What I'm Reading Now

Here's a list of the books stacked on my nightstand. It's pretty eclectic...

The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri -- I got this book for a college class and never got around to reading it. (I don't even remember which class any more. ) Now that I'm home recuperating, I finally have the time. It's about writing plays but the principles apply to any kind of storytelling.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton -- I'm trying to catch up on the classics. I'm also half way through Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. I'll get back to that one some day.

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King -- I've never read much Stephen King because I don't like horror but then I read his book on writing, On Writing and fell in love. I like his imagination and his down to earth style. If any guy knows how to tell a story, it's Stephen. This is book 2 of his huge fantasy series.

Dynamite on a China Plate by Jay Leeming -- This is a book of poetry with lots of great imagery. "A woman's lips are like dynamite, they can blow a house right off its foundations." I'm hoping some of the poet's craft will rub off on my writing.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin -- This is a great book about Lincoln and really makes you long for the day when politicians were expected to act in the public interest, not just their own.

55 Fiction

My 55-word fiction story, "The Broken Vase," was posted over the weekend on the 55Fiction.com. Check it out at http://55fiction.com.

Thanks, Cory.

Mining the Pain

My recovery after surgery is going pretty well. Yesterday I took a sponge bath and washed my hair in the kitchen sink, then my husband took me shopping, the first I'd left the house in two weeks. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with our friend Larry. I think I'll be back to normal very soon.

This is my first day here on my own. My mom was in town for the last few weeks taking care of me but she went over the weekend and the rest of my family went back to work and school today. I'm here all by myself with lots of time to waste or use as I see fit. Being home in the middle of the day is a novel experience for someone who normally works full time.

I spent the day writing a women's health article about my experiences. Heck, if you can't mine your pain for a story, what good is it?

The article's five pages long and needs more research and a little polish, but it's almost finished. I usually write fiction so I'm pretty pleased that I was able to get it down so quickly. Maybe it's the beginning of my freelance writing career. Non-fiction is more marketable than fiction.

My plan is to finish it and try to sell to a women's magazine. If that doesn't work, I'll try an on-line publisher and if that doesn't work, I'll publish it here. One way or another, my article will be published.

Return of the Blogger

After a short delay, I'm back in action.

I had surgery a week and a half ago. Nothing life-threatening, but serious enough to waylay me for a few weeks.

Having an operation is an interesting experience: "Here you go, Mrs. Holm. Lay on this table while we cut you open and rearrange your insides." It's very weird.

Because of a string of complications in my life I'd put the surgery off for the last eight months. Anticipating the event was much worse than enduring the actual process. When it came down to it, the pain wasn't as hard to take as I thought it would be. Of course, I had the good old pain pills to help me get through it.

I took my dog for a short walk today. Hopefully, it won't be long before I'm able to go hiking in Wildwood Canyon and taking boxing classes at the gym.

The good news is I'll be off of work for the next few weeks and that means I'll actually have time to work on this blog.

Here's to posting everyday...