Edits and life changes.
I missed my last blog because I was working on the first round of edits. (I discovered I really, really just love garbage words.) I learned some lessons. The first of which is what a fragile hold I have on my delusions of adequacy, much less the insubstantial grip I have on my fantasy of rising above the ordinary. That said, the pragmatic adventurer in my head, who parades around as a nurse, slid down a rocky ravine and skinned her ass. Like all tough broads, shaking off the dust, she’s back on the journey chaffing, but determined.
I don’t know that it was any worse than most writers endure on the first book edits. I made rookie mistakes. The ironic part was that I took a vacation from the day job and spent a week at my leisure through Labor Day. The following Tuesday, as I looked forward to a long week of work and a community disaster drill on the weekend, the first round arrived. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s when your editor completes the first twenty pages or so and then tells you to go through the rest of the book and find all the other similar problems. I learned early in life that if there is a frustrating way to do it, I have discovered the method.
So how did I respond to this portion of my journey to publication? Now, don’t laugh too hard. I colored my hair chestnut brown from the pale blond it’s been the last fifteen years. I don’t hate it. It’s me, but different. That’s the way I feel about my life lately. I was set in my ways for a long time and the era of transformation is upon me.
Changing hair color is as simple as buying a box of Clairol. It is a reflection of my emotions that are often nebulous and growing. If I were a teenager, I might have used blue or magenta. I am an adult and work a job that frowns on bright blue hair. Having my book published isn’t the catalyst of this change, but a product of it. The writer wants a bigger piece of my life and that means getting past the same old, same old. I’m redesigning day to day, to fit in with that vision.
To continue the theme over the last two weeks, I must agree that I love fall the best of all the seasons. It comes down to embracing changes, even when raking the leaves is a bitch.
I suspect that most of the readers of this blog are going through similar adaptation in their lives. Tell me about what you are experiencing. Share the secret of your transformation and how it is reflected in your life. I would love to learn how you became.
I have a new website design up and would appreciate feed back.
Rhiannasamuels.com
Shaking Off The Dust coming early 2008
Journey to where laughter is bright
And love is incandescent.
