I'm sitting in a hotel in Budapest, looking at the Danube River and the Chain Bridge.
FOR REAL!!!!!! OMGPONIES!!!!11!1!!!
ahem. I haven't written since Nov. 3, so for three days, I have 3452. A good enough start. I'm not liking the voice so far, and I have a third character that I sketched a while back and can't remember who s/he is. So, at some point, that voice will start talking and I'll say, "OH, nice to meet you!"
by the way, it's not blue, the river. It's river-running-through-large-city-in-winter gray. But still beautiful.... and did I mention the palace on the hill?
I have meetings all day with editors and folks, and so I have to be sharp. Must.have.coffee.
Luckily, they have some of that here.
Today begins Día de los Muertos. What are your rituals or occasions when you remember loved ones you have lost?
This really bugs me. A lot. Offensively.
This is NOT my holiday. I understand, respect and find the day and the traditions fascinating. I celebrate as a human on the planet all the variety and color of human culture... I dig the idea of this day, and I am moved beyond words when I witness the practices.
but this is NOT my "tradition" and it's not the day I choose to remember my loved ones. To do so, I think, would be cultural misappropriation and an affront to my comadres and compadres.
And my loved ones are freshly lost, so this comes as a little slap to me. To make it a little "cute" QotD prompt belittles the grief process, and the very serious side of honoring the dead (and fearing them - giving them the day to walk the earth, placating them and then sending them back to the other side).
(and my response to this reminds me that I'm going to be writing a cross-cultural novel this month, so these are issues worth the energy and word count of this post.)
I was talking on the phone to a friend yesterday, and said that maybe instead of NaNoWriMo this year, I would devote the equivalent amt. of time to developing my website(s) and contract business.
Here is why I absolutely adore her, why she is my BFF even if we never see each other anymore because she's in Tucson and I'm here in Texas.
She responded, "yes, that would be good, but I think you should do both. Still work on the novel because remember last year? when you were at work? (we were both in the office last year, and now we both telecommute) You used to come in and talk about your story and you were so excited by it. So you really should do that again."
**** <3 ****
Everyone needs cheerleaders like that.
I'm going to find a way to put her in the novel too, as homage to her support.
There will be more entries today. This is just the starting gun (for me).
We survived Oct. 31, with only 3 lbs of candy. Heh.
I downloaded Scrivener, with the 30 day free trial. *YES* should be perfect. And I'm looking for the little synopsis I did last year of the book I'll be writing.
title: The Road To Navidad.
Are you with me!? be on my team! cheer me on! I'm hoping for 5,000 between now and when I touch down in Budapest.
