If you are familiar with Bob’s Burgers, the title of this post is a nod to Linda Belcher! She is my favorite character/Halloween Costume, and the song from Bob’s Burgers is something I show my students around Thanksgiving every year. So here we are, months since my last uninspired post (according to a dear friend who called me out on my last post), which was August 3, in case you’re wondering.
So what happened to me? Last summer, one full year after losing my mom, I hit the wall. I felt uninspired. I just couldn’t get out of my head. I love summers — mainly because I am off work and able to pursue things like writing and stuff. We traveled a bit, but after that, I just couldn’t seem to get into any one thing. I felt adrift, bereft, etc. I was so inside my head I couldn’t concentrate on writing, or anything. I started a couple projects, but nothing seemed to stick. My mom would be 84 today. Happy Heavenly Birthday Mom! This is Mom when she was young and beautiful!
Finally, school started and for the 12 weeks since then, I started writing again. I am working on a novel, which I am considering submitting to Amazon Publishing. They have a deal where you can write “chapters,” something like the old days of continuing sagas in magazines. You know, like you’d begin to get into the saga, and then you’d have to wait until the next chapter. I decided I’d like to have at least six chapters under my belt before I submitted it. I think I have four completed. Every weekend since the beginning of school, I swear I am going to work on it and submit it and then life gets in the way.
My story is about two people who have been friends for years, but never have really connected, except as great friends. I wanted to write a story about people who are in my age range. It seems when I’m reading a book, the characters who are older are always side stories to the main story. Maybe no one wants to read about people who are in my age range, but whenever I read a story where someone in today’s world has a serious medical event and then dies, it bothers me. I guess it’s because I don’t feel “old” or ready to leave this earth. And, grandparents used to be old, they aren’t anymore. My grandma was ancient (well, not really), but when I think about how old she was when I was a kid, it seemed old and she looked old, but she was younger than I am right now. I’m not a grandparent yet, so I take this personally. I am trying to remember how old Mom was when she became a grandparent. She was 54 when my daughter was born, but she had a grandchild before my daughter. I read stories about people in the 50’s who are grandparents and “old,” but come one. Isn’t 60 the new 40? Or something. If you think you are too young to read this, you are not! You will be “old” some day and wonder about how everyone is younger than you too.
I also began writing a cookbook for beginner cooks. I started it during the summer and had several recipes put together when somehow the thumb drive it was on disappeared. I looked everywhere for it. I searched through purses, suitcases, everywhere and to no avail. One day, near the end of September, I just sat down and started over. I have it backed up this time. Stupid that I didn’t before, but I also thought it was safe. I thought maybe it would turn up sometime after I started over, but I still don’t know where the dang thing is. When I’m finished, I’ll try to get it onto Amazon Publishing as well. I’d also like to make sure to put in pictures and have it available as a paper copy too. I am modeling it after the Betty Crocker Cookbook of years ago. My mom had one, and probably every else. Hers must have been from the early 1960’s or late 1950’s. In fact, I just looked at the one I thought was hers and there is an inscription in the front that says it’s from Lora. Who is Lora? Not my Mom’s probably. Between spending hours with Mom in the kitchen and exploring recipes on my own, I became a cook! I remember the cool thing about Betty Crocker was the recipes had little notes about probably fake people and their experiences in the “test kitchen” on how to make snickerdoodles and what-have-you. For me, that was a huge deal. It was awesome to see a story I could relate to while cooking. If I got a suggestion on how to do something, I was ahead of the game. Some of the stories were just plain helpful, not to mention homey and interesting!
Moving forward… I’m hoping a side-gig is in my future. And, I hope it involves writing. Not copywriting either. Regular writing. Believe me, I’ve been doing my homework. And using my imagination.
Yesterday (I started this a couple days ago), Mike and I had a conversation about Italy again. I’ll be honest, I was kind of giving up on the whole thing. I’ve been very busy this year at school and have pushed it to the back of my mind. Well, now it’s in the front of my mind again. I dreamed about looking at a house in Italy and there was someone else looking at it at the same time. It was way too big for us though and surrounded by a forest, a view of the ocean, and a high school where there was a football game being played (this was a dream, not reality, obviously). So between chapters of my novel, I’m going to look for some possibilities and start planning.
I’ll write more soon. I’m on a mission and need to finish this for now. I hope it is more inspiring than my last post.
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