Writer’s Talk

Okay, so I’m back to The Writer. He wanted to write. He wanted to write non-fiction (well mostly) in newspapers. He wants people to like his writing — duh….Well, they do. They like it so much that they are writing and calling and emailing him with questions and comments and stories of their own. Isn’t that GOOD???? Of course it is. But this is one of those things we all have in life: ask for it, get it, … gripe about it.

“Someone emailed me today about….. ” [often some environmental issue or crisis occurring in our midst]. “I have to email all those people who wrote me about . . . [fill in the blank with whatever his most current column is about]. “I don’t know what to tell this person. They think they saw a …..” [fill in with some outrageous bird that's never been seen in the northern hemisphere before!].

Now, get this: I put on my “guy-hat” — you know, the one where I immediately stop listening and move to solving the problem — “You don’t have to look up all that. Just point them to the website to find the information.” Hurriedly, he responds, “No, they expect me to figure it out and write them back. I have to do this. They’re my readers.”

What’s not said: “I love getting mail and messages from people reading my work. This is affirming. This is what I’ve longed for in my writing — immediate and positive feedback. This is what keeps me engaged and joyous about this work. I love my readers!”

oh. ok. I get it — but I had to take off the hat before I did.

The Last Day of Spring…

in South Mississippi was yesterday. This is just my prediction, of course––my pessimistic prediction! While the midwest was being hammered by rain, thunderstorms and killer tornadoes, south Mississippi was windy, sunny, and unbelievably cool. A day spent working in the sun out in the yard, cutting and piling branches and pruning azaleas and pulling weeds. A day to savor before the hot, humid days of southern summer return to trap us in the air-conditioned dungeons of houses, workplaces, stores, etc.

“Wish you were here, the weather is beautiful . . .”

Lights On, Hearts Open

Yesterday, driving home from lunch (day one, post-vacation), I encountered a funeral cortege, led by a Hattiesburg Police squad car.  Lights were on, the hearse was stately, the procession of cars slow and ponderous.  I was one of maybe 10 cars I could see who pulled over to the far side of the road, turned on our own lights, and waited for the procession to pass.

It jerked me back to a year ago, when the same thing happened to us as we accompanied Papa’s body from the funeral home to the church, then from there to the graveyard.  I did fine at the wake, but my emotions were really touched by the show of respect and reverence of complete strangers who took the time to pull over, stop, and turn on their lights as we passed, to share our loss just for a minute.  Even now, as I write this, tears are on their way . . . the generosity and kindness of people towards loss stuns me and makes me so proud that I am a southerner, a Mississipian, a person who can take just a minute to acknowledge and honor an unknown neighbor’s sorrow.

And it reminds me that we humans have an untapped capacity for such things.  Witness the 9/11 attacks when people jumped in their trucks piled with tools and went to volunteer for hard duty in digging out victims.  Witness the thousands who came with caravans of supplies and helping hands when Katrina hit the Gulf South.  Accompanying our violent tendencies, our sometimes self-destructive ways, our ability to overlook the forest for the trees, and our incredible self-indulgence, Americans have big hearts that are touched easily, and they spring into action, acting on that passion.  Who can’t be proud of that?

Vacation . . . Almost

At 2:30 p.m., it’s feeling like this day will never end. Tomorrow begins our week at Dauphin Island (AL). I am, of course, taking work and have work to do for The Writer, but i am so looking forward to the peace and quiet of the island. It would only be more perfect if we could have our house and animal-children with us….ho-hum, so it’s not perfect….it Is VACATION! No internet, no phone….I think we have cable….I’m not even certain my cell phone will connect on the island. Joy….

It’s All About Balance

So, I go to work on Monday and have the same conversation with my colleagues there that I’m having at home….How do we turn out more work without sacrificing ALL the quality of what we’re about? How do we streamline our processes from beginning to end without having an end-product that is useless, or worse– embarassing?

I know, it’s rhetorical, but I wonder what the recurrence of this question in all venues of my life means to ME? Is “quality” the real question or is it about “balance”? Balance has always been a quest, a vision for my life, my future, and it’s never been something I’m very good at.

It occurs as I write this that my recent bout of vertigo may be a physical manifestation of this issue, too …..Hmmmmmm…… where am I so OUT of balance? Another thing to think about . . . .and it’s only Tuesday — oops, Wednesday!

Same Song, Same verse…

Time Management is the name of the tune.

The Writer has stepped up the pace lately with production: two columns this week; working on final edit of new novel (SPITE); work on short stories; and, of course, the endless email, research, etc. that he is compelled to do. He’s even managed to set himself up an appointment calendar which I can share, so I have some idea of what he is committing himself (and sometimes me!) to. It’s all good….

But where is the new column he’s been talking about since November? Where’s the storyboard for the children’s book on the “boards”? What’s happening with column syndication? Where are the new business cards with correct contact info? Where are the blog postings? What about . . .

Okay, I could go on and on to no avail. And sometimes I do, although I try to reserve that for his ears only! He has trouble understanding why I’m so driven; I have problems understanding what he does all day, every day! I know that what I do in my work is not nearly the same as what he does, but, really — what’s the deal about writing two pages about something I know? If I took a week to write a two-page brief, I’d have been fired decades ago and never taken back into the workforce!

So, he gets frustrated with my frustration. Does it help either of us? Hardly….but we have yet to find a way out of the downward-spiraling conversation about time, projects, what comes when, how to allocate enough time but not too much to a column, etc. HELP! My real dilemma now is not to solve that problem but more to keep the lines of communication open….how can we continue to talk about these issues, try for understanding on both sides, and generally keep our sanity…and get stuff done, too.

Honestly, if you’ve got some insight about this, please share!  Until then, I’ve got 10 things to do today on my checklist………

The Good Life

What a great life this is. Sitting in my office on Thursday and our friend Willie Pierce pops in to offer me a part-time contract job. Just a little “technical editing” gig that will provide some extra cash to help ease the tax season burden. Yea!

Last nite we drove down to the coast for an art exhibit opening (Negrotto’s Gallery) in Biloxi. The exhibit was the digitally remastered prints of John James Audubon, limited editions, and gorgeously fabulous. We were in awe at the wonderful work done by the artists who are releasing these prints as a fund-raiser for the National Audubon Society. Anyway, it was great and great fun. A number of people who knew The Writer or who knew who he was were on hand for meeting and greeting, and much networking was done by all.

Barry & Georgia drove over from Mobile to attend with us and for dinner and visiting afterward. Georgia got to meet the gallery owner, Romy, and make contacts there. Georgia and we talked about Penland this summer. And we generally got to catch up with what’s going on in their lives, making some plans for the upcoming book artwork, travel plans, etc. Before we knew it, it was 10:00 and we were closing the restaurant down. Time for the drive home (much longer coming home at 10 p.m. than going down at 4!), arriving near midnight, then tending to the house critters, so it was VERY late before we crashed and burned. And, of course, the dogs were ready to get up at 6, having slept 20 hours the day before!

Ron went to another artsy event with the H’burg Arts Council at lunch, while I met with Valerie to do Southern Pines Animal Shelter business, then dinner tonight with Beth, Rita, and Faye (yummmmm — thai). A very busy end of our week, and a good beginning to my long weekend.

We got the contract for the Dauphin Island rental in the mail today — can we really afford to do this?! Along with that contract was something from the state tax commission . . . I didn’t even open it, didn’t want to know. I signed the contract, addressed that envelope and stuck it out for post tomorrow. I went back to open the MTC envelope….might as well face that music! A check! For just about enough to pay for the house in April!

It is a good life. And we are very blessed! Just gotta keep the faith! Blessed be.

Oh, and the shared calendar now works just fine!

Shared Lives

Well, the big projects this week include

- finishing final edit on The Writer’s second novel, SPITE

- beginning scripting of podcast for SPITE

- reading/editing two dissertations and a proposal

- finding a way to have a shared calendar with The Writer.

Now, it seems that there are a lot of projects that would come before that last one, but we are already finding that we are developing conflicts in our life schedule as The Writer takes on more activities, engagements, etc. Working at home is one thing; leading bird tours, going to art gallery openings, etc., is an entirely different thing.

Don’t get me wrong! I want him to do these things and I think they contribute to his writing, his professionalism, and his marketability, but these activities are cutting into his writing time, meaning that time he does have at home in front of the computer becomes even more valuable, more precious. And, it means that I get even less of his attention when he is at home. So, having the shared calendar means that we each can have a daily sense of what the other is doing and how much demand we can make on him/her. And you wouldn’t think, with products like Google out there that this would be so difficult….but, somehow, it has been made into a mountain and two days later, it’s still not working! Urgggggggggggg! Frustration!

Yes, it’s true…this is as much for my benefit as his. He forgets that I’m the one with the full-time job and the part-time job (teaching/sitting on committees/student activities) in addition to the things I do as editor, researcher, etc. for him. I’m not complaining . . . I’m simply stating the facts, folks. I have to prioritize, too.

So, although I’ve been diligently working on the podcast scripts, that’s about to come to a screeching halt for the next week or two while I go into teacher mode and work on student dissertations, proposals, etc. We’ll see what the consequences are . . .

Stay tuned for on The Writer’s blog for Saturday’s new article. It will feature reader-submitted photos which are GREAT!

More on SPITE

March already. It hardly seems possible that winter is over (at least here in Mississippi), migration already begun, and true spring on its way. Today, in Vienna, VA where we are with Martha & Paul, it is 40s and sunny, the loveliest of winter days. We are waiting for Paul to return from a visit with Tee Morris, author and podcaster, and we will begin production of some readings here at the newly reconstituted production studio of Dancing Cat Studios.

There have been discussion of SPITE’s production into a podcast, planning on who will do what, and when action will take place, and, of course, there’s been writing, group writing, and website updating with Ronnie’s columns. No rest for anyone in this hole [sic] krewe (Ask Ron to tell you about that reference!).

Tomorrow we head back to Hattiesburg — home — with an increased workload, high hopes of continuing and increasing success with the next production, and the Writer in critical need of getting a column out for next Saturday’s Sun Herald.

It never ends, but it’s frequently a very fun ride….

Exceeding Expectations

The Writer’s subscriptions on podiobooks exceeded my expectations.  Martha (a.k.a., former roomie and part of Dancing Cat Studios creative team) informed us at the end of January that between DCS, iTunes, and Podiobooks, Serve It Cold had more than 1100 subscriptions!  Wow!  Incredible for a first effort — a GREAT first effort.  My thanks to the creator/writer, the creative brainiacs (Martha & Paul), the creative genius actors, and the krewe at PodioBooks.

Spite is in its next-to-last edit/rewrite currently, so things are hopping around here.  Martha visited with us last weekend on her way to her mom’s 80th birthday celebration, and she brought her podcasting equipment with her, so there’s more interview coming.  Not sure where it will be posted, but she will let us know when and where and I will post here.  Ronnie got two articles out this week, so look on his site for those.  Gavin posted his Japanese Duck article to a listserv called “BirdChat” and he got lots of good feedback from those guys out there who read that list.  And, at our weekly supper with Ron’s mom, Faye, and our friend Beth, as we were walking across the restaurant to be seated, someone stopped Ron and said, “Hey, you’re Ronnie Blackwell, that guy that writes about birds!”  Wow.

This week, we go on Tuesday at noon to Main Street Methodist Church to talk to their senior lunch group.  So far, about 75 have registered for the lunch and learn session.  Wow. Busy.  It’s a great life!