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Posts tagged ‘National Park Seminary’

Feb 2

Writing and Reading — February 2013

Even snow days look pretty at my new place!

Snow Day!

Snow Day!

It has been a little over a month since I moved in to my new place. I still need a few more bookshelves, a chest of drawers, and some nightstands, but all in all, I am moved in. The biggest change has been how much more productive I have been. It may not seem like it, but I have actually done a lot more writing.

Which is good, because my class this semester is a fiction workshop class. Over the course of the class, I have to turn in three pieces. All of them cannot be things I have used in workshop previously. So I went through my stuff and found one finished piece that I haven’t looked at in a few years. I have one that is about 1/3 finished. Finally, I have a new piece that I just started, but is so interesting, I’ll be done writing it in a week or so. I’ll save that one for the end of the semester.

Almost as exciting is the news that I have been steadily working on my novel. After years of believing I had no more novels in me, last year I found myself wanting to start a new one. I tried the NANOMO. But we all know how that ended… Still I’ve been plugging away and now have a few thousand words.

It’s amazing what a little piece and quiet will do for your writing soul.

I do have one more work that I am almost finished, but I don’t want to talk about that too much. It is not for class. It was just something fun I decided to do, with a very personal motive. Once it is done, I’ll make an announcement.

I didn’t talk about this last year, but I did have a reading list. After sorting through all my books, I realized that there were a few I never got around to reading. Kate Vaiden was one of them, but there were quite a few more that I read and crossed off the list. Let me give you a rundown of those I can remember:

 

  • The Windup Girl – by Paolo Bacigalupi
  • His Dark Materials Trilogy – Philip Pullman
  • Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
  • Origin Stories – Kelly Link

 

And of course there were the five I read for class:

  • A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
  • Charming Billy – Alice McDermott
  • Isaac’s Storm – Erik Larson
  • Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand
  • Kate Vaiden – Reynolds Price

Of those, my favorite was Flowers for Algernon. I thought that was a wonderful, unique story. For those who don’t know, it is the story of a man with a very low IQ, who volunteers for an experimental surgery to make himself smarter. The story is told through his diary entries and charts both his joy and sorrow in his new life. It was a great read and I recommend it.

Infinite Jest is still sitting in the to be read pile. I packed it early and just didn’t pick it up over the break. Now? I just started reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. She is one of my favorite writers, but I never got around to reading this series. I’m only thirty pages it, but I’m having a hard time putting it down.

But I must. I have writing to do.

Anyone else found a new favorite book last year? Let me know!

Dec 8

The Enchanted Garden and Other News

Is it December already?

It seems as if this year has been going so fast.  Now we’re at the end of it.  2013 is quickly approaching, so we will see what comes next.

I didn’t finish my book for NaNoWriMo.  I was doing well, but a few things came up and time just got away from me.  Mostly, it was class.  Grad school requires so much reading.  Every other week, we were discussing a new book.  I had my presentation on Kate Vaiden on Dec. 6, so I decided that was the most important priority.  I wanted to really read and study the book, not just rush through it.  I am sorry I didn’t finish (my novel), but I think I will have some time this month.

I also made a big decision last month to move.  I found a beautiful apartment building and tried in vain for two weeks to get in to see a unit.  Wouldn’t you know, the leasing office called in early November.  So between reading, work, and writing the book, I had to carve out time to see apartments (They had more than one unit available.) and fill out all the paperwork that comes with it.  It has been a while since I rented an apartment, apparently now they want everything but a blood sample.

I know I said earlier that I wasn’t ready to move.  Money has been a big concern for me this year, and I thought I would be staying at my parent’s place longer.  For the past four years I have been living at my parent’s house because my mom got a contract job out of the area.  With 2008 home prices like they were, she didn’t want to sell.  I offered to stay, take care of the place, and pay her.  It worked out well.  But now they are back… and this house is suddenly very small.

Truthfully, I miss my privacy.  I love my parents, but I miss having my own space.  I thought I could suck it up for a year and then start looking, but I only made it six months. (LOL)  I decided that even though my salary is lower, I should still look for a place.  Better if I find a place now that I can afford.  I found a great place in Silver Spring, MD called National Park Seminary (Henceforth to be known as the Enchanted Garden, because it is so pretty!).  It used to be a women’s seminary, but was renovated a few years ago to a mix of townhouses, condos, and apartments.  It’s a historical landmark, in a quiet area, and so friggin’ unique, I can’t wait to move in.  It is not in the most trendy of areas like Bethesda, Dupont Circle, or Capitol Hill.  I don’t need a neighborhood like that.  I need space to write.

And a place to hold my books.  I got lots of those…

So if you want to see a picture, here is the nonprofit organization that takes care of care of the historical aspects of the grounds.  If you live in the DC area, you should come on the tour.  I’ve taken it and it is really cool.

I’m about to take a massive break from work.  Between the 13th of December and 2nd of January, I will be off from work.  So once I move in, and get settled, I’m going to have plenty of space and quiet to work.  Hopefully I will get farther along in my novel.

Also, I want to spruce up the blog a bit too.  There will be some new stuff coming soon.  Gradually over the month, I would like to add more, like a better bio and some of my fiction (and pictures!).  So much to do!

Hope everyone enjoys the coming weeks!