Scratch of the Day

Well, I gave up on March. Too Southern. A friend of mine recently told me that she had just read the best Anita Brookner book yet. It’s called Visitors. I’d not read it yet but had it waiting on the shelf.

If you have never read Anita Brookner I highly recommend her books. The first one I read was Fraud and so far it is still my favorite. So to hear this book so highly praised has me intrigued. A little ways into it and it certainly seems a different story than her usual books. But there’s something odd about it. There’s something about the writing that is different from the other books of hers that I’ve read. I readily admit that I read her books for the writing rather than the story. And, to be honest, the stories are pretty much the same in every book.

So why is this one different? Did telling a (more or less) different story subconsciously affect the way she writes? Or have I just been reading earlier books and her writing is just different now? Or, have I just gotten used to her writing so that it no longer holds that enchantment for me? I find it hard to believe the latter. I’ve not read all her books and only read about one a year so it’s not like I’ve burned out on them. Still, it seems different to me. I guess I’ll just have to keep reading and see how it plays out. If something has changed, I hope it’s her and not me. That way at least I can go back to reading her earlier works and still fall in love with her writing again each time.

Well, I loaded WriteWay on my pc the other day. I’d used the demo version last year and liked it so I got the pro version. Right about now I’m wondering why. As I recall it was pretty easy to use, but now I can’t figure it out. It keeps putting me on Act pages instead of Chapters. I can’t get to Chapters because that button is grayed out. And even when I go in a change the set up, it still uses Ariel instead of Courier! AAARRRGGGHHH! As if this novel wasn’t hard enough. Guess there nothing to do but wade through the ‘help’ files.

In the meantime I’ll keep blogging. At least that’s working well. I’ve changed my art blog theme as I wanted more columns to list other blogs and what I’m reading and such without the viewer having to scroll forever down one sidebar. It’s a little garish, but I’ve always had a weakness for that.

Haven’t posted to the spiritual blog yet. Have been too busy. But I’ll do a review of the book I’m reading now as soon as I finish.

Or, more accurately, is blogging about blogging really blogging? Most of my writing lately has been on my blogs, so posting here about that seems odd. Though it’s certainly a done thing. I have an entire bookshelf weighted down with books on writing that other people have written. Still… It’s a little like an interviewer interviewing another interviewer.

I am gathering content for my spiritual blog, but have yet to come up with a name that I like. I don’t mind changing themes, but I don’t want to change the name once the blog is up and running. I have one in mind and if I don’t come up with something different by the end of the weekend, I think I will go ahead. Also the title I have in mind actually fits my blog theme.

Even though I’ve not been working on my novels these last couple of weeks, I have come up with yet another beginning for my children’s book. (I’ve lost count what number this is.) This one is rather a different direction from the other’s I’ve tried. Not so “nice” if you know what I mean. It has potential. That may not sound like much, but at this stage it’s like a lifeline.

Otherwise I work on blogs. I’m not sure if my writing on these is the way to do it or not. But I am enjoying it no end so that’s got to count for something. Right?

The next choice for the book club I sometimes go to is Marchby Geraldine Brooks.

I’ve never read Little Women. Being a tomboy in my youth any book with a title like that was anathema. But I’ve been told it’s not really necessary to have read LW. Phew! Even now I don’t think I could do it. Anyway, “March” is supposed to be an excellent book and I’ve also never read anything by Brooks so I’ll give it a go. Reading almost nothing but art books lately has really left me with a yearning for a good novel that I hate to put down. I hope this is one.

BACKGROUND AND SET UP

Having not read much until the age of 15, I came to books with the passion of a convert. It hasn’t much waned. What changed at 15? A friend’s older sister, who was an English major, gave me two books for my birthday: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran and Nine Short Stories by J D Salinger. Changed my life.

Since then I’ve gone through phases of thrillers, sci-fi, mysteries, general fiction and children’s books. I’ve pretty much loved them all. I don’t read thrillers or sci fi any more but have added some non fiction in the spiritual category. Right now I’m reading lots of art technique books as I am taking several art classes. So the posts on reading may cover a diverse field.

I also started novel writing a few years back. Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write and The Right to Wright by Julia Cameron were huge influences. They basically got me to stop thinking about writing and start putting words on the page. At the moment I have two novels in progress. One is visionary fiction and the other is a children’s book.

I had originally considered splitting these two topics into separate blogs, but have decided to keep them together. Separate categories should suffice for now.

Enough introduction for now.