When Life is Really Good, Write. When Life is Messy, Write Anyway

It’s been an eventful week. Hard to deal with on so many levels.

I don’t want to go into the weeds here, but I found myself asking a lot of existential questions, to which I have no answers. I’m just glad that I’m going to be spending my winter at the beach again, away from all the inevitable trouble and strife in the US.

For now, I’m trying to figure out how to move forward when it feels impossible to do so. And part of that is, fortunately, the start of a two-week course I signed up for a while back on the Story Arc and Character Arc. I’m trusting it will give me the push and direction I need to start rewriting my WIP.

As the sage says (I wish I could remember which one), “good writing is rewriting.”

In other news, my son is scheduled for his last cancer surgery, which will be followed by another just-in-case week of chemo, after which he should be able to start making plans for a cancer-free life. I’m looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with him and his family.

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What I’m Reading

Murders at the Winterbottom Women’s Institute by Gina Kirkham

This is the first book I’ve read by Kirkham, and it was delightful.

Prunella Pearce is a librarian who’s turned her back on heartbreak and the big city to settle in a small English village. The only problem is, there’s no social life for a single woman unless she joins the Women’s Institute, which Pru is unwilling to do. Pru’s only friend is a member, and she eventually persuades Pru to get involved.

The only problem is, members start getting murdered right and left, and the police are getting nowhere.

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Notable Quotes

I wanted to hate Charlie on sight, particularly when she started cozying up to Hurley—my relationship with him at that time was about as straightforward as string theory—but Charlie was too likable and too nice a person.

- Dead Even by Annelise Ryan

I love her description of her relationship with Hurley being as straightforward as string theory. In other words, it’s a real mess, but what a nice way to put it!

Against all odds, they’ve stuck together for forty years, and though I’m far from a romantic, we should celebrate that. Or, at the very least, acknowledge it with a grocery store sheet cake and some balloons.

- Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs

This made me smile — as if a grocery store sheet cake somehow isn’t celebratory.

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Wise Words

Last week’s puzzle was this:

We were in George’s office, which was decorated more like a den. He was a therapist, and I suspected he chose the _____ to make his clients feel more comfortable.

- The Mysterious Case of the Missing Motive by Michele Pariza Wacek

And your word choices were decor and decorum. Naturally my brilliant readers nailed it. The better word choice was decor.

Decor refers to the style of decorating — the type of furniture, the art on the walls, colors, and that sort of thing. Decorum refers to behavior, specifically socially acceptable, “proper” behavior.

We’ll have a new puzzle next week. Thanks for playing!