Wishful Thinking

Everyone is allowed to indulge in some wishful thinking from time to time.  I often daydream about the unlikely possibility that I am eventually able to be a full-time author.  I realize this is a pie-in-the-sky kind of daydream, as most authors are never that successful.  Honestly, I’d be happy to get my first novel published and go from there.  When I do allow myself to dream, I like to dream big.

I’d like to think that I would be happy doing nothing but writing.  I know myself too well, though, to really believe that could be true.  Writing is a reasonably solitary profession; yes, we may work together, discuss craft, and so on, but when you get down to the act of putting words to paper it is something you have to do alone.  I am not a solitary person.  I enjoy my time to myself, don’t get me wrong, and I start to get tired of people if I have too many things going on at once, but I like people.  I like to be around people.  I like to converse with others throughout my day.  Most of my friends and social life revolve around work and coworkers, which means that I would probably get very lonely very fast if all I did was write.

I would like to give it a try, though.  I’ve been thinking about a good writer’s retreat for a while; it will be much more effective if I am away from my home and obligations.  Perhaps I’ll use some of my vacation time to run away for a few days and write in solitude.  A few days without people shouldn’t be so hard, right?

Dreaming of Mice

And now, for a brief moment of randomness…

Last night I slept with my bedroom window open, for two reasons.  One, it’s finally cool enough in the evenings here in Texas to get away with it.  Two, my a/c was non-functional, which made it somewhat necessary.  (Thanks for your concern; it’s working again now.)

I like to sleep with my window open, except for a few problems.  I don’t fall asleep well unless it is dark in my room.  Having the window open of necessity means having the curtain pulled to one side, which allows the light from outside to flood into my space.  Unfamiliar sounds wake me up in the middle of the night, and these also intrude when the window is raised.  I’ve figured out how to adapt to these situations, for the sake of a cool breeze while I am sleeping.

Last night I had a strange dream, which I also attribute to the open window.  I dreamt that mice had climbed in the window and were running around my cluttered (in the dream – not in real life) bedroom, playing with my dirty laundry and bothering my dog.  They didn’t bother me, but I didn’t particularly want them in my house, either.

There is a surfeit of research and theories about the meanings of dreams; I’m not sure I care what the mice meant.  I just hope that tonight, when I leave my window open again, I will have pleasant, relaxing dreams that I can’t remember when I wake up.  🙂

Friends as Mermaids

All of my friends end up influencing the characters in my books in some way.  Most of the time I make a collage from traits; this person’s attitude, that person’s background, her mom’s hair, my sister’s voice.  Every character has a little bit of me in them, too. But for this novel I’ve decided to give a friend a full-blown cameo appearance, partly as a thank you for a Renn Faire Road Trip, and partly because she’s such a character herself.

I think everyone has that secret impossible dream.  You know, that perfect situation that has a multiple-zeros-after-the-decimal percent chance of happening.  (Mine is to be interviewed by Oprah about the new movie coming out based on my best-selling novel.  Not original or likely, I know, but it is my dream.)  My friend Amy’s dream is to marry an NFL running back.  That, or to become a mermaid.

I can’t do anything about the whole football player dream.  I can, however, make her into a mermaid, at least in my novel.  When I asked her if that would be okay, you should have heard her scream.  It was awesome.

Now I just need to figure out how I can somehow include “I ain’t gonna lie” in her dialogue…  🙂