll go back, with a notebook beside me, and I'll read the whole novel from start to finish. Then I'll take my comments/suggestions that I wrote in my notebook as I read through, and start to fix the problem areas.
I think the storyline is pretty good. But it could be much better.
After I get the second, or maybe third draft finished, then I'll print out a copy to share with someone to read in its entirety. See if the story catches and holds their attention, see if something needs work.
After it's finished? Then I'll start working on my queries and synopsis, and start looking for an agent. And... work on the next novel in progress!
Shell
Monday, February 2, 2009
Red Hot Writers
Dear Shell,
Tonight was the first meeting of the Flint Red Hot Writers. We gathered at a bookstore that appears to be a central location for most of the members of the group. We set up in the cafe of the bookstore, which unfortunately serves Starbucks coffee, but they have other drinks as well so I will most likely stick with those in the future.
Our first meeting went well. We had four of the members show up. We got the introductions out of the way, discussed how we felt the meeting should go, then got right into critiques for two of the members. Both stories were well written and captured our attention.
I did not have anything to share for our first meeting. Well, technically I could have shared. I had one copy of the first 12 pages of my novel. But due to printer issues at home and printer ink issues at my mom's, I was unable to make enough copies to share with the whole group. I will have copies for our next meeting though.
It felt great to get out and meet new people who have a common interest. I came home and felt very upbeat and ready to jump into writing more on my novel tonight.
Get the red pen ready,
Shell
Tonight was the first meeting of the Flint Red Hot Writers. We gathered at a bookstore that appears to be a central location for most of the members of the group. We set up in the cafe of the bookstore, which unfortunately serves Starbucks coffee, but they have other drinks as well so I will most likely stick with those in the future.
Our first meeting went well. We had four of the members show up. We got the introductions out of the way, discussed how we felt the meeting should go, then got right into critiques for two of the members. Both stories were well written and captured our attention.
I did not have anything to share for our first meeting. Well, technically I could have shared. I had one copy of the first 12 pages of my novel. But due to printer issues at home and printer ink issues at my mom's, I was unable to make enough copies to share with the whole group. I will have copies for our next meeting though.
It felt great to get out and meet new people who have a common interest. I came home and felt very upbeat and ready to jump into writing more on my novel tonight.
Get the red pen ready,
Shell
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