By now some of you are wondering: Why isn’t Lucia posting? Has she fallen into a crevasse? Is she drinking too much? Having a depressive episode? Oddly, none of those are the reason. The reason is odder still.<\/p>\n
That’s right. During vacation, the subject of Dad’s funeral kept coming up. Aspects were sufficiently crazy that it was hard to say very little, but on the other hand, saying anything more was… well… Anyone who has one of those functional\/dysfunctional families (which is nearly everyone) will understand that weddings and funerals can be weird. While driving down, I related a conversation with my neighbor, during which I mentioned the family behavior was crazy. She said, “I’m Sicilian. You don’t have to tell me!” She and I agreed that crazy funerals would be so much more bearable if one were a Larry David sort and able to turn it into a book. We also both agreed we were not Larry David sorts.<\/p>\n But Jim’s reaction was: Why not write it? He pointed out that after his Father died, he felt he had<\/I> to make a DVD of his Dad’s life and he felt he had<\/i> to do things like frame some photos he found and so on. Even if my book is terrible, it will likely be cathartic for me. Also, even if he’s the only reader, it might be fun to read. He also reminded me: When writing, remember your Dad’s advice and grins. Of course I knew what mantra he meant. <\/p>\n So we joked on the way down, I came up with names and so on. We mentioned it to all the cousins all of whom<\/i> heard bits and want me to write a book. Mind you: My thought is I am unlikely to have any talent. Still, with work, I can write a book that at least Jim, his cousins and a subset of my relatives will enjoy. <\/p>\n When I returned, I resolved to write the book. Sort of. I first decided I needed to read some “how to write fiction” books. I found two that help me. The steps involving developing both characters advise characters need to be complex; those on plot point out the need for “disasters”. Achieving both goals required me to imitate Dorothy of Oz, click my heels and repeat this mantra over and over, I have now finished on Step 9 from “How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method”. Tomorrow (or the next day) I start step 10. I’m sure I will continue to repeat the mantra while doing so. <\/p>\n For those wondering, step 1 is writing a one sentence summary. Really. This is it:<\/p>\n Among other things, this sentences is supposed to help me when “marketing” my book. I’m supposed to trap book publishers and agents in elevators, tell them “I am so exited about my new project!” and then blurt out the one sentence before they have a chance to escape. This is supposed to make them say, “Wow! How (unique|interesting|positive adjective or your choice)! Tell me more!” <\/p>\n I’m then supposed to tell them my five<\/I> sentence summary (which is step 2.) <\/p>\n The book also warns trapped book publishers will not often not ask me to tell them more. I assume you do not necessarily want to read the five sentence summary and so am not inserting it here. I know for sure<\/em> you do not want to read step 9 which is the excel spread sheet detailing scenes.<\/p>\n Rather: I assume most of you are wondering about my point in blogging this. My point is to let you know that blogging is going to be very, very, very light until I either get board of trying to write “the great American novel” or I finish writing “the great American novel”. I have no idea which event will happen first nor when either will happen. (Odds makers can decide.)<\/p>\n Obviously, I’m neglecting all the bettors, but so I need to:<\/p>\n Anyway: Sorry for neglecting everyone. But, oddly, I need to do this. It’s actually fun for me, though obviously, it’s killing the blog. I’ll at least try to keep it open for people to discuss as it’s good for that. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By now some of you are wondering: Why isn’t Lucia posting? Has she fallen into a crevasse? Is she drinking too much? Having a depressive episode? Oddly, none of those are the reason. The reason is odder still. I am writing a novel. That’s right. During vacation, the subject of Dad’s funeral kept coming up. … Continue reading Excuse for not posting.<\/span>
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\nNever let the truth get in the way of a good story!
\nNever let the truth get in the way of a good story!”<\/indent><\/p>\n\n